A New Season

“If I knew your name and address, I would send you a bouquet of sharpened pencils...”  A line from one of my favorite movies, “You’ve Got Mail.” Fall has begun and our little family is entering a new season of life. We moved into our two-bedroom apartment about a month ago and things are finally starting to feel like home. Almost all of our boxes are unpacked, Parker has his own room, and there is plenty of space for the three of us. I have started teaching part-time Kindergarten at Naperville Christian Academy, Parker and I have established our morning routine and he has a lot of fun at the babysitter’s with his new buddy, Levi.

Throughout these changes, Ryan has been through a whirlwind of interviews, evaluations and physicals leading to his new career as an Arlington Heights Firefighter. He applied for the job in May of 2010, took a written test and a physical test is June and July, and then did not hear back again until May of 2011. He had his first interview on June 22nd, and found out he was 3rd on the list shortly after. He was called for another interview that took place July 28th, took a polygraph on August 16th, a Psych Evaluation on September 1st and a medical physical on September 13th. He was officially offered the position on September 15th, was sworn in the 16th, and started the fire academy on the 19th. Sounds crazy huh? This has been a huge answer to prayer and we can see God’s hand through all of it. It was the first and only fire job he’s every applied for, it is one of the best departments in the suburbs, they will pay for him to go to Paramedic school (which will be MUCH cheaper than us paying his way through PA school,) the benefits are great, and the timing is perfect – as God’s timing always is. When he first applied, I was not very keen on the idea, but God has really softened my heart throughout the year and I could not be happier for Ryan. He gets up super early in the morning and is excited about what he is doing!

Ryan with his mom and grandma.

Excited about a new career.

The academy is from 8-5:30 everyday, but he has to be there by 7 in order to get everything ready to go by 8. The training is in Glenview, which is about an hour from our apartment. Knowing these details, I was a little anxious about getting Parker ready by myself in the mornings (because Ryan had been doing that for the first few weeks of school), getting to school on time, playing, feeding him, giving him baths and most nights putting him to bed on my own for nine weeks. Once again, God has shown me that He is in total control of even the tiniest details, and will take care of me. Parker usually wakes up around 6 and we have to be out the door around 7. It’s hard when he wakes up early because I’m still getting ready and he needs to eat breakfast, etc, etc. Well, this week he woke up between 6:45 and 7:00 every morning, which allowed me to get completely ready, then give him breakfast and go. He has not put up a fight getting in the car seat, I have been very productive and had lots of energy, I checked out a new Karen Kingsbury book, and I have been overflowing with God’s love! I was telling a co-worker about Parker sleeping in, and she reminded me that last year when I started at NCA, Parker started sleeping through the night after my second day. She then said, “The Lord is really looking out for you.” I get tears in my eyes just thinking about that because he TOTALLY is. Ryan and I have still been able to spend some quality time together when he gets home and it’s been really fun listening to his stories about different drills and tests.

Moral of the story….God is so so GOOD!

Top 3 Reasons to be a Teacher

June, July, and August – how I love you so! I’ve always loved summer, but this was my first summer being a stay-at-home mom. Whelp, it was great. After a week of adjusting, Parker and I fell into a comfortable routine and really enjoyed spending our days together. Of course, we were always looking forward to Daddy coming home in the afternoon, but we had a lot of fun during the days. He switched to a 2-nap schedule, which I really came to enjoy. During his morning nap I would do devotions, dishes, and other housework, and during his afternoon nap I would lay on a blanket outside and read Karen Kingsbury books. Sounds like the life, right? When he was awake we played with trucks, his learning table, and his walker. We looked at books, went swimming, visited friends, got groceries, and went for walks/runs and bike rides a lot. I went to a few Zumba classes and he enjoyed his time in the playroom.

He accomplished a few milestones over the summer months. His top four teeth came in to make six altogether! He tried and liked every fruit and vegetable we gave him. Oh, and he LOVES yogurt. When we first started giving it to him, he would scream when it was finished. He’s also doing his “more” and “all done” signs consistently at the table. As I mentioned earlier, he loves playing with his walker. At first we would have to hold it so it didn’t go so fast, but after about a week he was walking full speed ahead! We have a video of him walking outside I’ll have to put up. He waves and says “ha” to anyone and everything, and he pretends to answer the phone. He will hold it up to his ear and say ‘ha.’ He can tell you what a lion says, clap his hands when you say ‘pat-a-cake’, show you how big he is, and he makes the sounds of the trucks every time he plays with them. (Whenever he sees my mom, he knows she’s going to ask him to do his tricks, so he does ‘so big’ as soon as he sees her.) He babbles and usually rotates between saying ‘da-da’, ‘pa-pa’, ‘bop,’ and any combinations of them such as ‘bop-pa.’ He loves going up and down stairs, and turns around and crawls backwards toward any step or change of surface. Goodness, I keep remembering more and more things! Finally, he loves the music in church. We keep in the service for the worship songs, and Ryan or my dad has to hold him because both of his arms and legs are going like crazy!

Time to get sentimental. My cousin’s husband told me a while ago, “The days are long but the years are fast.” I have reminded myself this many many times since I’ve heard it. I often look back at Parker’s first few weeks and remember just ‘getting through’ them because I very much disliked the lack of sleep. Now I am trying my best to enjoy every moment, every phase, every laugh, smile, and hug. Parker is such a sweet boy and you know what they say – “They grow up way too fast!” At least five different people tell us that every time we go to the grocery store and I’m starting to believe them! We weren’t planning on having a baby as early as we did, but I love thinking about the fact that God didn’t just give us a baby…he gave us Parker. If we would’ve waited, we would’ve loved that baby, too, but it wouldn’t be Parker. (Not sure if that’s being communicated very well through text, but just go with it.)

Summer at home was amazing. They may grow up fast, but I’m very thankful I am able to be there for it.

The Simple Life

For the month of August, Ryan, Parker and I stayed with my parents in German Valley. It was great to see and play with family, go swimming, ride four-wheelers, jump on the tramp, and ride bikes almost everyday! One of the weeks my parents were out of town, so we got to take care of everything. Since we have yet to have our own house, yard, garden, or dog, it was pretty fun =) We ate meals containing mostly garden vegetables, hung the clothes on the line, and sat on the porch at night. Mom and Dad ended up coming home a day early (probably because they missed us so much) and were happy to come home to a clean house. We were very thankful they were willing to let us stay!

Parker really enjoyed his time living the country life. Here are his top 10 things to do!

10. Playing with and visiting so many relatives!

9. Eating crackers at Great Grandma’s after swimming.

8. Going on bike rides.

7. Standing on the ladder at the pool.

6. Playing the piano and organ.

5. Playing with trucks on the trampoline.

4. Riding/Driving the 4-wheeler.

3. Reading books with Grandma.

2. Playing with the walker and scooters.

1. Driving Papa’s truck.

He was excited to eat by Papa everyday, and exhausted every night.