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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

I have brains in my head

Dr. Seuss wrote in his book "Oh The Places You'll Go" "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go".  I thought this was very profound considering the changes that I have made in my life.  What changes?  I thought someone might ask that, so her I go to begin to explain the whys and hows.
Some may know that I am STILL going to college to obtain my degree (it doesn't matter how long it takes right?).  Currently I am majoring in elementary education.  I have fulfilled all of my class requirements to graduate except student teaching.  In order to student teach, one much pass a series of tests to prove that they are competent.  Understandable, right?  Right.  I have passed one called the VCLA and will take the VRA in less than a month.  There are two other tests called PRAXIS (one and two) that I need to take and pass.  Well, I have taken PRAXIS 1 numerous times and it has continued to be the BIGGEST thorn in my side.  Apparently Virginia has the highest qualifying scores needed.  What was my score?  531 out of the required 532.  Could you just scream?!  I personally chose to cry, but that's just me.  I have taken that awful test at least 4 times and it is not cheap.  It's $130.00 to take all three parts...EACH TIME.  None of these tests are cheap.  How can poor college kids get a degree with all of these testing fees?!  Boggles my mind.  I digress.  So, I feel like I am a complete idiot and have no business teaching anyones children since I can't seem to pass that test.  I did; however, pass the VCLA with a very high score, so apparently I can teach people how to read and write, just not math (that is my problem area).  
I have been thinking and stressing over this for a very long time and here is what I have decided.  I changed my major.  WHAAAAAAATTTTTT?!?!?!?!  I know.  It's shocking.  Let me explain.  Financially I can not afford to take these tests again.  It's just impossible and I have too much pride to ask for help, so this is the avenue I have taken.  It will actually work out to our benefit.  I will not even begin to explain how my school labels their degrees, but I have switched to Interdisciplinary Studies.  That's really what my major was before, I just had an elementary education endorsement.  So now it will be that with a concentration in elementary education and psychology (because I have a crap load of psych classes from when I wanted to pursue nursing).  By doing this I have saved us A LOT of money.  I've also saved myself from going through the heartache of sending my beautiful boy to daycare this fall.  As many mommy's know, daycare doesn't come cheap.  I can take all of my classes online this semester and in the spring and this only puts me a semester behind and I don't have to pass any tests to obtain my degree and I can still teach with the degree I will get.  I just have to go about getting my license a different way.  All is good.  I get to play with Zach and see him grow up and do cool things and go to school all under the same roof.  I also won't need to go back to work because going this route will enable us to get tuition refunds that we need to stay afloat.
Bottom line, I chose what I thought was best for me and my little family.  I know people will have their opinions (if anyone even reads what I write), but all I'm asking for is understanding and support.  At the end I will have my bachelors and go on to hopefully be a teacher.  I promise to be the best teacher I can be, even if I'm not good at math.


In other news, my cousin Lexi found out that she is pregnant!  Her's is the wedding we went to in May.  They work fast, huh?!  She is 8 weeks and 5 days today and we all couldn't be happier for her.  The baby is due around February 1st and one of her sisters is due toward the end of September 2010.  My aunt is beside herself happy with the idea of 2 grandbabies!!!  It's neat to me because me, my cousin Lexi and my cousin Beth are all pretty much exactly a year apart with Lexi being the oldest (me in the middle...so on and so forth).  Our children will all be born within a year of each other too.  Zach was born November 2009, Beth's will be September 2010 and Lexi's will be February 2011.  Babies born in three consecutive years just like their mommies!!  I just thought this was really cool.  I just wish that we could have grown up together or that we were closer so our children would have that opportunity.  Life works in crazy ways, so who knows what will happen.


I should go now.  I've given you (whoever you are) enough to read.  Plus I'm staaaaavin!


Love,
Sarah

Friday, June 18, 2010

He's so strong

Zach is 7 months and 3 days old as of today and guess what he did!!  He pulled himself up onto his feet for the first time!!  He has been using me and Doug as jungle gyms, but today he held on to one of our couches and actually did it all on his own!  I was so impressed!!  I laughed and praised him so much that he started laughing and smiling and fell down, but he got right back up and did it again!!  **Sigh**  such a big boy...




Love,

Sarah

In over a decade...

My husband has not been to a doctor in over a decade.  Well, he has, but for little minor things.  He hasn't had a full physical in YEARS, so we went to the doctor yesterday.  He checked out ok, except he needs to see a cardiologist for some heart issues he has been having and an ear, nose and throat doctor for some throat problems.  Hopefully we can get him straight so he can stay around for a little longer.  I don't know why men don't take better care of themselves.  They seem to have a this thing where they think they are super human.  I wonder if the doctor can fix that...

love
Sarah

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Did I say 1?

Because I meant 3!!  I looked in Zach's mouth this morning and saw 2 more teeth that had broken through over night!! 
Zach fell asleep around 8ish and I don't remember him crying out during the first half of the night, but I guess he did because he ended up in bed with me, and then that child was up at 0245 ready to play!!  Monster!!  So I played with him for a while...let him attack the dogs because that humored me (if I had to be up so did they) and then I gave him a bottle and sometime after 4 he fell back asleep.  I think I'll be in bed early tonight.
So anyways...I was working at the church this morning and I had him on his back and I was making him giggle (I'm good at that) and I saw 3 little white "things" on his upper gums and I grabbed his chubby little face (relax...by grab I mean took in my hands softly) and opened his mouth.  Did I see what I thought I saw?!  YES!!!  3 new teeth!!!  He now has his 2 bottom teeth and 2 top teeth and 1 next to those.  I can't BELIEVE it!!!  My baby has 5 teeth now!!  It makes my heart hurt a little because he's becoming such a big kid.  Soon he won't want me to smother him with kisses (I'm sure he doesn't want me to do that now) or lay with him, or call him my baby, or nibble his toes and pretend to bite his hands, or hug him...or tell him I love him in front of people...aaaahhh...tears!!  For now I will savor all of my little lovely baby moments with him...
I hear him screaming my name...gotta go.

Love
Sarah

Saturday, June 12, 2010

And A 3rd Comes In

That's right.  My baby is getting his 3rd tooth.  It's one of his top ones.  I can't believe how fast everything is happening.  Well, I feel like it is happening fast...too fast.  Maybe that has been part of his mood lately.  Teething.  I'll be honest.  The boy is driving me crazy!!  I can't even attempt to leave a room with out him coming unhinged.  Poor thing.  Poor me.  Everyone says "enjoy it now...one day he won't want you".  I get that, but every once in a while I would like to pee with out his little blue peepers staring at me!  Now we (and by we I mean me and Zach) have resorted to taking showers together.  I can't leave him in his bouncy seat without him screaming and flipping it over.  He won't play happily like he used to in his activity center if I leave a room and I can't leave him alone in the living room without him getting into stuff.  So, because of that, I either have to wait until Doug is home, hope Zach falls asleep so I can shower...quickly because that boy does power naps, or our new favorite...shower with mommy! I hear it's just a phase, so I'm hoping it goes as quickly as it came.  He's still my happy little boy, but only when we are joined at the hip.
Aside from learning that he has another tooth coming in, I learned something else.  Don't give a baby prunes unless they are constipated.  LORD!!!  I gave him some with dinner simply because he's never had them and I wanted to know if he liked them.  He did...they were mixed with apples...and within the hour he had stunk up the house!  Poor kid!!  I'd say he's clear for a while!
My car is on the fritz too.  It's been doing this stuttering thing when it first starts.  Seems like it's going to cut off and then after driving it for a few minutes it starts acting right again.  Well today it lasted 25 minutes.  I was waiting to see if my car would power down or just explode.  Exploding is kinda scary.  A normal person would probably taken the car home and said "forget the errands"...nope...not me.  I kept on truckin to get my errands done.  I'm a goof sometimes.  My friends honey bunny says I probably need a new fuel filter.  I figured once we spent 150 on new sensors the problem was fixed.  Stupid car.
I feel like there was something else I wanted to write, but I can't seem to remember what it was.  Hmmm...well if I remember I'll be sure to come back and jot it down.


Before I go, we babysat my niece the other day and my sister in law and I took some good "aww...look at Maggie/Zach when they were little" pictures of our kiddos to show their boy/girlfriend when they go on their first date...Enjoy!

Love,
Sarah

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

My Morning Started Off...

...fairly normal I suppose.  Zach woke up around 0545 this morning which is a little earlier than normal, but here lately is becoming the norm.  Doug came home, I fed Zach and then went and played with him in his room.  He then took a quick nap...and I do mean quick and then I took him in the bathroom with me so I could take a shower.  This is where normal ended. 
Zach has a bouncy chair that he sits in while I take a shower and it has little bears that hang from it that he can play with.  Yeah...not happening.  Ever since we took the shower doors down and put up a curtain, he no longer likes to sit there and play nice.  Or maybe it's because he's mobile now and always wants to be on the move.  Either way, he through a fit about being in his chair.  I tried to hurry up but my effort wasn't good enough.  He screamed and cried so much that I thought he would wake Doug up.  I peeked out of the shower and Zach had turned himself all the way around in the chair (yes, he was fastened in) and was crying his little eyeballs out.  I tried to hurry and then all of a sudden I heard a thud and more cries.  Yes, he flipped himself completely out of the chair and onto the floor.  I jumped out of the shower and picked him up to comfort him.  The days of a peaceful shower are over.  I stripped him down and brought him in with me.  He didn't care for that either, but what were his options?
So now my little big boy has separation anxiety from his momma.  Great!  The fun begins!

Love
S~

Monday, June 7, 2010

My Inner Martha

So my friend Jen introduced me to this website called oneprettything.com ...I'm pretty addicted to say the least.  I stalk the website daily for new ideas (sometimes more than once a day...ok most times more than once a day).  There are so many cute ideas on there that make me go "hmm..I think I could do that."  So I went to Michaels to set out and find what I "thought" I could do.  While I was there I flipped through a couple of jewelry books and decided I could use some beads to make picture frames...well decorate picture frames.  Here are my finished works:









Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Gone Are The Days...

...When I could just put my son in his swing and walk away...or lay him on the bed and know that he wouldn't roll off in the early morning hours.  Since we got home from Texas (2 weeks and 1 day ago) the wee one can now role over front to back and back to front, sit up on his own and army crawl to where ever he wants to go.  I don't know how I feel about this.  On one hand I'm excited because now he can do these things on his own, but on the other hand I'm sad.  I'm sad because my baby is becoming more independent and doing things on his own.  He doesn't seem like such a baby baby anymore.  He's turning into a big boy.  I know he still needs and wants me...hence the screaming he does when he is crawling/scooting as fast as his little arms will take him when I leave the room, but I am starting to miss the teeny tiny baby.  No, this does not mean I want another baby right now.  I'm just saying. 
It is exciting to see these (quick) changes in him!  Now if only I could get him to hold his bottle on his own...

Love,
S~