So far so good...

I think it's a really good thing that my hours are in the evening at work. I know it's only been a couple days of working my new schedule, but it's been so easy. I can't believe how laid back the place is. Hopefully it stays this way.

I went and got some immunizations today at the doctor's office. A couple different ones are required for admission to grad school. I took Caleb with me and he charmed everyone there. He left with about 4 suckers and a bunch of Batman stickers. The sweetest part was how he held my hand when I got my shots. He just has the sweetest nature, well, except when he's punching his cousins. :-) Poor Avery took quite a beating yesterday, but didn't seem to mind much.

Made it through the first week....

First off, let me apologize to the many of you reading this that have emailed and/or called me this week, but I never got back to you. Thanks so much for being so concerned about me and checking on how my first week at work went! I wasn't trying to ignore anyone, but by the time I got home, I was just SO tired. All I wanted to do was hug and kiss Caleb, play with him as much as I could, and go to bed. I've always had such respect for single moms, but now that I'm becoming one, I'm even more in awe. I know I'll make it through this with God's help like so many others have, but this is absolutely the hardest thing I've ever gone through.

Now, about my new job- Everything went fine. I only have to do one week of full-time training, so I've already made it through that, and I'll start my part-time schedule Monday. They ended up switching my hours around, but I think it's for the better. Now it's going to be Monday-Thursday, 7 p.m. to midnight. That will give me all day to be home with Caleb, and if I have a day class or two during the week, it's not a big deal. I may be a little tired working so late, but I'll survive. For those of you concerned about me being downtown so late at night, like my mom and dad were, I will be working with another male teacher's assistant who is very nice, and there will be some other people working there with me as well. I'll try to make sure I always walk out with him or one of the IT guys that are there. The pastor's wife is buying me a cute little thing of mace from the hospital gift shop to add to my safety. Seriously though, I'm not worried. The building I'll be working in is in a nice part of downtown right by the ballpark and movie theater so there will be plenty of people around I think, even that late.

My training went well. It was pretty overwhelming the first day. When I got home I thought my brain was going to explode. Everyone there couldn't be nicer though, and I think I'm learning pretty quickly how things work. Mostly it's just grading stuff and helping students online through chat or over the phone. I can even listen to the radio and watch movies if I want to while I'm grading. Half of my time this week was just spent talking to everyone. It's a really relaxed place.

Caleb had a ball with grandma this week. She seemed to really enjoy being home with him. I think it was harder on me than it was on him. In fact, I know it was. I cried the first couple days being away from him, even though I knew it was only for one week.

I took him swimming today and he can REALLY swim now. He absolutely refuses to wear his floaties. He just jumps in and can kick his way all the way from one side of the pool to the other. I still need to be there to help lift his head out of the water, but he's really figuring it out.

Oh, I'm still applying to various government jobs because you just never know. I'm also finishing up my application package to the graduate school of psychology. Thanks Jessica, Tara, and Michele for writing letters of recommendation for me when I know you're all so busy!

Grandpa and Caleb were working on a Batman puzzle this morning. Caleb's starting to really love doing puzzles.

He's fearless!

I took Caleb swimming over at our pastor's neighborhood pool today where there was a diving board. Caleb went straight for it (with his floaties on of course) and only hesitated for a second before jumping off it. He probably jumped off it 30 times during the little bit of time we were there. I love how he isn't afraid of trying anything, but it sure keeps me on my toes.

My new job starts tomorrow morning so keep me in your prayers. It's been such a long time since I've worked outside the home and I'm getting a little nervous. Not so much about the job, but about leaving Caleb. I know he's going to be fine, but it's hard knowing I won't be there for him right away if he needs me. I miss him already!

My little biker dude...

I took Caleb to a friend's retirement party tonight, and there were quite a few guys there with Harley's. Luckily all the guys that owned them were really nice and let Caleb sit on them and started them up for him. I know some of the people there took some pictures of it (I didn't have my camera) so maybe I'll get some to post. The grin on Caleb's face was priceless!

It was a great party, and my parent's offered to watch Caleb for me so I could have some time out by myself, but I decided to bring him along. He had an absolute blast, but I think I'll take them up on the offer next time. I'm exhausted! I bet that going to work next week will feel almost like a vacation. :-)

The latest

I got my application in to UCO this morning so that's another check off the list. It may be cutting it kind of close to getting enrolled for classes this fall, but if I have to wait a semester that's really no big deal. It may be better that way since I'll be settling into my new job and trying to figure out what my new schedule will be like. Plus, I need time to get my GI bill money going again, and I'm not sure exactly how long that will take.

I'm still applying for some Oklahoma government jobs. I took a test yesterday for a probation officer position and scored 95/100. I fit the requirements pretty closely and have heard from a couple people that it's a good job to have so I figured it couldn't hurt to apply. I don't mind going back to school if I have to for the right career, but I'm still kind of freaked out by the idea of going back for 2-3 years. I'm growing more confidant though and really have faith that God is going to open the right doors and close the wrong ones.

Lainee and I took the cousins to get their pictures taken yesterday. They did such a good job, except for a few moments when Caleb wanted to touch all the equipment in the photo studio. No big surprise there. The pictures turned out really cute and many of you reading this will be receiving some soon. I'll try to post the pictures on the blog too if I can.

Grandma's Birthday

We celebrated my mom's birthday this past weekend. We all went to Hometown Buffet for dinner and Caleb really liked being able to pick out all kinds of different things to try. Here are just a few pics from this weekend.

Caleb driving a train

While I went to bible study tonight, grandpa took Caleb to check out the train that's outside of dental depot. I always thought it was just for decoration outside, but apparently it has real working whistles and bells and valves you can play with. Grandpa had a really hard time talking Caleb into leaving because it was so much fun for him.

Could he be anymore handsome???

I just felt like runnin...

So even though I'm not feeling 100% better I went ahead and ran again today. I don't know what it is but I'm turning into a good runner all of a sudden. I wasn't this good in bootcamp when we ran almost every day, so I don't know what's going on. I'm older, on a roller coaster of emotions and have had two knee surgeries. It's freakin crazy! I'm stunned that my knee isn't hurting all all and my breathing is totally great. I ran about 4 miles today then swam a ton of laps so I won't be feeling too guilty eating all the goodies that'll be around tonight and tomorrow for my mom's birthday celebrations.

Doctor Appointment Funnies...

I went ahead and took Caleb to the doc this morning since he's still got a little fever. The doctor was asking him where it hurt, and Caleb said, "My nipples hurt." I think he was trying to say his chest hurt. He's too funny! The doctor was impressed with Caleb yet again and all the nurses couldn't believe he was only three since he's so tall.

Turns out he's got a virus which has made his throat all yucky. I guess that can cause the fever, but there's no medicine that'll help it so it just has to run its course.

Starting job soon....

I got my official job offer package in the mail yesterday and my start date is July 21. I talked to one of the teachers I'll be working with, and for the first couple weeks I may be going in full-time until I'm trained, so that'll be the first time I've been away from Caleb for such long stretches of time. Poor grandma is going to be exhausted, but thank God she is going to be there to watch Caleb for me. I'm not sure what my permanent hours are going to be yet, so hopefully it all works out. They mentioned this position could turn into full-time, which would actually be pretty great pay, so we'll see what happens. I also need to enroll in grad school this week or next so there's another factor to enter into the equation.

Caleb's had a fever the past couple days and I haven't been feeling too great either so that hasn't been fun. I'll give it another day then take him into the doc if I need to. I made the mistake of going to the gym and running thinking it might help to get this bug out of my system, and now I just hurt all over. Won't be doing that again. :-)

I passed!

Well, I took my grad school test this morning and it was insanely hard! I really didn't think I did that well, but I guess I did well enough. I needed a combined score of 900 to get into the psychology master's programs and got a 960. Whewww! Thank God that's over!

The next step is to be officially admitted into the graduate college and hopefully get enrolled for classes this fall. I'm so glad to be moving forward with this, but it's hard too. I feel like every step I take toward moving on with my life, is another step away from the life I thought I would have. I trust God knows what he's doing though.

Thanks everyone for your continued prayers and support!

My little surfer dude!

We went to our neighbor's birthday party today and Caleb had a ton of fun playing in the pool with the other kiddos. They had a boogie board there which Caleb thought was a surfboard so he wanted to try and balance on it. He's got such good balance! I think he'd do really well surfing for real someday.

Too many kids in the boat! Caleb wanted outta there!

Another fun zoo day and other stuff!

Caleb, grandpa, grandma and I went to the zoo again today. Grandpa hadn't had a chance to go yet and ride the train with Caleb. Trains are kind of their thing. Caleb also had his first ride on a merry go round. He picked out the zebra all by himself and loved it. I enjoyed it too! Being a mom helps me remember how much fun it was to be a kid. Oh, and Caleb also had his first snow cone today, which I managed to get for free after the kid who made it for us splashed some of the cherry flavoring on my dad's clothes. Sorry the pictures and videos aren't the greatest but the camera battery ran out pretty early on in the day.

In other news, I've been trying to study for this test I have to take Monday called the GRE. It's kinda of like the SAT's for grad school, and it's ridiculously hard. I can't believe some of the vocabulary words I've been looking at! I've done a lot of refresher math stuff which I think will help, but after I'm done looking at all the problems my brain feels like it's going to explode. I have no idea how well I'm going to do since I'm so rusty on most of the stuff, but hopefully I'll do well enough to get admitted into the school psych. program. I'd appreciate some prayers for some extra brain power Monday morning please!

Happy Birthday Lainee!

Lainee turned 35 today! It seems like just yesterday Chris was sneaking her over to my parent's house when they were out of town. I was 14 when I met her! I never thought when I met her that she'd end up being my sister-in-law or one of my most trusted and dearest friends. Happy birthday Lain! I love you!

Do you like my brother's gift wrapping job??? Foil with painters tape!

He got her a new razor so she'd stop using his on her legs. Isn't that romantic?

Grilled Cheese and Cherries

Yesterday, Caleb decided he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. After I finished making it though he was adamant that I put cherries on it. So I figured, "why not?" and added some pretty cherries to his sandwich. He seemed to really like it.

Go me!

I ran over 5 miles today and it wasn't too hard on me at all! I think I was so used to running with a jogging stroller that running without one now is really great! I didn't realize how much harder it was to push around the stroller plus my little 35 pounder.