Schools Out

I have finished all the work for all of my classes. I am officially done...for 30 days. In one month I start taking my Cisco Certification classes again. This would be a great time for  prospective employers to swoop in with the job offers so I dont have to go to Granite City until next May. Anyone? Anyone? Oh well, heres another picture to help me get through it.

Sometimes life gets in the way...

The last couple weeks have been especially difficult. The heat has been unrelenting, work has me grumbling under my breath all day, the a/c was out at home for a bit, Jackson wants to eat every 3 hours and is not afraid to let you know it, homework is starting to drain me, and the insurance bills have started rolling in. All of this is frazzling my nerves, and I'm sure my family is starting to think I have gone crazy. Me and Jackson watched the baseball game on TV tonight, and then Wendi took this picture before he went to bed(AKA the light nap before midnight meal #1). This picture reminds me of the reason I do everything I do. Maybe someday, when he is jetting around in his flying car, he will accidentally pull up an old archive of the Internet and see this, and know that it wasnt always easy, but it was always for them.

I'm Back!

The TeamRose blog will be back in business since I am now using it for class. I forgot that I had one, as you can see from the lack of posts for the last 2 years. Anyways, I will be trying to add more content in the next couple weeks. The second baby gives us double the amount of stuff to put on here.

So Thankful

Recently a coworker of mine shared with me the battle that her 3 1/2 year old niece is facing...after dealing with hundreds of daily seizures since the age of six months and trying every medication available with no results, the decision was made to remove half of her brain, the half that the seizures were originating from. I have been reading the daily blog written by her parents, and every day I pray and cry with them. I cannot even begin to imagine seeing your child undergo such a drastic procedure, and not knowing what they outcome would be. By God's grace, Sophie is doing even better than they could have hoped and every day she returns more and more to her normal self. Her parents and family and friends surrounding them are so strong and brave for Sophie and I pray daily for them that Sophie is able to return to her new normal, seizure free. I also thank God every day for a baby who is so far healthy and happy, even with the heart valve problem. Marlie is "talking"--my favorite part of the day is when she has a full belly, right after her bath, and she lays on my lap and "talks" to me. I talk and sing to her and she stares at my face so intently and then starts to make all sorts of cooing and babbling noises. I am still so amazed every single day that we have been blessed with this miracle and that God saw fit for us to be her parents. Right now she is laying in her bouncy seat, staring at me and kicking her feet and making noises, letting me know that computer time is over, and it's time for me to play with her. It's Marlie's world, I just live in it. :)

New milestones

Marlie is 11 weeks old today! She is finally getting over her colic AND starting to sleep through the night, PTL. She smiles all the time and has started her "full body smile"--she squirms and squeals and blows bubbles, and she even laughs from time to time. Rich has been busy with work and softball two nights a week. I'm glad he has a hobby that he enjoys so much and is good at--and it's also nice for me and Marlie, we can go and watch him and that's fun for us, too! I'm back to work three days a week and spending time with my other "mommy friends" on my off days. Life has settled into a nice, predictable pattern, just the way Team Rose likes it!

Can we really ever have it all?

So, I'm "officially" back to work for two weeks now, and Marlie is with my sister and Rich when I'm gone. And even though they are two of the people that love Marlie (almost) as much as I do, I still feel so guilty and sad when I leave her. She is so tiny and yet changing and growing so much every day, that I honestly feel like she grows in the eight hours I'm gone. I don't want to miss any "firsts" and yet because we need the insurance for her specialist's visits, I have to be away from her. Sigh...