My life, My love, My little one

I was just looking back at previous posts, and the last post I wrote about Dylan was a post about him being sick.  He is simply AMAZING.  I am so lucky to be his mommy.  He is two years and 7 months old and the joy of my life.  Yes, some days are TOUGH!!  He is a very active, independent, and strong-willed little boy.  He is constantly on the go, which makes for a very tired mommy and daddy many days.  He amazes us with how fast he learns new things and his vocabulary changes every day.  I could write a list a mile long about what he does and continues to learn.  I will just include a few things:

• Dylan is a lefty!  He writes, throws, and eats with his left hand.  At this point, I think we can officially say we have a lefty.
• He wears size 2T in most brands of shirts and poor guy still wears 12-18 months pants/shorts.  He is in a size 6/7 shoe, depending on the brand.  He is wearing 2/3T pull-ups
• We are working hard on potty training.  In fact, our goal for the summer is to be fully trained!  He has had two very successful days this week.  He is going to the potty when asked and isn't crying or pitching a fit.  This is a HUGE step in the right direction.  He had gotten where it was horrible to even attempt it.  No, we aren't staying dry all day but those days will come. 
• He is beginning to fight nap-time, which is fine as long as he doesn't fall asleep later in the afternoon.  He usually makes it until about 3:30 and just can't hang any longer.  If he falls asleep, I try my best to wake him up within an hour so that bed time doesn't get to be way too late.  He typically heads to bed around 9:00.  Bed time was always at 8, but the day we went into daylight savings, Dylan stopped going to bed at 8.
• Dylan can color, draw, run, jump, reach, climb, flip, and twirl. 
• His favorite toys include:  cars, trucks, tractors, anything outside, and his tools.
• Dylan's love of books has started to decrease, which really makes me sad.  I'm hoping it's just a stage he is going through.  We have had the hardest time getting him to sit and listen to a story over the past few months.  Instead, I have started telling him little made-up stories when he lays down at night.  I lay beside him and make up stories about him and all the things he can or will learn to do.  It's so cool when he reacts to the story with an "ohhh" or "cool."
• He loves TECHNOLOGY, which concerns me some but also makes me happy.  Our society is becoming so dependent on technology, it makes me happy to know that Dylan will adapt well.  On any given day, he can browse through the apps on my IPAD.  The majority or ALL of the games I have downloaded are educational.  His favorite apps include anything with story telling, puzzles, and of course TRACTORS.
• And with every child there are challenges:  Right now we are working hard to get rid of his sippy cup.  He has such a difficult time drinking out of certain types of cups, so it's hard to find one he can use.  He loves a straw cup and since EVERY store in the world has millions to choose from, we have a collection!  He also enjoys drinking out of a cup with no lid or straw.  He uses both hands and does an excellent job, but unfortunately he ends up playing in the drink before finishing.
• Another challenge we are facing is discipline.  We want to do what's best for Dylan and want him to know how to behave no matter where he is.  Of course at home, he is more comfortable but he also knows the boundaries.  We have NEVER had trouble with him touching things he shouldn't.  After being told no several times, we got over that fast.  When we go to other homes, he doesn't play with things on shelves or try to pick up breakables.  This makes me very happy.  Because Dylan is VERY independent, he has episodes of not listening.  We have to get down on his level and at times get very stern.  A pop of the hand or bottom was useless, oh but time-out ends Dylan's world.  He can't stand to have to sit and to be left alone is the worst!!  He is sent to his room and asked to sit on his bed until we come to get him.  Two minutes later, we go to his room, ask him if he knows why he is sitting, and discuss what choice would have been better.  He gets up and plays. 

This summer we have many fun things to keep our constant inquisitive toddler busy.  He will participate in swim lessons, take a few trips to visit his cousins in Atlanta, spend about a week at the beach, and enjoy several day-trips and play dates!

 

We are MOVING!

When Michael and I got married, we agreed to live in our current house for 5 years.  We felt this would give us plenty of time to save money, enjoy life, start a family, and find or build our dream home.  Shortly after we tied the knot in 2007, the economy slowly began to decline.  Soon our hopes and dreams became a very DISTANT future (or so we thought).  Then one day..... Michael came home from work with EXCITING news.....he wanted to show me a house.  We drove by it and really liked the location and what we saw on the outside.  That just happened to be September 2012.  The price was right but it needed some work (which didn't scare us away).  Michael called a realtor and unfortunately the house went under contract earlier that morning.  Well of course, Michael started something.  It was then I constantly logged onto ALL the real estate websites and just watched as new listings came about.  We drove by a few houses I found, Michael went into some of them to see if they were worth the look, and we set up an appointment to view the first house together in October 2012.  We loved the location, the lot, and the style of the home, but something just didn't feel like home.  We continued our search on-line.  When November approached, Michael found a realtor to help us with the process.  We started looking at houses as we found interest and were continuously just not happy.  One house was perfect, but the lot was terrible.  Another house had a HORRIBLE location, but was Michael's dream.  A third house was staged just the right way and style to draw in a buyer, but the lot wasn't practical for dreams of playing outside and our future outdoor plans.  We laughed at some, questioned others, and continued to dream.  Then...it happened.  I found a house that had been listed for 3 short days, called the realtor, quickly went for a visit, and fell in LOVE!  The location was perfect, the price was better than great, and the potential was amazing.  I can remember standing in the middle of the house, looking at the realtor, and saying, "This is home."  After placing a bid, going back and forth with the seller a few times, we became home owners!!  We closed on our house days before our sixth wedding anniversary!!  We are currently still living in our first house, while we await a HUGE remodel project.  I can't wait to share the process on my blog!  I will start posting pictures and progress soon.

I Have My Life Back

Well sort of.....  My life over the past year and a half has been consumed with work, school, and family with some friend time thrown in between.  I GRADUATED with an Education Specialist degree in Teacher Leadership in May.  There were so many mixed emotions when I started this journey in my life.  I thought I was taking on way more than I should, I was overwhelmed at the thought of returning to school (especially with a child), and I was excited about the possibilities.  After completing the 4 semester  with one intensive summer I am proud of myself!  I completed something I thought I never would.  I can honestly say there were no tears shed (unless you count the few on graduation day due to the amazing speaker) and I NEVER felt like throwing in the towel.  Now, I did spend many late nights completing assignments, only to avoid losing time with my family.  Michael was really good about entertaining Dylan when push came to shove (like last June when I wrote 14 paper, developed a unit, and read 3 books within a 4 week period).  Thankfully, my classroom was my source of research.  My huge research project was on the advantages and disadvantages looping has on student achievement.  Looping was a new experience to me (which will come in another blog post) and the research element helped me to stay focused on student data in order to promote student success!  So, I am officially Amy E. Adams, Eds!!!