The only thing I enjoyed about commuting....

Podcasts!

I will try to continue to listen to some of my favorites during naptime/cleaning time in a couple weeks to have some adult voices in my life, but I did enjoy discovering the world of Podcasts during my almost 3 daily hours in the car these last 5 months!  I am not going to miss anything else about commuting, but these made the time pass better!

You can search for any of the podcast in Itunes or your podcast player.  I was a Soundcloud user as I had that originally to listen to our old churches sermons...Enjoyed connecting with Faith Lutheran weekly as still church browsing here in the cities.

Here are a few of my favorites you could check out:
Gimlet Media was were I randomly started listening via an Atlantic article about the 50 best podcasts.  First 5 listed are all from Gimlet:

StartUp: Season 1 was all about them starting their podcast company.  The show was interesting for me and could connect in small ways to opening my daycare.

Reply All: A show about the internet was the first and still favorite podcast of mine.

Sampler:  Became a favorite to find more podcasts!  The host Brittany always plays clips from other shows.

Surprisingly Awesome: Takes simple things, like Broccoli, Mattresses, Boredom and Free Throws and always enlightens me!

Mystery Show: The host Starlet solves mystery's with great stories she investigates!  Belt Buckle was my favorite.

I did listen to both seasons of Serial.

Radiotopia has lots of great shows too.  Criminal, Millenial, The Truth, Moritfied and Radio Diaries!

Longest Shortest Time:  The parenting podcast for everyone.
 You definitely do not have to be a parent to enjoy many of these episodes.  The Accidental Gay Parents series was first series I listened to a few weeks back after a recommendation on another podcast and then I've been hooked ever since.

Unruffled/ Respectful Parenting by Janet Lansbury   Her blog, her books and this podcast have been such an important part of this season of my life with infants and toddlers.  If you have young children, please please add her podcast or blog to your list or follow her on facebook.    The clear way she helps parents understand perceptions we have and perceptions our toddlers have WILL make parenting easier and children respected.


What other podcasts are a must listen too?  I got 45 more hours to check out a few more :)

Nalced Stories

Really enjoying telling stories of a boy name Nalced to Declan every night!

He only likes the Time traveling box back to dinosaur time, Nalced and the Wormies and Nalced and the Green Crayon.  Hopefully Declan will let me make up more soon but just as he likes about 3 Daniel the Tiger episodes and his 5 favorite books... he knows what he likes right now and doesn't want change.

Rainbows

In the beginning of April, I completed two final tours of our home and my new career path of opening a home daycare, is in it's final stages for licensing.  By the end of 2016, I’ll have 8 littles in my care as my new daily life.

Then Tuesday April 5th, a senior had invited me to the NHS banquet as her teacher honoree.   This student I only taught for one class in 5th grade. But coached as a middle school volleyball player and the past 5 years on the golf course.  It was all these hours that formed our relationship and I miss coaching her and everyone so much this spring already.  Her speech to me was emotional and touching, and I almost got through that without tears.  Thank you Maggie!  I am excited for golf with you next summer in the cities... scoping out some courses and speed golf leagues this summer!

So driving from my old town of Hutch to HLWW the next morning... this April rainbow brought more tears to my eyes.  Rainbows through history have symbolized many things.  But I couldn't help but think about the new journey of creating my daycare, the promises I can build with new littles and provisions I can help provide to them and to my family.  I felt so excited and so sad all at once to begin saying goodbye to HLWW. 

I will miss the independence of my students, their ability to walk to lunch without me and my lunch break sitting with adults,

I’ll soon be done begging 5th graders not to go to the bathroom because they’re just bored and instead guiding and stopping toddlers from their work to try going to the bathroom.  

I’m ready for the sillies, the giggles, the cuddles, mealtimes, songs, walks, parks, art, books, pretend, play, play, play.

I’m ready for the dishes, messes, diapers, emotional honesty, being needed, paperwork, cooking and grocery shopping too. 

I know I'll be a new kind of tired, not from the commutes and 5 am wake ups, but I really am excited for the new life in store for my boys, my home, my new littles and me this summer..

Though this "real life rainbow" is a little hard to see, it wasn't for Declan in our nature park... His first "real life rainbow" as he repeated over and over and kept asking Andy if it was his "first real life rainbow"!

Dearest Evan, You're 9 months old!

**Written 4-8-16

(He really was laughing!)

My Dear Evan, You’re 9 months old already!

 I think this is my favorite “monthly” birthday as you have now truly doubled… 9 months in my belly and 9 months in this world.  And this world is all yours for the exploring!  I love watching you bang on a drum, get your arm tangled in a slinky or just focus on digging and dumping toys.   

You love watching Baby Signing Time and even since our two week hiatus of no cable/Netflix, Delcan has been watching his older ones and you hear the song and you come crawling to the living room.  You love to clap and wave your hands when you are happy.  You are 100% understanding tons we tell you… especially “no” and you already get so sad when you don’t get what you want.   We tell you to head to your highchair and you crawl there so fast!  

You have had your first airplane ride to California to visit cousin Logan, Jeremy and Jayne!  You saw the ocean, Disneyland and were voted the easiest, best behaved one there!  Even though our family photo is about the only time you cried and one of the only times poor heat-rashed/sun swollen Declan wasn't. 

We don’t have your wellness appointment until you are almost 10 months old so it can be your pre-op to your little surgery, but I am sure you are in some low percentiles.  You still wear many 6 and 6-9 months clothes and the way you throw your weight around climbing stairs and pulling up on everything you are strong.  Your first tooth has cut through too!  

You love love love food.  You eat more than Declan at most meals and really haven’t found anything you don’t like.  Avocado isn’t a favorite but other than that, you eat eat eat!  You also love water... baths from your brother and with your brother in the tub have you full of smiles and laughs the whole time!  

You gave me about 3.5 great months of sleeping thru the night … but I don’t remember what that feels like anymore… I’ve decided you definitely miss me lots during the day so you need me at night and I guess I’m over it…Just a 10 minute cuddle so not to bad, just wish I could fall back asleep that fast! Though I’m exhausted too but know I’ll be sad when you do sleep better again and are getting older!  

Your Auntie B is the most amazing Auntie.  She gives me daily snap chats of your safari hunts, belly giggles and falling asleep in your highchair!  I even walked in the other afternoon to you two playing fetch with a racquetball!  But I am so excited for the next two months to fly by (if only you didn’t grow) to start our daycare and be with you and lots of littles every day! 

I love you for all that you are and all that you're yet to be! 

Love, Mommy

6, 7 & 8 month photos!! 

Growing up before my eyes

Written March 20th... 

I know there will be many more moments where my boys will be older in an instance, and this last weekend was one of them!.

Declan played by himself... all the time
Declan asked to go to his friend's house across the street (he may have wanted the lawnmower at first, but then kept asking if his friend was awake from nap)
Declan is napping and sleeping thru the night in underwear!
Declan played with his brother and was so kind and courteous to him all weekend

And Evan... don't even get me started on my baby...
Evan claps at all music and laughter
He stands ALL.THE.TIME!  I don't like it and would like him to only crawl til he is 18 months!!

He is one happy baby and can focus on a toy or object for longer than his brother

Happy Bday Auntie B!

Happy Birthday to one amazing sister and an absolutely steller Auntie B!

Nannying is the best gift you can give us, and I can't begin to make it up to you in presents, so I also want to thank you and brag to the world how awesome you are and lucky we are!

Declan now misses you and ask for you more than me!  I don't do things Auntie B's way.  And "would Auntie B eat that?" is a regular question at meals.  He asked for you already on your birthday and wants to head to Grandma Connie's now!

You have made my commute returning to work as painless as possible!  I have no worries about my boys in your hands and love the play by play of the day I can get from you and glimpes throughout the day with Snapchat! 

Dishes clean,  dinners prepped, errands ran, Croix walked, smoothies frozen, toys picked up, laundry started (or finished), vacuumed floors... my house is in order way more than if we had to do daycare.

I know it's exhausting on many levels and rewarding in others, but thank you, thank you, thank you!  From me holding you 29 years ago, to you holding my babies now, I am so lucky and grateful to call you my sister!!! Happy Happy Birthday!  29 is going to be an amazing year!

Inked!

For our delayed Valentine's date day, Andy and I each got a tattoo we have been talking about for awhile! (And enjoyed Target, Menards, lunch kid free/fast style)

He added his Mexican cruise tattoo to his leg passport sleeve.  It is the Mayan Zodiac sign.

I got my infinity symbols with letters/initials from A-G.  Added bonus, I didn't pass out this time.

I know tons have done the symbol and plenty view it as cliché, but it looks like my boy's birthdates #8 and I love it.  Plus, not to mention my love of learning and teaching... starts with our Abc's right??   Declan's critical review stated I needed color and the rest of the letters or else my "painting tattoo" wasn't done! 

A:Andy  (Declan) Andrew
B:Britt, Bouncer and me
C:Connie and Croix
D: Declan
E: Evan
F: Fuzzy,  & (Gregg & Evan) Francis
G: Gregg, God, Grandparents  and heck. even Golf... which the placement on my arm it is perfectly viewed in my golf grip :)