This and That

Life has been anything but dull lately.  We've definitely been keeping busy, so a few things to catch up on...

We had visitors again last weekend.  Having friends visit two weekends in a row was so wonderful!  It's no secret that the hardest thing for me living here has been the lack of close friendships, so getting some time to visit with another girlfriend, her hubby, and sweet baby girl was just what I needed!  My friend Shannon and her family came to visit us from Chicago.  It's the perfect distance for an easy weekend get-away.  If we both stay living in the Midwest, I see lots of family visits in our future.  LOVE it! 

While they visited we were able to take the kiddos to the park and play outside.  How sweet is this?!

Makena is cute as can be.  She's a little over a year old now and her mama dresses her in the most adorable girly outfits.  She's so laid back and a good baby!  If I ever have a girl, Shannon will be one of my number 1 go-to gals!  We hadn't really seen MJ around younger babies much now that he's more and more into the toddler phase.  We were so pleased to see how gentle and kind he was with her and willing to share all his toys.  I think he only pushed her out of the way once!  ha!  It was reassuring to see how he acted towards her and the lack of jealousy he showed anytime we'd play with her or hold her.  Hopefully this keeps up! 

We were also lucky enough to get another double date night...two weekends in a row, we're on a roll!!  Since my birthday had just passed and Shannon's was coming up, we decided to head to Star Brewery for some yummy birthday deserts.  Then, we headed down to the Stone Cliff Winery to hear some live music and enjoy a bottle of wine together.  Shannon is expecting her second baby now, so she was sipping on water.  What a great sport!  :) 

In other news, mom just wrapped up the end of her radiation.  This week she had radiation twice per day for 5 days.  Poor thing is quite worn out I think, but she seemed to do so well through it all!  I really wish I could have been there to help and be with her, but unfortunately it just didn't work out.  Can't wait to see her later this week and give her a huge hug!  What a survivor she is!  Thanks for the prayers and encouragement for her and our family! 

My brother is graduating this weekend from University of Florida with his MBA.  So proud of him and also wishing I could be there to celebrate!  Apparently I need several clones, so I can be with everyone but also take care of my work and family.  Hmmm...how does one go about doing that?  My parents were planning to be there for Jeff's graduation, but unfortunately they had to cancel due to the obvious reason.  Jeff has worked quite hard these last couple years and I couldn't be happier for my big brother and his accomplishment.  Go Gators!  ;)  (sorry, Mat)

I've been keeping quite busy with work related things lately.  Yesterday I presented at my first ever professional conference.  I co-presented with an education professor from Loras at the Early Literacy and Reading Recovery Conference at University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.  It was a great experience, but I will admit I'm glad it's behind me and I can breathe a sigh of relief.  I'm also beginning my first course as faculty for Ashford University in less than a week.  I'll be teaching an Early Childhood Cultural Diversity class online, so I've been busy prepping and gathering materials for this.  Of course, I also had my interview last week at Clarke University.  It couldn't have went any better!  It was quite intense...3 hours total, but I left feeling GREAT about it!   I got such great feedback, and really hit it off with several of the professors that I met.  Honestly, I'm still up in the air if it's really what I want but am continuing to hope and pray that it works out as it's meant to be.  I really felt like I would hear something this past week, but I haven't.  That doesn't seem like a great sign to me, but we'll see what happens.  I am under the impression that it's down to myself and one other candidate.  To be continued, I suppose...

MJ has been doing great these last couple weeks. His verbal skills have really taken off recently!  His speech and hearing evaluation is already set up for this coming Tuesday, but I can't believe the progress we've been seeing in the last 5-7 days!  He's begun saying several two and even three word phrases now, which seems encouraging to us!  Some of his favorites are "bye, bye ball" (he had never said the words "bye bye" until this past week), "eat cookie", and "ohh yea".  He continues to delve more and more into toddler hood.  For the most part he's quite a happy and content little guy that is eager to please, but boy when those temper tantrums come on it's often a mystery to me!  I decided to take him out to breakfast one morning this week by myself on our way to school.  Everything was going perfect and we were enjoying a nice little breakfast.  Somehow he got frustrated with his yogurt and then it all went downhill QUICKLY from there.  He threw the biggest fit in public yet!  I finally just threw in the towel and tried to carry him out to the car.  He was flailing so bad though that I had to set him down for a minute and that's when he decided to throw himself on the ground in protest.  Ohhh yes, in the middle of the parking lot!  I was definitely that mom getting all the stares that morning.  Oh how I remember the thoughts I use to have when I'd see a parent look totally frustrated and in lack of control of their own child.  Now I can sympathize and realize we all have those moments at one point or another.  Gotta take the lows with the highs I suppose, right??  Luckily the tantrum passed as soon as we took off in the car. 

Last but not least, I've been like a kid in a candy store lately playing with my new Silhouette SD.  I used my birthday money to buy this for myself.  My inner crafty girl is coming out more and more.  I love having my own work space up in our new master bedroom (more to share on that later).  It's becoming my little haven to work on my own hobbies, and I am REALLY enjoying it.  I've made a couple super cute things this weekend, and will share some pics later.  I can't wait to learn more and more about how to use it and discover some more cute things to make! 

As we celebrate Palm Sunday and approach Easter Week, I am humbled my the ultimate sacrifice.  Who am I to receive such a wonderful gift? I look forward to celebrating the Easter holiday with both our families this coming weekend!