AHHH!

As I was rocking Camille to bed tonight, I felt like screaming! Not because of her at all, but because of all the thoughts running through my head. As most of you know, I am teaching part-time Kindergarten right now. I have a full class of 22 sweet little kiddos (two, maybe three, that have some listening rules to get down). All of our classes are already maxed out, which means we will most likely be adding another half day section soon. It hasn't been approved yet, but I know it's coming. My frustation comes with all the thoughts about whether or not I want to take that position or try to stay part-time. There are so many pros and cons that I just can't seem to sort out in my brain. So, that's where blogger comes in handy! I don't even know what my choices are at this point. Sometimes I think I just want to share my classroom with another teacher, but with that, I could run the chance of being bumped to another school so that a full-time teacher takes over my classroom. I LOVE my new school and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my team! BTW, my team is three other ladies that are all Christians and it's such a blessing to work amongst them! I love what I do so I don't think a few more hours a day would be so terrible. The way it is now, I feel like I miss out on a lot of communication between the team because when we all get there in the morning, we're running around getting ready for the day and then when our kids leave at lunch, they are all trying to eat as fast as they can and get ready for a whole other group of kids. I miss the time after school when teachers get together and talk about their day. Now, my sweet little Camille. She still isn't adjusting to the babysitter as well as I would like. She still cries when I leave every morning and she is always whining when I get there because she hears the knock at the door. I don't like the idea of her being there longer each day because I know it has been hard on her. I hope that will get better soon. If anyone has ANY advice, encouragement, suggestions, ideas, etc. please send them my way. Every day I am afraid "the talk" is coming my way. If this change is going to happen, it needs to happen soon so the kids can get adjusted. Please pray for my decision and for Camille!

Born to be a Wildcat

This is our best attempt at getting a picture of Camille in her "Born to be a Wildcat" onesie. I'm not statisfied enough with this one so there will be another attempt before we send it off to the ACU Press. But, check out those rolls!

One week from today and kids are coming! Today I spent ALL day in my classroom trying to get it close to ready for kiddos! We have Meet the Teacher on Thursday so that is the deadline! I felt like I got a lot accomplished today, but still have so much more to go. Camille is still doing pretty well at the babysitter's house. She is a quick learner because it didn't take her long (1 day) to catch on that I'm leaving because when I hand her to Ms Jenna, she starts crying. The first couple of days were pretty bad. Tuesday was harder than Monday for me. Now she doesn't cry as long and is doing better everyday. I think today was a little step backwards after the weekend. I wish she could just understand that starting next week it will only be for a few hours a day.

Aunt B came to visit us for a few days before she headed off to Abilene again. We really enjoyed having her here. Camille is wearing a dress she got her from Mexico and that huge bow is from Nana. She got quite a bit of attention from that bow at McAlister's. Brooke is now back in Abilene getting ready to start Grad School!

I think Camille is already a Texas fan!

I had a wonderful lunch with April on Sunday. She is home from NY for only a week. Well, depending on her decision whether to move back to TX or stay in NY. Our prayer for her is that the Lord will clearly show her where she needs to be (and of course I think it is Texas!) I know many of us have really missed having her in Texas this past year and it is always great to see her again. She is doing a marvelous job ministering to NY kids and I know has made a huge impression on their lives. Please join us in praying for her decision.

Just last night I asked some girls how to teach Camille to drink through a straw. I had tried several times and she just chewed on the straw. They said just to keep trying and eventually she would get it. Tonight I had a Sonic drink and I let her try to drink through the straw thinking she would just chew on it, and she drank it as if she had always known how. She enjoyed actually getting to taste the Strawberry Slush!

1st Day Back

We survived! Today was my first day back to work and Camille's first day at the babysitter's house. I have been super excited about going back to work for public schools, but very nervous about being away from Camille and how she would react. I left early enough this morning to give myself plenty of time to settle Camille in before I had to leave her. She was great and there were no tears...either one of us! I was pretty sure she wouldn't cry as I left, but I wasn't so sure about myself. I called a few times during the day to check on her and she was doing pretty good for her first day. She took 2 naps (which is what I was most nervous about), ate good and fussed some. I had a small gap of time before lunch that I could have gone by to see her, but I refrained thinking it might be harder to leave again. I couldn't wait to see her and get my hugs this afternoon. We were supposed to be out by 4pm but we ran over a little and I was practicly running to the car when we were dismissed. As far as my day, we were well taken care of. The principals took all 8 of the new staff out for breakfast, to a teacher store to spend $50, and then to a high school for lunch. It was the best first day back to work! This afternoon we had a scavenger hunt to learn the building and then went over the handbook. I really think I am going to enjoy this campus and staff. I feel so lucky right now because I get to do what I LOVE, but only half a day and then spend the rest of the day with my precious girl! I know our day would not have gone so smoothly without the Lord placing all our puzzle pieces in place and giving us both wonderful places to be. He has been so good to us!

PS...I'm working on a new header for my blog!

"Big Girl" carseat

Last week at Camille's 9mo dr appointment, she weighed 19lbs 15oz and was 28in long. So...the doctor advised that we start thinking about a "big girl" carseat. Our infant carseat is good through 22 lbs, but we went ahead and began our hunt at Babies R Us. We still had a carseat base that we never opened so we were going to try to get credit for it to go towards our new carseat. We didn't take it with us Friday night because we were just planning on looking and not buying anything right away. The lady at Babies R Us really helped us alot and we found this really cute seat that even converts into a booster seat and fits up to 100lbs. I was just sold and had wished we had brought the base to exchange. Today, we took the base and a $10 off coupon with us to make the purchase. That's a total of $50 savings...I was so excited about that! As we were walking through the parking lot, I spotted a couple carrying out 2 of our carseats! I grabbed Clayton's arm and jokingly said, "They better not have gotten the last ones!" As we walked in I was distracted by the Halloween costumes but Clayton quickly announced that the carseat aisle was very busy, we better hurry over! This must have been The National Day to buy a Carseat! Sure enough! No more carseats! I couldn't believe it! We even asked if they had more and nope! He even said he just sold out of them and had already sent another couple to another store. This is the popular carseat, obviously! The next closest store is in Lewisville, so we will be heading that way this week. I can't believe my little girl is ready for a "big girl" carseat!

She has officially entered the cruising stage. This past week was the first experience of not knowing where she was in the house. I was frantically running from one room to the other to find her in the office drinking her water from her cup. She is pulling up to everything and walking all around holding on. She wants to take off so bad, but just isn't quite ready. She still has her adorable scrunched up face that she gives to get peoples attention.

I can't believe we only have 1 more week of complete freedom! I am SUPER excited about going back to work, but a little nervous about being away from Camille. Another prayer was answered by giving us a lady from church to watch her during the day. I know she is going to be absolutely wonderful, but it will also take some time for us to both transition into being away from each other. We have successfully cut out her morning feeding so I don't have to mess with pumping at work. With me just working part-time, I can feed her when she wakes up and then not again until around 1pm. She will NOT take formula instead of breastmilk, but the doctor said that should be ok since she isn't completely weaned and definitely isn't showing any signs of malnourishment.

Cousin #4

We are back from Austin after the arrival of our 3rd nephew, Jonathan Isaac. Camille now has 4 cousins. He was pretty stubborn about coming into this world, but he finally arrived around 6:30pm July 30 weighing in at 8lbs 15oz and 19in long. They found out pretty quick that 9lb babies don't fit into newborn diapers very well. I wasn't very good at getting good pictures, but here are a few from the weekend.
Look at those wide open eyes just minutes after he was born! He has been SUCH a happy baby so far!This was a pretty funny moment when Camille did NOT want to take a nap. Clayton took her and was calming her down by giving her snack sticks. When he noticed she was pretty relaxed he looked down to find her asleep with a cracker still in her hand. She hates to miss anything and fights her naps so bad right now. I hope that gets better soon.These are two of Camille's cousins going on a wagon ride with Bubbie (Clayton's mom). Half way through the ride Camille decided she didn't like it and made Bubbie carry her all the way back. Asia LOVES her cousin Camille. She will be the best mommy when she grows up!Camille really loves to give kisses alot! I wish I could have gotten a better shot of this, but as soon as she sees the camera, she goes straight for it. We have to sneak in on her to take pictures of her now. She a ham ball! Aren't these sweet kisses!