I'm ALIVE, and I hope you are too!

It has been over two months since I have signed into Blogger. In fact, I didn't even know my password to get onto my account, so I had to hassle with a password change. BUT, I'm back and I'm going to take some time to read all the blog posts from my blogging friends that I've missed these past 2 months.

LIFE GOT CRAZY BUSY, so I will try to update you on each of us and what we have been up to. (Mostly, I want it written down somewhere). Also, Corey has been a total computer HOG these last 2 months while he studied for his national certification exam to become a CRNA. All my pictures are saved to his computer and as a result I've had no access to share my pictures. :(  In fact, Corey took a vacation to Utah and has most the pictures with him right now. But, I'm okay with accepting the fact that this is mostly a journal for myself, so read on if you have nothing else to do...

The month of July and August was filled with deep cleaning, de-junking, and dusting our new rental home. We also painted 4 rooms the day after we moved in. It was crazy!! We still have a few projects left to get the home looking the way we would like, but we are happy to have so much space. We feel deeply blessed to have moved to such a wonderful neighborhood with many children close by and living in a cul-de-sac and having a fenced back-yard are heaven to ME! This home will be the perfect place for us to live these next 3 years while we raise our family and pay off college loans. :)

Corey graduated on August 17, 2013 from Raleigh School of Nurse Anesthesia! Talk about HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY!!! I was beginning to think the day would never come. It was a wonderful day that we spent with his classmates and his family. Corey's parent's and brother, Kayden, came from Vernal, Utah for the graduation. They stayed with us for over 10 days. The kids had so much fun with their grandparents and we took a 2 day trip to D.C. It was so much fun to go back to D.C. and see all the sights with the family!

                                                 Graduation night with Corey's Mom

                            It's okay to be this excited on your graduation day!!!


After Corey's family returned home he still had 5 days of clinical hours to make-up, so he completed those and then spent the next month hiding in our room pouring over anesthesia info. Some of the things he had to study were so foreign to me. Corey and I were both a nervous wreck all of September, as he prepared for the Certification Exam. It was intense. He took his test on September, 23rd and PASSED! WHAT A RELIEF!! IT IS ALL OVER.

In fact, the night he passed his test, he said, "It feels so weird not to have anything hanging over my head". We had forgotten what it was like to live normal lives, without the stress that comes along with anesthesia school. We are still trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. :)

Corey has to wait for his certificate and license to take affect before he can start work, so he decided to go to Utah and meet his twin nieces, hunt, hang out in the cold, see the mountains, and visit his Grandpa and Grandma. His visit couldn't have happened at a better time, because his Grandpa is under-going chemo for cancer. What a blessing that Corey was able to visit his grandparents! They are seriously the coolest people ever!!!

Now for an update on little Miss Adelynn! She started Kindergarten on September 3rd and Ms. Downey is her teacher. She had an assessment day (August 26th) prior to starting school and that was really her first day of school, in my eyes. I spent all morning crying. I had no idea I would feel that way, I mostly was feeling jealous that she was starting school. I was having flashbacks of my teaching days and was missing my students and how much fun school can be. I hated that I wasn't the one planning the lessons and activities for the day. :( Addy is doing well in school and she loves to read and sound words out.

Daddy finished school, just in time for Addy to start!!

 



1st day jitters

Some of her new favorite things to do are:
     -Steal my phone and play temple run, how she plays that game is beyond me!

     -Riding her bike (without training wheels) - Video to come soon. She learned in about 30 minutes!

      - Climbing the neighbors trees, climbing the walls, climbing the banisters. I can't wait to have $ to put her in gymnastics class!

     - A fashion expert, especially when it comes to her shoes. She is quite the fashionista!

Riding his bike in the cul-de-sac with his buddy

 

Goofy Boy!

As for Mr. Jack-Jack, he has grown up SOOOO much! I hate to see my baby getting so big. But, he still cuddles with me all the time and tells me that he loves me, so I'm good with that. He is still in speech therapy and he talks a TON now, it is just a matter of trying to figure out what he is saying. We are having him tested through the school system to see if he will qualify for more speech therapy. Hopefully he will be able to get more help!

Jack has been using the potty since he was 1, but once we moved to the house I bought him some underwear and he TOOK OFF! I have never seen a child potty train so easily. He even wakes up at night to pee, which is almost un-heard of for a 2 1/2 year old. I have become super jealous of men through this whole process, because they can pee anywhere. Jack has too much fun with it!

A few of Jack's favorite things:

    -Jake and the Neverland Pirates, he has a book about them and loves the show.

    -Balloons, I don't think he could have enough.

    - Digging in the dirt outside, mixing it with water, and making mud. Pretty much anything with water he LOVES! Including bath time, when he dumps all the bath water on the floor.

     - He is going through a stage where he is in LOVE with the neighbor girl, Charlotte. The only problem is that she is 10. He says her name like this, "Char-whut" and he takes her flowers, balloons, cookies, etc. At night when I tell him that I love him, he says, "No, Char-whut". It is adorable, but I have to constantly monitor that he isn't running across the street yelling her name.

One last update on Jack is that he has what they call a "trigger-thumb". He has seen an orthopedic hand surgeon and will be getting surgery within the next month. It is a minor surgery, so nothing to worry about, but we thought we should get it taken care of so he can be a ball-player some day!

As for me, I have been busy babysitting for friends, cleaning house, unpacking, and taking care of my kiddos. I am still super involved with planning girl's camp for the Raleigh Stake. We have already had 3 meetings for NEXT year's camp. I love my calling and I feel so lucky to work with the young women!

The most recent development in my life is that I have decided to eat gluten free. It's a LONG story, with a bunch of tests involved. I don't have celiac (thank goodness), but I have some sort of auto-immune problem and we are hoping that eating gluten-free will help my symptoms. So, I'm on day 3 of going gluten free and I'll have to let you know what happens in 2-4 weeks with my health!! I LOVE that potatoes, cheese, and popcorn are gluten free; I will survive!!