Work

I've been working my butt off at the day school and have become so exhausted lately.  I have absolutely no energy to do anything but the bare necessities, and keeping my house clean is unfortunately near  the bottom.  I go into work at 7:30 and leave at 6 or 6:30 and maybe once or twice a week take a lunch.  I do get to take off every Wednesday, but that's when I make appointments and take care of everything else that I need to get done.  I feel like I never have time for anything.  I would really love to have a maid come in at least once a week to stay on top of the cleaning, I can handle the dishes and laundry and keeping everything picked up, but that's about it.  When I come home I immediately start to make supper and then have absolutely no interest in doing anything else except letting my body and mainly my brain relax.

Ok, complaining over with ;)  I love my job.  There is not a minute in the day when I'm here and just wish I could leave and go home.  This is actually starting to feel like my second home.  I really think it took me leaving to realize how much I enjoyed it.  The stress that made me give up the first time is still there, and comes in full force at times, but somehow this time it's different.  I know what stressors to expect and know how to handle them and also know that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel when I feel completely buried. 

These past four months I feel like I've really been tested.  I've had to deal with issues like reporting a suspected abuse case (still bothers me to this day), standing my ground with absurd parents who tell me they're going to punch a kid in the face while yelling in MY face, calling the ambulance to the center, and on top of everything we were put on corrective action a couple of weeks after I started (many things led up to this before I was back) which does not help with the stress.  Normally, our state rep will come out to do an inspection annually or if there's any type of investigation that needs to be conducted they'll come out if needed.  Well ever since we were put on corrective action our rep is at our center once, if not twice, a month.  And she's not a nice lady.  She's super strict about everything, so we're kept under a microscope for the next few months until this is all over with, then I'll be able to breath again!

But...the kids.  The kids make it all better.  I know that they're a big reason for why I love what I do.  There's no way in heck that I could manage everything at my job while working in a building full of adults.  Whenever I need a break, I sneak off into one of the rooms and just hold a baby, or read a toddler a book, or my favorite thing, go and give my baby girl a hug and a kiss.  When I start weighing the pros and cons, the pros definitely outweigh the cons this time around :)

Happy Birthday!

 Even though I'm three days late, happy birthday my sweet Korbyn Ruthie! 

This year has been amazing watching her grow up from a baby into a toddler.  She can potty, she can communicate, she helps around the house, and she loves learning new things.

The church secretary gave her these play dress up clothes for her birthday.  It came with a tiara, a wand, a skirt, and wings.  I don't think she's ever gotten fully dressed up like this but she loved it and just wore it around the house for the longest time.  I was trying to teach her how to say "abracadabra" with the wand, she gets close but it's so cute how she draws out all the "a's."  Yesterday morning we were getting ready and she laughed and said "mommy I pooted!" I said "you did?  well what do we say?" she replied "aaabaaacaaadaabaaa!"  I laughed so hard.

 She is SO into babies right now.  About two weeks ago Colton and I were watching her play with her babies and I very jokingly (seriously, VERY jokingly) said "Korbyn, do you want a baby brother?" and she didn't even hesitate, she just said "noooo, sister!"  Colton looked at me and he said "you've been teaching her to say that haven't you?"  After I stopped laughing I promised that I have never even asked her that question before, let alone teach her how to respond!  So we have no idea where she got that from.  I don't even know if she understands what "brother" or "sister" mean.  A while back ago I was naming all of the people she knew and then saying if they were a boy or a girl so she would start to grasp that concept, but I've never gone over brother or sister with her...very strange, but I guess she knows what she wants :)  But to this day we'll joke around with her and just ask her out of nowhere and she gives the same response every time!

 This past weekend we went to San Saba for opening weekend with my grandparents and my dad.  It was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything other than just relaxing.  Saturday morning my grandpa shot a deer so Colton was helping him clean it, Korbyn enjoyed watching for a little bit then got bored.

 My grandparents really enjoyed spending so much time with her.  She definitely kept us entertained all weekend!

 For her birthday we went into town to Harry's, which is a really huge boot shop.  We bought her her very first pair of boots.  In the store I was joking around and said "ooo Korbyn, those are some nice stompers."  So now she doesn't even call them boots, they're stompers.

 She got a little make up kit for her birthday and daddy enjoyed putting it on her.  That thing kept her busy for quite some time, even though she got lipstick all across her face, she had a blast!

 After dinner I was washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen when Korbyn walked by and said "I help, dishes!"  So I pulled a chair up for her and wouldn't you know she actually was a big help?!  She rinsed all the dishes and put them in the drainer all by herself!  If I was taking too long washing something she would grab a cup from the drainer and just rinse it over and over again.

Happy birthday my love!  I look forward to another year of watching you grow :)

Party/Halloween

 

Since our little Ruthie was born on opening weekend, we celebrate her birthday a week before and throw a costume party for her.   It's a lot of work and would not be possible if it weren't for the help of both memaw's and papaw's.  We really are lucky to have grandparents that love her so much and are willing to always help us out in any way.

My friend Yvonne just started making cakes.  I sent her a picture of what I'd like her to do and she was able to make it identical to the one picture!  It looked AMAZING!  I told her anytime she wants to go in the cake making business you just give me a call ;) 

 We decided to go as the Flintstone family this year.  I'm surprised Colton was so willing to wear his costume this time, which was nothing more than a thin dress!  I actually had to get Korbyn's made through Etsy.  Everything as Pebbles through party stores and costume shops looked nothing like the actual Pebbles, and this lady was the only one who made it to look like the real deal.  Surprisingly, I got way too many compliments on my red wig.  Even my grandpa told me that I looked good as a red head and it made me look younger...how old do I look?!?!

 

 Of course that Monday after her party she got some virus where she was running a low fever and just felt super cruddy.  I guess she partied too hard :)

 At school they had a little Halloween party, which also happened to be her last day in the 18-24 month room. 

 Colton was more excited about trick or treating this year, he was actually looking forward to it because she was older and could walk by herself and hold her bucket...so we thought.  I promised Sam that we would come to her house and then we figured we would just hit the loop in the neighborhood that her house is in.  We stopped at maybe two other houses then were ready to go.  She got scared of a lot of the costumes this time and so she wanted to be held and she was getting so sleepy already. 

 We got ready at memaw and papaw doug's and then stopped at my parents before we headed home.  Thankfully we didn't score much candy this year, because we all know who would have ended up eating it!