"So, what do you do?"

This is the first time in a while that I have been asked this question.  I went to the eye doctor this morning. (Not a good appointment.  Something is wrong with my left cornea, so I have to go back Saturday after not wearing contacts for three days to see if it has healed itself. UGH!)  Anyway, as the doctor was writing things down, he asked me..."So, what do you do?"

And for the first time in 9 years, I had to pause before I answered. 

I rambled around and finally spit out that I start a new job, working for the city, tomorrow.

I've taught for 9 years.  It is all I've known for 9 years.  And, starting tomorrow, I have a whole new way of thinking to learn.  Like, not shoving my lunch down my throat since I get a whole hour.  Or, to get in my car in the middle of the day to run an errand isn't a weird thing.  Of course this list could go on, but I won't bore you.

I'll be honest, I'm kind of having an identity crisis.  I know for a FACT that it was time for me to be done at my last school.  I know for a FACT that God opened the doors for us to move where we have family.  I know we've done the right things and that we are where we are supposed to be.

However, I can't shake the whole "not-teaching" thing.  I am hoping once the shelves are cleared of the school supplies and once school is officially back in session, I will be over it.  Maybe I will be over it when I can walk in the door at 5:15, drop my stuff and hug my babies and not worry about grading this or writing that or reading this or calling that parent. 

I love being a teacher.  I really loved what went on in the classroom...all the rest of the nonsense, not so much, but actually teaching, I loved.  I hope one day to get back to it, but for now am anxiously anticipating what our new life looks like. 

So, from now on, when I am asked what I do, I will say it proudly and hold my head high. 

Stay tuned for details on my new job...

Until next time,
Sam

Millie Turns 3!

**I will back track another day.  I need to update on current stuff for now!

UPDATE: My grandparents are both home and doing okay.  My grandpa is doing a ton better now that his medication is all straightened out.  His doctor gave him permission to go back to normal activities.  That would be golfing three times a week and working around the house.  I talked to him yesterday and he sounded great!  My grandma is a whole different story!  My mom took her to the doctor yesterday and the doctor pretty much told my mom that my grandma is in the beginning stages of dementia.  This explains her paranoia, not eating, not leaving the house and repeating her self a million times.  It really makes me sad.  I just know the "normal" that I knew months ago, will never be the same.  We are going to have to continually adjust to a "new normal."  My grandpa will be her primary caretaker for now and we are just having to take it one day at a time.  She sounds normal when I talk to her, but you can tell something is a little off.  I am really thankful for the progress of my grandpa.  Two going down hill at the same time is going to really take a toll on my mom, as well as my sister and I.

MILLIE turned 3 last Saturday!  I know I will say this every single year of her life, but it is hard to believe that I have a 3 year old!  She woke up on her birthday morning, boldly announcing "It's my birthday today!"  We were non stop after that!  She came out and got lots of hugs and kisses and was ready for presents!  She opened some clothes, a cupcake set and a basketball goal from us.  THEN, she got a card from her Nana and Papa that told her to go outside to the carport...there it was...a pink Mini Cooper!  She was so excited and loves driving it!  She has some trouble steering, but it wont be long before she is driving to the mailbox to check the mail!

After presents she came in for a breakfast of a chocolate donut with 3 candles on top.  She blew and blew and blew, but couldn't quite get them.  I really didn't mind helping her!  She played with her new stuff and we all got ready for her party!  She had her party at Stevi B's pizza where we had our own private room.  A bunch of family came and we did all the normal birthday stuff!  She really likes the game room so to spend a lot of time in there with her cousins was a dream come true I'm sure!  She got quite a few fun toys that are presently strewn about in the living room.  She is one lucky little girl!

We came home for naps and a lot of toy fun!  We finished off the evening with breakfast for dinner!  She really had a great time and I did too!  It was by far the most laid back, stress free party we've had in her short 3 years!  I would certainly do it again!

My Millie is the sweetest little girl and I love her so stinkin much!  She welcomes us each morning with a sweet "good morning" and gives us hugs and kisses.  She is about 75% potty trained and I am convinced she will be good to go very soon.  She can count and sing her ABC's and recognizes most numbers and letters.  She amazes me with the words she knows and the things she says.  (Mom, I'm totally full!)  She loves her brother more than anything in this world and always wants to know where he is.  She loves to sing and her favorite song right now is "If you're happy and you know it" to which she says "Shout Purrrrray!" Instead of Hooray.  I will never correct her!  I had NO clue what a little girl would do to me, but I am SO THANKFUL for her life.  I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit to giver her to Clint and I while we walk this earth.  We are fully aware that she is truly His child and we are doing the best we can to show her Jesus every day!

Happy birthday to my favorite girl in the whole wide world!  Mommy loves you!

Until next time,
Sam

My Grandparents

My grandparents are some of the spunkiest people I know.  They have been around for most of my life.  They have been involved in many aspects of my life even when they didn't belong.  They have always loved me, even if their way of love hurt...badly.  There have been years of my life that my grandparents and I were not on speaking terms because I tried to stand up for myself.  Seriously, I could write a book on the trials I've been through with and because of them.  But on the flip side, I have so many great memories of my times with them.  I respect them and in some ways, look up to them. My grandpa is 81 and my grandma is 78. They have been married for 58 years and are each others best friends.

As of right now, my strong, retired Navy, golf-3-times-a-week, grandpa is in the hospital.  Over a year ago he got shingles and has been dealing with chronic pain from that for a while.  I guess he has really been struggling lately and has stopped eating.  Yesterday he fell twice and they took him to the ER.  He also has a UTI and is dealing with that.  They have told him if he doesn't start eating soon that he will have to have a feeding tube put in.  He doesn't want that so hopefully he will start eating!

What makes this a little crazier is the fact that my mom is the only person they have to help them.  And, she was diagnosed with Lukemia in February. (More about this later) she is weak and tired and sick.

My grandma is struggling with severe depression and anxiety and I know this recent situation with my grandpa isn't helping matters. It all makes me so sad.  I am an hour and a half away and am totally willing to head that way, but they all just keep telling me to stay put.  I will stay put for now, but I am praying for relief for all of them!

Thank you for your prayers!

Until next time,
Sam

January- A Change is coming!

It is so HOT!  Just had to get that off my chest!  Sheesh!  Currently, my 2 (almost 3) year old is laying on her bed with my Kindle watching a show.  I admittedly allow her to do that every single day at naptime only.  She lays down for 10 minutes and then I take it away and she goes to sleep...most of the time.  Otherwise it is a knock down drag out fight just to get her IN the bed, not to mention asleep.  I am picking my battles and 10 minutes of quiet, show time is so worth it to get her to go to naptime calmly.
My 4 month old is swinging in his swing, in need of a much needed nap.  He usually goes right to sleep but today he is in there cooing and babbling away!  Too cute!  I love it when Millie and Tucker take their naps at the same time!  It makes for a peaceful afternoon!

Okay, back to January!

January, we thought our only decision would be whether to make the trip to Denver, Colorado to see my sister get married.  I knew I would always regret it if I didn't try.  I was 8 months pregnant and had to get the go-ahead from my doctor, which thankfully I was granted.  We decided to take the trip.  3 plane tickets, 3 nights in a hotel and an enormous amount of food was to be purchased and the price was astounding.  BUT...money doesn't really matter when it is such a big event!  We did it by saving some Christmas money and knowing we'd have a tax return soon after.  Thankfully that is all paid off now, but boy was that scary!  I am SO SO glad we went!  Millie flew okay...about as okay as can be expected.  I did have to change a poopy diaper, thousands of miles in the air, in a teeny tiny airplane bathroom with my big huge baby belly.  That was an experience.  Millie did throw her very first ever public humiliation fit going through the Denver airport.  Poor thing was just exhausted and didn't know what she wanted.  I was crying right there with her.  Looking back, I don't know why we didn't just STOP and wait it out.  Ahhhh rookies!

Dani's wedding was beautiful.  She was gorgeous and everything happened as she wanted it to!  I read some verses in her wedding and didn't make it through without crying...I felt bad, but it was such an emotional time and remember, I was pregnant!  Millie was the CUTEST flower girl ever!  She did a great job for being 2 1/2 years old.  She really liked dancing and had everyone smiling and laughing.  She made her momma proud!

In November, Clint had an interview with the University of Georgia, Tifton Campus for a public relations position.  In my gut of guts, I knew he would get that job.  I knew our life was about to change.  I was so scared.  Well, he found out that he did not get the job.  I was okay with that, life would just keep rolling like normal, with the exception of adding one to our family in February.  Hah!

A few weeks after he was told no, he was called back and told that the people made a mistake and that they really wanted him.  Shocker!  We had a few days to decide what we were going to do.  We prayed about it and knew that God opened this door for us.  Clint had wanted to get out of the newspaper business for so long and had a hard time finding anything else...this was it.  Clint gave his two week notice and officially started February 1st.  We had to change up child care a ton due to Clint being Millie's primary caregiver, but our babysitter was wonderful and willing to work with us.  Clint's mom also stepped up and went above and beyond typical Nana duties and watched her a ton.  We put our house on the market...still is...really need that bad boy to sell.  I let my school know that I would finish up my contract, but as of June 7th would no longer teach and that was that. 

As scary as all of this was/is, Clint and I are positive that we made the right choice and we know and trust that God is going to work every single little detail out for our good.  He has done a perfect job of it so far and I know he will continue to.  Clint LOVES his job and has been praised so much already.  He works Mon-Fri 8-5.  No more NIGHTS and No more SATURDAYS!!!  What a blessing to get to be a "family."

Well, time to go take the Kindle away!

Until next time,
Sam

July-December 2012

July 2012- We started off this month finding out we were expecting our 2nd baby!  What great news!  We also celebrated our sweet Millie turning 2 years old!  She had a Minnie Mouse party and had a great time.  She really got into the unwrapping part and oooed and ahhhhed as if she knew just what to do.  We also got to meet my sister's boyfriend Andrew and spend some time with them since they were in town from Colorado.  We had a great time!  We celebrated Dani turning 25 with a bowling party and lots of friends and food!  We even took Andrew to Lane Packing which is the peach picking company!  It was really cool!

August 2012- I don't remember much about August other than HORRIBLE morning/noon/night sickness!  It was awful!  WAY worse than when I was pregnant with Millie.  I know I went back to work and started my 9th year of teaching too, but it was all kind of a fog due to being so sick.  Clint was still working at the paper and Millie was still going to Ms. Sara's in the afternoons.  Life was "normal" and manageable.  Oh yeah, my sister got engaged!  Planning a January wedding!

September 2012- I seemed to be over my sickness and starting to really enjoy my pregnancy.  I turned the big 3-0 with a fun fiesta party at a yummy Mexican restaurant- thanks to my awesome sister in law, Megan for getting that ball rolling!  My hubby did a great job too!

October 2012- Things got a little more interesting here.  We had the date set to find out if our baby was a boy or a girl.  It seemed that that was the only thing we were focused on.  Until one Saturday morning my love woke up with a pain in his side.  We googled and decide for him to head to the ER.  I didn't have anyone to watch Millie so I had to stay home and wait to hear from him...I was SO sad to know that he was doing that by himself!  I called his parents and they immediately came before really knowing what was going on.  Sure enough, his appendix had to be removed!  I stayed with him as much as I could.  He was a trooper!  We were so thankful we listened to our instincts.  A few days later I had my dr appointment to find out the sex of our baby...what an exciting day!  To this point we knew that if it was a boy, he would be named Tucker Nathaniel.  If it was a girl, we knew for sure the middle name would be Danielle, but were very unsettled on the first name.  If I had to pick a top 5 they would be: Mallory, Laney, Clara, Cora, Bailey.  But, as you know, it was a BOY!  We were SO SO thrilled!  Not sure if those girl names will be needed one day, but we were glad to lay that argument to rest!

November 2012- I'm sure there was Turkey involved.  I'm a little out of it when it comes to remembering November.....hum!

December 2012- The long awaited 2 weeks out of school!  My mom spent Christmas in the hospital due to some health problems so things were WAY not "Normal" but still somewhat enjoyable.  Millie was a doll on Christmas!  She got a big easel, some princess barbies and a slew of other stuff!  She is at such a fun age!

2 more months til baby comes...and at this point, that is the only thing "big" we thought would happen!  HAHAH!

Until Next Time,
Sam

No Excuses-One YEAR!

It is hard to believe that a year (almost) has passed since I last blogged!  SO much has happened in that year and I really don't want to forget it.  I plan to take some time during these hot summer days to get it all out there...the good, the bad and the ugly...about what has happened the last year of our lives!  I go back rather frequently and read my old posts on here and am so happy I blogged when I did!  I don't want to regret not blogging and having these memories stored up!  I am going to make a list of the blog topics to come...

1- July-December 2012
2- January-The month of decisions
3- Tucker's birth story
4- Maternity Leave
5- The "move"
6- Religion vs. Relationship- Goodbye Christian School
7- Realness

I am sure there will be more, but that gives me a skeleton to work with.

Until Next Time!
Sam