Work

I'm going back to work next week to finish out the year. I figure that since I have to pack my room up anyway, I may as well not have to pay a sub (I'm out of sick days, so they're docking 35% of my pay each day). Monday through Wednesday are days with kids, and then Thursday is inservice day. Jon will watch the girls on Monday, then some great friends will watch them Tuesday through Thursday.

I got the job in Woodburn. Although I still haven't actually heard the words, "We'd like to offer you the position." My background check came back clear (of course), and the HR lady said that she'd send me the paperwork that I can do here, then when I get up there I can do what needs to be done in person. So woohoo for a job!! Now to arrange childcare...

Glorious sleep

The last four nights, Ellen has stretched her sleep pattern to six hours at night! The first three nights it was from 10-4, and last night was 12-6. I like the first pattern a bit better, but I'm just glad for six straight hours.

Poop

The last few days Emily has come in at 7:30 (when she usually gets up) and either laid down by my bed or climbed in and snuggled with me. This morning I had changed her diaper around 7, and put her back in her bed...at 7:30 she showed up at our bed again, so I scooted over for the usual routine. Jon headed out to get ready, and I closed my eyes in hopes of some more dozing. I did notice that Emily had taken her diaper off, but I wasn't really concerned as it had just been changed. She left the bed for the floor, and I didn't think much of it--I thought maybe she's go find Jon or play or lay down. Then I heard it. "Poop. Poop, Mama." The child, bless her heart (yes, I have my Southern-isms), was pooping on the floor! Jon said that since we got rid of the labs who would occasionally poop on the floor, Emily decided she needed to step up and fill that void. Super.

Back to the gators

We had to run an errand at Bass Pro this morning, and Emily was more than excited to go back and see the alligators.
"Come here, come here."

Newly discovered awesome stroller feature--handles for little helpers. Emily loves to ride in the stroller, but once she's out, she doesn't want to go back. However, she does like to help push, and this was a great way to let her feel like she was pushing, but she was secretly just being obedient.Some videos for your enjoyment...

Weather, part two

On Tuesday night we had a CRAZY storm--really hard rain, lots of thunder & lightning. Several trees were struck, and an apartment building that one of my students lived in caught fire after being struck. It rained most of the day today, and the flooding caused Shreveport schools to close.

Weather, part one

I realize it's a lot of darkness, but we wanted to give you an idea of how often the lightning was flashing, and how hard it was raining.

Random stuff

I know it'll be better when I get to Oregon, but today on base they had 2 pounds of strawberries for $2! The tiny containers were $3.50...
I painted Emily's toenails the other day, and she was THRILLED. She likes to show them off.
Today in the grocery store Ellen looked just like this, and we got that lovely question, "Girl or boy?" Honestly.

Job updates

Me--I was recommended for the position at Success/Woodburn. Human Resources reserves the right to hire whom they choose, so it's not a guarantee, but they've never gone against a principal's recommendation. I got an email today asking me to sign & fax over a background check form, and the lady said that once she processed that, she'd call to go over hiring paperwork...so I guess that's a pretty stinking good sign.
Jon--He basically has 2 1/2 job offers. Two of the jobs are his to accept/decline, and the other feels like a guarantee, but he hasn't finished up interviews...they'll have to happen when we get up there. So he/we are currently talking about which job he'd prefer, and what would work best for our family.
Housing note--we'll definitely start in an apartment, we're busy figuring out where we want it to be.

Perfect Mother's Day

To clarify for a few concerned viewers, the bottles below are bubble bath, shower gel, and lotion. They just smell like Oregon wine country.

And in case this confused those same readers (you know who you are), this is not actual bark. It's white chocolate with marionberry candy in it.

Visit to the Boardwalk

I usually go to the Boardwalk to shop, but with Aunt Kim there was a whole new side to it. We saw the alligators outside of Bass Pro...
(token picture of Ellen)
...ate ice cream from Cold Stone, then went on the merry-go-round for the first time...
...looked at the fish at Bass Pro...
and went back and saw the gators again.
Emily LOVED the gators.

Albertson's

Emily finally got to "drive" the cart at Albertson's when we were there picking up some ingredients we needed to make Christy's soup (it was delicious, by the way). She was in love, and hated it when we were done. Poor Ellen was just along for the ride.

Gardens of the American Rose Center

We went to the rose gardens today--I had never been. It was really beautiful, and had Oregon-like tall trees and wandering paths between gardens.
Emily is fascinated with her admission bracelet.
When she'd get hot, she'd just pull her shirt up (lucky).
Watching the fountain



This has been the story of Emily's life lately...I don't know how many times she fell today (although none were as impressive as the airport).
This is Ellen, enjoying the roses. Well, she enjoyed them as long as Kim kept her moving.
Wow...wow.
Me & Em
Kim & El
Em was obsessed with jumping over the "bonks" in the road. Needless to say, when she abandoned the stroller, we walked MUCH slower.

Ellen's one-month checkup

Ellen weighed 10 pounds, 2 ounces today, and is now 21 3/4 inches long. Emily was only 9-4 at one month, but she had packed on 5 more ounces than Ellen did. Ellen's head is still average (wondering if she'll turn out like Emily), as is her height and weight.

FINALLY asleep

Emily took a while to fall asleep last night, was up early this morning, and took a SHORT nap today, despite our best efforts. Needless to say she was more than cranky all afternoon/evening. She was great at childcare during my small group (of course), but then fought hard against sleep again tonight. First I had to take all of the books out of her room (granted, most of them are packed, so there was only about 20 to grab). Then she was trying on shoes. Kim kept telling her to close her eyes, and she'd put her fists over her eyes and try to peek out, and fell asleep mid-peek, clutching a shiny black shoe.

Fort?

I had some totes of clothes under Ellen's crib, but when I went through and cleaned them out (keep vs. donate), it left a vacancy under the crib. Emily thought it'd be fun to play down there, but did have a momentary "stuck" period where she couldn't remember how to get out.

Progress

So when we decided that early June would be our moving date, it was decided that Ellen wouldn't actually get her room in this house. We'll save the paint and cute curtain fabric for the next place. Instead we've started filling the spare room with packed boxes and other things that we'd like out of the way.

We also took down the projector, lest potential renters think it stays with the house. We moved our TV out of the bedroom & set it up in the living room--it's funny because I never realized that Emily never knew what a "real" TV was like, especially at her level. We've always had one on the wall, or this one up on our dresser. So she was fascinated for the first week and had to learn not to touch it.

Flarp

One of the kids in our youth group gave Jon some flarp (makes fake farting sounds) a little while ago, and Emily thinks it's hilarious. We found it at Wal-Mart, and bought some for both of them--Em was thrilled.

Silly hands

Updates

*Sleep
Lest you all think I'm going crazy on only a few hours of sleep, I thought I'd let you know that after that crazy week or so, things have been better. Ellen has eaten and gone back to sleep in 45 min-an hour each night, and Emily's been getting up only once or twice to be laid back down--no extended time there. Granted, I'm currently on what I hope is my last round of steroids to treat poison ivy, which gives me a certain amount of insomnia for a few days, but all should be better soon.
*Jobs--Chris
I'm in the top two for the position at Woodburn--actually, there are two positions, but I'm not sure if I'm still being considered for both or what. The principal couldn't/didn't say a whole lot, but I should be hearing from Human Resources in a couple of weeks. The job is at their alternative school, and there were MS and HS English positions open. The high school is almost more of a continuation school, and the middle school deals with mostly 8th graders who were expelled. I think that after my experiences here, I should do okay there.
*Jobs--Jon
Jon had two interviews today, and has another on Friday. Things look good, and we're both confident that he'll have a job lined up by the time we get there.
*Homes in Portland
Jon's looking at some today, but since it's hard to get financing when you don't have jobs, we may have to rent a house or an apartment for 6 months or something until we can get that lined up. Totally do-able.

Playing with Daddy

The other day Emily wanted to play outside (as always) and they had lots of fun. She is quite the daredevil!