Busy

Dear Life,

I've been blog-absent lately - truth is, we are just going going going all.the.time as of late. We've spent a lot of time at the lake and we spent the past long weekend-ish in Bismarck visiting Jordan's parents. Where were we before that? Hmm... don't even remember. All I know is that any sort of routine we once had is pretty much gone. It feels lovely to be able to be "flexible" and just go when we feel like it (and when Jordan's work schedule allows) but it also seems to be a little extra tricky for my type-A brain. I like structure. Emberly is currently crying screaming in her crib, as I am trying to lay her down for an almost 5pm nap. Yikes. Remember that schedule I was talking about? Yup. Really really gone.

ANYWHO...

My only big Emberly update is that she is eating more and more table food. I am loving that. It feels so nice to be able to give her bits of our dinners. She doesn't want to be fed finger foods - she wants to put them in her own mouth. She will still let us feed her from a spoon, though.

I feel like I have a million other little things to update, but I don't even know where to start...

Let's try bullets today:


* Trying to decide if we dare leave E overnight with my parents in order to go somewhere for our anniversary.
* Becoming more and more and more and more aware of my need for Christ in every.little.part of my life.
* Recognizing that my sin is often tied up in trying to do good without Christ, instead of to know Christ more and because I treasure Christ.
* Wanting to get organized for school in the fall and realizing that I have no idea what my job will entail.
* Started the weaning process.
* Praying through some big decisions.


Lame post. Don't judge. It was all I had today. :)

Here are some pictures to redeem it...

Playing with ice cubes on a hot day.

Brushing those teeth to make uncle Mike proud.

At the Bismarck Zoo!

Bismarck Zoo with Grandma Tracie.

Pulling diapers off the changing table like a little turkey.

Bites

Dear Life,

Emberly bit me on the arm yesterday. It hurt! Those teeth are sharp little buggers!

Later in the evening she bit me again in another location a mama doesn't ever want to get bit. Yup.

So... I figured she must be teething.

This morning I found tooth #6 had broken through the skin. It is on the bottom right.

Phew!

Sincerely Yours,
Molly

Randoms

Third post for the day? Um... ok.

So I was just thinking about things I have not been blogging about lately, and decided to give a quick catch-up... ready?

1. Emberly says "oooh" whenever she is eyeing something especially interesting. It's cute. Really cute.

2. Emberly has slept through the night consistently since we went on our trip to Denver. Like 10-12 hours through the night. It is all kinds of amazing. It was only a month prior to that that I started to feel like we'd NEVER get to sleep through the night EVER again. But now we do. Love love love. This mama is a whole new woman.

3. Goldfish crackers, grapes, and other bits and pieces of table food have made their way into Emberly's mouth in the last week or so. We are moving toward solid food central.

4. If I leave the room Emberly is playing in, she'll quickly crawl to find me... wherever I may be!

5. Emberly does not like to sleep without her "snuggle things."

6. We stuck her on the scale in the bathroom yesterday and it said she was 22 pounds. Not sure how accurate that is... but close enough!

7. I have been trying to get her to eat cheerios for several weeks and she will.not.do.it. She puts them in her mouth and then takes them out. Yesterday she found one on the floor that had been there for who knows how long and ate it. Seriously?!?

8. She is becoming more of a social butterfly these days... she says "hi" to everyone we pass in the grocery store, target, or wherever. She waves and is a little bit of a ham. Oh boy.

9. She is a snuggler. I love it.

10. She blows kisses by saying "muah!" or "buah!" and makes a funny lip formation thing. It's pretty adorable.

Hmmm... there are more, I know it. But that's good for now. Remind me to take more videos, ok?? I'm terrible at that.

Sincerely Yours,
Molly

Tooth #5 & #6

Dear Life,

Tooth #5 & #6 sprouted through the skin last week sometime... I'm not exactly sure when they popped through because it is dangerous sticking your finger in Emberly's mouth lately... she has some sharp little teeth! Anywho - I forgot to document. So here I am documenting tooth the teeth - both on top. :)

Sincerely Yours,
Molly

Cuddles

Dear Life,

I loved cuddling with Emberly when she was a teeny tiny baby... a lot a lot. But now, there is absolutely nothing more wonderful than an all-about-movement baby laying her head down on your shoulder when she gets sleepy or cuddling after she falls asleep when I feed her for the last time at night. Seriously. It is super addicting. Lovely. Pure bliss.

Sincerely Yours,
Molly

That's a first...

Dear Life,

Changing Emberly's diaper is kinda similar to what I'd imagine wrestling an alligator is like lately. That girl cannot lay down for a matter of seconds for me to get one diaper off and another diaper on. No exaggeration. She really can't.

Anywho... I usually give her the most exciting toy I can find, talk really fast, try to be animated, and hope for the best. Today, I handed her a puzzle piece that she'd found especially interesting earlier and went at it. We immediately left for Jordan's softball game...

Once we got home, I took her diaper off and found... the puzzle piece. In her diaper. Awesome. Turtle puzzle piece in her diaper for two hours.

All-star mom award??

Sincerely Yours,
Molly

9 Months

So... I have a 9-month old now.

And she's kinda hard to catch sitting still so I can take her picture. Because she likes to stand up on things...

And then once you think she's ok... she decides to let go and one-hand it...

And then she's decided that she's over standing and she needs to come attack you...

And then when you move away from her she stops for a split second...

But then she realizes that you put a headband in her hair... and she really doesn't want to wear it anymore...

And when you put it back on she realizes there is a sticker on her shirt...

And then she discovers some lint that escaped your immaculate cleaning tendencies (uh... or something like that...)...

So you take away the lint so she doesn't eat it and she looks at you with sad eyes...

 

And you scoop her up to give her a snuggle and distract her from crying...

And you realize that you've just spent 20 minutes trying to take your 9-month old's picture and you never did get a cute sitting smiley pose.

Because that is life in your house.

So... here is life with a 9-month old!

Reading Specialist?

Dear Life,

About a month ago or maybe a little more, Jordan and I had a conversation about me returning to work. Well... actually we've had about 63 conversations about me returning to work, but this one stands out in my mind for several reasons. We had been praying through what it would look like if I returned to work and what that would mean for our family. Remember that time I told you about the book we were reading? {Living With Less So Your Family Has More} Well... it is easy to forget those things at times... and it's even easier to forget that the Lord has called us to put family first. Always. But anywho - I am off topic.

So we had this conversation about a month ago and said, "let's just dream." So we started dreaming... what would be the ideal situation/job if I were to return to work? And we came up with these criteria:

1. It would have to be half-time. It is simply not realistic to think that I could work full-time. I would never see Jordan with his schedule being completely opposite of mine. Unhealthy.

2. It would have to be mornings. This way we wouldn't have to put Emberly in daycare. That would be very cool.

3. It would have to be a non-classroom job. But still a professional position in a school.

4. It should be something I didn't actively over-pursue. Maybe this is a weird one... but I just needed to know it isn't something that I "made work" into these criteria. You see, I checked the Fargo and West Fargo Public School webpage for job availability almost every day. And I thought about applying for things like "adult education teacher" or a pre-kindergarten readiness program coordinator. Um... so.not.me.

SO... all that to say...

When we were in Duluth I got a phone call from the Reading Coordinator in West Fargo. She wondered if I'd be interested in coming in for an interview. For a half-time position. To be a reading interventionist. At Osgood Kindergarten Center. The job had flexible hours. Probably mornings. They were willing to see what worked for me. It was a job I had not applied for or known anything about.

And I interviewed yesterday. And they offered it to me last night. And I accepted. :)

And can I just say that I am super duper excited? It is a contracted position - my very first. When I taught first grade it was just a one-year contract to fill in for someone's leave of absense. But this job is sticking around.

And I get to teach reading to struggling readers every.single.day. Which is about 12 kinds of exciting to me. But the best part is that I still get to be a mom and a wife and I'll only be gone 3 1/2 hours during the day.

Now, I'd be lying if I didn't say that with change comes some anxiety and nervousness too. Will I be taking on too much? Will I be a good fit for the position? Will I still be able to have enough quality time with my husband and daughter? Will I like Kindergarteners? Do I have what it takes to teach struggling readers?

But I can rest confident in the fact that we feel incredible peace about this position and the Lord will provide. If it isn't good for my family, I will reevaluate. And thanks to some fantastic advice from a dear mentor and friend, I have realized that I don't have to "camp out" with an "all or nothing" mentality in regards to being a stay-at-home mama or not. My family's circumstance is different from anyone elses, and their needs are the only ones I need to prioritize. And I don't need to explain that to anyone else. Because I am not a people-pleaser. I am a God pleaser. (Or... at least I'm trying to be.) :)

Sincerely Yours,
Molly

Duluth

Dear Life,

We've been 12 kinds of busy lately and I am sooo thankful to be sitting at home with nothing other than laundry and grocery shopping and gardening and taking care of my sweet child and the other day-to-day stuff on my to-do list on this beautiful first week in June.

After arriving home from Colorado last week, we had a quick two-day turn around and Jordan, Emberly, and I packed up and drove to Silver Bay, MN (an hour north of Duluth) for my dear sister-in-law's wedding. It was an absolutely perfect day and their wedding was so nice. They got married in a log-cabin-y shelter at Gooseberry State Park with just a few guests and it was quaint and special and intimate and just lovely. Don't you love the flowers on the table??

We got there on Wednesday and the wedding wasn't until Saturday, so we had some family bonding time and got to do some little hikes in the state parks and share some meals together and hang out in the pool. We also had time to spend as our own little family and with some friends that we don't get to see often. It was a win of an adventure, for sure.

I wish I had taken more pictures... but alas, we forgot our camera so I only had my phone and I was busy chasing our mobile child around, making sure she didn't get injured with her all-body/half-brain abilities.

And now? I do believe sweet Emberly is teething. She spent an hour+ crying before her nap, slept about 20 minutes, and is now being rocked by her daddy... half sleeping and half wimpering in her sleep. We will bring on the tylenol if this continues. I thought she had sprouted a tooth this weekend and was so tickled that I didn't even notice she was teething... but upon closer investigation yesterday, I can see it hasn't broken through the skin. Bummer.

Anywho... I'm off to make a little lunch. Happy Monday!

Sincerely Yours,

Molly