I won't win any awards...

A few updates:

Work life--Not getting sued! Things are going well. The parents like me, the students like me, and Early Childhood is just trucking along nicely. Things have settled down and the routine has become very comforting. Although I did have a student tell me today that "God is going to spank you". You know. That happens.

Social life--What social life? Ha-ha. Although I did recently go to the State Fair with my brother and his wife and my sister and her husband. The girls did not go with us so that was like a "night out". It was the UT v. OU weekend. There was a very drunk frat boy that gave me his seat on the DART train. He was with some seriously fashion impaired sorority girls. I think they thought they were trendy, but boyfriend jeans, toms, 80s sunglasses, and a military blazer do not a fashionista make. Anyway, drunk frat boy provided me with the most interesting and stimulating of conversations that I have had in a long long time. I milked his impaired state for all it was worth. Hey, I never get out! At some point we started throwing out names of herbs that would make ridiculous children's names. Tarragon and Cilantro were the big winners.

Romantic life--Again, what romantic life? Nathan and I try--we really do. But then I find myself saying things to my sweet husband like, "Put a bubble in your mouth" or "stop your motor and let the other people pass" as I throw my arm across his path. That screams "I've never wanted you more", right? And then there is the little issue of me lecturing him while in the throes of passion. I will spare you the intimate details but lets just say I can't even enjoy myself without attempting to boss Nathan around. That was super mortifying. I didn't even mean what I was saying. I am just so in the mode of telling people what to do I can't even stop myself while having sex! Ugh!

Parenting skills--This is my personal favorite. At the beginning of the aforementioned episode between Nathan and I, we had made cookies to keep the girls quiet and put them in front of a movie. You take it when you can get it, right? So anyway, we took the rest of the cookies to our room to consume them in secret like little piggies. Things had gotten underway and we hear a little knock on our door. Our favorite trick is to ignore it, but that was not proving to be effective this time. One of us got the bright idea to slide a cookie under the door without saying a word. Shameful. And humorous. And shameful. But mostly humorous. When was the last time I laughed like that? And, more importantly, it got the job done!

Spiritual life--Nathan is teaching the youth group at our church and I am teaching ages 2-4. I just love little kids so much I want to be around them every second of every day! (sarcasm, folks!) Oh wait, I am! It is really fun even though teeenagers scare the hell out of me. All their hormones and emotions flopping around like dying fish. Erg! I am not so equipped...but Nathan is great!

Mental health--You read the above, right? What do you think? Let's go with somewhere between desperately seeking a support group and needing a room with padded walls. But seriously, I live in my car, which is in a constant state of filth. When I get a break from the car, I am at the house--also filthy. I can't seem to get anything accomplished and it's all I can do to keep my eyes open every day.

But the title of this post aptly points out that while I may not be stellar at any one thing, at least I haven't spontaneously combusted. Sometimes "good enough" is the best I can do and I am okay with that.

And can I just give a shout out to all the amazing new life entering this world:
Baby Shelby
Baby Kuzara
Baby Roll
Baby Speegle
Baby Keyser
Baby Vaden
Baby Way
Baby Mahan
Congratulations you guys! You will all make amazing parents! It might make you a little batty, but we wouldn't do it if it wasn't worth it!

My kids...

Elisa: Still in love with mermaids. Monsters are scary mermaids, healers are magical mermaids. She laughs at weird times at things that aren't really funny. For instance, me: "we are having macaroni and cheese tonight for dinner". Her: "O haha. That's so silly. Macaroni and cheese. Hee!" I don't really have a response to that.

Ava: She is a punk who likes to ignore me and run around half-naked. I love her "can-do" spirit but she is not even keeled like sister. She goes from 0 to screaming in about 1/2 a second. Time is a concept we are working on. She likes to sometimes pick at Elisa because she can. It is just in her nature to be defiant. I like to call it "persistence". She will make a great debator! If I could somehow disappear between her age 12 to 19 years I think that would be for the best...for everyone...

Noah: Seriously the quietest baby you've ever met. I sometimes forget he is around. He just hangs out and watches stuff--his sisters, his toys, the TV, Na and I, the fan--whatever. He is just a sweetie and he loves to coo and laugh at me. My favorite time with him is in the morning before the girls wake up. I feed him and then get myself dressed and he just hangs out and talks to me. The only time he is upset is if he is alone (he HATES that) or hungry or tired. That's it. I just want him to stay my little baby forever!

On the off chance I might get sued....

In the interest of the law, I have removed my last two postings with my ranting and ravings about being unfairly judged. While I do believe that this will all settle, I may be taken to a court of law and I don't need anything negative found on me! Does this sound totally "Law & Order" to you? Me too! Many thanks, Reagan, for pointing out that even when I am not naming names, it still doesn't look good to comment on a potential "ongoing investigation". OMG! This is ridiculous!
Upside: I am in good standing with my current parents and staff and boss. I really love my job and everyone has faith in me. yay!
Downside (unrelated): Nathan, you know, works in oilfield services. Things are not going to well with some customers. I am a little *swallow* nervous although he tells me not to be. Hmm...

It's funny...

Nathan is blogging, y'all! And, he is real funny. He is a talented writer and he sells himself short. Anyway, he is way wittier than I am. He writes to keep things light and funny. We lovingingly nicknamed ourselves "witty" and "gritty" (that would be me). :) Hope y'all enjoy... http://ifthisminivansarockin.blogspot.com

Some random updates...

Things are like, really crazy...new job is awesome but my time allotted to stare into space and blog at will has somewhat diminished... :)

Let's see...Mally Lu is coming into town this weekend! Yay! Can't wait to see her!
Going to see our buds in Cleburne the next weekend...5 kids between 2 couples. Yikes!
Have plans for a college roommate reunion and a Collins/Bush/Richardson trip to the State Fair in October. Awesome!

Elisa is obsessed with mermaids. O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D. Her reality involves her swimming at the beach with the mermaids. Our conversations go like this:
Me: "Elisa, what did you do today?"
Elisa: "I went to the beach and swam with the mermaids. Yay!"
Me: "ooooooooookkkaaaaaaaaayyy."
Her Dad: "That was imaginary. What happened in reality?"
Elisa: "I went to the beach and swam with the mermaids. We had a good time. Oh goody!"
I really can't make this stuff up. Also, her current favorite song is "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce. She is a little behind the trends, that one is.

Ava's mood continues to amaze me. Still strong-willed but SO much happier than before her tubes. She is also the messiest child I have seen. Her face is covered in a layer of filth by the end of the day. She is also a scientist. I think her mind works like this: "Ooh. A marker. I see this colors this paper, but what will it do in the floor? More color--score! What about the walls? Color again! And now, for my body......I love chocolate milk. You know what's better than drinking it? Pouring it all over your leg when you are in the car and watching Mommy freak out. That's bitchin' awesome!"

Noah is basically the strongest, fastest, smartest, bestest baby in the world. Enough said. But, he does seem to spit up. A LOT. Just sayin'. He is still cool and all....

:)

Oh, and Na. Well, he seems to be fine. He single-handedly rearranged the furniture in our bedroom which I am deliciously greatful for! *kiss kiss* I suppose he is a little bummed that the dentist pointed out he has little teeth. Pretty is as pretty does.

Blessings abundant!!

Whoa! So much has happened this past week, I can't believe it has only been 10 days since all the changes! It is so funny how just when you let go of something that is when it is given to you. How many times have I been taught this lesson? A couple of weeks ago, when I was in my frustrating doldrums of wanting a job, I had gone to talk to the Head of the private Episcopal school here as well as the Rector of our church. I had handed out my resume but nothing, of course, was available part-time. Monday morning, we are coming back from Houston after Ava's appointment (her ears look great!), and I get a phone call. The Head of School just got an opening for Director of Early Childhood and instantly thought of me. What an ego booster! I went the next day to get the deets, and then I started Wednesday. School started this past Monday. What a rush! 5 days to get a classroom ready, enroll the girls, start school! Let me fill in the blanks: I work 7:30 am to 12:00 pm only every day. I teach a 3 year-old class as well as administrate the Early Childhood program. That consists of 3 3 year-old classes and 2 2 year-old classes. My title is Director of Early Childhood. Isn't that fancy? I will, of course, need to put in extra hours on occasion. There are late afternoon staff meetings once a week and there are various things that need to get done in the afternoon. However, my girls are attending the school now. I have a friend keeping Noah in her home, and I can pick him up and bring him back to the school if I have work to do. I can always go in after Na gets home too. But really, I imagine to be home by 12:30 most days. How awesome is this!?!! Just when I had given up and was learning to be content with my situation, God moves me again! I don't feel like Nathan and I even remotely deserve any of the blessings in our lives, but I suppose that is the point. God is always good. Period. It is just amazing to see the plans He has for us playing out!!!

Lessons in nursing

So, I was talking to a Moms group here in town, and they encouraged me to blog some of my lessons in nursing. This might be a little TMI for guys that read this blog--so BEWARE. I only nursed my girls for 3 months each. I got my period back at 8 weeks with Elisa and 11 weeks with Ava. My milk supply dropped dramatically. I was also working (full-time with Elisa, part-time with Ava), but pumping. both girls started sleeping through the night at this time as well. I always regretted that I didn't feed them longer. But I thought it was out of my hands. This time around, with Noah, I got my period at 11 weeks as well. I wanted to keep nursing him when I noticed a drop in my milk supply. So I just fed him every 1.5 to 2 hours. As soon as my period ended, my milk supply went back up and he was back to eating every 3-4 hours! I realized that I was so into Babywise and scheduling my girls by not feeding them unless 3 hours had elapsed. Even though they were hungry!!! I wish I had this knowledge them. Babies do need scheduling but sometimes to make nursing work for you, you have to change tactics. And that's ok. Your baby won't be a little hellion. Noah pretty much follows Babywise anyway...good napper and eats every 3-4 hours. Unless I am on the rag. :)