back to school?

I know, it's June. Why am I writing about back to school? Because I'm going back to school. At least I think I am.

For newer readers, I am, by profession, a school counselor. I received my degree 5 years ago and started working with a psychologist who works in over 20 catholic schools throughout The Cities. Through him, I would independently contract myself to various schools for various amounts of hours per week, depending on their enrollment. This is a great arrangement for someone who wants flexibility and independence and likes to work less than full-time without benefits. Many counselors will start working with him to get some experience and then move on to full-time once they have the opportunity. But for me, this arrangement has been a perfect fit.

The first year, I worked at 3 schools for a total of 2.5 days a week. The second year, I worked at 2 schools for a total of 3 days a week. The third year, I worked the same contracts until December when Brett came, took a few months off, and then returned to 1 school 1.5 days a week. The fourth year, I was very pregnant in the fall and covered someone's maternity leave, but did not return to work that year. Last year, I had signed a contract to return to the one school 1 day a week (their enrollment dropped), but when Reggie came unexpectedly in August, I backed out of my contract.

With my "spotty" fulfillment of contracts over the last 3 years, I was caught off gaurd when the psychologist contacted me in March with a potential contract. I had not planned to contact him for at least one more year. After some thought, I decided I didn't like the current offer (one full day, long commute) but would be interested in returning to school if he came up with something that fit my list of demands (no full days, no more than 2 afternoons a week, no more than 20 minute commute). I didn't hear back from him until the very end of May, when I was surprised again that he had come up with something that fit my requirements!

The contract is with 2 very small schools that amounts to one half day every other week. That's a grand total of 9 days a year! I am actually very excited about it, although I would call it more of a hobby than a career. Being self-employed, we are probably losing money after the expense of professional insurance, gas, childcare, licensure, and continuing education.

And speaking of licensure and continuing education, my license expires today. It is something that has been at the bottom of my to-do list. But now I have to get it renewed asap. So this summer, I am taking online classes - and it is seriously cutting into my blog writing and reading time!

But the question remains...will I go back to school? Or will another child appear out of nowhere?

"catch"

So, we're not banking on our children providing us with a lavish retirement with their athletic talent, but it sure was delightful to walk in on them playing together rather than squabbling!

Happy Father's Day

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To our favorite Daddy!

what I learned

I am copying my blogging friend, Ruth's, idea from her post about her recent vacation. Last week, Bryan was going on a longer-than-usual business trip, so I decided to take the kids out to rural South Dakota to visit my grandpa and his wife for a few days.

Here are some things I learned during our trip:

1. To estimate travel time, for every two hours of driving, add one hour of stopping.

2. Traveling on rainy days is faster; traveling on sunny days provides more opportunity to get out and stretch at roadside parks.

3. Lydia will go down any slide her brother goes down, no matter how high it is.

4. Don't expect to make any progress with potty learning (or even maintaining) while traveling. Just buy the pull-ups and reduce the stress level.

5. Brett is an okay bed partner, but unlike his dad, it takes him a long time to fall asleep.

6. It is not the end of the world to have 3 children meltdown simultaneously at a small-town restaurant after a long day of traveling - everybody was already staring anyway.

7. When staying in a camper with toddlers, always lock the door to prevent anyone from falling out the door onto the ground.

8. Don't let the toddlers see you lock the door, or you may find yourself locked out of the camper.

9. Sometimes a mid-trip seating arrangement change is all that is needed to restore peace to the vehicle.

10. Pinwheels are a lot of fun on a windy South Dakota day.

11. When you show up at a McDonald's in Watertown, SD with 3 very small children and an overwhelmed look on your face, the manager will take your order at your table and bring you your food. You will also be gawked at the entire meal.

12. Brett really likes horses...

13. ...but not toy ones.

14. Even if you pack all the kids' in-season clothes, you still will not get a 4 day break from doing laundry.

15. Grandpa has an awesome garden, and can still fix anything.

16. Next summer, Bryan should not miss out on all this fun.

Reggie is 10 months old!

Reggie is 10 months old! He weighs 22 lbs and is 29 inches tall. He wears mostly size 12 months clothes and size 4 shoes. He has 6 teeth - 4 on top and 2 on bottom.

In his 9 month update, I mentioned he still was not rolling over from his back to his tummy. Well, he is now doing that, which means there is no stopping him! He has mastered pulling up (on everything/everyone constantly). He pulls up and holds onto our legs, and attempts to do this to Brett and Lydia, too. Lydia, in particular, really does not like this! He is also starting to do a little cruising. I have seen him stand independently once - when he noticed, he fell. He climbs the stairs if he is given the opportunity and he can safely maneuver down a step or two.

Let's face it. Reggie is really a lot of work right now! He's into everything! A couple weeks ago, we were all in the back yard and Reggie was crawling around in the grass, and I caught him eating a dead worm! Brett and Lydia were not as mobile during the summer months, so they were easier to contain. So, to minimize the problem, I went out that day and bought a walker off craigslist to use in the backyard. I didn't have one for Brett or Lydia because we don't have room in our house.

As busy as he is, it is a relief that he enjoys being carried in backpack carriers still. It is a lifesaver that we can keep him close and safe while we are busy doing other things!

I'm just speculating here, but I think Reggie has a very outgoing and boisterous personality. Not only is he loud, he has also always very much hated to be left in a room alone for even a couple minutes. He is proving himself to be quite verbal too! I'm pretty sure I've heard him say: all done, no no, nana (banana), uh oh, and Dada. That's impressive for a 10 month old!

Brett is 2.5!

Brett is 2.5! One thing that amazes me about Brett is he seems to be able to see outside himself more than you would expect from a two year old boy. He really does not like to hear his brother or sister cry and often tries to help them when they are upset. For example, Reggie always gets a cup of milk when he gets up from his nap. I usually get it ready and set it on his high chair a few minutes beforehand. Lately, as soon as Brett hears Reggie, often before I do, he takes the cup and gives it to Reggie in his crib. Something else I have noticed with Brett is his developing race awareness. With his limited speech, when he sees a picture of a white baby, he will say "Lydia", and when he sees a picture of a black baby, he says "Reggie".

We are encouraged that over the last couple months Brett has made progress in his speech development. He is pretty consistently responding with "yes" and "no", using more nouns, and will occasionally put a couple words together.

Brett loves to help in the kitchen, water the flowers (or anything else where water is involved), read books, do puzzles, crafts and play dough, go for walks or "ride" his trike, go to playgrounds, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk.

Brett is growing up so fast! While he spends a great deal of his day trying my patience, he is a little boy full of ideas and energy. We are blessed to have such a clever and gentle-spirited son!

Lydia is 1.5!

Lydia is 18 months old! She weighs 22 lbs, 8 oz, and is 31.25 inches tall. She is wearing size 12 and 18 month clothes and size 4 and 5 shoes.

Lydia is a very expressive little girl with lots of spirit. Some of her favorite things to say are "YAY!", "WOW!", and "AIRPLANE!" (all the time because we are not far from the airport). A few days ago, she reenacted me struggling with a heavy flower pot and exclaimed (after me) "Uf! That's heavy!" and when I told her Grandma was coming, she did a little dance, clapped her hands and said "Ooo Wow!" Her receptive language is really growing, too. She can follow a pretty complex one-step direction when she wants to.

We've noticed she is definitely doing more limit-testing lately and started giving her time-outs. Her first time-out, I put her in her crib after she immediately did something Brett was in time-out for. Boy, did she take it personally! Her next time-out, Daddy gave her when I was putting Reggie down for a nap. I was shocked to see her sitting perfectly frozen (and crying) in the corner where Brett sits when he is in a time-out. Brett is not expected to sit still for his 2 minutes, so he basically has a 4ft square area that he just has to stay in, but Lydia just sits there, mad and offended that she would get a consequence!

Lydia loves to play in the dirt and can spot a puddle from a mile away. She is constantly covered with scrapes, bruises, and general filth! She also likes bubbles and sidewalk chalk. She loves to sing and dance. She also loves shoes!

Last weekend, a friend showed up after Lydia's nap, which is always a crabby time. Lydia was crying and clingy, but once she discovered my friend had brought over some hand-me-down shoes, her attitude immediately changed and she spent the next half hour trying on her "new" shoes. Once she got them on (2 sizes too big), she'd go to the door, and say, "Bye!" to me.Lydia has a fun relationship with both her brothers. Her and Brett play and squabble and find trouble together. Her and Reggie bounce off each other at mealtimes, determined to see who can make the most noise! However, she does not like to share the attention with her brothers and gets quite jealous and possessive.On most days, Lydia has gone to just taking a nap in the afternoon. Some days, nap time can't quite come soon enough!

We love our little girl -always hamming it up. She is a handful and a delight!

Third "Final" Memorial Day Dedication

In our Faith, we have a tradition of having a dedication service when we bring a new baby into the family. This service is our public expression of our commitment to raising our child in a faith-filled home and recognition that our children belong to the Lord. Three Memorial Day's ago, we held an informal service for Brett with my brother officiating. By that time, we knew we were expecting Lydia, so we said we would have another service for her on Memorial Day the next year. Which we did, and everyone joked that we would have one again this Memorial Day...nobody really thought it would be a reality. So, when we decided to adopt Reggie, I called my brother up and told him to keep Memorial Day open! We are pretty sure this was the conclusion of our little tradition...but I can't really make any definite statements about what the future will hold!
Reggie enjoyed the celebration in his honor and even got to have a few bites of cake!
We got a keg of root beer for the occasion - that was Brett's favorite part!

Lydia just liked that there were so many grandmas around to pay attention to her!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6