Celebrating the life I helped create.

I started to tell my road-to-motherhood story, then realized it's pretty long and a bit sad. So, I'm just going to post here about how we celebrated our first miracle baby last week. 

Kiersten is at an age where she can anticipate things more. Nolan is still a toddler, meaning his world is all about the present, with impatience being his key trait. Kiersten gets excited about what's to come. So this birthday week was all about surprises for her. She called them her little "clues." 

We began the week at Nana & Papa's house for a little break for the Labor Day weekend. They weren't there, so it was truly like a "just us" type of vacation. Even if it was just for two days and one night. When we got home on Monday, she got to put up the family balloon birthday wreath.

That's her bike helmet..she was about to ride her scooter
when we caught her to put up the wreath.

On Tuesday I hung the zebra print lanterns I purchased at Party City. Two onto the chandelier over the dining table, and one just outside the door to her room. 

Wednesday I made rolled sugar cookies that Kiersten helped cut with castle and crown cutters. I iced them rather sloppily, but no one seemed to care.

On Thursday I began my craft project. It was acrylic paints on canvas, so I knew I had to give myself time for it to dry before painting on the song lyrics. That night I made sticky buns for her to have at breakfast. Richard blew up the zebra print balloons I was going to use the next day.

Friday was her birthday. She woke up to sticky buns and a new shirt. I surprised her by going to her school to have lunch with her, loaded with Panera for her (and Nolan and me) and Hello Kitty cupcakes for the kids in her class. Still mad at myself for forgetting my phone in the car. I have no pics of her at school. 

Oops - fingers on the lens!

When she got home, she was surprised by a mylar balloon on the newspaper box, latex balloons tied to the porch rails and a birthday banner on the outside of her bedroom window. She also got to hear the happy birthday song sung over the Voxer app from both Abi and her uncle Andrew (all the way from Japan!). Later she got to go out to dinner with all of us (Abi's treat), and we came back for cake and presents.

She even got a crown at school!

On Saturday we took her to the mall, where she got to go to Build-a-Bear. She chose a koala that she named Sofia (the second). Nolan even got to kiss a heart to put in it, so Sofia has twice the love! Afterwards, we finally took her to JUMP!, something she begs to do every time she goes to the mall. 

"I'm usually afraid of heights, but I wasn't
this time. It was SO much fun!"

From there we went home so I could make her birthday dinner of bacon-wrapped chicken, corn on the cob, and sweet potato fries. She declared this to be the "best birthday ever!" Thank goodness, because I had been fretting over not being able to give her a kid-filled birthday party. It's hard when she has her birthday at the beginning of the school year, especially when it's her first year there. We're hoping we won't have to move for work next year, and she'll have made lots of friends at her school. 

Happy birthday, Princess.

For more about what I baked, and for my craft project, check out my other blog. 

"Time keeps on tickin', tickin', tickin'...."

Yes, I tend to speak in song lyrics & movie quotes. My brother and I have made it a language that drives our mom & my husband bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S (sorry)

This week I felt a little older as my firstborn began kindergarten. When I was pregnant with her, I had this vision of her daddy carrying her to her room after one of our day trips to Myrtle Beach. Fast-forward 6 years, and we've moved about 300 miles away, and our day trips are to Lake Bowen to see Nana & Papa. She's too big to need to be carried in from the car, thank you very much. She's intelligent, imaginative, creative, and fiercely independent. At the moment, she wants to be a builder of some sort. Not an architect, not a supervisor, but a hands-on builder. As the years go, it will be interesting to see how often she changes her mind.

It's Springtime! Or is it?

The weather is toying with us. We were excited when we had warm weather for Easter here in Asheville. We normally have to bundle up! The whole weekend was nice, and we were able to wear light clothing.
Here we are, taking our annual Easter pic in front of the cross at CUMC.


THEN, when the weather is normally starting to warm up, we're having freeze warnings! We had to wear layers to this year's Spring Festival. Last year Kiersten, Nolan & I were sleeveless! The wind was brutal and chilling. But Nolan found some eggs and actually put some of them in the basket without prompting. Mostly, though, I had to take them from him. He had a blast, as did Kiersten. As always, she didn't want to leave.



This weekend we're having a shindig to bid farewell to Andrew, who is going off to Navy basic training on May 1st. I have a feeling there will be lots of tears flowing within this next week! We're all very proud of this giant step he's taking, and send many prayers with him to Illinois.

And we're mobile!

Nolan has finally decided that traveling with his feet satisfies his curiosities much better than crawling on all fours! He's getting better with each day, though he still looks like he's gotten into the liquor stash. :-) He's understanding more and more, and is becoming even more vocal. He's responding to directions, which makes things so much easier!

Kiersten is also becoming quite "grown". I sometimes forget that she has the limitations of a 4-year-old, because we have some interesting conversations. She's as hyper as ever, and constantly makes up new songs, dances and games. She has imaginary "racing friends" that come over almost daily. Sometimes they have to be told to go home if they're making her too wild. We're hoping to have her in preschool next year, which we expect will get her focused and maybe will get those wiggles out!

Richard and I are still looking for teaching jobs. I can't wait till I'm not dependent on the whims of the government for assistance. They've voted to extend benefits for unemployment, but mine was coming to an end soon anyway. I cannot believe it has been nearly 2 years since I've taught. It's going to make it hard to get a job, and principals will most likely start to wonder why I've not found one. Richard is enjoying his job as a chauffeur at Givens Estates. It doesn't pay him nearly what he's worth, or the work he does. But the residents and his coworkers love him. We visit him on occasion to have a VERY brief lunch or just to say hello to him and maybe Susan, if she's on campus.

Mom is living away from us - 4 hours! - so we don't see her as often. We're going to visit this weekend. Kiersten is super excited to see her Abi. And I know she can't wait to see her grand babies.

We're so ready for Spring, or at least the warm weather, so we can venture out of the house without being weighed down by our coats! There are so many great parks in the area, and my goal is to visit each one in the county at least once! That may be a theme for the spring & summer.

November already?

It's so cliché, but it's very true: the time has FLOWN! My little man's first birthday is exactly 3 weeks away. My baby girl is growing up & becoming so much more independent. I still don't feel old enough to be a mom! These 2 are such blessings to us. I still can't believe they're ours!

My newest hobby and my interview fatigue

I've been wanting to learn how to crochet for a good while now. My aunt Shirley was in town for a day and a half and wanted to go to a yarn store in the village, so I took the opportunity to get started right then, while I had a teacher literally in-house. I got some cool pink yarn and a needle, got it home and started on a scarf for Kiersten. After I'd gotten quite a ways through I decided it was way too wide for my petite girl. So I started over again & finished it in a day! The hat was another beast altogether. I went to YouTube and found a very helpful video. I think I got it done in two days. She loves it and I'm so excited that they turned out so well. I have several projects in mind,and if I'm still unemployed it will be a great way to get out my Christmas gifting this year.

Speaking of unemployed...I've had now a total of 6 interviews. Still waiting to hear back from the 2 schools from last week, but after 4 rejections, I've learned to stop hoping, unfortunately. It's a bit sad. But I'm so, so tired of waiting and even more tired of getting in the car to drive hours on end for a 20-30 minute interview. The last trip was for 2 interviews. But I was on the road for just over 7 hours for almost 2 hours worth of face time. It makes me tired just writing it!

On the Nolan front, he's crawling "normally" and is sitting up on his own. He's starting to try to pull up, and will if he's holding on to our hands or arms. He's not quite gotten the idea of pulling up on the furniture yet. He's eating as much as we can give him at one time. Two jars of food at each meal plus a little "dessert" of maybe Gerber cheese puffs, yogurt bites or Cheerios. He has his 2 bottom teeth, and his 2 top ones are trying hard to poke through. This gets him upset sometimes. But I really think the amber necklace he has helps tremendously. I was a skeptic at first, but now I'm a believer!

Whirlwind!

That's what it feels like sometimes having 2 kids under 4. Nolan and Kiersten are getting along great. He grins like a Cheshire cat every time he sees her. I love watching his dimples deepen when we peek in her room after he wakes. He's sitting up, eating solids, and scooting backward. Kiersten is such a great big sister & is growing up to be a smart little girl. She's learning to count to 100 and is slooooowly learning to read by sounding out words. She gets frustrated and impatient, so gives up easily. She likes putting on plays & dancing around the house. She has learned quite a few songs from my iPod, and knows the words to Beatles songs. I started singing "I am the Walrus", and she started in with "I am the egg man" and made my jaw drop. And she chose to wear her Beatles shirt yesterday, when she had the choice of wearing that or a brand new halter-style shirt she just got last week. My little fan!

Richard & I are still looking for jobs & hope to stay as close to Asheville as possible. We still feel like there's so much of this city yet to explore, and would love more time to spend here. It's quite frustrating sending out applications and emails without receiving any word from anyone. My one interview ended in a rejection. Not exactly doing anything for my faith in my career choice!

On a positive note, Richard & I have our 6th anniversary coming up next weekend. We're taking a staycation, making the most of our limited budget. We're going to be tourists for a weekend, even taking a trolley tour of downtown. We cannot wait. A big thank you to my mom (and Elsa, though she's not been informed yet) for taking care of the kids so we can have our romantic weekend. It's been WAY too long!!