30 Day Blog Post-Day 1

The Gunthers

This is the most current picture of my family and I. I promised myself I would take more pictures of my day to day life, but I have failed! lol I used to have an ipod touch with a camera on it and was obsessed with Instagram for a little while, but I gave it back to Aaron. We had switched ipods because I whined about all the fun  Jaelyn memories I was missing  because I did not have an ipod with a camera. So like the good husband that he is, and he truly is a great one, he gave me the one with the camera and he settled for the older, scuffed,scratched, and non-camera version. He is truly sweet. Long story short I gave it back to him because he whined back about all the features he was missing out on. Felt bad for him because I know I wasn't using it to its full potential so I gave it back to him because he does more for me than I could ever imagine,and he is now as happy as a clam :)

OK so since I have not been current with my posts, I have decided to try one of those 30 day blog lists. A few friends of mine have done it and I enjoy checking them out. You learn something new everyday about them. I like that. :)

So here goes my Day 1 ( Current Picture of yourself and a description of your day)

My day was a fun one. I have really been enjoying the craziness that is being a stay at home mom. I only have one little one but there is always something going on. Aaron and I are originally from Chicago and we miss it every time we think about our families and food. We seriously have the best food ever. Like amazing food. Time to step up your game Chattanooga! Anyway we leave tomorrow so today was filled [supposed to be] with laundry, packing, and more packing. But instead we took naps, ate lots of fruit, packed nothing, and played on the slip and slide. Jaelyn loves her bff "gigi." She is our neighbor girl that is 6 months older than Jae. She got to play with her on the slip and slide and that just made her day. We love that little one. Fast forward to the evening...we found a stray dog. This dog is so very sweet and had not eaten in who knows how long. Pigs in a blanket was for dinner tonight so we gave him some pigs( hold the blanket). He was in heaven. He is actually sleeping on our steps right now, like a guard dog. I will call a rescue in the morning, and see what can be done since the dog does not have tags.Praying he will find a good home, because he is too sweet. Anyway I really need to get some sleep before I have to add day 2 to this post. G'night all!

Special Brownies

Ok so for the last 3 weeks I have been thrown into a 2nd grade classroom with the intention of learning all the good and bad things that come with being a teacher. So far I love it. I come home everyday with a new story to tell my husband. He thinks it's cute that I always have something new to share(and i do love when he thinks I'm cute)! Here is one of my favorites:

One of the first questions that was asked about my friend Cynthia( she is my partner in the classroom and i'm so very grateful because we have fun) and I was, Do you they have boyfriends? When I said no, because i clearly have a husband, my friend Cynthia who is engaged said, "No I do not have a boyfriend because I have a fiance." The children all were "oooohh'n and aaaaaah'n" until someone said "what is that??" then suddenly no one knew what it was lol! Until one hilarious kid said "I know, it's someone who dresses her!" BOY did we laugh! I mean i was talking about that one for a week! Gotta love those kids!

Anyway as much as I love those kids ( and I do) something had to be done about their behavior. They were off the wall and loud, and kinda disrespectful when they wanted to be too. I believe that it may have something to do with the fact that they are bored and never being engaged ( not to be confused with the one that dresses you, teehehe ;)) and are pretty much working out of a workbook every hour of the day. Buy anyway that's another post that I will have to write... Back to their behavior... ok they were out of control and we needed to come up with something quick and effective to use while we were teaching. So we made an incentive brownie chart. If they are able to fill up the brownie pan by the end of the week, we will bring in brownies, and I quote " Special Brownies." I heard it the second I said it and had a hard time not chuckling while I was in front of the whole class. Cynthia who wasn't up front was able to chuckle away. lol 

So that is what I am up to today/tonight. 

ALSO my sweet sweet brother-in-law is planning a little surprise intimate birthday picnic for his sweet sweet girlfriend Ada. I am in charge of setting up the picnic area along with making the food... now that I think about it, what is my brother in law doing? ... haha that's ok I am glad to do it! 

On a much much much more excited note ( because i'm already excited about setting up the picnic in an hour) this is my last week of school!!! Couldn't be more excited! yay!!

I'd Rather Not

I feel like a lot of my posts start off this way, but here I go...

I haven't blogged in so long, yada yada yada. It's true I am quite busy these days. With school work, a hubby, and a mobile baby, there is rarely any time to do anything else. My schedule goes like this: Come home, feed, start dinner, play with baby, bathe baby, play with baby and hubby, book, feed baby, and put her to bed. My days are as predictable as they come. Clearly it sucks since i'm just not the type of person who wants to see their kid for a few hours a night. Well that's my schedule for Mon/Wed.

Tue/Thursday: I am with her all day pretty much, except that I do have class from 1-3:30 (tutoring at an elementary school). BUT we get to spend a lot of time together on those days and we go for walks, sing, dance, she says mamamamama anytime i try and put her in her crib and since i feel guilty about not being able to spend ALL my time with her, i give in and pick her up.


Friday/Sat/Sun: Friday is daddy's day. He doesn't have classes or work , so he spends his day with the bean. She adores him, and why wouldn't she? He calls her gorgeous the minute he walks through the door. Never goes out the door before giving his little girl a kiss. Makes sure she is getting in that Football love *rolling eyes, out of love of course*. Saturday is OUR day. Family day. We bring her in bed with us in the morning and we just hang out until we get enough energy to get out of bed. Then we go to church as a family and listen to the word. It's always the best day because it is always unpredictable once church lets out. The afternoons are our oysters!

SUNDAY :( - I work on sundays. it sucks, i hate it. but we need the money. Sometimes I will take Jae with me, to let her daddy sleep in. I know, i'm sweet ;) After work we hang out and try not to work on HW until the baby is asleep. SO you see?? No time! Which is why I have decided to abandon Facebook until My midterm break. About 15 days of uninterrupted life, and i do mean uninterrupted. FACEBOOK is my addiction, i spend so much time on there literally doing nothing. I even end up on random nobody's pages?? how does that even work? I spend a lot of time just refreshing the page and looking for more news. Can we talk about lame? So no more for me, there is a life happening in front of my eyes and I want to be a part of it. So goodbye FB. Until next time.


I've decided that I will blog though, as busy as I am. Reason is because i can get out my feelings and that makes me feel good. Facebook doesn't. So hopefully I will make an appearance here more often than not.

K Jaelyn is sleeping and it's now time for me to get ready for class... See ya!
I'd Rather NOT be in school!

Sunsets

I am an elementary education major and most people usually make a crack at my major. Usually it's the biology majors, business majors, and nursing majors that like to belittle my future career.They like to think that it's the easiest major ever known to man, that we sit in class and try to color in the lines of our Winnie the Pooh coloring books. I've got to admit that it's gotten to be really annoying. Sure we do fun activities once in a while, but that doesn't mean that we aren't learning content that will help us become better professionals one day. Just because we're not sent home with a bajillion trillion accounting problems for homework doesn't mean that we are not learning or working hard. I guess what i want to dedicate this blog to, is to teachers (or future teachers) everywhere who have ever felt unappreciated in your line of work. It takes a special person to be a doctor, a nurse, a psychologist, JUST like it takes a special person to be a teacher. God has a plan for each of one of us, and i'm SO happy to know that we are not all cookie-cutters of each other. I will be a teacher and hope to make a difference in the lives of the children I will be teaching.

I thought I would share some of my favorite encouraging quotes about teachers.

"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job. ~Donald D. Quinn

"In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. ~Jacques Barzun"

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions. ~Author Unknown


He who opens a school door, closes a prison. ~Victor Hugo

Motherhood is not for sissies...

School started last thursday and I'm feeling pretty good about the load i'm going to have this semester. It's not too heavy, or too light ( who wouldn't want that though), it's just right. Today was one of the hardest days for me because I had to drop jaelyn off at the sitters for the first time.

Jaelyn: My precious baby girl who was born at 6lbs 9 oz. My sweetpea who was born with a beatles hairstyle. My angel who's blue eyes are prettier than any sky. My princess who has both her parents wrapped around her perfectly chubby dimpled fingers. My baby who can melt my heart with just once sweet giggle or smile. She is my our everything.

It was hard leaving her to someone i barely knew. We aren't fortunate enough to live near family, so we chose to take a friends referral and our babylove will spend her mon/wed with Miss Barbara on University Drive.

When we handed her over to Miss Barbara, she had the most puzzled look on her sweet face. It was like " Mommy? Why are you handing me over to this stranger?" All that I could do was cry. I never understood what parents felt when they dropped their babies at daycare. I often wondered, because afterall it was never a "by the book" goodbye. No the kids did not kiss their mommas and papi's goodbye, set off to read the latest Thomas the train book, and engage in play with their teachers. It was the polar opposite of that. They kicked, screamed, cried, pinched you, pouted, and waited by the door with tears in their eyes. I always used to wonder why do parents stick around so long after they've dropped their kid off, it doesn't make it any easier for the kid when they can see their parents on the other side of the door NOT coming to their rescue. But today I got a taste of what that's like. I handed my baby girl off with tears in my eyes and could not build the courage to leave. She didn't cry, scream, or pinch anyone, but she did quiver that bottom lip and that was all it took for me to fall apart. I learned so much in that moment. I learned that Motherhood is not always easy. It's not like I just realized that today, but it was definitely bolded in my mind again.


After my first class I had some time to stop by the campus shop and pick up the last of my books. While I was there browsing through the books ( books are my weakness, i am a nerd but i'm ok with it lol) I saw a cute and short little table topper book called " Motherhood is not for Sissies." I The cover was a picture of a little baby's whole face eating mush, it was adorable. So i bought it.

It had a really great and simple quote. It was just what I needed to carry on today: "When all else fails, pray." Sometimes i get so caught up with looking for advice about how to get through this tough time, but i forget to just talk to God. I forget that he knows my heart and my worries too. He knows it all, beginning to end, and if only I would seek him first when I'm hurting, he could mend my hurting heart better than anyone else on this earth. I want to make this a priority in my life. I want my baby girl to see the love I have for Christ, because as a mother I owe this to her.

School is Back in session...well almost

It is finally the weekend *sighhhhhhh* It seems like it was just last weekend though, but hey, i'm NOT complaining. This week was not a bad one at all, it was slow paced, relaxing, and filled with or shall I say non-filled with good wholesome "Z's." But this week will be different, because I am going to attempt to "sleep train" Jaelyn( for the second time, the first time didn't work so well because we move shortly after and all that crap that goes with it, so don't judge me!)

My Husband and I are starting school next friday and I have to be honest, I'm not really looking forward to it for a pile of reasons. which can be viewed below...

- Having to leave my baby with someone else

- Homework again... yuck

- Classes, especially those 8 am ones... who's dumb idea was it to start the day so dang early???

- Having to add to our pyramid of loans, and let me tell you we are adding to the BIG ol' bottom

-Studying, what a bore... isn't it enough that I show up for classes?? meh

-and Having to leave my baby with someone else :(


For starters: I know I should really be happy that I will finally finish my schooling and join millions of Americans in paying most of my paycheck to Uncle Sam... forgive me if i am not. I wish I could just find a printing company to print me out a crisp diploma and a bank to cut me a check for a million dollars ( for loans,diapers, and all the other things in life like makeup...what? I like makeup...). What can I say, i'm definitely a dreamer. But it's time for me to put on my big girl panties and follow the oh so very catchy Nike motto and "Just Do It." I do realize that I am blessed to have had the opportunity to stay at home with my girl for the first 6 months. Some moms don't even get the first 6 weeks! I am blessed to have a supportive husband that gave me the choice to stay home or go back to school this year, but I know what I need to do. He is a good man.

Let me tell you a little more about my husband. We met in High School ( he was just another random white guy) in the middle of nowhere, aka. my boarding academy placed in the middle of the Corn Fields. Kinda wish I had never watched "The Children of the Corn" movie before I decided to enroll. Anyway, he wasn't a student there, but he would often come and visit his two best friends that were students. We were not attracted to each other, both were "in love" with other people ( ohhhhh high school), and probably only said hello once. I was a year ahead of him in school, ( He was homeschooled so he was a year behind since he decided to take a year off in high school, who does that ?? my hunny) so I went off to school in Collegedale, TN for my freshman year and didn't actually see him again until my sophomore year (his freshman year). It wasn't love at first sight, if anything it was the total opposite. I found his eye-winking, belly poking, big ol' grin SELF to be annoying. He was a flirt and the girls loved to flirt back. Except for me. It's a classic, girl hates boy, boy is never hated so wants to win girl, girl starts to fall for boy, boy and girl date, fall in love, get married, have a baby, and are still happy today. ( It's a much longer story, but i will save you from all that reading.)

What I meant to originally write, was about how lucky I am to have this hunk of man by my side for life. He is sweet, thoughtful, funny, fun( is it too weird to use those two similar words next to each other?? oh well) a wonderful daddy, and my best friend. He is always supportive and I love him for that, we are so different and so alike at the same time. He truly is my knight in shining armor.

Behind Baby Bars

It seems that Jaelyn ( my 5 month old baby girl) has realized how confined she is to her cribs during nap time and bedtime. SO she has decided to scream bloody murder a couple times a night ( and during nap time) because she has been getting her sweet chubster legs through the crib bars! It totally stinks, because we are STILL sleep training her and there are a thousand "rules" that we are breaking. So today when my hubby gets off work, we are going to Target to get some breathable bumpers. (Yay?) Don't know much about them, but i'm hoping they will solve the issue. Anyway, my husband and I are starting school next week... I can't believe it's gone by so fast!

I am excited to just finish up my degree and pay off those ridiculous student loans ( why didn't I go to a community college my first two years??). This year will be different, the majority of our regular group of friends have all filed out into the real world and joined the work force. Sure I am happy for them, but it just means my husband and I have only two really close friends left here. :( Needless to say it's going to be weird year.

On a different note, I have yet to finish unpacking and organizing my home. Am I a bad housewife? Is it so wrong that I'm drawn to watching Ugly Betty on Netflix after my angel goes to sleep? Eh, who cares! I will get it done before the weekend, hold me to it ladies! Can't have a chaotic home when school starts, because my life will already be chaotic!

Sounds like nap time is over, so I better get going. Until next time....

P.S. I LOVE baby wearing!

5 Followers! yay!

Once again major fail on my part to stay current with my blog. BUT... it HAS been a crazy few weeks. My two summer classes are over and I got some good observation hours in for my P.E. in Elementary school class... i think I will actually miss it!

Let's see.... I am very sleepy right now and I don't know why I am fighting sleep right now when I should be taking advantage of the fact that my baby has been sleeping for the last 6 hours... as in I should be snoozing too. So I just wanted to write to my 5 followers ( yay!) and let you guys know that I will be back! For now, I am out, cause this momma needs her ZzzZ's!