How in the World?

How did it happen that I blinked my eyes and my baby boy was celebrating his second birthday?!? I can't believe it! We've been celebrating for the last week, with Gilbert's parents here last weekend and my family here this weekend. I'm pretty sad the official celebration is over. I guess maybe because that means he's another year older. He's my "two-year-old" and not my "almost-two-year-old." It makes me sad. I'm having a much harder time with two than I did with one.

I was telling Cole just before I put him to bed that at this exact time two years ago, I was probably in the labor/delivery room pushing. Which reminded me of a book I love, On the Day You Were Born. I read it to him and cried the whole way through. Truth is, I'm still fighting tears at the thought.

Here are some pictures of the celebration over the last week, including last Saturday's "party" at Dog-n-Suds, tools from Gran and Pawpaw, and enjoying gifts with cousin Mamie at the park:





"And as they held you close they whispered into your open, curving ear, 'We are so glad you've come!'"

Yes, I am Among the Living

I'm here, making my best attempt at treading water in this business we call teaching. Things are going well. Other than the fact that I have a handful of boys in one period who are doing their best to get under my skin, the days are bearable. I do find myself, however, thinking about how I'd love to be a counselor some days and not be in the classroom. Other days I like the classroom and am glad I'm there. I've been able, so far, to successfully leave school at school and not have stress about it at home. (I hesitate to even leave that sentence on there because I don't want to ruin my streak.) Today as I drove home and obsessed about those boys, I remembered that advice given by Beth Moore not so many weeks ago (and I'm paraphrasing, to some extent)..."If your job has grown stale, maybe you don't need a new job. Maybe you need a new business partner." And, "consider the fact that God knows more about your job than you do." So I prayed that he would show me the right way to handle these boys who have started things off on the wrong foot so very early in the year. By the time I got out of the van to come into the house, I felt better about it. Now if I can just remember that when I walk into the classroom tomorrow.

On a different note, Cole started daycare this week. I wish I had lots to report. I've been a little frustrated that I haven't been able to get the scoop from the teachers who keep him all day, but we can't drag it out of them. I do know that he didn't have a nap yesterday, but he did have one today. That's the most we've been able to get out of them. I'm trying my best not to be the unbearable new mom that I was when Cole attended Gatorland, but I do wish I could find out how his days are. On the positive side, though, it really isn't logical for me to pick him up in the afternoon (it takes almost an hour from my school to daycare to home), so I don't feel bad about not picking him up because I won't be missing out on making it home with the daily scoop.

He's the same happy boy though, so things must not be so bad. Gilbert said that when he pulled into the driveway this afternoon and told Cole that I was home, Cole said, "Mom's home! YES!"

In Good Shape

Home; first day behind me; no scars, scrapes, bruises to speak of; cute little boy cuddled up in my lap. This is the life.

New beginnings--again

Three new things I thought you might like to know:

1. My job is starting next week. I have a new faculty orientation tomorrow, I work Monday, and the kids come Tuesday. I compared my feelings today to preparing for a wedding. You think for a long time at the beginning of the engagement about what you want to do, and make some preparations for those things. Then, if you're engaged for a whole stinkin' year like we were, you wait for a long time, knowing that you're going to be bombarded with stuff to do the week of the wedding. That's how I feel. I've been laying low, trying to rack my brain for effective things to do, but now I'm at the bombarded stage. It's a little scary, but I'm not to the point of tears yet, which is a good (and surprising) thing.

2. We're about to be homeowners again. We found a house on foreclosure that we love, and God worked in the situation to make it better timing for us than we'd originally thought. We almost turned down the bank's counter offer because we thought it would happen too soon for us to get our new finances in order, but after we told the realtor we were going to turn it down, it became possible for us to close later, after I started getting paid. (Does this make any sense? I'm trying to spare you the typical long, drawn-out Kate version. Are you confused anyway?)

3. I've become a member of Facebook. I thought it was a bad idea, my sister convinced me otherwise, and now I find myself thinking, "What in the world made me think that I'll have time to do this? Is this going to mean the demise of my blog? (I'll work hard for this not to happen.) Am I too old-fogey to be this hip? Am I too old-fogey to figure out all this stuff?"

Just thought you might like to know what's new!

One of those melt-your-heart moments

My boy. I am SO PROUD of him! May I brag for a minute? He is so sweet and polite. He is really very good at pleases and thank-you's. Thank-you's especially. About a quarter of the time he has to be told that a thank-you is appropriate. The rest of the time, he does it on his own. It's not perfectly clear, but it's said in his own precious way, and everyone understands what he means.

Today we were in the middle of our usual morning routine. Gilbert had come downstairs for breakfast and turned on SportsCenter. Cole and I quickly followed. As we sat and ate our oatmeal, we watched along with Gilbert (an Encore of the Cubs sweep!). When Gilbert finished seeing what he was interested in, he changed the channel to Disney, where one of our favorite shows was on--Bunnytown. As the two of us watched for a few minutes, Gilbert cleaned up his dishes and started to make his way upstairs. When he was probably halfway up my sweet boy yelled, "Daddy?" When Gilbert responded he then said, "Thank you. Bunnies." Like he realized how thankful he was to be watching it and just had to show his gratitude. Talk about your heart melting. I'm talking puddle-status.