A few years and a baby later...

So life has been a little crazy the last couple of years.  Our family has had a few changes...we added a sweet and stubborn little girl to the mix and have been trying to get used to

having two kids! It's not pretty all the time, but I'm hoping it gets easier as the kids get older.  Since the last time I blogged I have a little more extra skin and a lot more gray hair than I ever expected at the ripe old age of 28!  I always pictured this super mom life style, but I will be the first to say that I have failed miserably!  I am surviving at the current moment...I never thought I would be that mom who let their child eat an Oreo for breakfast to avoid a total meltdown 5 mins before we need to leave for work/daycare.  I'm not confessing, but merely pleading the 5th!  

My hope for this blog is to be completely real...share happy times along with struggles.  No mom is perfect.  You do the best you can and sometimes that is just keeping your head afloat.  BUT, after the water settles I want to look back on this time and maybe have a few laughs and hopefully realize I was a pretty good mom and be thankful for the sleepless nights that we have had.  

Here's to real and open!  

Mini Vaca!

Okay so it's more along the line of a MICRO Vaca, but I'll take it!! Tuesday, after I drop Carson off at MDO I'm headed here
And I get to spend the afternoon and night with these two lovely ladies! To say that I'm excited would be the understatement of the century!

We don't have major plans for the day/night, but it will consist of a few peaceful hours by the pool without a baby monitor sitting in the next chair. It might consist of some sushi since my mom has officially started eating it. I'm super excited and can't wait to get to Austin and get some R&R with my mom and sister!!

He's on my side

Just wanted to share a couple of conversations that were shared today in my family. First let me say, Carson has been completely wild and crazy lately. That probably is an understatement. He constantly wants to wrestle and run around like a maniac. He is very stubborn and will not do anything that wasn't his idea. I called Zack during one of those moments today and here is our conversations:

Me: Your son is CRAZY

Z: He just needs someone to play with.

Me: What exactly are you saying?

Z: Maybe he needs a little brother to play with.

Me: Now YOU are the one that is CRAZY!!!

I asked Carson that afternoon if he wanted a baby and he immediately told me no. I told Zack about that and he decided he and Carson would have another conversation about it.

Z: Carson do you want a baby?

Car: No thanks.

Z: Do you want a little brother?

Car: Nope.

Z: Do you want a little sister?

Car: No Daddy NO!

Made me smile a little to hear them talking about it. Carson is def on my side!

*I don't want people to think that we will never have another child, but honestly Carson is such a handful it really makes me think twice. He is SO all boy and I'm SO tired by the end of the day. I love that boy to death, but man does he act like a maniac!

"You talking to me?"

Summer Fun!

Carson and Harper enjoying dinner
Daddy and Carson swimming under the water!

He loves the pool

What....Zack is wearing Cinch??

Zack and I with the newly weds!

Oh yeah, we went to Vegas for Caitlin's 21st!

We went to Mexico too!

Mindy and I before we got to Mexico

Afternoon with the waterhose!

We have been traveling more than usual lately. We celebrated Caitlin's 21st birthday Vegas style and then we went to Mexico with our good friends Mindy and Herman for their honeymoon/our anniversary. Things are starting to slow down and we are spending a lot of time in the pool and in the sprinklers! Carson loves the water and is def starting to shows signs of the terrible twos! I have started reading a book about raising boys. They are so different from girls. He really is a dare devil and doesn't realize he can get hurt. It takes a lot of energy to keep up with this little guy. He is coming into his own and starting to really show his personality (he may look like me, but he acts like his daddy). We will be celebrating his birthday next month and I can't believe he is already almost 2! Where has the time and my baby gone?

Hello Old Friend

We had Dr. Suess day at school and Carson thought I looked pretty funny!
Carson playing in the snow! I love this picture.

Playing the "broom guitar"

First let me say I have missed blogging. I know not that many people read my blog, but I enjoy reading others so I decided I should probably update. Carson is getting SO big. He is 19 months old and I can't believe we are closer to 2 than 1. He is talking up a storm. He went for his 18 month check up and the Dr. asked if he had 10 words. My mom just laughed. She child has so many words it's insane. The Dr. told us that since he is more developed physically and mentally than a normal 18 month old that we should expect the terrible two's a lot faster than most. Boy was he right. The child has started throwing full out fits. I'm getting excited about my week with him though. I have the next week off and get to spend a lot of time with my little man. Enough typing.

Merry Christmas!

Single Mom

Z has been out of town for the last few nights. He went to California with a friend and left early Friday morning. Needless to say I haven't slept very good in a few nights. Some people wonder why it's different from when he works nights. I guess I know that if I needed him he could be home with in 15 mins. He can't just hop in his car and come home. I am counting down the hours until he gets back. I think Carson is ready for him to come home too. He was walking around the house with his photo album saying "Dadda", he walked into every room of the house looking for him.

We miss you and can't wait for you to come home! Love you daddy!

Football Season is now officially over. Carson went to every home game and did really well. The last few games were at 11:00 which made it tough on our afternoon nap, but he was a trooper. We love our Baylor Bears and will support them through thick and thin. We bought season tickets this year with the hopes of a bowl game. We didn't quite make it this year, but we are being true fans when we say "It WILL happen next year" You have to love the school you went to. It always bugs me when people talk bad about the University they attended. So until next year...........

We have gotten to know our neighbors pretty well the last couple of months. It's sad that it has taken this long for us to get the kids together, but at least we have done it and had a great time. I'm going to blame it on the construction that took so long on our house. Anyways, this is Harper she is Carson's friend from down the street. HP can hang with the boys. She is one tough cookie. She has to be with the beast that is Carson. I have known her dad for a long time, but have really enjoyed getting to know his wife. It's fun to be able to walk to your friend's house again. It's just like when I was younger. As you can see they are a mess together.

I'm afraid that my posts from now until Christmas will not be too exciting. My camera broke, so I am having to rely on everyone else for pictures. I didn't realize how much I used my camera until it was not available. It broke a week ago and I found myself using my iphone to get some cute pictures of Carson in the yard yesterday while dad put up the lights. Hopefully Santa will be bringing me a new camera for Christmas.....HINT HINT!

It's been so long I had forgotten my password!

Many people are writing about things that they are Thankful for and I wanted to just share something with you all that I wrote a little over two years ago. It was before I really knew much about the blogging world. I made a blog right after our miscarriage.......I stumbled upon it when I was trying to figure out what my password was. It just reminds me to be thankful everyday.

http://www.courtney-courtneymiller.blogspot.com/

I am thankful for my miscarriage because without it we wouldn't have this little man....

He is a mess but I love him! We are talking up a storm and will be 16 months next week. He doesn't walk he runs. He is sweet and loves to give kisses. I haven't actually sat down to count his words. I need to do that. I think he is brilliant.......but he is mine. We picked him up from Sunday School and the teacher told me that he loved reading their book. She handed it to him upside down and he turned it around and flipped through the pages. I told you he was brilliant. Most of our time is spent outside. When it rains we are not a happy camper because we can't go "side". Just a real quick update. I am going to try to update more often.

Blondie

Who knew my munchkin would have such light hair.

Sweet Summer Time!!

I have completely been neglecting my blog lately. You would think with me being out of work for the summer I could blog more often, but it is quite the opposite. Since I'm not working I have become a full time stay and home mom. This has been great, but I just can't see myself doing it permanently. I have the best of both worlds. I get to work 10 months of the year and stay home 2. Carson and I have been getting up every morning and hitting the gym. It has been an experience for him. You see he hasn't been in day care at all. He has had a rough time getting used to the gym nursery, BUT today he lasted the whole time and was even happy when I picked him up.

Zack's first Father's Day

Carson was teething like crazy!

My dad let Carson wear "Golden Boy" for the first time. We were all shocked. You see this t-shirt has been a prized possession of my dad's for a few years now. He has HUGE holes everywhere.

Caitlin came back from Spain....Can you tell Carson was glad to see her?

Our good friends Mindy and Herman got engaged!! Mom saved the cake...it looked terrible before we fixed it!

I will update more later. I wish I hadn't waited so long. Hopefully I won't wait so long this next time!

New J-O-B!!

Last Wednesday I resigned from my position at Hillsboro ISD. I am going to miss the people that I work with so much, but I am moving on to a new and exciting position. As most of you know I was going to get my teaching certificate because I didn't think that I would be able to find a speech position in Waco.....I went from having no job offers on Tuesday to having 2 offers by Wednesday and by Thursday I had 3! I had completely put a speech position out of my head. You see I applied for my dream job in March. I hadn't heard anything and I was positive that it was not an option. Little did I know I would be offered this position on Thursday. So I said goodbye to the Hillsboro Eagles.....


And will be saying hello to the Midway Panthers in August!!! I can't tell you how excited I am to be going back "home"! I will be closer to Carson and getting off I-35 is such a blessing. Looks like I will be pulling out some of my old Midway shirts to wear on jean/tshirt Fridays!

Sick Baby

My little man is sick. He started running a fever last night and it got up to 103.7. I called the doctor and they said to put him in a cool bath or put cool wash clothes on him to try to get his temp down. We tried to put him in his crib, but he woke up around 12. We just went ahead and put him in our bed and woke up with him every 30 minutes. He would sleep for 30 minutes then wake up crying. This pattern continued all night. I called mom and dad this morning at 6:20 to see if they would take him early today bc neither Z nor I could get ready this morning with the way he was crying. I came home got ready (I had to look nice this morning bc I have in interview at 4:00) and went to work. On my way in I called the doctor and they wanted to see Carson. His ears/throat were clear so Dr. H. wanted to do a blood test on him to check everything. Nothing showed up on his blood test. The doctor said there were a couple of viruses going around lately and that if he got worse today to bring him in tomorrow morning. I'm really praying he feels better bc Z and I have to work tomorrow morning and my mom will be out of town with my grandfather for his surgery. Please pray that he is feeling better and pray for Z as well. He has him all day today and tomorrow after the bank by himself.

On another note....I believe C is trying to cut all four of his top teeth at once. Could this be the culprit of his crying and fever???? We shall see.....Anyone have any experience with teething like this???

Summer boating

The boating has begun!! Go check out my sister's blog as she travels through Spain this summer. www.Caitlin-in-Spain.blogspot.com

Aunt Caitlin is heading to Spain....

This is the face that Carson made when I told him that his Aunt Caitlin was going to Spain! He already misses her like CRAZY! He told me to write her a note from him.

Dear Aunt Caitlin,
I miss you like crazy. I love you more that I love water. Have fun, but not too much fun. I can't wait to see you on the computer! Love you Aunt Caitlin!
Love CarCar

Caitlin is the best person with Carson. As soon as he sees her he is all smiles! I am so excited for her, but I'm sad I won't get to see her for over a month.

Have fun my sweet little sister....Don't forget about us in the U.S. while you are living it up in Spain! Take lots of pictures! You have been slacking in that department lately. I love you and miss you already!!

One step closer!!

I passed my EC-4 test!!! I am officially one step closer to getting out of Hillsboro and into the classroom!!! I know I have been MIA for a little bit, but really was anyone surprised...I don't blog that much. I took my test Monday and just checked online and found out that I had passed and am now eligible to become a teacher! I will be studying for the rest of the week for my Special Education EC-12 test that I will be taking Tuesday!

Summer!

I LOVE living in Texas because it starts to feel like summer in April. We have been waiting to get in the pool since we got back from Spring Break. Carson loved getting in the pool in Florida and I was excited for my parents to see how much he enjoys the water. Here are some shots from our first day in the pool. We got in Friday with Aunt Caitlin and then Saturday with Mimi and Pop. Unfortunately I only have pictures from Friday. Saturday was caught on video camera.

They have a baby!!!

WOW....God sure does answer prayers! The couple that I posted about last week got the call yesterday. They were picked by a young woman who wants them to raise her baby! You cannot believe how excited this makes me. They will be bringing their baby home sometime around November 13! What a wonderful Thanksgiving they will have! Praise God for answered prayers!!

It's Official

I have made the decision to get my teaching certification. I am currently enrolled in a program and will be taking my tests May 18th and 26th. Please pray that I pass the tests and that I can find a job.

We're Off

Carson and I are off to a family reunion! We will be back late Sunday. Zack isn't getting to go because he is such a nice boss and took one of his employees shifts. You might be wondering why I have a picture of this HUGE pig up.....Well Tilly the pig is also part of the family and I'm excited that Carson gets to see him this year.