The advantages of being a teacher...

When I decided to become a teacher, there were a lot of people who cautioned me that it was the wrong profession. I heard everything from "Teachers are underpaid" to "The students will run you over." However, I ignored all comments and pursued my career in the education field. I do have to say, I loved it and still do, and can't wait to get back into the classroom next fall. My first year of teaching was interesting; I just moved to Memphis and I was teaching 10th and 12th grade English. Being only 23 at the time, my seniors probably thought it was a joke when they first saw me!! I loved teaching that class. I had a lot of characters in there and at times, I didn't want 4th period to end. One person who stuck with me, and still does, was a blonde hair blue eyed cheerleader by the name of Kelly. She was so sweet and so smart. We immediately had a great raport with one another. She often ate lunch in my room that year, and we used that time to discuss things other than school. She was a creative and had a heart of gold. Sh began dating a guy named John that year and I heard all the stories of their relationship, and sometimes he would eat lunch with us too. Even after Kelly graduated we stayed in touch and have gone to dinner. We talk through Facebook and I am so proud of the woman she has become. This Saturday, tomorrow, Kelly and John are getting married!! It has been a long road for these two, but I am so glad that they prevailed and will have their happy ending. Jay and I will be there to see it come to life!! I was pregnant with Jay when I taught Kelly, so I find it to be fitting. Kelly and I recently exchanged emails about how the wedding and how proud I am of her. I wanted her to know that there will be snags on the actual day, but in the end, it is just she and John that matter. She responded with the most hear warming response: Thank you for your words of wisdom. You really never will understand what a role model you were for me in high school, (and you continue to be) I know when I have children, you will be one of the very first people I go to such a special mom, teacher, friend, and role model! Love you so much! That meant the world to me! See you on Saturday! I cannot wait to see her and see all of her dreams come true!! Here's a picture from their senior prom!! Love you guys!

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Potty Training, Take 2

So, we are in our 2nd week of potty training for Jack.I remembered when Jay was potty training, I wrote a blog about it, and when I went back and read it, I just had to laugh!! I have learned from Jay's journey, and suprisingly using all the knowledge this time around.

Follow the link to the post I did for Jay's training!

Jack is already telling me he has to go and claps his hands when he does pee. At nap and bedtime we are doing pull ups and he is using the excuse of "pee pee" to get out of his bed!! He is hyserical and loves sitting on his Cars potty seat!

Such A Slacker

I know, I know, you don't have to tell me! I have been such a slacker with my blogging, but life has been crazy, and I have found little time to sit down and write! Well, let's see, my sister got married in June! YAH!! The wedding was beautiful and we had so much fun! She and Justin then moved to Opelika, AL in July so Justin could attend grad school at Auburn.



The boys have been going, going, and going!! Jason turned 4 in May, Jackson just turned 2 and Jacob will be 10 months tomorrow! So crazy how time flies. We are working with Jackson and potty training. He is doing so much better than I thought, and I hope to have him completely potty trained in the upcoming weeks!

Jackson on his birthday!


Jay being silly!



GEAUX TIGERS!



Jason has been busy at work and I am still working on my Masters. I will be done in about 6 months! I can't wait. I will be reapplying to our county so I can start teaching again in August. I hope to make another post sooner than later!

Going To The Chapel And...

Ashley and Justin are getting married!! My little sister's wedding date is fast approaching (June 18th) and between now and then, there are so many activites taking place. In a week and a half we will be traveling to NOLA to throw Ashley and Justin their wedding shower. The bridal party is throwing it for them and we are so excited to be a part of it and celebrate this time with our friends and family. Come May, the boys are going on their bachelor party trip and the girls are going on a bachelorette trip. Both trips are happening the same weekend, so it should be fun.

I have the honor of being my sister's maid of honor, well I guess matron of honor because I'm married, and I am so excited about this role. Ashley and I are 5 years apart and the last 5 years or so we have become extremely close. We are COMPLETE opposite from one another and I guess we balance each other out; she takes crap from no one and I am a total people pleaser. We talk a couple of times a week on the phone and when we see one another, I truly enjoy spending time with her. She is the godmother of Jay and loves everyone of my boys as her own!! I am so proud of her accomplishments and very proud of her as a person. I call her for advice on things I know she can relate too and to just vent sometimes!!

I still can't believe she is old enough to get married!! I can't wait for the next few months because we will be traaveling to NOLA to see everyone and participate in this wonderful season of her and Justin's life. The wedding will be beautiful and she will make a gorgeous bride. She deserves every inch of happiness coming her way, and I am just glad and honored that I can be a part of it, not just as family, but as her matron of honor and friend.

Scooby Doo Please!

I just want to give a big shout out to Hanna-Barbera for creating Scooby Doo! This show, with it's monsters and meddling kids, has become a staple in my household. For many moms out there, we all know it can be tough to find a show/movie that all the kids want to watch. With Jay being almost 4, he is totally into super heroes and wants to watch The Avengers or Batman or whoever, all day long. Jackson on the other hand is content with the Backyardigans. BUT..... Scooby-Doo has solved all these problems for our household!! I have no idea what it is about that show, but both boys stop what they are doing and move to the living room when I tell them that I am putting on the bottomless pit pooch!

Thank goodness that Boomerang plays the reruns and even plays the 1 hour movies all the time! Jay will even tell me which ones he wants to watch by describing the setting: "The pirate Scooby Doo is the one I want to watch" or "When the skeletons come alive, that's the one I want to see." So, not sure what it is, if it's the "scary" locations, the bizarre monsters, or Scooby and Shaggy being scaredy cats that intrigue my boys, but whatever it is, it works. So, bring on the Scooby snacks and sit back for a moment of silence! Thank you once again Hanna-Barbera!

The Switch

Being a mom to 3 boys is amazing; I wouldn't change it and love every quirk that they have. But, as many moms know, especially moms to boys, there is a little switch-a-roo once they hit about 18 months or so. Let me set this up for you: When we are pregnant, us women take it very seriously: we eat what we are suppose to, refuse those yummy, frothy drinks, and rest as much as possible. When our baby is born, it is our job to nurture this new being. We are the ones that know which cry means what, we know the feeding/nap schedule, and we are the only ones that can console a crying baby. Jason teases me and tells me to get it all in, because, once they hit a certain age, they will be switching to him. And it is so true!!

When Jason was born I don't think we realized this would happen. Yes, Jason would say he couldn't wait until Jay was older so he could wrestle and play sports with him, but I didn't think it would be so drastic!! We both dote on our boys all the time, but I didn't think that Jay would find me no fun once he got to the age of 2! He and Jason are like peas and carrots. They are glued to one another as soon as Jason walks in the door from work.

Now, Jackson is 18 months old (today actually!) and he and Jason have already started that new bond. Jason teases me that Jack is leaving me and coming to him! I think Jack has been more of a Momma's boy than Jay ever was, so in a way I'm sad to see him go to the Testosterone Side! Whenever Jason is home, Jack has started walking around the house yelling "Da! Da!" until he finds him. He wants to sit with Jason more and loves rough housing with him and Jay.

I still have Jacob and will relish in my baby time that I have with him. And, I know that being a mommy to boys, I will always hold a very special place in their hearts. I may not be the one coaching their baseball teams, or work on cars with them. But, I will be the one who is at every game rooting them on,making them promise me that they will wear their seatbelts, and teaching them how to treat women. I hope that when my 3 boys leave the nest, they will see me as a great influence in their lives.

I will stop there because thinking about them being men gets me sad. I want them to just stay little forever....OK, not forever, but I am trying to take in every moment of this season of our lives.

Until all that happens, and even if they prefer their Daddy over me to play with, I am still the one they run to to kiss their scrapes and to get rid of the monsters!

Whirlwind

The past few weeks have been hectic, but in the end, it has truly made me look at things with a whole new perspective. We recently finished up our renovations to the house and it looks amazing if I do say so myself! We have a few more upgrades to do, but the big things have been completed.

The boys, of course, are growing rapidly and sometimes I just want to push the pause button! Jay will be 4 in May, Jackson will be 18 months the end of this month and Jacob is 3.5 months old now!! Each one is totally different and continue to amaze me each day.

Recently we had a scare with Jacob and all I have to say is that God has wrapped His arms around my sweet little boy. We noticed at Jake's 2 month check up that he is favoring his right side and flattening the back right side of his head. We didn't think much of it at the appointment, but started to do a few things that the doctor recommended. However, it seemed to get worse and then Jason noticed that his forehead on the right side was more pronounced than the other side. I called the doctor and when we went in we had to go to the hospital to get an X-ray done of his skull. The doctor wanted to make sure that his plates in the front of the skull had not prematurely fused together. And had they done that, than surgery would be the next step. To say the least, I was a bundle of nerves. I had recently heard a story of a little boy who had a tumor in his brain and died shortly after the surgery, so that was all I was thinking about.

Jake DID NOT like the X-rays and they had to hold his little head still so they could get pictures. Withing minutes of leaving the hospital, our doctor called us with the good news: everything was good!! The protruding is just from him favoring the right side and we just need to continue working with him. Having this scare and knowing how quickly it can change from good to bad, I got down on my knees and thanked God for allowing him to be healthy.

Being a stay at home can be a thankless job ( Jason does tell me everyday how much it appreciates me and what I do), but the boys are too young to see all that goes into it. They just know I am Momma and I am there to cater to them!! This scare has truly shown me that being able to stay at home with my babies is a great opportunity that God has allowed me to have, not a lot of mommies get this chance. I am able to see them grow everyday and see them learn new things. There may be days where I just want to lock myself in the room and yearn for quietness, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't know what I would do if that was taken from me. Now, don't get me wrong, I jump at any chances I can get to get out of the house, because my kids need a healthy mommy, not a neurotic one!!

Staying at home has taken some adjustment because I am not one who likes to not contribute, but I am learning that my contribution to our family is raising our boys and teaching them how to become men (eventually!). As I write this, Jake is trying to roll over and he will get it very soon!

7 Things

A wonderful friend of mine from college keeps a great blog and whenever I read her posts, I get inspired to start blogging more. In a post she did in December, she listed 7 things that would help readers and fellow bloggers to get to know her better. I decided to take on that same challenge.

1. Teaching was not my first choice of profession, it should have been, but
it wasn't. I enrolled at LSU initially to become a nurse; it last one year
and realized that the medical field was not my calling.

2. I once stopped in the middle of the street (Nicholson for the LSU people
out there) to save a turtle. He was just hanging out in the middle of the street,so I stopped to move him. He of course peed all over me as as I picked him up and we he did that I freaked and threw him down the canal. He may have been better off in the road!! All while I am doing this, my roommate is hysterically laughing at me.

3. I am a huge fan of TV. I have always loved watching TV, especially reality
shows and anything having to do with crime.

4. I love teaching. I have decided to leave the field for a couple of years so
I can be home with my boys, but I secretly miss it so much and can't wait to
go back.

5. I am cuurently working on my Masters in Education Administration.

6. I truly married my best friend. Jason is an amazing, person, husband and
father. God has blessed me with him.

7. I hate working out/running, but make myself do it! Hopefully one day I can
really enjoy it!

Blogging

Yep, 2nd post of the day, but after visitng fellow bloggers' pages, I feel sad because my page is so not that cool!!! For those out there with the cool templates and fun pictures, how do I do this? I feel like I just know how to do the basics and I want our blog to be fabulous!!! Any help would be great!!

Back In The Swing of Things

Well, a lot has happened since my last post! We welcomed Jacob Ross on December 15, 2010. He came out looking just like Jay, he weighed a lot less than both boys though coming into this world only at 6 lbs 1 oz! He is such a good baby and just kind of sits there and hangs out. He is already sleeping about 6 hours a night!!

Another crazy thing that is going on is that we are remodeling our house. The last week of December we found that our dishwasher pump broke and leaked water EVERYWHERE! We had water in our walls, under our hardwood floors, kitchen floors and dining room floors. Thanks goodness for home owner's insurance!! We have been talking the past year or so about remodeling, so this catastrophe has allowed us to do so, but at the expense of insurance!! It has been pretty difficult with the floors being torn up and having the boys, but the floors will be done soon, so the chaos should subside.

Being that it is a new year, I thought I should try to change some things in my/our life. I am still working on not allowing negative things in my life, but of course, sometimes that is something that you can't fully control!! Also, I am trying to get back to the mindset I was in before getting pregnant!! I had just started getting back into my routine of running and working out, and I strive to get that back!! Being a stay at home mom isn't always easy, so I am looking forward to getting the green light from my doctor so I can have that time to myself!!

We will be doing a lot of traveling this year because my little sister is getting married in June!!!! We are so excited about the upcoming activities and can't wait to celebrate them all with our family.

I will try o blog more because it is somewhat therapeutic for me. There is a lot that goes on in this house and sometimes I can't wait to share what one of the boys has done!!