Summertime and Nursing School

I don't think I could possibly love summer any more! I love being able to be outside with the kids. There's so much more to do in the summertime, and I just love sitting in the sun each day. Our backyard is finally becoming child friendly! We now have the trampoline, a swingset, a sandbox, a kiddie pool, and all sorts of other random outside toys. A fenced in backyard with kids particularly around Aeson's age is completely priceless too.. It is SO worth it! My garden is growing well.. Both the kids were in it helping me weed today. :)

Since I last wrote, we had a couple of cookouts with friends. We love having friends over, and I'm glad we got to, because the last couple of weekends Eric has had to work the majority of them. It looks like it will be that way for a while too, because one of his coworkers is out due to an injury. While we miss having him around, we're definitely glad to have the extra money!

I got my grade for the class I took last semester, and I got an A. Yay!

I was (and still possibly am) looking for a part-time job. Things got extra hard for a little while, and I was pretty stressed. Things are back to normal for the present time, but it made me rethink a lot of things...

I love being home with my kids, and it's no secret I want a big family. They're my purpose in life, and I really do believe kids, especially under one, should be with their mommas as much as possible. How I wish our culture agreed! We struggle, though, and there are things that I wish I could give my kids that we just can't. I don't want to always be in this position, and I don't believe we will be; however, it just made me think that I need to seriously think about changing something. I've gone back and forth for years between the counseling and medical fields. A friend of mine just graduated with her RN and after talking to her and thinking about it a lot, I decided to go ahead and try to get into nursing school! I'm nervous and scared and excited. I have a year of pre-req's to do first, which includes chemistry 1 & 2 and a&p 1 & 2. I'm very, very nervous about those classes, as well as going to school full-time while raising two children! I'm registered for the summer and fall, and I meet with a nursing advisor next week, so we'll see how I feel after that. Like I said, I've always been interested and there are definitely, definitely, definitely more job openings AND more money in this field. I would have to pass all the pre-req's with a C+ or better and once you're in, you can't get below a B or you're kicked out. That's pretty scary! I have always gotten A's and B's, but they've been in very different classes than these will be.. and that was prior to 2 kids as well.

Westen finished up his preschool year. They had a year end picnic (indoors thank goodness, because it POURED while we were there), where they sang songs and everyone ate. It was a good time. The next day was his last day, so we made cards for each of his teachers and took pictures when I dropped him off. We loved his preschool so much. Westen got a thank you card in the mail from his primary teacher (on which she said she's going to look for his name on the Honor Roll as he gets older :)), and Westen said he missed her! I'm excited for him to start kindergarten in the fall but concerned too.

There have been lots of storms and tornadoes around us, but so far, we haven't had anything too bad. I'm very thankful for that!

Westen's started tee ball, and it is absolutely adorable to watch! Well, the time I get to watch it anyway! It made me re-think having lots of kids when I had to spend all my time chasing Aeson around! We're lucky in that we've had lots of family attend each of the games. My family rarely came to any activities I had growing up, so it particularly means a lot to me!

Eric & I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on the 30th. It was a beautiful day, just like it was two years ago. We spent the entire day outside with our two adorable kids!

Aeson is talking SO much. He can say almost anything, I swear. Yesterday, he said a four word sentence ("I wanna chew gum"). Gum to him is taffy! He's always saying "I want" this or that. He's also started saying "mine!" over EVERYTHING the last several weeks. And he's started crossing his arms, which is too cute! He's really well behaved around other kids, and everyone says how sweet he is. The past week or so, he's also started going TO the potty when he has to pee! Before, I would always catch him starting to go, or I'd put him on & he'd go but now he's understanding that he has to go and going to the potty! I was so excited! This is all while going diaperless, though. We haven't worked on it when he has a diaper on.

The other night, I made fish for dinner and when I put it in front of Westen, he said, "I didn't order fish!" Ha! Apparently he thinks he can order what he wants here. :) He's really good about eating whatever we make, though, (minus cooked vegetables, which he always has to try but doesn't have to eat) and not complaining tooo much. He's always asking questions about why things are the way they are and what different things mean. He also has big plans to win Calla back when they start kindergarten. (I'm not sure if I wrote about this, but she was his preschool 'girlfriend,' who 'broke up' with him because she's 'in love' with another boy at school. Westen said that was alright with him, because he'd just find another girlfriend at his new school! Now apparently, he's still set on Calla :)).

Next week starts the big changes! I have class for three hours four days a week, so my sister will be watching the kids whenever Eric has to work. I have a friend who has offered to as well, and we will probably switch off kids one day a week. I'm nervous about leaving Aeson even for the three hours, and I started crying the other night thinking about going to school full-time when (if) I start the nursing program & leaving him for that long! He'll be over three by then, though, so it's hard to imagine what things will be like then. I think it will be good for us in the long run, but I'll definitely miss my baby & just thinking of him missing me or wanting his momma makes me sad! Anyway, I'm hoping Eric will get to be with them at least a couple of the times during the week. In the fall I got lucky schedule-wise too, because I'll only have to be gone 3 hours two days a week and two hours another two days. The rest are online. My sister's agreed to watch them until she has another baby anyway, which will probably be in the next year, but she doesn't want to after that, which is understandable. Hopefully I can find someone I feel comfortable with, but I'm just trying not to think that far ahead. Who knows what will happen between now and then! I just want to do what's best for my babies!