Favor

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us-
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90:17

To all of you who were praying for us and thinking of us as we are trying to figure out my job situation for next year, thank you. Once again, God has gone above and beyond what I had hoped for. Soon I will be able to tell you about this job situation, but I can't say it yet until it is all set in stone. It's not 100 % exactly what I wanted, but it is 100% exactly what is best for our family. I know that probably doesn't make total sense yet, but it will when I can explain it better. Everything isn't finalized yet so I won't be able to discuss it, but hopefully this week it will be settled so you can also rejoice in the specifics of this really good news! Jesus thank you.

There are 12 days of school left. Isn't that crazy?! I'm still loving my classes, which is good, since we do have 12 days of school left but the air of summer has definitely hit the building and pretty much everyone is ready to be out of there!

Wes and the band leave for the summer on June 1, which is getting closer and closer. I thought my graduate class this summer was on Thursday so I could go with them a few times at the beginning of the week, but now I found out it is actually on Tuesday. Hmm... hopefully we'll get to drive down for the end of some weeks I guess :)

Eli is doing great! He's just getting bigger and bigger and bigger! Today he is 5 months old and I really can't believe it has gone so fast! Two nights ago he woke up with a scratch on his face by his eye! I know it was only a little scratch but it made Wes and I feel so bad! I cut his nails at least once a week, but I must have either left a sharp corner or missed a long nail or something! Can you see it? Poor baby...

This scanner is not my friend

I am trying really hard to use self control and not bash this scanner on the table. Trust me, I am fully aware that it is the user that is the problem and not the machine, but that doesn't make me any less frustrated.

I am trying to scan my transcripts (which by the way are not nearly as good as I thought they were!) onto the computer so I can send them in for this CCCC job I am applying for. grrr... I was trying to figure it out on my own, but I think I'm missing some sort of cord or connector or something. It's about that time to bring in the husband to see what he can make out of this mess I made! ohhhh Wwwweeessss.....

Tomorrow 26 of my students are taking their AP Psychology exam. The exam that I've been preparing them for this entire year. Of course, I did miss an entire 6 weeks to be home with Eli, so that 6 weeks wasn't as awesomely full of good information as it should have been. I feel pretty confident in about 85% of the students who are taking the test. Meaning, I think that many could actually score a 4 or a 5 out of 5, which is greatness! We'll see... I have to stay completely away from the testing center, so if you remember, say a little prayer for them at 12:00, and I will be doing the same thing. :)

Eli is getting so good at eating from a spoon. Wes and I think he's like a little turtle. When I put the spoon in front of his face he kind of sticks his neck out a little and opens his mouth. It is so dang cute!! He ate the entire bowl this time before finishing his bottle and didn't get frustrated at all! ...he's growing up... We still only feed him from a spoon during one meal a day and from what I've read that's pretty normal. Apparently the purpose is just to get him accustomed to the whole idea of spoon feeding. We'll see...

Today Wes spent the whole day with Eli out and about. He had a band meeting and then a celebration lunch with KLTY because Ruin Me is now on the radio locally! Yay! So, Eli was out of the house from about 10:30 until 4:00 when they picked me up from work. Wes said Eli did great! Wes is such a sweet sweet dad. I know Eli is totally taken care of when he is with Wes. Jeff did have to show off his diaper changing skills in front of everyone...and of course the only changing table was in the women's restroom, so the picture you are seeing is real and not doctored in any way (smile). Thank you Sarah for holding the door open and standing guard of the bathroom!

I'm so glad we put Eli in his little blue Salamanca t-shirt from my cousin's trip to Spain. I have been saving it because A. you have to hand wash it and lay it out to dry (yuck) and B. I thought it was too big. I put it on him this morning because it has this big cute frog on it and I thought it would be perfect! Thank goodness I did because his little budda belly filled up the entire shirt! It was super cute though!

Happy Mother's Day!

I can't believe that it's Mother's Day already. I remember vividly Mother's Day last year because I was pregnant with Eli and people were saying "happy Mother's day" to me and I just had no concept of what that truly meant. It truly is amazing how much can change in just one year.

This morning I was playing with Eli and decided it was time for some good ole tummy time. Each time we do this, it's usually the same thing: I lay down a blanket, put him on his tummy, try to prop him up on his elbows (never happens), he tolerates it for a few minutes but then that's it. Today was totally different!

I put Eli on his tummy and put his arms down for him to push up on and he did!! I mean, he actually propped himself up on his elbows instead of just lifting up with his back! I was freaking out!! He has never done that before and I was just SO excited! And then he would get a little tired and lay his head down, but then he would get back up...by himself! It was so much fun and the best thing I could have asked of from him today. Thanks Eli for working so hard! I love you!

My mom.

My mom has been through a lot in her life.

She was diagnosed with polio when she was little. I think honestly it was just within days of the polio vaccination. She had to wear a little brace on her leg and they were worried about her learning to walk. She did. She's a fighter. She walks just fine and the only thing that is different is that the polio attacked one of her legs, so we call it the "baby leg." Her muscle in her calf on that leg is almost nonexistent. Her foot I think it 2 sizes smaller than her other foot also, but it works just fine! (just kind of hard when shoe shopping!)

One of her older sisters died of breast cancer when she was very young. She had given birth to my oldest cousin Kevin, and then his little brother Matt. Brenda died when Matt was 2 years old I believe. I can't even comprehend losing a sibling.

My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Actually, several women in West Texas were all diagnosed with this around the time she was. They all lived relatively close to one another and all still deal with it today... except my mom. For some reason, my mom was healed of MS. Her symptoms started going away, which doesn't happen, and her doctor was shocked. He said if she shows no signs of MS for 5 years then he doubts she will ever battle it again. It's been over 25 years and no signs, no symptoms. Thank you God for healing her.

My mom wasn't able to get pregnant... or so she thought. She wrestled with God on this issue of having a baby for several years. She wanted to be a mother but it just wasn't happening for her. She prayed that God would just take away her desire so she wouldn't have to live in that pain anymore, but He didn't. Almost daily there were confirmations of the fact that she was meant to have children. My parents decided to look into adoption. They adopted me from Edna Gladney Adoption Agency in Ft. Worth when I was 2 weeks old. Not long after they got me home, my mom wasn't feeling well. Turns out, she was one month pregnant with my brother, Josh. We are 8 months apart. Then 6 years after they got me, she had my little sister, Amy. Yep, she was definitely meant to be a mom. :)

She's lost both of her parents, which I honestly can't get into right now because her parents, my grandparents, were some of the most incredible people I have ever been honored to know. And I'll just start crying and it will be sad, so let's just say that they were beautiful people. I can't even imagine losing a parent, much less both.

My mom has had to uproot her entire life from little town West Texas to big city North Texas. For someone who had planned on living in Levelland forever, moving everything 7 hours away for reasons that probably have still not been settled, is a huge thing. I'm so glad they are here because they literally are 10 minutes away from me! But I know it was hurtful, and I know it was hard. My mom is a warrior.

I love you mom. Happy Mother's Day!

2 weeks later...

I seriously can't believe that it has been so long since my last post. What a fast 2 weeks it has been! The week before last was TAKS week. In Texas, TAKS week is obviously a huge deal. I teach one class of Social Studies and my kids took their test on Friday, May 2. Now, they are sophomores so they don't have to pass it to move on to the next grade, but, if they don't pass the test, that usually means they will be in TAKS tutorials or a TAKS class the next year. You definitely do want to pass that dang test. I'm anxious to see if all my kids passed!

Last week was pretty interesting. Wes left after I got home from work on Friday, May 2 to go to Snyder, TX to play a gig. He didn't come home until Thursday, May 8 so of course it was just so different without him being here! And when Wes is gone, that means we have to find someone to watch Eli. I am more than willing to take off work any day, but considering now that I have zero days left, I get docked a full day's pay when I do that. ...so... that kind of cuts in to what Wes is bringing home and doesn't make a lot of sense. Friends and family to the rescue! My mom took off work on Monday to watch him. Hannah drove in from Dallas to watch him on Tuesday. And Jeff watched him on Wednesday and Thursday. For those of you with kids, you know what a HUGE relief it is to have people that you know, trust, and love to watch your child. I am extremely picky on who I let watch Eli. Some people may get their feelings hurt by that, but if I don't know someone that well, then I just don't feel like I can entrust them with one of the most precious things in my life!

Jeff is the Jeff Johnson in the band that Wes is in, and he's like a family member to us. He's totally capable of watching Eli and I trust Jeff just like I would my own brother... but... he'd never changed a diaper before, and I don't think he'd ever watched a baby all by himself before either. So, he came prepared with a video camera, his camera, and Starbucks, and he was ready to go! haha... We did have to have a practice diaper changing session with a teddy bear, which was really funny. And he did end up having to change a dirty diaper... fortunately that was after I got home. He videotaped his response to that, so I'll have to get it from him to post up here. He did a great job though! Thanks Uncle Jeff!

I am still in the process of trying to find a part time job so I can stay home next year. We have come to the decision that working full time is not what is best for our family at this time. Wes and I are totally at peace with that decision and we are so excited to see what God has in store for us. The only negative part to this whole thing is not being able to be fully open to talking about it with some close people in our lives. I hate it that this is a barrier in some relationships we have. There are some people that are 100% against this decision, and that's fine with us. We don't have to have the support...it would be nice, and we want it... but we don't have to have it. But we're ultimately going to do what we think is best for us. What more can people expect than that.

There are only 17 more school days. Can you believe it?! Gosh, I am so excited about that! The good thing is that I am truly loving all of my classes. Usually at this time of the year I am getting pretty close to being so "over" some of my classes, but this time it's not the case. There are a couple of students though that I am withholding my true feelings from daily. This one student in particular thinks that he/she is better than anyone else. He/she acts in a way that makes me never want to see him/her for the rest of the year. He/she thinks that he/she is above everyone and must always be the center of attention. Daily I am telling myself, "he/she is only 18. His/her frontal lobe has not developed yet." That has become my mantra. Part of me feels like I should be totally honest with this student and tell him/her exactly how I feel, but I honestly don't think I could do that in love at this point, so that's not the best idea. I can handle pretty much anything. I've encountered lots of different types of kids. But dealing with a student that puts people down to make him/her feel better, that constantly expresses how he/she can do whatever he/she wants because of some sense of entitlement he/she has, and feels like he/she is above everyone in the school. That's the kind of thing that makes my stomach hurt. I have students with stories that would make even the hardest person cry, and they come in, are respectful not just to me, but to their peers, they treat people with kindness and have a filter on what they say. ... wow... I am ranting. This isn't very productive (smile). Anyways. I am no better than this student, none of my other students are above this student, and I need to remember that as well. sorry for the verbal vomit. I do feel better though!

On to happier things! Eli's new thing is this high pitched squeal/scream. haha... it is hilarious! Here's a little taste of this greatness!