SO big!

Another week gone!  This month has gone by so fast!  I think it might have had something to do with being sick for almost 2 weeks of it and sleeping as much as possible those weeks.  But, this week is the start of April! I hope this weather stays this nice.  My Spring Break starts in two weeks, and I am praying to have some nice days to take Kenley out.  I am so anxious for my Spring Break to get here, not only because I have the whole week off, but because I know when it is over I only have about 6 more weeks left of school!  Ray and I are hoping to take Kenley somewhere for a night or two, to make-up from our unfortunate time at Keylime Cove a few weeks ago.

 Ray and I got some quality family time in with the little one this weekend and took her to the zoo.  What a change from her first zoo trip when she was only 6 months old!  She absolutely loved it!  It was fun to watch her point at all the animals.  She loved the aquarium, the giraffes, and the dolphin show the best.  I was a little nervous at the start of the dolphin show about if she would make it through the whole thing since we had already been there for several hours, but as soon as those dolphins started jumping and doing tricks, she sat straight up and didn't move through the whole thing.

Here is her picture by the Kangaroo that we took when she was 6 months old, and here is one of her now at almost 16 months old. SOOO big!  I'm hoping to get one here every time we go.

Here are some other pictures that we took too:

Weekend Re-cap

What an amazing weekend!  I can not believe it has been in the high 70's for over a week, and I love it!  I spent as much time as possible outside. Ray and Greg were on a golf trip, so Katie and I had some "girls" time.  We took Kenley out shopping and out to lunch on Saturday, and we got to eat outside.  Then, this morning I took Kenley out for a walk, hung out in the yard, and then went out with my family for my Grandma's birthday.  We got to meet our newest family member, Kyle, my cousin's son for the first time.  It was so cute seeing Kenely with him.  She kept saying, "baby!" and rocking him in his car seat.  And later, she got in his car seat and tried to rock herself!  I loved seeing her with him and how sweet and gentle she was with him.  It was funny watching Kyle sit quietly/sleep at the resturaunt while I chased Kenley around half of the time.  Oh, how times have changed!

As nice as it has been to sprawl out in bed and be a cover hog, I am missing Ray.  I am looking forward to having him home tomorrow so we can spend some time together this weekend.  With both of us being sick last weekend, we barley got to see each other the week before he left.  On a side note, I am still not completely over this sickness.  I don't know what is wrong with me, but I still just do not feel completely good.  I can't eat much, feel nauseous sometimes, and am so tired!  NO, I am not pregnant, as everyone has been asking me :) Thursday night, before Ray left I was in bed at 6:15 and Friday and Saturday night I didn't stay up much past Kenley's bedtime.  So, I am really hoping that whatever has been getting me down goes away soon so that I can get my energy back. 

Here are a few pictures I took this weekend:

Back in the real world!

Yay! I was finally a functioning member of society today! Whatever flu/bug/illness hit our house got us BAD. Luckily, Kenley seemed to be he least affected with just a little fever for a few hours on Friday. I was stuck in bed with a fever for a good 24 hours, which I then passed on to Ray. Now we both have colds, caught, and stuffy noses. I am so sad that we were cooped up in the house on the most beautiful weekend in months. At least, after work today, I played with Kenley outside for a while.
Which leads me to say that today I officially accepted the fact that I have a toddler, not a baby, which makes me somewhat sad. When I got Kenley out of the car after work, she could hear the little boy across the street playing, and she practically dragged me over there. They ran around and played for a while, Kenley said,"bye-bye" and then held my hand and walked down the sidewalk with me saying, "dada" because she knew daddy was waiting for us at home. Then, she sat by Ray for a few minutes and watched her favorite Elmo/Jason Mraz episode. When did my baby girl go from sitting in her bouncy chair with a bottle to initiating her own play dates and having shows?
I can't believe what a big girl she is becoming and she is learning so much every day. She can point out most of the major body parts hair, teeth, hands, feet, ear, eye,etc. The past few days she has also discovered her belly bottom and got frustrated when I asked her where it was and she couldn't pull her onesie up to show me. She also has her own version of the Barney song that she sings, loves to say "Jakey,Jakey,Jakey," (our dog) and says "hi" to pretty much everyone who looks her way. She cracks me up, and I can only imagine how much more she will be talking in the next few months. Can't wait to have many more days of nice weather to come!

Re-model, Tow, and Baby News

The last few days around here have been pretty busy!  Ray and I decided on a whim on Sunday morning that we would re-model our bathroom.  We have been talking about what to do with this bathroom since we moved in.  After several considerations and some motivation, we decided to do it ourselves.  By that, I mean that I helped paint and move the heavy stuff, and Ray pretty much did the rest.  But, we got it all done in 2 days!  We are really happy with the end result, and if we would have known how good it would have turned out we probably would have done it months ago. I think we are finally done remodeling the house!

Today, right after I dropped Kenley off at the babysitter's house, I stopped to get gas on my way to work.  I went to start my car, and it wouldn't start. I had  to get a tow truck, leave my car, and basically hitch a ride to school.  It was a very crazy start to the day, but luckily everything is fixed, and it was covered under warranty.

Last, but NOT least we found out that Katie and Greg are having a GIRL!  We could not be more excited!  I am so happy for them, and I am so happy for Kenley to have a girl cousin that will be so close in age.  I know they will be great friends.  Greg and Katie stopped by after finding out, and it was the first time I was able to notice "the baby bump."  I am very excited to start planning the baby shower!

Help Wanted?

For several years now, I have been considering what other possibilities there might be for my career.  There are so many days where I just don't know if I will be able to teach until the day I retire. Even since my first year of teaching, I don't think that I could ever say it was my passion.  There are so many days where I don't even know if I'm a good/decent teacher. It has also gotten harder being away from Kenley every day and going somewhere that I really don't want to be. So, the last several months I have been thinking of where to go from here. 

I know that EVERY job has it's ups and downs.  I'm not saying any of these jobs are easier or better than mine, but just considering the possibilities. Here are some of the alternatives I've been thinking about that I have listed in 3 categories:

1. Options that might actually be possible: becoming a Literacy Cach, teaching younger children, teaching college, Counseling/Social Work, doing in-home daycare, becoming a librarian, training teachers for educational programs, and subbing.  I have applied for a few jobs this year in other areas of education, but nothing has worked out yet.  Maybe I need to get a little more aggressive.  Some of the others I would need to go back to school for, but I really don't want to take out another loan right now.

2.  Other jobs I would be good at/have interest: Anything that involves organizing or decorating, opening a second-hand store, running estate/garage sales, housekeeping, designing home layouts. Last year, I thought I would try to start my own buisness, and I even went as far as making buisness cards. (I will give you one if you're interested!)  Although I don't have any professional experience, I love to organize, decorate, and design. All of my family and friends laughed at me, but I still haven't given up hope on this idea.  Summer Project?  I am also interested in a carreer as a writer,  I have applied for a few small journalism jobs, but since I don't have a degree in journalism, haven't had any success. Since I have taken up blogging, I am also very interested in how to become a professional blogger.  I guess I would need to get more people reading my blog to get sponsors, but don't really know where I would start.  I have also thought about trying to write a book, but haven't attempted one-yet.

3.  Other Random Jobs that are probably unrealistic :   working in a pet shop, being a stand-up comedian, being a mascot or other character, children's photographer, lifeguard, secretary, designing children's clothes, being a wedding planner, designing jewelry, working on a cruise ship, working in a salon, opening an amusement park, and the list goes on and on.  There are many days where I think, what would it be like to have this job?  Then, I usually tell Ray about it and he makes fun of me.  Especially, whenever we drive by Game Stop and I always mention how I would make a great mascot/character.

So, for know, I'm going to keep dreaming, sending out resumes, and filling out applications.  Who knows if I will ever get another job, or if I will stay in the same position that I am in now until I retire. Let me know if you're hiring :)