Back to school...and miscellaneous other stuff

Yep. Time to get back to things. I put my degree on hold for the last 2 years when I got pregnant with the kids and Adam's school really got cranking. But now that things are returning to somewhat of a normal state (normal for us anyway) I've decided that if I don't get back into it soon, I'll be 50 before I finally get it done  (of course, maybe I could go to college with my kids then)!

For the time being I'm only taking 6 credits (half time). I need to be able to get my school work done while I'm at work because let's face it-I don't have much free time at home.

I've decided on Intro to Marketing and Politics of Crime & Punishment. Intro to  Marketing is the last of the core classes needed for my Minor in Business Administration.

There are 2 added bonuses of returning to school: I get to stop paying on my student loans, and I get a new laptop! I have to say, though, that I'm not really excited to be getting back. It seems like I need a ridiculous amount of liberal arts classes to fill out my gen eds and I abhor liberal arts classes! I even thought maybe I'd take statistics rather than a liberal arts class (and that's saying something because I also abhor math).

I also hate filling out FAFSA forms. They suck. Oh yeah, and buying books.  I've decided to go through my library at home and get rid of (and by that I mean hopefully sell to Amazon) any text books from previous classes that I'm probably not ever going to use again and hopefully get at least a little money back. The book for my Marketing class is over $200. And it isn't available on Kindle which is another sucky thing because I'm sure the book weighs about 300lbs and I've already got enough crap in my work backpack.

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On to other things...

Sam's crib got brought over today. He won't be sleeping in it at night for a while yet because he's still occasionally waking up in the night and I don't want him waking Clara up. So I think for now we'll be getting it put in their room and set up. We'll have him take naps in it during the day and then we'll wait until after the 4-month wakeful to transition him there at night. Which reminds me...I need to buy a mattress pad for his crib yet.

Clara has been having a real word explosion lately. She has also started putting words together (like "mouse book" when she wants me to read her the mouse book that she has or "daddy chair" when she wants to sit in the chair with Daddy, or when she's sitting in Daddy's chair). We need to work on "eat" or "hungry" or "food" because she's been whining or trying to climb into her booster chair when she's hungry and neither of those are really acceptable options. We're also going to start trying to potty train her on Adam's next break (which is in about 2 weeks). She has been waking up dry in the morning and from naps.

My weight loss has been going really well, but my fitness has not. I'm still  not able to get to the gym very often and haven't yet gotten any work out videos to do at home. I still want to so that's a good thing...it's just finding the time and trying to make it a priority. I'm also working out a house cleaning schedule because the house is a disaster and I need to find some way to keep up with it without it feeling like a huge hassle.

I guess that's about all that's been going on lately. I've wanted to write more often, but  haven't really had a whole lot going on since I've been back to work. We're getting family pictures done next weekend as well as seeing some of Adam's famiy that I haven't met yet. I'm just hoping the weekend doesn't get too nuts because I'd kind of like to enjoy it since I worked last Saturday and all weekend this weekend.

Clara's 19-month survey

**Because I started these surveys late, they're always a month behind. At the time of publishing, Clara is 20 months old, but these are details from month 19**

Monthly Survey 

1.       How old? 19 months

2.       Doctor’s appointments?: November 6^th, her 2-year appointment!

3.       Stats:

a.       Weight: 29.6lbs (weighed on our scale at home)

b.      Height: 35 inches tall

c.       Clothes size: 24m/2T exclusively. We’re in shorts/Capri season now so we can cheat with the length on her pants. J

d.      Diaper size: Moving up to 6’s in both the regular and Overnights.

e.      Hair color: Getting lighter with all the time she spends outside.

f.        Anything else?

4.       Milestones:

a.       Teething: STILL working on the 2-year molars. Ugh. One or two may be poking through soon. I can see them just under the skin. Everything else is in.

b.      Talking: She has quite the impressive vocabulary! She can say almost the entire alphabet and knows what sounds all the letters make.

                                                               i.      New words: cheese, pink, bubble, chair, toast, knee, toes, hand, arm, Bert, Ernie, Grover, and Oscar.

c.       Anything else? She is starting to be able to name colors. This girl is just plain wicked-smart. She can also sing along with “Twinkle Twinkle”. The words aren’t all right, but you can tell that’s what she’s trying to say. She’s also at the mimicry stage. We have to really be careful what we say and/or do around her because she’ll copy us. She has been having nightmares again more frequently. It seems like right now it’s about once a week. She knows what "booboos" are and wants us to kiss them better for her. And just today I saw her trying to jump. Jumping is the last of the major physical development milestones. She isn't quite getting both feet off the ground, but she's getting really close!

5.       Things she likes:

a.       Toys:

b.      Books: She's really into the Biscuit books and Arthur lately.

c.       Songs: 5 Little Speckled Frogs, If You’re Happy & You Know It, the Alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle,

d.      TV Shows/Movies: She loves her LeapFrog DVDs, Your Baby Can Read, and Sesame Street.

e.      Other Activities: She loves to draw outside with chalk, go for walks in the stroller, and just generally spend time outside.

6.       Things she dislikes:

7.       Sleeping: She still sleeps about 12 hours at night. Naps are still hit and miss.

8.       Eating:

a.       Favorite Foods: The girl is a cheese freak. She also loves chicken nuggets and most veggies/fruits.

b.      Not so Favorites: We finally found a food she hates: black olives!

9.       Nicknames: No new ones from last month.

Things we’re looking forward to next month: Nama’s birthday, Great-Grandma Ruby’s birthday, maybe visiting Nama & Grandpa at the cottage, and Daddy’s month-long vacation 

At the Bellin Run 6/9/12

Paging Dr. Clara!

Hamming it up for the camera

Sitting in the Bumbo...silly girl. :)

Mr. Sam is 3 months old!

Monthly Survey

1.       How old is baby? 3 months…Oh my, I can’t believe I just typed that! Where’d the time go?

2.       Doctor’s appointments?: August 2nd is his next appointment at 4 months.

3.       Stats:

a.       Weight: 14lbs

b.      Height: 22.5 inches

c.       Clothes size: Some 0-3 (depends on the brand) and some 3-6 month.

d.      Diaper size: Huggies Size 2's.

e.      Hair color: Very light brown with some blonde coming in behind it.

f.        Anything else? His eyes seem to be getting lighter blue.

4.       Milestones:

a.       Verbal skills: He gurgles and coos a lot, especially when you lay him on his play mat, but also occasionally while sitting in his high chair or on our laps. I even got him to squeal a couple times. It was really cute.

b.      Teething: I was hoping to avoid putting this one back on here for a while, but we've officially started teething. He has been gnawing his hands constantly and drooling like a fountain. I don't seem to feel any teeth yet, but I'm hoping they're not going to take forever to come in.

c.       Rolling: Yes!! He can now roll from front to back!! (6/26/12)

d.      Crawling: He pushes himself forward with his feet…he’s really strong!

e.      Anything else? He smiles all the time now! My favorite is when I return home after being gone all day and he starts looking for me as soon as he can hear me. That’s when I get the biggest most heart-warming smiles. He sat in his Bumbo for the first time. I’m not sure how he liked it. He's also blowing spit bubbles now and making farting sounds with his lips. He can also buzz his lips which he does a lot while he's sitting in his high chair. I think he likes the way it sounds.

5.       Things he likes: He loves to play on his play mat. He also loves to be held sitting up on our lap. He’s so aware of things that he likes to be able to look around and explore things from a different angle. He's also learning how to hold onto things. His monkey wubbanub is his favorite, but he also has a ball/rattle that he likes to play with in his high chair.

6.       Things he dislikes: Not a big fan of tummy time, but I still try to get him to do some during the day, though with him being able to roll front to back, it's hard to keep him on his tummy!

7.       Sleeping: For the most part, he’s a great sleeper, and most nights he sleeps through the night. He still likes to be in bed around 7-8pm and is usually up by 6am. Sometimes he will wake up around 4-5am, but he'll usually take a bottle and then go right back to sleep. **He slept through the night on 6.18.12**

8.       Eating: He takes about 5oz from a bottle 3-4 times during the day. I nurse him when I get home from work until he goes to bed. Then he gets a bottle at night. I’m pumping at work and hope to continue to until he’s 6 months old.

9.       Nicknames: Bubba, Sam I Am, Captain Crankypants, The Captain, Shortbeard. Clara called him “Ham” the other day. She can’t say Sam so she mostly says “Nam”.

10.   Things we’re looking forward to next month: Nama’s birthday, Daddy being on vacation for a month, Great-Grandma Ruby’s birthday, and maybe a visit to the cottage.

Pictures!!

Chilling with his monkey

Playing on the play mat

Modeling the cute outfit from Auntie Steff and Uncle Andy

Scooter's checking him out

My most favorite picture of the month!

Another one of my favorites. Love the beautiful blues!