Back in the saddle again...

The time has official come to start back to work. Both of the children are still sound asleep in their beds at this moment. It is just the worst feeling having to start another school year and end another summer. I love my job, but I love the time I have to stay at home with Sophie and Noah during the summer.

To make the transition easier, Hannah (our favorite babysitter), will be coming to the house in about 45 minutes. She will come to the house each morning this week to keep Sophie and Noah here at the house. It certainly makes my life 10,000 times easier this first week back to work. Next Monday, Sophie will start the three year old class at her old preschool. Noah will be joining her for the first time this August. She tells me all the time that she is excited about Noah going to school with her. I wonder how long those feelings will last!!??

I'm a big kid now...

I know this is horrible of me....

I have not posted any pictures of Noah, and now he is seven months old! So, to make up for my laziness, I am posting a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure! Noah has started creeping along, and the last couple of days, he has started pulling up!! I got some video today, and I am posting videos for the first time in my life! Enjoy!

Disney World and Princesses

Several months ago, Chad and I began discussing the Disney World situation. We definitely wanted to take Sophie to Disney World while she is still young enough for everything to be "real". We were afraid that if we waited for Noah to get older, it would not be as magical for Sophie. With all that being said, we are headed to Orlando for Thanksgiving! I am super excited! My childhood Disney vacations are still some of my best memories!


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Better all the time...

Yesterday, Sophie and I headed to a water park for some relief from the heat! We met my best friend and her son, Harrison. Sophie and Harrison are only about a year apart in age. They are getting really good and playing with each other. It is so nice because that means Melanie and I get to spend time together. The point is that during our time together we were talking about my new hobby of blogging. She quickly pointed out that "true bloggers" are posting every two or three days. I am getting better, and I will continue to get better at this. For those of you that know me well, you know that I LOVE to sew. I sew, monogram, and applique clothes for my children and their friends. However, when do I really have time to do those things that I enjoy? Well, after everyone (including my husband) go to bed for the night. Sometimes, I get so frustrated because I feel like I don't ever have time for myself. Then I focus on the fact that my children will not be small forever. My time with my children bring me more joy than anything else that I do for myself.



So, school starts back in less than two weeks. I am always full of emotions at the beginning of a new school year. I love my job, and I could not imagine doing anything else. I am so blessed that I have a job that allows me so much time off to spend with my children. I look forward to meeting new students each year, and I love working with teenagers. I also have a hint of sadness because another summer has past, and next summer, my children will be another year older. One thing that makes it a little easier is Sophie's preschool. She is in an amazing Christian preschool. She loves her teachers and friends. I have never had to deal with her crying or not wanting to go to school. Noah will be joining her this fall, and she is so excited. I think it will be so good for both of them to be at the same place.

Got Sleep?

I have learned my lesson! I will never compare my children again....

Sophie was an amazing sleeper from a very early age. She would sleep through the night by the age of about six weeks old. I think we were incredibly naive, and there was a part of us that just assumed that Noah would be a great sleeper as well. Were we ever wrong! Noah is a horrible sleeper. I say horrible...he probably is just typical. There are nights that he is still up three and four times. He is very difficult to get back to sleep also. To make matters worse, Sophie decided that when brother came along she needed to sleep in the bed with us! She was so good about sleeping in her room. I suppose that when Noah came along, she felt like she was being left out by not being in the room with us. We didn't have the heart to say no. Maybe we should just bring Sam the dog into the house and let him sleep with us also!!

Sweet Story

This past weekend, Sophie, Noah, and I hit the road and headed to Scottsboro. On the way, I found myself in the sweetest conversation with Sophie. She told me that she had two papas that love her very much. I agreed with her. She then continued by asking me if I had a papa. I explained that I did, but he died several years ago. She asked if I missed him. I told her that I did very much. She said, "Awww...I will help you find him!" I quickly explained that he had died, and he is now living in heaven with Jesus. She went on to tell me that she was going to miss her papa when he went to live with Jesus. I explained that one day she would get to live in heaven with Jesus and her papa also. She asked if she could meet my papa when we all lived there with Jesus one day. She also asked if her daddy and Noah would live in heaven one day with all of us. What a precious moment. I found myself thinking how her faith makes heaven even more real to me. I look forward to the day when I am in heaven with my heavenly father, my papa, and the rest of my loved ones. Wouldn't it all be so much easier if we all had that kind of childlike faith as adults?

Milestones

I am currently enjoying the summer with Sophie and Noah. One of the greatest gifts of being a teacher is the summers off work :-) This is the first summer that I have had free from pregnancy and graduate school since Chad and I have been married.

Sophie is such a challenge these days. She is seriously three going on thirteen. To everyone that says two is terrible, I say three is WAY worse! She has enough independence and intelligence to be dangerous! Some of the things that come out of her mouth amaze me. Last week, she told her daddy that he was ruining her life all because he was trying to get her to take a shower. I am afraid Sophie's teenage years are going to be the death of us. Aside from the much needed daily attitude adjustments, she is turning into such a little girlie girl. She loves her dresses, make-up, and jewelry. I look forward to the days of shopping trips and spa dates together.

Noah is growing so much. He has definitely come a long way from that NICU stay six months ago. He has his six month check up last week. He weighed in at 17 pounds and 2 ounces. He is such a chubby baby. He laughs, smiles, and babbles at us. He really is pleasant baby. He is so close to crawling that I expect it any day. He tries so hard. We are still waiting for the first tooth to cut. He is drooling like crazy and chewing on everything.

I finally feel like we are starting to get adjusted to being a family of four. The debate is still ongoing as to whether or not there will be a baby number three.....