beach days

As I write this I'm sitting on the beach, toes in the sand. Sleeping baby in my arms. It's perfection. Matt and Laurelei are playing in the water. Every so often I hear her squeal with excitement or yell for me, so she can show me her new trick.

Despite the original call for rain the weather has been nearly perfect. Today it's maybe in the low 80's, slight breeze, nothing but blue skies and sunshine.

I'm taken back by how beautiful everything is from this vantage point, and how lucky I am to be here enjoying it. Hmmm...

9 whole months...

It's official. Abbott Matthew is officially 3/4 of the way through his first year of life. We are closing in on one year and I can't quite wrap my mind around it!

Here are some special things about our little Abby Rabbit this month...

moving... this was as close as we got to a 9 month picture. I couldn't sit him down and get to the camera fast enough to catch him before he moved. He is all momma's boy, and if I am sitting in front of him, he is sitting in my lap. I'm not going to pretend I don't love it! We crawl properly at turbo speed now. Abbott can get to the carbon monoxide detector as quick as a flash! He LOVES to push the button and light the house up with a crazy loud, "BEEEP!" It always causes crying, on his and L's part, so I can't imagine why he keeps doing it over and over again. It's not like we don't watch our kid or anything, I promise. That doesn't mean that he hasn't gotten the occasional swipe at the new puppy's food though. I think I officially won parent of the year award when he ate it twice, in one day. Oops.

growing... Abbott is 17.5lbs and 26.75 inches long! Growing like a weed. He's still hanging in the 10-25th percentile range though, minus the head. He has a big noggin, but that's okay!

standing... We are still pulling up and standing on just about anything now. It's freaking me out a little bit. He loves to do it, but mostly lacks in proficiency. Guess he's just all boy with all those bumps and bruises!

playing...We get to play lots of games and have lots of fun now! He loves kissing baby in the mirror, peekaboo, dropping things from his high chair. He would spend hours a day in L's room playing with her kitchen set if we'd let him! He a big fan of banging on things that produce a sound. One of our favorite times of the day is dinner time. L and Abbott usually enter into some sort of silly giggling match. One making the other laugh over and over again. They both love it, and it warms our hearts to hear! We've also introduced a few new toys this month that Abbott is enjoying, one of which is a walking toy. He is getting pretty good at it, which is a little scary! I wonder if next month's post will include first steps? I shudder to think!

teething...Matt and I have been convinced that Abbott has been teething since about 4 months. Well, we finally learned this month what teething is actually all about. Yikes! I pretty much spend every day covered in drool. Abbott fusses a lot more than usual, which makes me sad. All in all, it hasn't been too bad, and we have a tiny little front tooth to show for it! He's already working on tooth #1's neighbor too, which should make for a fun little beach vacation!

sleeping... We.don't.sleep. Ugh. I'm not going to blame him though, since it's mostly ear infection induced. Abbott spent his entire month with an ear infection. It has taken 6 weeks and 3 progressively stronger antibiotics to get rid of it. It's been a pretty heart breaking few weeks around here with our little guy! I'm a little scared that we are well on our way to tubes.

Look at that sweet little tongue. We've seen a lot of that too. Makes me think he's working really hard to complete a task. Love it!

Happy 9 months little Abbott. Love you bunches.

InstaFriday

 

sunday.

monday.  

 tuesday.

 

wednesday.

thursday. 

 

friday.

because we are crazy...

Matt and I have been thinking about trying the whole puppy thing again for awhile. Almost 3 years ago we bought our first puppy, Ruby. We'd both really wanted a dog, and we though L would enjoy growing up with one, so we went to the pound and picked out a puppy. Through a series of incidents we realized that Ruby was not a good fit. She grew to be much larger than we'd anticipated. She loved to rough house with L, which never ended well. It was pretty much a disaster from the outset. Both Matt and I felt terrible 15 months after getting her when we took her back, but more terrible about forcing her to be an outside dog because out little house and even littler children couldn't handle her!

We've been dog free for over a year now, and feeling the itch to get another puppy. Laurelei seemed to be at an even better age for a little companion, and Matt and I both feel really settled in our jobs finally. We weren't going to make the same mistake this time though, so we set out to do our doggy research. After going back and forth between a few different breeds, we settled on looking for a poodle. And wouldn't you know? As soon as we settled on a breed the perfect little puppy came to me through an email. He is a 10 week old, pure breed miniature poodle. Matt knew as soon as he saw the picture I forwarded him that I would not be able to say no to this sweet little face!

So, on our 5th wedding anniversary we traveled up to northern Kentucky and brought home a puppy. L was ecstatic. They made fast friends.

When we brought the puppy home we had already named him Magoo. It didn't quite seem to fit the more we said, and L didn't really like it. She kept calling him every other name she could think of, besides Magoo. Matt and I followed suit and started trying out different names over the following days. He's been Magoo, Gus Gus, Frasier, and Goo, just to name a few! Currently, he is answering to 'little Einstein." I wonder if you can guess which one of us watches this cartoon and picked this name? :) It is pretty cute though, and fits the ridiculous hair he already has!

We are all loving our little Einstein!

five years of us

Matt and I celebrated 5 years of marriage this past weekend. We had a great time. Matt's parents watched the kids overnight for us on Friday so we could enjoy some time out. We went to dinner at Portofino here in Lexington, which is where we had a reception 5 years ago. Every year we are here, we go back for dinner, we love traditions! I loved the excuse to get all cute and fancy and stay out late. 

{Look at Matt indulging my need for a little photo shoot. Isn't he the best? :)}

We agreed to not give presents this year due to a few recent big purchases for out household. I couldn't resist though. I've been feeling so blessed by 'us' and the little people in our lives. I was inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest to make my own graphic print for Matt.

It wasn't as perfect as the pin, but I made it myself, and I think that is what counts! It is currently framed and awaiting it's perfect spot in the house, as soon as I figure out what that is!

I can hardly believe it's been five years, and not because that seems like such a long time. I actually can't believe its only been five years. I feel like I've known Matt for a lifetime. I feel like we've been 'us' forever. I feel like I've loved him all my life.

Ready

So, I'm finally ready to talk about it. The big transition. Leaving my old school 'home' and joining my new one. For some reason, I've been in denial for the past few weeks, and just recently have really come to terms with the move. Here's the skinny if you've been following my story and are just dying to know what is going on, (So, read on, all 2 of you out there! :)

Around 6 weeks ago I was told by my principal that I'd be getting a pink slip due to funding at the school. It's that uncomfortable title no one in education wants, to be 'pink-slipped.' I've been lucky enough the past two years to not get one, making me cozy in my position at the school, where I've spent the last 3 years teaching. I guess it's the nature of working at a small school with a highly tenured staff. At some point, everyone is low man on the totem pole.

The last day of school came and I'd heard mostly rumors about what 'could' happen. How money may or may not get shifted around. Who could or could not move into what positions. I approached the principal about it, wanting to know rather than just hear.  I was pretty devastated to find out that the money still wasn't there for my position. If I was going to be able to stay at my school it would be at least July before the money was available to bring me back. There is no way I could wait that long to find out. I wish I could say my family was in a position where I could handle not having a job, but that is currently just not the case!

I'm not going to lie and say that my school was perfect because it definitely was not, but my team was just as close as you could probably get! We'd become pretty close over the past couple of years and worked together well. I was heart broken thinking of leaving them! And it wasn't just my team I didn't want to leave. I'd made many friends there over the past few years, people that were more than just colleagues. It's not that I won't still see them outside of work, I'll just miss passing them in the hallway or laughing together after school. We always managed to have a good time even on not so good days.

The transition was hard, but the timeline couldn't have been more perfect. When they say God's timing is always perfect they are right! The last day of school was on a Thursday. I packed up my classroom with many tears on Friday, feeling just totally broken about the whole thing. That afternoon, a good friend emailed me to say that there was a position opening at her school, on her team. I contacted her right away, interviewed that next Tuesday, and accepted the position Wednesday! It all happened so fast, and I am feeling really good about it.

You know what makes it feel even better? My new colleagues are fantastic too! Wednesday I got to join them for martinis and I couldn't have had a better time. It felt good to know I was joining another fun team. Thursday I got to enjoy lunch with my old team, Kelsey, Kim, and Melodie. I finally felt peace about the whole thing for the first time. I realized that my circle of friends and colleagues was just growing. I know that this transition won't be the end of my connection with Melsey and Kim. :) I know this whole thing is going to end up being some sort of blessing in disguise.

 If you follow me on Pinterest, you probably have noticed I've been pinning classroom ideas like crazy! I'll only be teaching math, which is exciting, but I am in need of fresh ideas. Stay tuned for many classroom ideas and updates. I'm putting the finishing touches on my plan book, so I'll have to come back and share it soon.

Here's to change and a happy summer time!

miscellany monday

one. We got a new desktop computer. I love it! It makes Pinterest that much more addicting.

two. Speaking of Pinterest, I was browsing the 'Everything' section the other day and saw one of my projects pinned! It was an oldie, but still really exciting to see. Can you spy my frame tray!?

 three.  Abbott discovered himself in the mirror the other day. Combine that with his major love of giving kisses and you have one good time. Him and his new friend talked and patted and gave kisses for a good long while. He loved it!

four. I went and saw my 'new' classroom last week. (More on that later!) I will say that it was big and has windows, so yay for that! However, it was very empty, dirty, and just a tad depressing. I am turning cheerful ideas around and around in my head. I'm open for any and ALL ideas you might have to jazz this baby up!

 five. A summer home makes for lots of sibling playtime and terrorizing. L is loving it! :)

six. We did the unthinkable. We got a puppy. As if two kids weren't enough to keep up entertained. I'll have to update you on the details soon, but for now just enjoy this sweet picture of our four legged friend.

seven. Vacation in less than two weeks! I am so ready for the beach I can barely stand it. Bed rest kept me away last year, so I am even more antsy than usual to get these toes in the sand! Now to just plan for and pack for 4 whole people...

eight. All these dark Instagram pictures are killing me, so I apologize! I've GOT to get my real camera fixed before I bust!

 

Happy Monday!