Hi.....Its been a while

Hey everyone! I just realized its been a while. So what's been going on around here? Our semester is winding down which is a good and bad thing. Obviously good because the semester is almost over but bad because teachers try to cram a ton of stuff into such a short period of time at the end of the semester when we should be studying for finals! Frustrated, can you tell? We have end of the semester evals where we have to evaluate EVERY instructor we had this semester, EVERY facility we did clinicals at, and our school itself! Its fantastic. I have clinicals Monday and Tuesday this coming week and then I'm done with that for the semester, I have a test on Thursday the 1st then my final is on the 5th. I will have a two week break then I start again on the 19th. Ed is also finishing up his semester. He was offered a summer position working as a judicial clerk for a juvenile Judge. It's good experience and he gets credit in school for it. He will also be volunteering at the Glendale Police Department with the police attorney there which I'm sure he will love because he misses the whole police thing.

So I KNOW I'm stressed. About everything. I'm starting to freak out that I'm starting my last semester of nursing school! I've been waiting for such a long time to get to this point and now I'm freaking. I can't stop thinking about it. About what the semester will be like (besides insane) and then what its going to be like when I'm done. But I guess I'm more stressed than I realized because apparently, the other night while I was sleeping, I yelled "Ok everyone, we are all stressed out, so let's pull it together and just get through it!" Did I mention that I yelled this? Poor Ed, he got woken up by our kids and me and the next day, he had to do an oral argument in front of 4 judges for one of his finals. OOPS!!! I feel bad.

Our 8 year anniversary was on the 22nd. We were both at school. Great way to spend an anniversary. We went to dinner the next night and then he took me to see his school. It was a good night and I enjoyed hanging out with him. We don't ever get to do that. It seems like it wasn't very long ago that we just got married and he got in his accident and had to leave the police department, we were having major issues getting pregnant and staying pregnant and now here we are with an almost 5 year old and an almost 3 year old! I can't believe it. How lucky am I to have the husband and kids that I do. We are certainly going to always be together because if we made it through all that crap, we can make it through anything. Right?

Ok, enough rambling. One more thing though, today is my brother Tim's birthday. Happy Birthday Tim! I love my brother. He is one of the only ones in my family who calls just to check in and see how we are doing. He has always been such a good example to me and he is someone who I have always respected. I don't know if I've ever told him that but I certainly should.

So thats all for now, I know you're like, "thank goodness" hope everyone is doing well. Have a great night~!

When Dads Dress Kids.....

Ed was so nice this morning. He got up with the kids at 6am, let me sleep while he got ready for work and as you can see, he dressed the kids! "The colors match" he says. It is kind of true, there is brown and orange in both the shirt and shorts. He tried hard and it was worth sleeping in. Yes mom's, I did leave him looking like this ALL day long! He is still cute even when his clothes are crazy.

This is what a typical study session looks like but there is usually more food (candy) involved. This is what our breaks from studying look like. Metallica aint got nothin on my Nursing School "Rock Band!!"

boobs

What is it with kids and boobs? I have read several peoples blogs who have told stories of their kids commenting on their boobs. I was just enjoying a nice relaxing bath when Kendi comes in to see what I'm doing. She commented on the amount of water and bubbles I had in my bath and how she NEVER gets to have that much in hers. Now, I don't get dressed or undressed in front of her because you all know how honest kids are and I don't need a body critique from my 4 year old. So I was happy when she ALMOST left the bathroom without commenting on my body. But just as soon as I thought I was free and clear, she does it! She tells me "Ha, I see your boobs." I say "ok, ok, now go out." So not too bad, I know. Until she goes out and I hear her tell her dad, "I saw moms boobs. They are big boobs." I can actually handle that critique he he. When I get out of the tub, Ed starts telling me what she said but apparently she did hand gestures too! I just thought it was kind of funny and figured that all of you other moms who have kids who have commented on their boobs would also find it humerous.

HELP!!! anyone?.........

I need help! I don't know how to be a good, kind, loving mom to a 41/2 year old girl who is.....

JUST LIKE ME!!

I try to be patient and look within myself to be the adult but I find myself arguing with her. Are you kidding? She is 4! I know it is stupid and ridiculous but I don't know what to do. On so many levels I am glad she is like me. I want her to have opinions and be able to stick up for herself and what she knows is right. I don't want her to do everything people tell her to do just because they tell her to. I want her to question people if something doesn't feel right to her.

WHEN SHE IS OLDER.

I don't so much love those things about her right now when she is 4!!!!

Any advice?

P.S. I really, really love her. She can be the kindest, most thoughtful girl. She comes to me when I'm not spending enough time with her and tells me she needs "cuddle time" and I love that. I love laying in bed with her at night and talking and just spending good, alone time with her. But then, a new day starts and so do my struggles.

Milestone!!

So Kendi has never had a problem saying sorry. She's always done it without being forced. Her little brother on the other hand will absolutely NOT say it. He will throw a fit FOREVER and refuse to say sorry. Just now, we were all hanging out outside. It's awesome weather and there is a slight breeze. We're enjoying each others company when all of a sudden I see a big chunk of Kendi's beautiful blond, already very thin hair, floating in the wind! Of course, about the same time I see the hair, I hear the screaming. I spank Davin's bum and make him sit on the grass. We ignore him while he's throwing one if his famous Davin fits for probably 10 minutes and Kendi is freaking out because "Now I'm going to be bald!" As fast as the fit started, it stopped and he came over and said sorry to both Kendi and I!! I was so happy. I looked at Kendi's head to see if there was a visible bald spot and I couldn't see one but honestly, it is something I worry about because the girl does not have hair to spare. After Davin said sorry, Kendi informed me that we need to send Davin to obedience school. Hmmm, I wonder if that would work.

Kendi Moment

So, as I was typing my previous posts this morning, my beautiful kids were playing joyfully in the bath tub and I was writing about what wonderful kids I have and how my problems are nothing compared to the issues the kids in the psych unit have. Then all of a sudden.......there is screaming and splashing and chaos! I went in the bathroom and kind of lost my mind. I immediately washed Kendi and got her out of the bath tub and informed her that I didn't want to hear anything she had to say. While I was drying her off, she had this sad look on her face and when I asked her why she was pouting. She replied "because it's so hard." I say "what is so hard?" "To be a kid mom. You have to listen and not bug your brother and I don't know how to do that." It was funny. I think being a kid is a cake walk but it probably is really hard.

CONGRATULATIONS Ed!!

Ed found out last night that he is the new president of the Student Bar Association!! If you don't know, because I didn't know law school lingo, that is the same as being the student body president. If you know Ed, you're probably not surprised because everyone loves Ed. He is funny, totally outgoing, he will do anything for anyone, he is a super hard worker, has good instincts, and is super smart. I am very proud of him.

In addition to those things previously listed, Ed is also an amazing husband and dad. I am blessed to have him as my best friend and husband.

Week in Review

This week was pretty uneventful. I did my clinicals this week in the child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit. WOW!! That was an experience. I just thought about my kids all day and wanted to come home and kiss on them. It made me realize that I have nothing to complain about as far as my kids go. These kids are there because they hear voices telling them to kill themselves, so they try. There are small kids with severe depression who will not look anyone in the eye and will only speak when spoken to and even then, they speak so quietly that you can't even hear them. It was very sad. I am sooooo blessed with Kendi and Davin. Even on their worst days, there is no comparison. Ok, there might be a little comparison when Kendi gets mad and screams at us that she's going to rip our arms off. But other than that....
A couple weeks ago, we decided to get Rock Band so we could have something fun to do when people come over. So last night we had a few friends come over and we ROCKED OUT!! Our band practice didn't get off to a very good start. Our band members were just not "meshing" but after a few sets we started kicking butt!! It was a lot of fun but we decided we will be holding more band member auditions so be ready people! This game may prove to be a problem because my study group that I have at my house, played a little too much Rock Band and not so much studying. OOPS. We all passed our tests though so it's cool. We need a name for the band so if anyone has any suggestions....

Catching up

Ok so since I obviously haven't kept up on this, I decided I would try to catch people up on what we have been up to and then I'll try to keep up on the daily or weekly events going on with our family.

So, Ed graduated from Arizona State University in May 2007. Mr. Smartie Pants graduated with a 4.0 GPA (whatever!). I say that just because I'm jealous. Anyway, he started law school in August and is finishing up his first year. He is currently serving as the Vice President of the Student Bar Association at his school and is running for President for next year. He is suppose to have two more years of school but he is accelerating and will hopefully be done in one more year. Woohoo!! He works very hard and I'm very proud of him.

Everyone who knows me knows I've always wanted to be a nurse and I've been working on pre-requisite classes since I graduated high school (almost 10 years ago)! I wondered if I was ever going to actually get it done. I'm happy to say that after many life struggles, I got in to nursing school in January 2007. I am currently in my 3rd semester and hanging in there. I am actually doing much better in nursing school than I did in my pre-nursing classes. I'm not supposed to graduate until December, 2008 but I did get accepted into a summer program to finish my last semester. That will start on May 19th and I will be done on August 7th

(keep your fingers crossed.) I am soooooo happy about the summer thing because I will graduate 4 months earlier than expected and I am ready to be done.

Kendi is 4 1/2 and is a fantastic little girl. She is beautiful inside and out. She is very thoughtful which we am so proud of. She thinks about people way more than we could ever teach her. She wants to be a princess when she grows up and when we tell her she already is a princess, she tells me "no, a real princess that lives at Disneyland." She loves to play with her "cousints" Avery and Shaley and loves when her older "cousints" come to see her from Mesa. I'm going to leave it at that for now about Kendi and you'll get to know the OTHER side of her later.

Davin, Davin,Davin. He is 2 1/2 and is special and I mean "special." If you know him, you know what I mean. I'm just kidding (kind of). We love him. He is the sweet boy we prayed for. He loves the movie Cars and also loves playing with his cars. He lays down on his stomach on the ground, usually in the middle of a walk way somewhere, and pushes the car up and down over and over again for like a half hour. It's cute. I have pictures on my camera that I'll post when I put them on my computer.

So that's what we are up to in a nut shell.

Stay tuned for more later.

Yes, we are still alive

I know, I know, the last time I wrote anything was in August. There are a couple reasons for that: well let me just be honest, there is really only one main reason, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I had no idea how to add things and make it cute but my sister in law Ruth demanded that I learn how to keep it updated. Now that I know a little more, I'll try to be better. So, be patient because I am busy and still a little blogging dumb. Just wanted to let you (Julia and Genny) know that I'm working on it so don't give up on me.