Random Catch Up Pictures

I'm sitting here at my parent's house because I could not stand another afternoon of trying to keep Maddie and Will out of the way while my kitchen is being worked on! The old kitchen was completely torn out and the new cabinets and appliances are in the process of being installed. I'll do another post about it when there are some pretty after pictures.

So, I thought I'd do some catching up with pictures my Dad has taken.

In March, something big happened in our house. Maddie decided, on her own, that she wanted to give up her night-night and sucking her thumb. She asked that, if she did, could she get her ears pierced. After a week of sleeping night-night free, we took her to get the job done and she was so excited!

However, no amount of excitement could change the fact that it does indeed hurt to have your ears pierced.

After lots of comfort and a trip to our favorite bakery, she was feeling great about the earrings!

Soon after, Madeline and I took a trip down to Texas with my parents to visit her Great Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. Their neighbors have a beautiful yard and my Dad took some great pictures. He took lots of picture while she played and caught this great shoot of her spinning around. She says that she was pretending to be Thumbalina.

This picture was my favorite because it is a common expression of hers when she looks up at me.

Here are my 2 brothers and I after John's law school graduation. Can you see the family resemblance? I'm so proud of my brothers and all they've achieved. Robbie is a pediatrician and is about to move to Tampa, FL to do a fellowship in Allergy/Immunology. I will hate having him and his family so far away! John and his wife Lindsey both graduated and are studying for the bar. They will be moving here to persue clerking jobs with 2 different judges in the area.

Here is Robbie and Gina's precious daughter, Emma. She is 2 1/2 and is very smart and fun to play with. I love when she has these cute pigtails in!

Here is a sweet picture of Will when he is not trying to attack the camera. I wish you could see the back of his hair. It has gotten so curly! Also, he wanted me to tell you that he has big news of his own! He has given up his paci and now sleeps in a big boy bed. Sigh! Where did my babies go?

My dad has an incredible camera with several great lenses, so he was able to get some good action shots at Maddie's recital.

I love this one of her going into a cartwheel!

Don't you think she has a pretty arabesque?

Now, I will keep saving so that one day, I will have a camera that takes wonderful pictures like these!

Traveling With and Without Children

My baby brother graduated from Law School last weekend, so we all headed up to Central and Northwest Arkansas to join the celebration. We had made the decision that, since the trip to Fayetteville is about 5 1/2 hours away, we would drop Madeline and Will at Granny's house in Conway instead. This was a mere 2 1/2 hour trip, surely that would be easy and fun, right?
Look how entertained Will is by this driving toy (excuse the blurry picture, we so need a new camera!).
Madeline is enjoying watching Enchanted for the 1000th time. She's even smiling because she is enjoying the ride, right?

Let me just say that these pictures were taken while I was leisurely riding along during the first 30 min. of the trip. Now, please notice that there are no more pictures of the rest of that drive because I was too busy trying to hand Will new toys/books to entertain him, only to have the thrown back a me! Madeline got tired of the movie and opted to entertain herself by whining and asking how much longer. We survived somewhat precariously by playing a Kidz Bop (sp?) CD found in a Happy Meal several times and bringing out the snacks, slowly, until we were close to Conway.

After getting both kids settled with Granny, we were on our way, kid-free. Now, please know that I love and adore my children, but Nathan and I RARELY ever go anywhere or do anything without at least one of them! So, this was so nice in contrast to the 1st part of the drive. We had such wonderful conversation and enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the way to Fayetteville.

We even stopped in a little town called, Alma so that Nathan could get some German Chocolate Ice Cream at Braums.

Then, when I went into a gas station to get a can of Dr. Pepper to pour over my wonderful Sonic ice that was left from my first drink stop in Conway (you just can't let it go to waste!), I found something amazing! The biggest can of Dr. Pepper I had ever seen. Now, for those who don't know, I LOVE Dr. Pepper!!! I even give it up every year for Lent because it is a BIG sacrifice for me. I wonder if I will ever find a can like this again?

The rest of the trip was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I forgot to take anymore pictures. Oh well. I'm really trying to improve!

My Growing Guy

My last post was all about Madeline, so I thought I'd give a good update on Will. He is now 22 months old. Let me tell you, it has flown by for me. I feel like he was this little guy just yesterday with almost no hair and still looking small in his highchair (this is him at about 8 months old).
Now, he has always been a big guy, coming into this world 2 weeks early at 9lbs 5oz! But, all of a sudden, my sweet baby boy is turning into a very cute but grown-up looking little boy. He is in the 75-95 percentile in height and weight! Here he is in his cute Easter sweater vest. When you see him next to Maddie, it looks like he will be the same height in no time, even with the 3 year age difference. He already weighs as much, even on his ultra-healthy food allergy diet. He has still not had to have a haircut but there is a cute cluster of curls at the back of his head. Nathan says we have to be careful not to let them turn into a mullet. We may live in South Arkansas but no mullets are allowed in this family!

I think he still looks a lot like Nathan, but people do tell me he looks like me from time to time. He does have my darker complexion and my brown eyes, which is nice considering Madeline is a mini, female version of Nathan.

Please excuse the stained bib. Most of you already know I have issues with the slobber. I just can't stand for him to wear a soaked shirt but refuse to buy new bibs because I just keep thinking it has got to stop sometime soon. He's almost 2! I did find some measure of comfort in my trusty Parenting magazine who said it is still normal at this age. Whew! Now I'll just have to find something else to worry about.

Speaking of worrying about Will, we are having to do less and less of it. He was a very late walker, but is starting to run around and climb a lot. My P.T. friends should be pleased with all of that gross-motor progress. He is also talking a lot more, something that was becoming a concern about 6 months ago. He says a lot of words, repeats almost anything, and is starting to use a few short sentences. His favorites are: "I go outside" and "I sing ABC". He does love to play outside but we now have a big poison ivy problem in the backyard, so it is a little harder to do. If anyone has a full-proven way to get rid of it safely, please speak up!

He is much more shy than Maddie ever thought about being but warms up to most people pretty quickly.

He loves being in the toddler class at his school after being in the baby room for so long.

Lately, I just love watching him play and interact with Madeline. It makes me so glad that they have each other!

We also had good/bad news in the food allergy department. At his latest check-up, he still tested positive for milk and eggs and has now added peanuts on the skin scratch test. But, his blood work all came up negative!!! That means that he is eligible for a food trial. We will start with milk, when we can get an appointment. The trial has to be done at the hospital, just in case. Please pray that the milk trial works. It is so hard to find foods with absolutely no dairy in them at all, especially in this more rural area. It would open up a whole new world of food for him as well. I'll update when the food trial happens!

Madeline is a Star!

This year was Madeline's first year to take dance and gymnastics. We debated about whether to start earlier, but her recital this weekend made us glad we waited. She really learned a lot a knew her dances well. She made me so proud with the mature way she stood on that stage and was not intimidated at all. She was just beautiful.

Our dance studio decided a while ago to split the performances into 3 different recitals as it was lasting until midnight when they did them all together.
So, Saturday afternoon was gymnastics. Maddie's class theme was Wonder Woman. It was so fun to see these little 3 and 4 year olds in these cute costumes. She had such a great straddle roll, cartwheel, back bend, and toe-touch. We had to tape the boots to the tights on her little bitty legs but they held!


Saturday night was the tap/clogging/jazz recital. Maddie's class danced to a cute song about eggs and Easter. They were precious in their yellow dresses. We were worried about the hat (not pictured here) but it also held with some creative bobby-pinning. This was her favorite dance and she sang the song and did all her steps just right. She was especially excited about having her hair curled!

Today was the ballet/lyrical/point recital. Maddie's class did a dance to a really sweet song about nightlights and going to sleep. They even had their own battery nightlights that they danced with. This was my favorite dance and it made me tear up just watching how sweet they were. She looked so grown up with her hair in a bun and she was so graceful!
We did video tape each performance but didn't want to upload all of that right now. Also, I prefer to watch the actual performance instead of spending it behind a camera snapping pictures so we don't have any pictures of the performance on my camera. My dad did come and take some great pictures during her dress rehearsal. I will try to upload them the next time we head out to their new house in the country:)

Maddie left each recital excited about what the big girls did and learning those things herself someday. I'm so glad she has found an activity that she enjoys so much. She did not complain one bit even with all the waiting and watching. She just soaked it all in and loved it! I'm just so proud:)

Happy Mother's Day!

I have always loved Mother's Day. Even before we had children, Nathan would give me gifts from our dogs. I am very close to my own mother and love getting a special chance to show my appreciation to her.
I have seen a lot of really great posts from the various "Mommy Blogs" that I follow and felt that I needed to add one of my own. So here I go. . . .

I have had to make some big decisions about what kind of mommy I am able to be recently. We all know the labels: SAHM, Work at Home Mom, and Work Out of the Home Mom. In the blogs I follow, most are SAHMs who would not have it any other way. One (that I love to read still) even said that this Mother's Day was more special now that she gets to SAH full time because, before, her babysitter did most of her child's raising. This post made me happy for her but sad that some view WOHMs as ones who have less meaning in their child's upbringing. I have actually had all 3 mommy labels in the past and know, from this experience, that I have been just as involved in my children's' lives regardless of the label. There are 14 children in Madeline's preschool class, who all have the same teacher, but are remarkably different. That is because they all have different mommies and daddies who are raising them. Even though they are in daycare during the work week, their parents' impact is huge. Time does not always mean more impact.
As all who read this blog know, we have been trying to put me in the SAHM job for a while because it is what I would love to do. I would love to be there for every minute but circumstances dictate that I will work, for the time being. So, I am thankful to the wonderful people who care for my children when I am not able to. Most of those wonderful people are working mothers, like me, who miss their own children but are having to serve their families in other ways.
This all probably seems like a lot of rambling and I am not really trying to start some kind of debate. I just want everyone out there to know that, no matter what your mommy label is, you are a wonderful gift to your children whether you spend every moment with them or every morning, evening, and weekend. Thank you to those who help mothers as well, we could not do it without you!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

A Decision Has Been Made

Well, after a lot of prayers and many serious discussions between Nathan and I, we have decided that I will keep working. We are not sure how long, but I do feel at peace with this decision. It is hard to explain all the reasoning but basically, we are just not prepared to live on his income. Those who know us best know that we already live a pretty frugal life. There is just not much we can cut out and leave enough for all of the little "extra" surprises that seem to pop up each month.

I have had a little bit of a hard time moving on, but I know that God will direct me in the path I need to go and , for now, this is what He would have me do. I feel a peace that I never felt when I was juggling how we were going to make it work on Nathan's income and I know that is because it was not the right decision. Nathan has been wonderful in all of this and reminds me daily of what a truly wonderful man I married.

So, with that decision made, we had to move on to the other one. We are not going to start foster care right now. I want to be able to be the best possible foster parents we can be and don't feel that we would be able to serve our desired age group as well if I am working full time. It is something that we will re-visit each year and feel that we will do it sometime in the future.

Now, we go on and live a life that I hope makes God very proud. I will still throw myself into motherhood and wifehood (is that even a word?) with everything that I have while making sure that I also continue to work to be the person God wants me to be. I look forward to another year in the wonderful world of 1st grade and hope that God will use me to do His work in this part of my life. I will keep reminding myself that there are many wonderful and amazing mothers in this world who work outside the home (my mom included) and that there is no perfect and exacting prescription for raising children the "right" way. I will turn to God when I am faced with people who think this choice is somehow selfish and materialistic and know that this was a difficult decision that was made carefully and with love.

Thank you to those who I talk to more often in "real life" for your support and listening ears.

I will try to find time in this busy time of year to post more pictures. Both kids are growing and changing so fast right now and I can't wait to spend this summer with them!!!

God Bless!

I'm finally back!

Okay, I've been on a blogging hiatus for almost 3 months. It has not been intentional. First, I was just busy after going back to work after Christmas Break. Then, we looked like we would have a change in the plans I posted about last time and I just felt weird and kind of sad posting about the changes. But, I'm back. I've kept up with everyone else and hope you haven't given up on me.

Now, for some updating. After taking the steps to become a SAHM, our heater went out. Then, other expenses started to creep up on us and we were really feeling the pressure. Also, everyone at work kept telling me how terrible it was that I was leaving because they thought I was such a good teacher and would really be missed. One of my co-workers, whose daughter will be in 1st next year, even started trying to talk me into teaching for just one more year so that she could have me. Then we realized that, if I do stay at home, Maddie will have to sit out of preschool because it is super expensive and there is not a more cost-effective alternative. All of this combined made me start to have 2nd thoughts. Can we afford such a change? Am I wasting my teaching talent? Is it okay for Maddie to miss a year of preschool before kindergarten? Can I teach her as well at home? So, I told my boss and Nathan that I felt that I would need to keep working and thought that was that. I would keep working, we would put off foster parenting, and just wait for a time that we could better afford this lifestyle change.

Well, then we got a call from DHS to set up our first in-home meeting. We had been waiting and waiting and then just planned to tell them never mind, we are not ready. Then, I started thinking that we could still be foster parents, the babies will just have to go to daycare. The DHS person came and met with us and BOOM!!! All of my feelings about wanting to stay at home with my own children and a foster child came flooding back. I felt like I had made a rushed decision to keep working in fear, feeling all the pressure of the expectations of everyone around me.

I still have not made a decision one way or the other. I'm glad that I still have plenty of time to change my mind and really pray and think things through. I just need to look to God and really weigh the outcome more carefully. Needless to say, Nathan is a little put out with the roller coaster of my decisions and just wants to be settled one way or the other. He tends to lean toward me working because of financial concerns but is willing to support the decision for me to stay at home.

Now, if you have had enough patience to actually read all of this, I would love to hear your advice. I know that I follow blogs who are very diverse and would love to hear everyone's perspective. Is the financial worry of letting go of half our income worth it? Thank you in advance for reading and for any advice you have!

Here are a few pictures too:

Madeline had dance pictures a few weeks ago, and we sponge-rolled her hair for the first time. I thought she just looked precious walking around in the rollers that I had to catch it. I had planned to have a cute after picture, but we made the mistake of not drying her thick hair more before putting in the rollers and the curls did not hold because it was still pretty damp. We had to go to plan B and use a curling iron when we got there. Live and learn!

They also recently had a day for parents to come watch and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had to take a 1/2 day of work since her dance is at 1:30 but it was so worth it. I need to crop and zoom in better on this but thought it was tool cute not to share before. Madeline is the 2nd from the left in the bright pink.