Hi ho, hi ho, It's back to work I go...

...and I am excited, nervous and sad.  I am going to miss seeing these two precious faces all day everyday.  

So, as a lot of you know, I taught 8th grade social studies for several years before having Brenna.  When Brenna was born, I only went back to work part-time so I could spend more time with her.  At the end of the 2012 school year, I was about 20 weeks pregnant with Brody and decided that, rather than take maternity leave at the beginning of the school year, i'd take a leave of absence.  My school system allows for up to two years of leave for childbirth and care of an infant.  I always knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't going to be forever, even though I hoped it could be.  And to be honest, if I want to have my career after my kids my go to school (which I do), I kind of need to go back.  I need to keep my certificate current and I need to work on my masters.  I can only do those things if I am working.

So an opportunity arose a few weeks ago at my old school.  A position teaching 6th grade social studies, in a familiar setting, close to home.  When I looked into daycare, I quickly realized I couldn't afford to send two kids to daycare and actually bring home any of my salary.  So that was out.  Until...I was nonchalantly talking to my neighbor about the opportunity and the cost of daycare (she has two little girls herself, close in age to my kids) and she said "Well i'd watch your kids for half of what a daycare would charge".  SOLD. They'll be with someone they know, kids their own age, and right next door to our house or even at our house some days.  It seemed like the stars were aligning for me to get this position.  So I emailed my old principal, applied, interviewed and was offered the position this week.  It's bittersweet.  I am seriously going to miss these kids so much.  But I keep telling myself "teaching is conducive to having a family.  You get lots of breaks and the kids will be happy to see you when you come home everyday".  Rinse and repeat often.  And of course there's the added bonus of a paycheck and adult conversation during the day.  So while I am positive I will spend the first week driving to school crying my eyes out (remember, I haven't worked full-time in 3 years), I know my kids will be in good hands, having fun and I am doing what's best for all of us right now.  Wish me luck, I have exactly 1 month until I go back.

Of course I can't end this without more pics of the kids...so here ya go!

How cute is my family?

Dear Brody, 9 months...

Dear Brody,

Ok ok ok , I'm a little late. I swear the days just get away from me anymore. And it's usually hot so we spend our days in the pool. But, I just put you to bed and now I'm relaxing after a stressful day (more on that another time) and I figured I'd grab the iPad and write you your 9 month letter.

Baby boy, I cannot even begin to express how in love I am with you. You are the sweetest baby. You are getting so big now. You were 21 lbs and 28.25 inches at your doctor appointment.  Still around the 50th percentile for everything. Which is quite a change from the off the charts numbers we always got for your sister. I love it because you still look like a baby even though your are hurdling at light speed towards toddlerhood. Daddy wants you to hurry up and get taller.  He thinks you're going to be short, but I doubt it. 

You are different from your sister in every way.  Most notably, you sir, are fearless. You are not in the least cautious. You have already started to try to walk. And you can't wait to do it on your own. You have taken about 7 steps on your own.  

You started crawling last month and now you are pulling up on everything.  You are also starting to eat table food. You've had ravioli, chicken nuggets, apples, carrots and spaghetti. You were skeptical at first it now you really like it. You LOVE snacks.  Like goldfish, puffs, yogurt melts, and mum-mums.  You have 1 tooth.  It's just starting to pop through. You finally sleep well.  You go to bed at 7pm and sleep until 7am. It's glorious.  

You actually tried to say Brenna today. At least that's what we're telling ourselves. You can say da-da too but you won't say it on command yet. You are a total flirt.  You LOVE flirting with the girls. You are such a cutie pie with your big blue eyes and blonde hair.  You're going to be a serious heartbreaker. You still look like a miniature version of your Dad. But you have my blue eyes.  

I love you so much big boy! I wish you would slow down a little bit.  I'm not ready for you to be a toddler. 

Xoxoxox, 

Mommy

These are, of course, getting progressively harder to take

Im telling you, he has the best smile!

Has it been that long?

So I completely missed out on Brody's 8 month update.  He will turn 9 months on Friday so I will just wait until then to do an update for him.  I will, however, include his 8 month picture in this post.

Lots of exciting (and terrifying) things have been happening in the Woelper household.

One being, Brody is on the move.  That is both exciting and terrifying and I will add more about that on Friday.

We bought a new (used) car.  That was exciting (even though its not mine).  The reason we had to buy it was terrifying though.  Jason was in an accident on the day after Mother's Day.  He leaves for work at 6:30am and, of course, if the kids are still sleeping, so am I.  And on this day, both kids were sleeping when the phone rang at around 6:45am.  It rang twice and when I grabbed it there was no one on the other end.  I knew it was Jason's number because of the caller ID.  So I just hung up.  I put the phone down next to me and rolled over.  About 2 minutes later it rang again.  It was Jason again.  This time he was there.  The words were kind of hard to understand at first.  "Hey, I was in a pretty bad accident on Ft. Smallwood Road."  Of course I jumped out of bed freaking out simultaneously trying to tell myself in my head "He's on the phone with you so that means he is ok".  Those were the next words out of his mouth "Im ok, but the car isn't".  "Should I wake the kids?  Do you need me to come get you? What happened? How is the other driver?"  I think those all came out of my mouth at the same time and Jason says "Gotta go bye".  So naturally I am sure something is wrong.  I frantically call my mother (who is also still in bed.  Like mother, like daughter) and tell her what is going on and that I may need her help with the kids if I have to take him to the hospital.  Then the call waiting beeps.  "Hey, sorry to cut you off like that but the officer needed me to get what I needed out of the car before it was towed".  Phew.  "My Dad is coming to pick me up, im in 7-11 getting bandaids while I wait."  In the impact he had slammed both of his hands into the dash and his knuckles were pretty badly cut up and bleeding.

So what had happened was, he was going straight through a green light and the person coming the other way turned left in front of him, and I mean right in front of him, so there was hardly time to brake.  Neither of them was badly hurt so that was good.  And the young man he hit was only 21 and very apologetic and sorry.  He admitted he was only watching the car in front of him turn and wasn't paying enough attention.  So a few days later we learned the car was totaled (we kind of figured) and we would need to get a new car.  Which sucked because his car was payed off and in excellent condition.

Goodbye 4-runner.  Hello Jeep Patriot.  

We absolutely did not want another car payment considering the 4-runner had been paid off, I'm not working for another year (possibly), and it was just not financially feasible.  So we took the payout and bought something cheap (this is a 2008 and its 4 years newer than the 4-runner) and this was what we found.  I actually really like it.  The jury is still out with Jason.  He doesn't like American made cars.  He thinks they are not as reliable as Japanese cars.  He may be right but I think it was a very nice car for the amount we paid for it.  Of course a month to the day after we bought the check engine light came on, so that was awesome.  But it was an easy cheap fix so im not worried.  They checked it all over at the Jeep dealership and said everything else looked good.  So fingers crossed, no more issues.  Oh and we were actually able to bank a little bit of the money we got for the 4-runner.  SO win win.  

Oh and here's an 8 month pic of Brody for you as promised!

He's trouble.  Just look at that smile

 

My baby turned 3

Ok, so she's not a baby anymore and hasn't been one for about 2 years.  But she will always be my baby, and I tell her that all the time.

I have a ton of other updates regarding the kitchen reno and Brody turning 8 months but I feel like I don't get to write about Brenna as much so today will be all about her.

Dear Brenna,
You turned 3 yesterday, June 2 at 9:23am.  Yes, I still remember your birth minute every year and wish you a happy birthday right then.  Im a weirdo.  What can I say about you at 3?  Well, first and foremost, you're hilarious.  You make me laugh daily with the things you say and do.  You just come up with the most random things.  Like today, we were outside playing while Brody was taking his morning nap and our neighbor's little girl's cousins (follow that?) Colin and Brendan were over in their yard playing.  You really weren't paying much attention to them.  Or so I thought, until you picked up your new inner tube and beach ball and said "Mommy we need to take Colin and Engine inside to take a nap, they're tired".  You were referring to the inner tube and beach ball.  But you named them after the two little boys in the neighbor's yard, because those were the names you were hearing all morning.  You're a goof.

You also insists on getting ready with me every morning now.  As I am putting my make-up on and getting dressed in my bathroom you go and grab my stool out of the kitchen, bring it into the bathroom and use your father's sink to "wash my face, floss my teeth and put in my 'tonkaks' (contacts)".

You loves to take care of things now.  You are always walking around with a baby doll or stuffed animal wrapped in a blanket because they are tired or sleeping.  You also puts them in Brody's high chair and feed them.

You still love your Daddy more than anything but you have actually started wanting Mommy here and there, which makes me happy.  You're starting to go through another separation anxiety phase.  You have been losing it if Daddy and I are leaving to go somewhere without you.  But according to Grammy and Poppop, you calm down quickly and are fine.

We had a birthday party for you on Saturday.  You hate being the center of attention (just like your father) so you weren't a huge fan of having a bunch of people at the house specifically to see you.  You didn't want to get into the pool even though ALL the kids were in the pool and it was like a zillion degrees out.  Once again, you're scared of the pool and last year it took us until like August to get you to enjoy it.  I hope it doesn't take that long again this summer.  You're so super cautious about everything that it takes you a long time to warm up to something new.  I think it might be time to start some pre-school or dance or some kind of activity so you can start socializing more and hopefully come out of your shell a bit.  But I have a feeling you're just a shy girl and you're going to be that way for a while and that's perfectly fine with me.  As long as you're happy.

Your party (yellow flower party was what you asked for) was a big success!  It was the first time we have had one at the house.  It was a beautiful day, minus the heat, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I was so busy running around that I completely forgot to take pictures until it was cake time.  And I still didn't get many good ones. The camera is always my last thought when it should be my first.  :( At least we have a few.  All in all it was a great weekend.  I still can't believe my baby girl is 3.  There are no traces of the baby you once were.  It's sad but at the same time, I love watching you grow up and change, get excited about things and just become the precious little person that you are.  I love you so so so so much Brenna!  And I always will!

XOXO,
Mommy

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday (which made her cry)

Everyone enjoying themselves 

Brody being a good boy for everyone

Big 3 year old, ready to open gifts

Love that cheese smile

Having a special Birthday dinner last night

Dear Brody, 7 months...

Dear Brody,

You turned 7 months old yesterday.  And as always, I am in shock that another month has passed and you are getting so much bigger.  I had a realization while planning your sister's birthday party the other day, that once her party is over, it'll be time to start planning your 1st birthday.  That is crazy to me.  You were just born, how can I already be thinking of planning your 1st birthday?  But here we are.  I should know by now how fast time flys when you have a baby, but it seems like your first year is going by way faster than your sister's did.  Anyway, here is what you have been up to.

• You continue to tease us with your sleeping habits.  For instance, last night you slept through the night beautifully.  (Meaning, I only had to go in once and give you your paci at around 8pm b/c your sister woke you up while screaming in the bathtub, but thats not your fault).  However, the past week or so, you have been waking up and talking to yourself between midnight-2am.  It has been exhausting considering nothing puts you back to sleep until you wear yourself out again.  So, we'll see how tonight goes, but I don't think we have turned the corner yet. 
•  You can roll over back to stomach and stomach to back.  
• You can push yourself up with your little hiney up in the air. 
• You sleep on your tummy now.
• You refuse to sit up because you'd rather stand.  This is exhausting for Mommy and Daddy because we have to hold you up.  Although, we know you can sit, you are capable of it and do it here and there, but its not consistent.  
• You LOVE to jump.  Especially on the bed with your sister.  You squeal and laugh like crazy when we do that.
• You have no teeth yet.
• Your reflux may finally be gone.  I forgot to give you your meds this morning and you were fine.
• Daddy weighed you the other day on our home scale and you were 18.6lbs.  
• You smile constantly. At everyone. All the time.  Everyone loves it.
• You love other people, and you let other people hold you, which is something your sister didn't do until she was like 18 months old.  Needless to say, that makes your Aunties and your Grammy, Poppop and Grandad very happy. 
• You fell asleep in my arms yesterday for the first time in a long time.  It was heavenly.  And while I had to put you down because I knew you wouldn't stay that way long, it was so sweet while it lasted.   

This has turned into a long post, buddy.  So i'll end it here.  As always, you are a joy and even when you are grumpy, I love you so so so much.  You are such a sweet little boy.  And thank you for being such an angel on our stroller jogs so Mommy can work out!  You are my sweetie pie.  I love you!!

XOXOX

Love, 

Mommy

I'm exhausted

Because i've stopped being such a couch potato.  I have been pretty disgusted with my post-Brody body.  It's gross.  After giving birth Brenna, I weighed less than I did when I got pregnant.  I attribute that to serious morning sickness followed up by gestational diabetes.  I didn't really get to eat what I wanted to eat through the entire pregnancy.  And I am a person that loves food.

My pregnancy with Brody was different.  Not as bad morning sickness, and no GD.  So I ate, and ate, and ate.  I only gained 22 pounds with him, which is pretty normal so I figured it would be the same deal as Brenna.  WRONG.  I lost almost nothing when he was born.  Literally.  I may have lost his birth weight, which was a whopping 6 lbs and change).  I feel like I retained all the water weight and everything else.  So let's just say now, I am in the upper 100's and its not cool.  Especially because I am short so I show all my weight.

I've finally had enough.  Its going to be getting hot soon, the kids are going to want to play in the pool and I am going to have to wear a bathing suit.  I tried one on at Old Navy recently and there is no way I can subject other human beings to what I look like in a bathing suit right now.  Even a one piece.  So I started running again.  I ran track in high school (like for one season) but I haven't run in ages.  My friend Andrea (who you can visit here and who also has two of the cutest little girls ever) and I have decided we are going to just sign up for a 5k so that we have to train.  So far so good.  For both of us.  I haven't missed a day since Saturday.  That being said, my running is shameful.  It almost doesn't count as running.  But im working on it.  Im slowly working on my endurance and distance.  And I am trying not to worry about time for a good while.  Or possibly ever.  Even on my days off I try to go for at least a mile run/walk just to get in some movement.  And I am afraid that if I do skip a day, I won't start again.  Oh, and I have also not had any drink other than water (ok, and a coffee in the morning) for about 3 weeks.  So thats something.  I hope I can keep it up.  I already feel a lot better.  I hope it starts to show soon.

And some days, I get two pretty cute personal trainers...

Well hello there...nice to see you again

I feel like its been forever since my last post.  We have been busy busy busy.  We are still putting the finishing touches on our kitchen reno (but that's another post entirely) and we decided to take on the task of having Brenna's 3rd birthday party (what?!?) at our house instead of my grandparents house like we usually do.

Um, yea...lets just say our yard is not "party ready".  It's a disaster.  First of all, we have almost no grass in our yard.  Its pretty much made up of weeds, sand and dirt.  Of course, we have tried to grow grass in the past but if Bailey could laugh, he would have laughed in our faces when we attempted that.  He has literally killed every patch of grass we've ever grown.  Just with his giganticness (I know thats not a word).  So we have been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather we have been having and trying our best to get our yard ready.  Our plan is to attempt some grass seed (haha) and see what happens.  We have eliminated some gardens and put up a swingset and slide so we may or may not try to just mulch around that.  We are going to plant some new flowers in the gardens we have (and try to keep them alive for more than just the month of May).  And we are going to plant our vegetable and herb garden, but that wont happen until around Mother's Day weekend.  We spent this past weekend raking the rest of the leaves (yes we still had leaves from last fall in our yard, but we have an excuse and he goes by the name Brody, we were busy in the fall) and digging up old plants that we are going to replace.  Our yard already looks 100% better.  But we still have a long way to go.

Speaking of Brenna's party, I kept asking her what kind of party she wanted.  She told me "a flower party".  I asked what kind of flower party and she said "yellow flower party".  So a yellow party it is.  I finished designing and ordering her invitations over the weekend.  I have a dress picked out for her and now I am looking for some kind of cute embellishment for her dress that possible has a 3 on it.  And can we talk about that for a minute?  She going to be 3!  When did that happen?  She just turned 1!  No, I mean, she was just born wasn't she?  How did she get so big?  As much as I love watching her grow and learn new things, boy do I miss my baby.  Just look at this little face!

Where did this baby go?

Anyway, in other news, we finally got new family pictures done this past week.  The last time we had family pictures done they looked like this:

Aaron Riddle Photography

Overdue much?  I think yes.  So on Thursday, we went to a park and Stacey (who did Brody's newborn pics) took some family pics for us.  The previews that she's shown me so far are amazing.  I can't wait to see the rest.  Here is a sneak peak (even though anybody reading this blog has probably already seen them, but oh well)

StaceyLee Photography

StaceyLee Photography

I think I'll save the rest of my updates for another post. I'll try not to wait so long next time.