Roly Poly Bug

Allie is such a roly poly bug. She has now realized that she can roll to get where she wants and this has resulted in her rolling all of the time and actually covernig some ground while she rolls. She does get mad when she rolls somewhere and gets stuck. She is also really learning how to use her hands, but gets frustrated when she can't seem to get them to do what she wants. I am just so super amazed and surprised at how big she is growing up and the thought of her being able to get all over the place and into things so soon is so overwhelming!

It's been a hard one!

So I have been having a super hard time lately. There are so many things in my life that are causing me stress and at times I am not sure what to do about it all. Let's see so work is one of the main sources of my stress right now and at times I feel like I am going to end up crazy dealing with all of the shit! There are just so many things about the agency that have me upset, like the idea that I was supposed to have a raise by June and still there has been no raise, I am really upset about this as I feel that they should not have represented things this way when I was hired if it was not something that they planned on following through with. Also recently I got a flat tire in my client's driveway and I was told that there could be a possibility of them paying for the tire that was destroyed while on the line of duty at work. To date nothing has been done and when I have asked about it most of the people I am asking are simply ignoring me and not following through with things. Honestly no matter what happens to me from here on out I can honestly say that since this is by far the worst place that I have been employed with at this time I think that I would like to find employment some place better. If things were worse I do not know what I would do about this as there are so many problems that I am just about to freak out. I actually hope on a daily basis to be able to be fired as then I could get unemployment while I looked for something else. Things are just not going well and all in all it has been a horrible work experience being here.

I am going back to school in January. I am going to be working on earning my prerequisites to be able to attend medical school. I am tired of working full time and worrying about how the bills are going to be paid. Yep, I want to be able to make all of the bills on time each month and have a savings and have things paid off and overall to not worry about things at all. So the MCATs will be soon and that kind of scares me as these were not my top subjects in school but I am sure that I have the ability with studying and hard work to do well at whatever challenge is placed in front of me. At least now while I am interviewing my future employers are all aware of my plan to go back to school and they are all aware that I am working hard to accomplish certain goals and have certain achievements in my life. I am looking into a lot of part time jobs and if I get this really cool one at the Center for Prevention of Abuse then I am going to attempt to find a breakfast waitressing job for the weekdays that I could work with said schedule that way my job and school would be the normal Mon-Fri. I might look into some lunch time waitressing jobs as well. I just think that these would give me the same amount of money and I know that there are great opportunities for private health care through the state now so I am not too concerned with that either.

The kids are doing great. Andrew has started a journal and we are working on finding the time to work on it every day. I think that journaling is a great outlet and I love that I am able to work with him and give him those skills at such a young age. Other than that, well life is life. There are always good things to deal with and always bad. The bad for now seem to be work, court coming up and finances but the good far outweight these areas, like my two awesome children and my amazing relationship and boyfriend who is so encouraging, the fact that I am able to go back to school, my little brother's support as we are going to attempt medical school together, the fact that I have all that I need and a beautiful home to have it in. Also that I am able to have food on my table and these things, all of which I know are such a priviledge in a country where there are people who are starving on a regular basis, something that I would not really know anything about.

Thankful!

So I have been reflective this Thanksgiving about all of the things that I am thankful for. I am so thankful for the life that I live and the simple joys that I have every day that others are not as fortunate to have. I am thankful for my children, they are amazing and they make me happier each time that I get to spend a moment with them. I only hope that I am always able to make them as happy as they make me.

I am thankful for Shane, he is wonderful and I could not have asked for a more perfect man to share my life with. I am thankful for my family, most of all my 'rents and bro. They are all amazing people whom I can share great things with. I am thankful for the close friends that I have and the aquaintences that I have as well. I am thankful for my job and for the fact that even though my employment is not as good as what I would hope for that I have employment during this time of great economic need in our country.

And lastly but certainly not least, I am thankful for our troops who are risking their lives each and every day and some of them giving up their lives so that I can have the freedoms and liberty which I enjoy. I will be the first to admit that I am antiwar but I do respect those who are following out the orders to which they are given.

Update to my crazy life!!

Hello all...life is good and I am truly blessed and thankful to have the life that I have.

Andrew is growing up so fast. He is starting to read and he is able to tell me things that I thought it would take him years to figure out. I guess he is just getting too big too fast for his momma...I am so bummed that my baby boy is growing up before my eyes and becoming such a big boy! He is starting to read some words and I know that reading books is just around the corner for him and that makes me both happy and sad. One of my favorite things to do with him is to sit and read and be able to spend that time together sharing, it is awesome!! I know though that soon it will not be necessary for mommy to read to him and that he is going to want to go off and read alone and that sucks in some ways!! I am so happy and proud of him though and I feel such a love for him as he gets older and I know that he will just have to grow up but sometimes that is too hard for me to deal with.

Althea is getting big as well. She is learning how to mimick sounds and things that we do. She discovered that she could do the kissing sound with daddy the other day and she was so proud of that one. She is also a huge girly girl as she had her toenails painted by grandma and she is so proud to show them off...we will ask her where her "pretty toes" are and she will hold up her foot and just smile so big. She is also learning to make appropriate expressions for how she is feeling. She has such a timid and sweet personality and she is so easily startled or scared when she hears certain noises.

Work is going well. I am starting to facilitate anger management group in a few weeks and I am hoping to get my stuff together for Self Esteem group to have it start after the holidays. I feel blessed that I get to work a four day week at my job and I am hoping to be able to get on a more set schedule and just have Fridays off in the future as I know that this would work better for leading that second group.

Not much else is going on...we are super busy all of the time and I don't look for that to slow down with all of the holiday happenings.

I am super excited to be surprising Shane this weekend for his birthday. I have such a good surprise planned for him and I can't wait to see how happy it makes him. That is going to be our first night away from little Althea though and I am kind of freaking out over this one. Let's see and then there is the big Christmas surprise...yep I think that I did really good this year and I so proud of what I did...he will love it so much!! I just can't wait to see his face when he opens his gift from me. Other than that I am so excited to see the kids on Christmas...I think that between myself and Shane and Santa Claus and then the family Andrew is going to get all that he asked for so he should be super happy!! Also Althea is getting some things that I think will make her really excited so I am excited about those as well. I am almost done with my xmas shopping, just a few more things overall and some things for the stockings and it is all done for xmas for our house....yay!!

My Crazy Life

Well, I just wish sometimes that things would slow down, I mean slow way down. Things have just been freakin' crazy around me. I am up at 4:00-4:30 am every morning to get ready for work, get the baby ready, drop her off at my mom's and be at work by 6:30 am. On days when I get to sleep in, usually I am still up around 5:00-5:30 am...it is crazy!! Sometimes I feel as though I am so sleep deprived that I simply can not take not being able to get some more sleep sometime.

The kids are great!! Althea is getting bigger each and every day and is growing up so fast that I can not believe that she is already 3 1/2 months old. I love that she "talks" and coos and that she laughs and tries to sing along with you when you are singing to her. She is starting to notice things and she loves when we all sit around and read books every night prior to when Andrew goes to bed. She loves reading and laughs and interacts with the pictures. So far it seems that "Fox In Socks" by Dr Seues is her favorite. She laughs and sometimes you have to read it more than once to her so that she is not crying when you are finished.

Andrew is growing like a weed as well. He is definilty in a size 5 and not a 5T, as those are starting to be too short for him. He is into all of the big boy things now and is no longer my baby. He is so freakin' funny too...I absolutely love it when he giggles and laughs and acts all silly so much of the time. He is super sweet about his baby sister too so that is nice as well.

Shane and I are great...working on the things that average couples work on and learning to lean on each other more and all in all we get along very well, even when we are angry or irritated with each other we are able to talk about things so that is nice as well.

As for work, well I am still at the Human Service Center in Peoria, still working with adults with severe and persistent mental illness...we are no longer considered a CST team but we are still basically doing the same things that a CST team did so it is kind of silly that we are not the same that we once were. I enjoy working in this type of field and have thought about leaving because of the fact that the money sucks and I really would like to feel as though I were working full time for a reason...but I am super excited about the prospect of working for the state in the prison systems as these types of jobs are available there and I would love to be able to work in that capacity and the money is great there as well, almost two times what I now make.

Life is going pretty well all in all..there have been some reccent rough patches but I have kept perservereing through them all and it seems as though all is going to turn out well!!

It's Been A While

Well, it has been forever sine I have written. Let's see, we had our beautiful baby girl!! Althea Raelea Walton was born on July 15, 2008 and weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 20" long. She is amazing!! I love her with all of my heart and can now remember how I felt when Andrew was born. Andrew is doing awesome at being a big brother and he really loves his baby sister a lot!! He is not nearly as jealous or as crazy as I would have thought that he was going to be.

Weight loss is coming, very slowly to say the least but coming all the same!! I can't believe how much slower it seems to be happening after baby #2. I don't know if I am being realistic or not though b/c in 15 lbs I will be the weight that I most often was after having Andrew, at least for the first 4 years of his life so I don't know that I really had that much more of a hard time this time or if I am just wanting to lose too much too fast!!

Been a While

Well, it has been a while since I last wrote and so much has been happening and going on. First off, I am off of work and on bedrest until the baby comes...that has been both difficult and interesting, difficult b/c I hate to sit around and do nothing and interesting b/c I have found out a lot about bad television and been playing a lot of video games and such! Also trying to care for Andrew has been interesting b/c of course he needs a lot of help with things and wants his mommy to help him.

I am home now after a busy and long week. I went to my mom and dad's last Saturday to go to the Farmer's Market and such and ended up not coming home until yesturday, it was weird being away from home for so long but I do have to say that I enjoyed being in a place where the air conditioning was readily available. It has been a little hot since I have gotten home. Andrew went to Darren's yesturday and is not supposed to be back until the 18th which seems like such a long time. I know that I am really going to miss him a ton.

There is so much to do and plan for and so much work to get done in the next 7 days before the baby is born. I am being induced at 12:01 am on the 15th so the baby will be here in a week.