Two Weeks Notice and my 30th!

I can never manage to post as much as I'd like to, but at least I'm doing much better than the 3 year gap I had previously.  I'm going to start this post with saying just how thankful I am that our house is all healthy and happy.  There was about a month that I thought the various sicknesses would just keep rotating through the house.  With the exception of Lance either jamming, breaking, or severely bruising a toe last weekend - we've been healthy lately.

William and Charlie are definitely starting to get more comfortable with each other.  William is getting so much better at not being too rough with Charlie.  This morning I had both boys with me on the couch to watch some Disney.  Charlie was being his normal chipper self making some ah-goo noises, when William lets me know that Charlie said he needs his big brother to hold his hand.  He reached over and sat there holding Charlie's hand while watching cartoons.  I know most days that William is a tornado of defiance and chaos throughout the house, but there are those golden moments where he is such a little angel.  It makes me so happy, and I love seeing  those boys get to know each other.

I've had some amazing things happen since the last post.  I gave my resignation notice to NWACC and I turned 30!  The former was bittersweet, but the later was just pure bliss.

Two Weeks Notice: 
I think it has been blatantly obvious that I haven't wanted to return back to work since having Charlie.  I had been so conflicted about making the jump into being a stay at home mom, when I know our finances aren't totally lining up.  After several weeks of prayer, Lance decided that I needed to be home.  This season in our life just calls for me to put my career aside to take care of my family and home.  I still stress a little about the finances, but mom and dad told me this last week that their budget never lined out early in their marriage when mom was home with me and Jared.  I guess it just shows that numbers can't hold a candle to what God can do for those that follow him.  We've done what we can to cut costs, but now we are just going to follow God and let him provide for us.  It's amazing the peace I feel now that the decision has been made. I still have to go to work for my exit interview and to clear out my office, but won't be advising another student as an NWACC academic advisor.  The only bittersweet piece is giving up the work I did on a daily basis at my job.  It got frustrating at time, but there was a lot of reward in helping students figure out their future.  I often got feedback directly or indirectly as to how I had made such an impact on a student by just spending some extra time helping them.  There are students I will miss at my job, but I'd rather be missed by people at work than by my boys.

Happy Birthday to ME!:
I turned 30 on Wednesday!  I'm a 30 year old wife and mother of two boys!  Can you believe it?  I'm so proud of everything I've accomplished in the last 10 years, and cannot wait for the chapter.  I've made a few goals for the 365 days I will be 30.  I plan to continue to lower my anxiety through prayer and communication with Lance.  I'm already realizing that a large part of my anxiety was balancing my job and personal life.  I also need to be more verbal with Lance as to what's going on in my head.  I have a tendency to internalize everything until I'm like a pressure cooker ready to let off way too much steam at once.  It's not healthy for me or my family, and I'm always a work in progress. I've also decided that I'm going to lose a minimum of 30lbs, preferably 40ish. I'd love to weigh what I did before I got pregnant with William.  I know it's more about the number though - I want the energy and feeling of well-being I had at that time.  I can feel better about myself and be ready to keep up with two little boys.  I really am so excited to be 30!!

Switching off cable to save:
We decided to ditch cable to save some on our monthly budget.  Our combined cable and internet bill had just tipped the scale at $140.  This was for mid-level internet and HD channels.  No big extras.  No DVR.  It's obscene.  We're now going to have half that bill for just our internet.  Lance got me an Apple TV for my birthday.  We're still getting the feel of it, but the airplay piece is awesome!  I can stream whatever I'm doing on my phone, iPad, or macbook on to the TV.  Thank goodness for not having to watch Downton on a tiny screen!

Meal Planning: 
Lastly, I've decided I'm going to learn to like cooking.  If you know me, you know I absolutely love baking.  I love creating sweet concoctions that make others happy.  Cooking - different story.  It's messy. I have to handle raw meats. . . yuck!  However, I've decided I can save some serious cash by planning out our meals.  I found foodonthetable.com, a free meal planning website.  It lets you pick the meals you like, and will provide you with the recipe as well as the grocery list needed.  I'm excited about trying it out, and have 4 meals planned for this week.  Also, thanks to my parents buying us a little deep freezer - I can actually work on a stock pile of staple foods that can be thawed out the day I plan to cook a meal.  I will be domestic if it kills me!!

As always, I've had a lot on my mind.  I guess the lack of adult interaction means that I let it out on here.  I have a lot of personal goals, and I think sharing them on here can help keep me accountable.

Goals:
1. lose weight/get active/feel better
2. learn to like cooking
3. keep anxiety in check
4. build better relationship with our church

Blessings and Battles

This week marks two milestones - one for each boy.  Actually there have been two for William over the last two weeks, but I'll get to that.

Charlie:
The first milestone is that Charlie is now 8 weeks old.  He's changed so much in his short little life.  He's smiling a lot, and even trying to make giggle noises.  It's so nice to see this healthier, happier Charlie after him having RSV and being a bit lethargic the last couple of weeks.  He's also decided that 8 weeks is an excellent time to start rolling over.  He did it the first time Wednesday afternoon, but only Lance saw it and he wasn't sure that it was on purpose.  I decided to give him some more tummy time yesterday and he immediately started working himself up on his side.  The first time he got stuck there on his side and quit trying to flip over.  I helped him out by getting him started back on his belly.  The second time he just went right back to work trying to get over.  He got himself on his side, and basically scissor-kicked his legs until he flopped over.  He's getting so big and I just wish I could push pause for a minute. He's such a beautiful blessing and has added so much joy to our family.

This blurry pic is Charlie in action trying to roll himself over.  He's such a hard worker! :)

William: 
William's first milestone actually came last week, which you would have known if I had gotten around to writing a blog.  We finally got him to his first dentist appointment.  I've read that you're supposed to take them much earlier, but we just haven't thought to get him there.  I guess being pregnant and having Charlie has served as a pretty substantial distraction.  Either way, William really had fun at the dentist.  He calls is the "silly place" because the waiting area has video games and toys for the kids to play with while they wait for their appointment.  Also, there are TV's mounted above each chair/bed so the kiddos can wear some headphones and watch cartoons.  William got to chill to Doc McStuffins while he got his teeth cleaned.  The dentist let us know that he has a few molars that will need to be watched because she detected some weakness.  She said it was nothing we were doing wrong with brushing - just that the teeth came in a little weak.  I think he may have gotten that from my side of the genes.  My adult molars all had to be filled because they came in weak.  Thankfully they gave us fluoride toothpaste to try to work on the spots.  It's possible at his 6 month follow up that he may have to have them worked on. :(  The dentist also said that William may be headed for braces.  I find this a little hard to believe as his teeth are perfectly straight and with room.  Guess we will wait and see.

William was pretty excited about the "purple stuff" that helped to show him and us where to focus on his brushing. 

He was a little less thrilled about getting some x-rays, but was still such an awesome boy. 

William's second milestone - which I guess is more mine, is that we've dropped him down to part-time day care/preschool. He now stay home on Tuesday and Thursday.  This is where the BATTLE part of my blog title comes from.  William really is an awesome kid 99% of the time.  He behaves and acts like a typical 3 year old.  However, he still has some issues sharing me with Charlie sometimes.  It's only an issue when I'm home alone with the boys.  William is still sweet to Charlie, but he goes CRAZY.  Yesterday alone, I think he did everything we've asked him not to do in the last month.  By the time Lance got home at 7:30 last night, I was DONE being a mom.  I clocked out and just sat on the couch to watch some of the Olympics.  I know it will get better as William adjusts to the change of being home more, but he really knows how to test me.  This battle will be won by momma, and I will see William being home more as a blessing. 

On a completely separate note, we are still working on making a pretty big decision in the Glover home so I would appreciate your prayers that God guides us in the way we need to go. Happy Friday, y'all!  Thank the sweet God above that it's Friday and that I'm about to have a weekend with my Lance!