audrey, and lawson, and penelope, oh my!

Happy Spring Break from beautiful central Texas! 

And hello, after a year long, unintentional, blogging hiatus.

I'm currently inspired and ready to dust off the ol' blog, and start writing (typing?) down some of my thoughts again. :)

First off, a little catch up -- last July we expanded our family, and excitedly welcomed a baby girl named Penelope into our lives. My pregnancy with her was full of ups and downs, including severe morning sickness, early placenta previa, gestational diabetes, and high blood pressure. But she has been a dream of a baby. She's now 8 months old, and currently in a needy stage, but overall, she's an absolute delight. Penny has been my youngest baby to get teeth, having her first two pop up just shy of turning 8 months (her brother and sister were both over 9 months old). While she sits up and rolls all around, like her big brother, she's not in a hurry to crawl or pull up. This is perfectly fine by me, as life is crazy enough as it is without adding a super mobile baby into the mix. ;) She's also my youngest baby to sleep through the night regularly. Audrey woke up a few times a night until she turned one, and don't get me started on Lawson. We finally had to sleep train him at 18 months because he STILL wanted to nurse every 2 hours. Penny generally sleeps from 8 or 9pm (with one 5 minute dream feeding before I go to bed), and wakes up to eat again around 5am. We've all been enjoying her immensely, and I'm happy to report that, so far, there hasn't been any real sibling jealousy.

Lawson -- being the middle child, and only boy could potentially be hard for a kid, but we dote on that little boy like crazy, so no middle child syndrome yet! At 4.5 years old, he is generally one of the happiest and silliest kids that I know. Definite class clown material there. He is obsessed with Thomas the Train and Disney's Cars, and has been for a couple of years now. We probably have close to 200 cars and trains, and he still constantly wants more. Lawson is also hugely into Minecraft. He loves to play the game and watch the endless videos on YouTube that feature others playing. And given that the main guy whose videos he watches is British, he's also picked up some interesting vocabulary. His current favorite word is peckish, as in, "Can you pack an apple in my backpack in case I get peckish in the car?" Correct context and all. 

Audrey -- our oldest kiddo is getting ready to hit a birthday milestone in a few weeks. In less than a month my first baby is going to be TEN YEARS OLD!!! How did that happen?! Audrey is such a sweet and kind-hearted girl. She's always thinking about others. In the past 6 months she's also really picked up a love for drawing, and she's really getting good. Her current favorite things to draw are Pokemon characters. The girl is obsessed! As always, she's doing awesome in school. She's a natural speller, most likely due in huge part to her love for reading, but she tends to enjoy doing more math related schoolwork better. As far as reading goes, she's currently reading any Babysitters Club book she can get her hands on, which makes me oh so happy! I was a giant BSC fan when I was a kid, so seeing her enjoy them too is wonderful. Last week alone she read five books, thanks to a mini spree at Half Price Books. I love watching this girl grow up, and look forward to seeing the young lady that she'll turn into.

These three kiddos bring so much light and joy to our lives!

ch, ch, ch, changes.

Wow! It's been quite some time since I've put words down in this little space of mine on the web.

As a matter of fact my blog has been on completely private setting for the last 4 or 5 months due to my indecisiveness as to what I do or don't want this space to be. 

Honestly, at this point the only blogging decision I've made is to NOT start a brand new blog.

So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I guess this post will be a mini update as to what has been going on in the life of Jen in the last 9 months.

As I was thinking about life this morning and all of the many changes that have happened, and not just in this last year, but in the many years before, it hit me just how much I have to be thankful for.

Life isn't always, and definitely hasn't always been, a bed of roses, but I'm a firm believer in the fact that part of what defines us and our character and how we are in the "blessed" periods, is what we do, and how we are and act, during the thorny times.

The life that Bryan and I often talked about having leading up to marriage and during the newlywed stage is a far cry from the life that we currently have in pretty much every way, except that even with things not going as "planned" we are still so very happy.

In more recent years, our life has often lived up to the hamster wheel metaphor.

We've lived in the same 3rd floor apartment for 5+ years, we both worked super hard in jobs that we had no clue whether we would progress in, or when. We tried to add to our family with heartbreaking results, etc., etc.

But you know what? We have been HAPPY!! We were so very fortunate to learn some years back that each other, and our little family, will remain our "constant". Circumstances might change, but we're what remains. Being truly happy with what some would call a "simple" and "unexciting" life has truly been a liberating experience, at least for me. When you focus on the small blessings and happinesses (yes, I made that up), two things happen....1. bad news/circumstances seem more manageable and not quite as dire, and 2. you are THAT much more thankful when bigger blessings come along.

After continuing along like we had been, 6 months ago our "year of change" started. 

Our "original" plan had been to have me stay at home and raise a whole gaggle of kids.

But due to a variety of challenges in multiple areas, that didn't happen.

I started working part-time outside of the home when Audrey was 9 months old, which eventually led me to going back to work full-time when she was 3 years old. 

After Lawson was born I knew with all my heart that I wanted to be home with him, but I also needed to contribute significantly to our household income, so I eventually had 5 part-time childcare jobs that I could take him to, and that worked with Audrey's school schedule.

After a year and a half I got a promotion at my "main" job and was able to feel more secure in my work hours. A year and a half after that (this past August) I was offered an amazing promotion, that can only be explained as a gift from God. For the first time in 3 years I was able to pull back on my evening and weekend work hours, to be able to spend more time relaxing with my family. I am so incredibly thankful for this on a daily basis!!

The day before Thanksgiving is when we found out about the next BIG change in our lives, our rainbow baby.

Let me tell you now, the first trimester was HARD.

I was SO sick and exhausted, but I remember mentioning to Bryan that at the very least I was thankful for the time of year this sickness was happening in, as November/December are when my "on site" work hours slow down. So at least I had the extra downtime to be able to be miserable in my own bed. ;)

During this time I also had some issues with early placenta previa, which earned me two ER trips and 3 weeks of modified bedrest. Thankfully the previa has resolved itself and my second trimester has been fairly uneventful. It is really strange to think about a new family member being added in less than 5 months though. Lawson will be 4 years old when she is born, so what has been normal and typical for us for so long is about to change drastically!

After having past pregnancy issues though means that every kick, movement, or the sound of her heartbeat is that much more special to us!

On top of that, Bryan was given an amazing job opportunity in January that not only puts him in the field he really should have been in all along, but also is of huge benefit to our little family!

With all of these changes we will also be moving for the first time in more than 5 years in the very near future. We still haven't quite figured it out, as we want to make sure that we make the smartest and best decision for us that we can, but at the very least this pregnant mama will be getting off of the third floor!!

So, come July we will have had two great job opportunities, a pregnancy, a move, and a new baby, all in less than 11 months!

In all of this I've learned that being faithful with (and thankful for) the seemingly small, being willing to sacrifice for what makes you happy (my family!), and working hard and consistently to build the best (and happiest and most fulfilling) life that you can, is more than worth it!

It might not be what you had envisioned, and you might go into it kicking and screaming and asking, "why me?!", but sometimes, many times, it can lead to something even better than you had planned.

hello monday.

hello to a new way of doing things around here!

After battling Audrey off and on for well over a year 

(don't you just love when your child's will is stronger than your own?!), we have finally had success in moving Audrey and Lawson into the same bedroom.

 Which means, I finally get my living room back in the evenings!

It's only been two nights, but they've been glorious.

I might actually be able to catch up on some tv and movie watching. ;)

hello to spending some time with my mama!

My parents live only an hour and a half away, but with my normally busy schedule it can be quite some time between visits, so when my mom texted me last night to tell me that she would be in town today, I was super excited!

We were able to spend an extended lunch playing at the park, plus some time just hanging out at our place this afternoon, and there just might be some pool time tonight. :)

hello to summer school!

This one might not seem like a fun and exciting thing, but trust me, it is.

I'm currently working on getting all of the stuff in order to do a super fun 'Hogwarts Correspondence School' with my little Harry Potter nerd!

It will be lots of magical fantasy mixed in with some real life learning, and I think it will be the perfect fit for our summer.

hello to lists!

Hello, my name is Jen, and I'm a closet list maker.

With the start of summer and the current slower season of my job(s), I'm thinking about all that I can accomplish in the next few months.

From home projects to recipes to summer fun to books to read and tv shows to watch to personal goals, it's all being written down.

Honestly, I feel very much right now like I feel at the beginning of a new year.

Life i full of so many possibilities!!

hello to potty training!

As some of you know, Lawson is my stubborn child.

And if you've met Audrey, that's certainly saying something.

As we've been approaching his 3rd birthday (less than two weeks! Eep!), I've been thinking more and more about getting him trained.

Now, I'm not really worried about it, I know he'll be potty trained eventually, and I also know that pushing him will lead to nothing but frustration for the both of us,

but I still find myself hoping that he'll start showing interest sooner rather than later.

Well, this week he FINALLY PEED IN THE POTTY!!!!

It was such a huge step for him, and it gives me the extra assurance that this WILL happen. 

Also, the little lucky duck got himself three new trains out of it, so you know he's pleased. ;)