Burgers, Babies, and Birthday Girls!

On Saturday we went to mermaid Ellie's birthday party at Maclay Gardens. The kids had a blast! They swam in the water, ate cake, swung at the pinata, and ate Spencer's yummy burgers. It was also the first time all the girls that had babies in the last couple of months all were in the same place at the same time. Here is a picture taken of all of us.

From left to right: Sandra and Ranen Zane 2.17, Carey and Clark Thomas 5.4,
Julie and James Cash 4.7, Me and Aiden James 4.25, and Darcy and Nena Janie 4.16.

These are some of the best moms and friends that you could probably find. I can call them whenever I have a mommy question or just to chat. I am glad that Aiden will have such a great group of friends.

It's all good!

In a recent post I talked about my job offer and my worries of talking to my principal. Well I spoke to her and she was extremely understanding. I let her know that this would most likely not be forever, just for while until Aiden is older. She assured me that she would hire me back in a heartbeat, and understood that this was a life change. So now I really feel like Mark and I made the right decision. Thank you for all of your prayers. Since then I have also talked to others who have had positive experiences with the preschool. I am pumped!

This is a picture of Aiden and one of his sweet smiles. We seem to get them more often now, but we still have to really work for it. Smiles usually come after mealtime, or in the morning at Daddy. He is 2 months old today! My how time flies.

Our Furry Four Legged Friend

One year ago I was convincing Mark that we should try to have kids. I didn't think that I could win that battle (come to find out I was wrong), so I put my efforts in trying to convince him that we needed a dog. So a couple of weeks later we came home with the prettiest yellow lab I had ever set my eyes on. Mark named him Coletrane. No he was not named after the Jazz player but the Dukes of Hazzard character Roscoe P. Coltrane.

Coletrane has turned out to be the coolest animal I have ever had. He will snuggle up to you at night on the bed when he supposed to be on the floor, catch a frisbee flying in the air, bark at little noises and "protect" me when Mark is not home. He will also wrestle on the floor and lick your face. He has so much energy he can knock over a glass shelf with one swish of his tail.

But the thing that makes him the coolest is how gentle he is with Aiden. He has never once shown any jealousy towards him, and the energetic ball of fur turns into a gentle giant around him. The other day Aiden was having his usual 7pm screaming session, and I couldn't do anything to console him. So I put him on a blanket on his back so that I could take a bathroom break. Once I got there the screaming stopped. Cole had gotten tired of it as well I guess, because when I returned I found him licking ( I know... Gross! ) Aidens face. The crying did continue, but he had tried.

One thing I wish Coletrane would learn how to do is to drip the water over his bowl rather than all across my kitchen.

A bittersweet offer

Ever since Aiden came along and even before that, thoughts of how in the world I go back to work have been in the back of my head. Well Mark and I determined that financially it just would not work out. So I decided to go back to my teaching job realizing that I would be providing for our family and that this was another way to be there for Aiden.

So even after my decision I still couldn't help but thinking about it. Sunday, a friend of mine called and told me about a job a lady at her church offered her. My friend told the lady about me. The lady wanted to meet me right away. So I went to meet her yesterday and she offered me a job working part time co-teaching with my friend teaching four year olds that are entering Kindergarten. Here is the best part. It is from 8-1 and Aiden goes with me and she is holding a spot open for him.

That was the sweet part now for the bitter...

This job is going to be a major pay cut. I know that many sacrifices will have to be made, and I am okay with that. It is just a huge leap of faith. Can we afford it? Mark and I really believe that it is the right decision- but we are going to have to change our whole comfy way of life, and really buckle down.

So here goes... I took the job at Celebration Baptist Church and I am ready to make a change. Now who is going to tell my principal?

Lifelong Friends

Last night me and my three best girlfriends got together to say good- bye to Dana. She will be going to Europe to study this summer and then soon after her return she will make her way to Maryland to try to start a new chapter of her life.

Sitting together last night I felt like we had been in the same situation many times before. Sending one of us off, or sharing a major life event, something always keeps us close. The four of us became friends about 13 years ago. At the time we were all very much alike, but now we are all very different, with very different lives. We joke and say that we could never not be friends because we have too much dirt on each other, but the truth is the love we have for one another is so deeply embedded that I cannot picture a day without my sisters.

Some of the chapters of my life have not included all of these girls, but I hope that in the end they will all be there. I also hope that my own children will have such special friends.

This is a picture of the four of us at Lauren's suprise birthday Luau that her husband John threw for her.

Gentlemen, Start your engines!

My mother in law sent me this picture of Aiden from when they last visited. If you couldn't tell Mark is watching the NASCAR race and Aiden on the floor intently looking on. All those Sunday afternoons watching the race with Mark must have rubbed off somehow. I guess this shows the love men have for machines and all things fast at even the earliest age.

12 Hours Sleep by 12 Weeks Old?

So here I am. I had another blog at one point of time but yes I was a slacker and posted one entry. I think that was about a year and a half ago. So I thought I would give it another shot. Right now life is pretty good. I am finally getting Aiden to sleep in his own bed. He is sleeping for up to 4 hours at a time. Mark and I both are getting more sleep. Overall I am getting used to this Mom thing and I am starting to feel somewhat normal again. It is the start of a hot summer and I am looking forward to the time that I have to spend with Aiden because I know that it will all change in August when I go back to work. I am having so much fun getting to know him and watching him change. I also love watching Mark interact with Aiden. This past week Aiden smiled his first smile. I don't think it was gas related, but Daddy related. He was laying on the floor looking into his toy mirror, and Mark was behind him talking to him. Mark was just working it, and suddenly Aiden's face lit up. Upon seeing this Mark and I both started up again and we managed one more smile. New life is a beautiful thing I tell ya!