Fun at home

I have to admit, I'm having a blast being home with my baby girl!  I take back what I ever said about not being able to stay home.  I think I would like to have a part time job to still keep me busy and involved with other people, but that would be in a perfect world.  Right now financially there's just no way I'm able to continue to stay home with her.

I feel like I've gotten to know this whole other kid.  She's so entertaining and so smart!  Well to me she's the smartest, cutest, and funniest kid I know but I might be a little biased.  You can see our walkway in the picture.  With this rain that we've been having here lately the weeds have all of a sudden overtaken it.  So in the morning before it gets too hot Korbyn and I will go pick all the weeds out.  I obviously only got one side done for now, but that's the kind of stuff I can finally catch up on now that I'm at home.  Before I would be so exhausted from working all day then have to come home get supper ready and pick up as much around the house as I could.  Now I can catch up on all the little things that have been slipping by me.

 One evening before it started storming, we were outside enjoying the cool weather and I put her car in her pool so it wouldn't blow away and she decided to sit in it and act like she was driving.

 We also have been taking two baths a day since we've been at home.  In the morning is when we go outside because after about 10 or 11 it's already miserably hot.  So she can pretty much get into anything she wants during outside time.  Now that the grasshoppers have come out she really doesn't enjoy being outside playing with her toys because she's terrified of the "buthz" (bugs), even if she sees a fly she says "buthz!  shoe!"  because she wants me to stomp on it with my shoe.  So after we come in from outside I give her a bath, we eat some lunch and she takes a nap and then she's up and at it again!

 There's little Colton fishing off the front porch.  She got this fishing pole from her cousins Avery and Addy as a hand-me-down and it's probably her favorite toy right now.

I wish we could hit the lotto and become filthy rich so I could continue to raise my baby at home, but I guess you would have to play it first to win it!

Play date

 Last week Yvonne and her son Tye came over to play and visit.  Especially since we're home and have limited interaction with other human beings the visit was so nice and much needed!

 She just HAD to show Tye her boat.  She would sit down in it and say "c'mon" and move her hand back and forth motioning him to get in.  He stood in front of it trying to figure out how to get in it and she was yanking on his shirt trying desperately to get him to just get in.  Once they figured out how to both sit in it comfortably, they watched their toons.

 Then little miss mother hen had to give Tye his cup, whether he was thirsty or not.  They did this for several minutes!  Then when we decided we wanted to get a picture we asked Korbyn to do it again and she gave us this look like she was just so busy giving her baby his bottle, how could we interrupt her?  It was such a nice visit, hopefully we can do it again soon.

Potty time!

This girl amazes me every day and now even more so with her phenomenal pottying skills!

I knew that when we were at home for the summer I was going to start working on the potty with her.  She was showing so many signs of being ready so I thought this will be a great time to do it since we'll be home and I can really be on it 100%.  Well of course Korbyn being Korbyn decided she was going to refuse to put on another diaper a little ahead of schedule.  While we were at home during Memorial day she absolutely kicked and screamed when I tried to put her diaper on after her nap.  So finally I said "ok, do you want to put on panties?" of course she shook her head yes because she still agree with pretty much everything we ask her.  I took a deep breath and said "ok, here we go!"  I had already promised myself that once she puts on a pair of undies, we will NEVER be going back into a diaper, no matter how many accidents she may have or where we decide to go because it would only confuse her.

I really didn't want to start potty training while she was at school because I didn't want to put that on her teacher, because technically they don't start working on that until they get into the two year old room.  Tuesday morning I brought her into her room and apologized but made it very clear that I do not want a diaper put on her at all and if she doesn't want to mess with it I will come in and take her potty and clean up all her accidents.  Thankfully her teacher is a sweetheart and she said not to worry that she'll do it.  She said "what about at nap time?" I told her "NO diaper, if she pees all over herself so be it, I'll come clean it up."  Well the first few days were full of accidents, as to be expected.  I just made up my mind that every accident was an opportunity to show her how to do it correctly.  Even though she would pee in her pants, I would still take her to the potty and sit her on it and tell her "we put our tee tee in the potty."

I think a lot of the teachers at the daycare and pretty much everyone else that knew I was working with her thought I was crazy because apparently she's "way too young."  Well it just goes to prove that every kid is different, because after 2 1/2 weeks I can comfortably say that in a few weeks my 19 month old will  be completely potty trained!  Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been accident free the entire time, in fact our living room carpet is in dire need of a good shampooing!  But I have to say, she caught on pretty quick.  She's now to the point where she wakes up dry after nap and bed time and tells me when she needs to go tee tee, with the occasional accidents.  The pooping part is still coming along, sometimes she tells me and sometimes she leaves me a surprise.

She's so funny.  She brought her monkey in one time to the bathroom and I said ok, your monkey wants to see you go tee tee.  So now every time the monkey is in sight we have to set him up on the stool while she goes, then when she's done (and we clean out the potty) she sets the monkey on the potty to let it go tee tee too.  I'm so proud of my little girl!

Job hunt

You would think since I was home for the summer I would have caught up on my posting...not the case.

When I passed my exams (for my teacher training) it meant that I could apply for a teaching position.  The way that the alternate cert. program works is I could have applied for teaching jobs as soon as I got accepted into the program without any training whatsoever, which still baffles me.  Then when I got hired on as the "teacher of record" at a school, that would be considered my intern year and my program would provide me with a mentor and I would be able to complete my training, take my exams, do internship projects etc. all during my internship year teaching under a probationary certificate.  Then when that first year was complete, I could apply for my Texas standard teaching certificate.  Ever since I've passed my exams I've been applying like crazy to find a teaching job, which I never thought would be this hard!

I never knew finding a teaching job would be this difficult, let alone finding any job right now.  You really have to know somebody to get a job at a school.  And around all these small towns they usually know who they are going to put into place before they even publicize the opening.  Back around spring break I had called the high school where I'm working now to ask when my last check will be, because thankfully I chose to have my checks spread out over 12 months instead of 10.  I knew the lady that I was talking to about it and I told her to keep her ears open if she hears anything.  She told me that one of the special ed. teachers had just put her notice in a couple of days ago that she's retiring at the end of the year, she immediately connected me to the person I needed to talk to.  The lady didn't answer her phone but I left a message asking her to call me back, this was around 3 p.m.  The next morning before 9 a.m. she calls me and I tell her what I'm qualified in and that I'm already working for the district and I'm interested in the position.  She tells me "oh, I'm sorry that position has already been filled."  Wow, that was fast!

I had an interview with LaGrange elementary which is about a 30 minute drive from our house.  I was really hoping to get that job because it's a small town just like Giddings.  Which also means they probably already had who they were going to fill it with before they interviewed me but have to go through the formalities of everything.  And who knows, they probably didn't I'm just really bitter about the whole thing!  I've also been keeping in touch with a teacher at Lexington elementary, which is another small town about 20 minutes in the opposite direction.  I let her know when I first started looking if she wouldn't mind keeping me updated if she hears of anything and filled out the online application.  Last week she messaged me and said they had a teacher retire on the last day of school that I should get in contact with the principal.  I emailed, and left a message and haven't heard back from her but I know with school just ending she's got a lot of loose ends to tie up, but I'm not holding my breath.  The teacher messaged me a couple days later asking if I had heard anything and I said that I haven't.  She then tells me that a stop by the office may not hurt since they've had over 500 online applications for the elementary in the last couple of months...WHAT?!?!  This is Lexington elementary, which is maybe half the size of Giddings!  If they are receiving that many applications can you imagine what Giddings, Bastrop, Elgin etc. are getting in?!  I told her no wonder I can't find a job!

I did however have a job offer just a few days ago, but I think it's a dead end.  The principal at Immanuel Lutheran, which is a private K-8 school, called me and offered a position they had open.  We've known each other ever since I was at school in Lincoln and him and my mom have known each other since she used to teach at a private school too, so he knew that I was looking for a teaching job.  The only position they have available for the next school year is a part time (25 hours) 6-8 language arts teacher.  When he called asking if I was interested I told him I'm going to have to know salary and benefits before I say yes to anything.  Which is another headache I have right now.  Ever since Colton and I were married I've been on Scott and White insurance because they are the only company in Texas where you can buy an individual plan with maternity, and I added Korbyn to my plan when she came along.  It wasn't stellar insurance but I had to have it.  Thankfully Colton has every cent of his insurance paid in full by the company he works for, and it's really good too, but for Korbyn and I to be added onto his plan would cost over $2,000 a month!!!  So we haven't really ever looked into that option because it's just ridiculous.  I got a letter in the mail from Scott and White a couple months ago stating they will no longer be carrying maternity options, just one HMO plan with maternity.  Well the plan sucks!  It will be almost $600/month for Korbyn and myself and the plan has no deductible but only covers 50% of all costs.  So that means the costs of any medical issues we may have come up could go on forever because there isn't a deductible!  I called the number on the letter immediately and let them have it, it's not like me but I was so furious, the poor lady on the other end has probably had numerous people like me call in.  I just felt like they were completely monopolizing all the women that still want to have babies but aren't on a group plan.  And we have until the end of June when that changes over...yay.

Anyway, so the job at Immanuel would only be part time meaning that they wouldn't cover my insurance.  I told him I still want to know the price of the insurance because I may just purchase the policy through them.  It would be $1,300 a month PER PERSON!  So if I worked there my paycheck wouldn't even come close to covering the insurance.  I did however receive a call from Giddings Intermediate about a 5th grade opening.  I have an interview with them tomorrow afternoon, but like I said I'm not holding my breath about it.  So needless to say I've been a little stressed lately and on top of that we're potty training (next post ;)!  I've been praying to God every day, "God, I'm getting the hint that you may not want me to go into teaching and that's fine.  I'm yours!  Send me in the direction you want me to go...but let's make it snappy because I don't like this waiting game!"  So we'll have to see how everything pans out.  At this point I'd be willing to teach high school trigonometry as long as I have a paycheck and insurance! 

Mother's day

 These first two pictures don't have anything to do with mother's day, but they were just so precious I had to throw them in.  One day when we were leaving Korbyn wanted to stop by and visit the babies.  She loves Mrs. Heather that works in there.  Heather let her sit down and help feed the baby, well wouldn't you know she wanted to do it all by herself!  She held the bottle all by herself while Mrs. Heather held the baby's head.

 I know I'm so far behind on posting!  For mother's day our church has their annual picnic.  Colton and I are in charge of BBQ sales starting at 7:30 a.m. and my mom and dad are in charge of the Sunday school booth and the children's games which usually last past 8:00 p.m.  We were there all day long (except for the couple hours I took her home for a nap) and had a good time.

 To keep her busy while we were working the concession stand, Colton gave her an ice cream cone with a little bit of ice cream and a spoon. 

 She finished off the first one and then wanted seconds of course!  This time my mom put it in a cup, well she didn't waste any time with that spoon, she just started digging in with her fingers and licking them clean.  She was covered in chocolate ice cream by the time she was finished.  Colton and I just washed her off in the sink in the concession stand and found her something else to occupy her time until we finally went home.

New Things

 We don't buy Korbyn a lot of things, in fact we've never really bought anything big for her, and when I say big I mean anything more than a $10 toy at Walmart!

 Since she's getting older and so much more active and we'll be home for the summer we decided it was time for a playhouse.  The poor thing had to look at it for two days before she could play on it!  Colton set it up one night when I had a meeting, then the next night we all got home past dark.  And we wanted to capture her reaction, so wonderful!  This was the first time that we let her run out to it and play on it.

 She loves this house!  Every single day since we got it for her she plays on it.  When we get home from school I give her some water and her snack on her little table and she thinks it's the best thing ever.

 The only thing is there isn't any room behind the slide to sit down and get her legs out from underneath her.  The slide at school she has no problem with, but that's because there's about two feet of space for her to sit down, this one doesn't have that.  So we still have to help her a little bit when she goes down the slide.  I've been trying to teach her how to do it herself, so one day she's trying and she slips and goes down head first and just laughed all the way down!  I of course laughed and clapped my hands so now that's how she goes down it, head first!

 We then bought her a little pool for the backyard.  We waded around in it one afternoon, then shortly after that we had a storm and the darn tree branch landed smack dab in the middle of the pool!  It was trash after that because it had ripped so many holes in the plastic, at least we got to use it one time.

Korbyn saw the tree when I had taken this picture and she kept pointing to it saying "tee!" I said "yes, the tree fell in the pool...oh no!"  Mind you this happened either at the end of April or beginning of May, and she still will say "han" (that's when she wants you to take her hand so she can lead you to whatever she wants to show you) and lead me to the backyard and point and say "poo?" (pool) then I'll say "oh no what happened to the pool?" she'll say "appen?" with her arms out then she'll point to the tree and say "tee, a men" (tree, aww man)!  It cracks me up because it's like she's telling me this story and she knows exactly what happened.

 Then we finally broke down and bought her screens for our vehicles.  I kind of hate that we did (because I don't want my kid to grow up in front of a tv!) but if you've ever ridden in a vehicle more than five minutes with her you would have bought these things a long time ago.  We really decided to buy them when we had our trip to Dallas coming up and we knew that it was going to be horrendous if we didn't have something to entertain her.  We put Elmo on and didn't hear a peep all the way there!  Colton and I both decided it has been by far the best investment we've ever made!!!  This picture was of her watching them for the first time.  We were in Bastrop and of course daddy had to set it all up in the parking lot for her.  She was in that exact pose for probably 10 minutes just fascinated.

Favorites

 I bought this blow up float for Korbyn last year to sit in while in the swimming pool.  Well she didn't really care for it last year but now she loves it!  We went to Dallas (actually past Dallas) for my cousin's confirmation a couple of weekends ago and we knew there was an indoor pool at the hotel we were staying at so we brought it along just in case Korbyn decided she was going to like the water this year.  Well it looks like we'll be spending the entire summer in any pool we can get into!  This girl loves the water!  She was even trying to jump to me off of the steps by the time we were leaving.  She also really enjoyed sitting in her "boat" as we pulled her around.

Well now she lives in her boat at home.  She does everything in it.  She'll eat her snack, watch cartoons, even pull her toys around in it.  And she says it perfectly with a heavy emphasis on the "t," super cute.

 Her other favorite thing is putting on my jewelry.  When I'm getting ready in the morning it's just us, Colton leaves the house around 6:30-6:45, so anything she gets into that isn't dangerous is fine by me.  Usually I see her hand sneaking into my makeup bag on the counter grabbing at whatever she can.  Then she'll hand me whatever she found and want me to put it on her.

 I love that she's into dressing up already, I just can't wait until she lets me paint her nails and put makeup on her :)