and so it begins

I got my first assignment of the semester today... a full week before classes start. Maybe I'm showing my age here but my last degree we got our assignments the day of class- not before. Stupid computers allowing them access to us before class even begins! 

And OF COURSE the assignment is to complete even more of the hated drug cards. Sigh. I really thought I was done with those last semester. Even threw some of them away which obviously was stupid in hind sight as i now have to redo them. I just fail to understand how using something I have copied over the actual source of information is a good idea!?! We also have a bunch of reading and an assignment of "review questions". I haven't even looked at those yet. I have to get through tomorrow first then I'll move onto everything else. 

 I bought myself some new shoes for being on the hospital floors this semester. I bought cheap ones last semester and they lasted less than a semester before they failed.... also I hate them. My new shoes are probably gonna get my laughed at :) but I don't even care cause it's like walking on comfy squishy rubber or something. They're supposed to get your legs in shape too so whatever about that. I just want to have

comfortable feet! Here's a picture...

 

I don't even care if you laugh (Julie!) cause they are just that comfortable! :)

I have so much to do between now and the 24th- well actually even between now and tomorrow! Oh well, it'll all get done.

Starting to feel like Fall!

Not so much temperature wise of course. Although Anna, Molly and I did take a nice walk this morning in the semi cool. Anna splashed in puddles and Molly refused to walk past the storm drains. It was a nice walk :) We talked about what all we want to do this fall for Halloween and fall decorations and Christmas!!! Yea fall holidays! I'm SOOOO ready for coolness and changing leaves and homey smells. Come on fall- you can't get here soon enough!

It is starting to feel like fall as we get further and further down the school road. I have to pick up school supplies for Anna tonight (with Grandpa), my books on Monday, call on Anna's school uniform shirts tomorrow as somehow between me and the computer at Land's End we got the wrong size shirts (I'm sure it was the computer -those things make WAY more mistakes than humans do so I know it wasn't me that screwed up), I have my testing on Tuesday (man I hope I don't mess that up and have to redo any of it- I get super nervous!), and then Wednesday is Anna's first day. I think she is having some trouble getting used to the idea of school. But I know she will love it when she gets used to it. She's a social butterfly, unlike her momma. My first day of class is the 24th, however, they are kindly giving us a reading assignment tomorrow. They're ever so nice up there.

Not much else is going on. I skipped church this morning to enjoy one of my last before school starts mornings with Anna. :( boo to her being away from me every weekday morning. Boo boo boo. It has been a nice morning. Now we're cuddled on the couch and I don't want to move for a while.

pre preschool

Anna starts preschool in a week. Here's how its going so far:

 ~Yes, I'm crying on the inside whenever I think about it.

~Yes, Adam had to tell me to quit crying on the outside during both of the meetings at the school we've had so far. :)

~I'm pretty sure the teachers are already well acquainted with how crazy I am.

~I suspect they know I'm crazy because one of the teachers actually came out and said they wouldn't care how many times I acted like I have OCD (yeah right, like I have it- we all know I SO do) that she'll just say "oh that Amber" :)

~ Her teachers are wonderful and calm and patient with me with the kids and seem very dedicated to the kids

~they've already had us fill out a bunch of questions regarding what we think our kids strengths and weaknesses are, what our goals for this year are, what we think is the most important aspect of education, what we consider good communication between the teachers and parents. Adam said to write down under weakness that she's so cute she might distract everyone from the other kids.

~She did fantastic at her preschool playdate today- just walked away and start playing.

~when we left today she asked me how long was the 18th (her first day of class) so she could come back without me

~I ordered her uniforms too late (of course) so we have to get a little inventive for the first week

~here's a picture of a few of the tops I ordered for her- the dress I ordered in a light pink color. Most of the polos just have a normal collar but this blue one has a cute little tiny ruffle on it. They can wear any khaki bottoms they want with the polo tops with the school emblem on it. They can also wear any tights, socks, or accessories they want so that makes me feel like she still has an opportunity to be "herself" a little in her dress. You know I'm gonna scour the world for a cute pair of striped tights for this winter.

~we still need to go out and get her backpack and school supplies. I LOVE school supplies so that will be all kinds of fun!

~I also have to find her a bunch of shoes as she all the sudden outgrew everything but her crocs and those aren't close-heeled so a -shoe-shopping we will go.

~The other moms in the class seem nice- seems like there is a pretty great diversity between just the 15 families in the class.

well that's it for now~I'm sure I'll have more to say a week from today!

~

Anna funnies

 Today Adam was reinforcing to Anna how behavior such as throwing toys at people is unacceptable and how he would be super super sad if he was to hear that she threw a toy at someone at preschool. He told her he would be so sad that he just didn't know what he would do. Anna replied quite matter of factly ..."well I guess you'd just sell me."

On a visit to a nearby cave with Grandma and Grandpa Anna was talking to the tour guide about caves and fossils and whatever else you talk about on a cave tour. The guide remarked to Grandma and Grandpa something along the lines of how well spoken she was and Anna said "yes apparently, I would make a GREAT paleontologist"  haha!!!

At Grandma and Grandpa's the other day Anna did something that I told her was hateful and she quickly told me right back that "hateful is sometimes just a part of life"

Today

Not much going on today- nice get stuff done at home day. It's so nasty hot we are staying IN today. Gotta finish a massive pile of laundry and get some food ready for Anna's Nana to come over tonight. We turned on some of Anna's favorite music and she's dancing and jumping and running around to the music right now. Molly is running around too. They're fighting over Anna's stuffed puppy dogs. Molly thinks they're hers. They do fit quite nicely in her mouth.... We are now up to 3 special dogs- Copper is a little stuffed dalmatian, Sarah is his new sister- she's a stuffed beagle. And John, her ceramic or whatever black lab that she LOVES and sleeps with and takes on a leash outside....and that broke the other day. She cried like it was a real dog. I think she loves these dogs more than Molly. Sure wish I had realized all she really wanted when she said "puppy" was stuffed animals... woulda saved me a lot of money and hassle! One of my parents- I forgot to ask who the miracle worker was- glued John back together so let's hope he stays that way. We're gonna take Sarah or Copper out on the leash from now on. Ok.. off to set Anna up with her REQUESTED (that's right, the brainwashing is complete) Momma Mia cd, a stack of paper, some glue, some stickers, some fake jewels and sequins, and some markers so I can quickly get through this housework that must be done!

almost that time!

So school starts SOON! For both Anna and I. Yep, this year my sweet baby girl is starting a 5 day a week preschool. Half days. It's in the denial folder so I don't cry my eyes out about being away from her 5 days a week. I'm very excited about the school we have chosen though. I think and hope and pray that it is a good fit for her. I love the building (and the security!) and love everyone I have met so far. We love their philosophy on learning. They have small classrooms, teach Spanish beginning in pre-K, have a fantastic music and arts program, and really seem very progressive in their approach to academics. They teach each child at their own level with the ultimate goal of taking dual enrollment classes and graduating early. They want to instill a love of learning in the children which is SO important to Adam and I. They use a lot of technology in their classroom and they want to teach children how to think and understand, not how to memorize facts. If we like the school and everything works out then she'll continue there through high school. But that's so far away and I'm pretty sure I'm done with her continuing to get big and go away from me so no more talk of that.
So, MY school.... I have to pass skills checkoffs .....AGAIN. And math testing...AGAIN. Geez... No pressure. I have a demo day coming up this week where they go back over everything we learned in clinicals last semester, then hours and hours of practice await me so hopefully the testing is smooth and I don't screw it up. That would really suck. I am looking forward to seeing all my classmates again. I think a few of us are going to meet up and practice skills together. I have no real idea of what to expect this semester as I was so brain dead at the end of last semester that I paid no attention to what they said and just got the heck out of there. Oops... in hindsight that might have been a mistake! I do know we spend much more time up at the hospital this semester so I am looking forward to actually maybe possibly doing some actual nursing! We are on different floors as well as at a nursing home too so at least we'll get some variety. Our text book for this semester is medical surgery so that sounds interesting! Guess we'll soon see!
Ok, off to continue this day-we've been outside playing in the sand and water table and playing with the dog this morning. I think we have some painting and coloring and cookie making and book reading on the menu for the rest of the day! :) Then it's off for some much needed friend time and some discussion of what to do with Anna's room so it's a new "big girl" room. Seriously- how do I stop her from getting older?

Our Summer So Far

Playing with best friend Sophia for her birthday

Her Big Girl Bike

Dancing in our second new pool

Sleeping with her ceramic black dog she named John

Taking pictures at the aquarium

Feeding turtles at the aquarium

Touch tank at Tulsa aquarium

Stingrays at Tulsa aquarium

In shark cage with Aunt Stacey showing me her mean shark face

Tulsa aquarium

Birthday girl

Birthday playdate with friend Sophia

St Louis Zoo with best friend Sophia

Following the hippo tracks at St Louis zoo

St Louis Zoo- love this picture

Brave enough to touch stingrays at St Louis zoo

I love medicine

Ok that title was mainly to mess with some people who prefer not to fill their bodies full of all kinds of extra chemicals and preservatives. Silly people. ;)

So for a while I've been wondering if I had a hypothyroid problem- not so much because of the weight thing (I'll take full credit for that problem all on my own) but for other things like extreme fatigue. Here's a list of things that an underactive thyroid can cause.

• Fatigue- triple check
• Weakness- check
• Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight- check
• Coarse, dry hair- check
• Dry, rough pale skin- eh
• Hair loss-dude.. this one is not even cool....
• Cold intolerance- I have noticed this weird one
• Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches- check
• Constipation- never did have a problem with this one- always been more the other way if you know what I'm saying
• Depression- check check check
• Irritability- I'm never irritable :)
• Brain fog - holy cow...this is a bad one
• Memory loss - and...check...

I had pretty much every symptom on the list so got myself checked out. Last fall she said I was "borderline" and that everyone feels better at a different level so they would watch me and see if I crossed the "now we treat" line. Well, I crossed it so she put me on thyroid medicine. For anyone that cares- this is just a synthetic version of what your body would normally produce anyway. 

It's been about 3 weeks now and I think it's actually kicking in! I am feeling WAY better than I have for a long time. The overwhelming desire to stay in bed and not get out every day seems to be fading away, the ridiculous fog that would sometimes roll into my brain hasn't been seen in a while, and I actually seem to have energy again! Woo Hoo! Let's hope this continues as we start preschool and school again. Cause dang- that was brutal, feeling like that. Most days I was struggling to remember to do things, I would carry things around the house and lay them down and forget where I put them, I haven't felt like myself in a long time, I had no energy to do anything aside from what just HAD to be done, no patience for the dog, etc etc. It was SO frustrating feeling like that all the time! So I am really hoping that this new medicine plus some relief from some major stress will have me feeling better and more like myself in the coming months.

Auntie Amber once again

"Only an Aunt can give hugs like a mother, can keep secrets like a sister, and share love like a friend.”
~ Spanish Proverb

I'm dusting off the "Auntie Amber" title given to me so long ago by my nephew Josh! My sister is expecting and I can't wait to pay my sister back for all the spoiling she did hold that sweet little baby! :) I am SO excited to have a little tiny sweet smelling soft little thing to snuggle again. I miss MY baby being a baby. Don't get me wrong- I love the 4 year old more than I ever thought possible...but there's just something about a baby. :) Maybe I can see how many smiley faces I can fit into this post. :) Sorry, but I really am just excited!

I'm rather put out however about the lack of neutral colored baby items available these days. How's an aunt to buy stuff before we know what we're (like how I put myself right in there) having? I guess I'm going to have to fall back on the pretty little cream colored blankets and stuffed animals. I keep searching for the exact right gift cause I want the first thing I buy to be special (of course!) and just haven't found the right thing yet. Probably by the time I do we'll know what she's having after all. :)

woo hoo babies!

Molly

How do you like the new background? I was sad to log back on and realize that for some reason they changed blogspot and my old background didn't work anymore. However, I do like this one- I think it's pretty! I need to change the pictures also since I have no new ones of Anna on here.

So, on to the actual subject of this post... our new demon dog. I mean... our new dog! That we love so very much! Well... Anna loves her. My feelings change depending on how recently she's pottied on my carpet. Adam pretty much hates her all the time. Here's a picture. Don't be taken in by her cute little freckle face. :)

Actually, you can't see the freckles on her face in that picture but that's the cutest one I have of her. Notice how I think the cutest picture I have is of her sleeping? Ha! So far I have failed to potty train her.... failed to teach her how to come when I call her.... and pretty much failed to get her to do anything but what she wants to do. Not sure what I'm doing wrong ... but I'm getting ready to call Ceasar Milan!

Here's a picture of her freckles. She's actually a really pretty little dog. Esp in the sunlight. Her white fur looks so clean and shiny. And the freckles on her face are so cute! You almost forget that you've been reduced to begging a dog to take a poop outside....

Here's a picture of what I see alot these days. Ok I'll admit to liking having her just a little. She's a funny thing- she can leap up higher than you'd ever believe a small dog can. She leaped completely over the back of the chair when I tried to use it to block her in the living room so I didn't have to chase her all around the house. She has a bad habit of grabbing whatever the most important toy of Anna's that has been left out and running around the house with it until you finally scream loud enough to convince her to drop it. It's super fun when Anna gets involved cause then you have a crazily running dog, nails scrambling on the kitchen floor, me screaming (and sometimes begging) her to drop the toy, and Anna crying because she has her most favorite toy!

We are determined to get her to love the water. She pretty much hates it right now.

She has actually learned to do most of her tricks (when you give her food anyway). She can sit, lay down, roll over, shake, come, and stay. Again... the promise of food must be there... She also almost never barks- which I will forgiver her a lot of things for. I hope that trait stays around. Every once in a while when she gets really worked up she will bark in this funny hoarse little half bark which is pretty cute and funny. She is learning to sit quietly with me and "be a good girl" but that's tough going. She has so much energy that when she gets excited you can hold her underneath her front legs with your arms held out completely in front of you and she just wriggles back and forth as fast as her body will go. She's a pretty huge pain in the rear end but if you're wondering why I keep her....here's why....