Study, Study, Study! (With a little dieting, too!)

Oh my. My eyes are tired, my brain is FULL and my laundry is overflowing! I have been studying NON stop for this test. I am so nervous, but I know that many people are praying for me and I have prepared well. Braelyn is at Mimi's house for today, tonight and tomorrow to allow me some evening study time.

My graduation present was the latest iPhone (thanks again Mom Hall!) and there is an app for EVERYthing these days! Our latest find is an app called "myFitnessPal" and it has motivated both of us to go on a little diet. Well, Joe's diet seems little. Mine seems HUGE! This app keeps track of everything. The main thing is you can log everything you eat. It's like a free, better, weight watchers! It has a barcode scanner where you just hold your phone up to the barcode on the food box and it automatically scans it while importing all the nutrition facts. So easy. Joe has it on his Droid, too. It has almost every restaurants menu in their directory along with all their nutrition facts. I am really going to try and stick with this thing. I have some beautiful clothes in my closet that I dont fit into right now...there's some good motivation.

Joe is taking this semester off of school, after much debate. He just needed to give himself a break. He was really having a hard time keeping up with the constant demands of work, home, school and anything else life decided to throw at him. He is currently in his 3rd week of training for CASA. Court Appointed Special Advocate for children. It is a volunteer program and he is training to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children requiring court intervention. He is basically a mentor to these children. He will go and make home visits to assess living conditions and potential abuse, testify in court, make recommendations about whether a child should be removed from a home or not, etc. At the end of his 10 week training, he will be sworn in by a judge and have his picture in the newspaper! They welcome family to come and be apart of it. (Oct. 11th- mom and dad Hall!) It's all very exciting and I am so proud of him. It really takes a special person to take on something like that. I know that I wouldn't be able to do it. I am thankful that God created people like Joe who are.

Mimi & Braelyn at Mommy's graduation!

Braelyn 22 months.

New Pediatrician

I *promise* to write more now that school is over. I am an ALUM with a nursing degree! How exciting! I take state boards on August 31st, so I have spent plenty of time studying for that.

I finally bit the bullet and switched Braelyn's doctor...something I have been swearing I would do for months. They have misdiagnosed her twice in the last few months and this latest was the last straw. On Saturday morning, one of her eyes was crusty and oozing. Cardinal signs of pink eye. I took her in for a sick visit and he seemed very annoyed. She has a green runny nose, oozing eyes, fluid in her ear and a cough. He told me she had a "summer cold." Um, excuse me? A summer cold? It was very obvious to me that some kind of infection was present however, he refused her any antibiotics. Only gave her some eye drops that we found out from the pharmacist aren't recommended for kids under 2. Needless to say, her eyes are not getting better despite the drops. I called again today to request that he call her in some oral antibiotics and he refused without seeing her AGAIN. And can't see her until tomorrow. That was it for me. I called another very highly recommended pediatrician that saw Braelyn in the hospital when she was born. The only reason we didn't continue with her is because they didn't accept our insurance. After explaining the situation to them, they have agreed to accept Brae as a patient. :) I am thrilled. I know that she will get competent care from someone I can trust. (I know that Grammie will be happy about this change!)

Other than that, it's just job searching and lots and lots of praying!

Mommy & Braelyn having some webcam fun!

Braelyn's First Day at Primrose!

....was a huge success! We really think it's going to be a perfect fit. She has absolutely no separation anxiety. The director there called me multiple times to update me on her demeanor, which made me feel so at ease. She ate every bit of both snacks and lunch and took a 1.5 hour nap! I was worried about how she would nap on a cot since she's still in the crib at home, but they said she laid right down and went to sleep. Throughout the day, they sent me pictures of what she was doing, which is nice! They said her favorite activity was doing puzzles. Funny, since I've never had a puzzle here for her. I guess I will get a few. They said she spent all morning taking them apart and then putting them back together. They are the cream of the crop and I am really happy with our decision. She already knows a few of the signs they teach and when we picked her up yesterday, she didn't want to leave. She hugged her teacher's leg. :) So I know they're being sweet to her. And while I did miss her, I was able to get SO much marked off my to-do list.

I stayed with her for circle time and after a few minutes, she got really involved! She knew alot of the vocabulary words and would get excited when she heard them.

Here she is with Mrs. Amanda showing her all the animals she knows.

Here she is on the playground. (I'm going to ask them to hold the pacifier unless it's nap time.)

Here she is playing with a new friend on the playground. They said she LOVES playing outside and doing puzzles. 

Last but not least, we would like to send a HUGE thanks to both sets of grandparents for contributing to Braelyn's "Primrose Fund." We would never be able to do it without their help and it is so beneficial to her. We are blessed to have such a wonderful, generous family.

Spring Break!

FINALLY!
A break from school and the psych ward!

Braelyn starts preschool on Monday, so send prayers our way! I would love for ya'll to check out where she is going to be going. I will post the link here.

http://www.primroseschools.com/OurSchools/Georgia/Atlanta/Gainesville/Gainesville/

16.5 months and counting!

 Maybe we're starting to get the hang on this parent thing...
16.5 months stats:

• Shoe size: FIVE!! She and Daddy went shoe shopping a few days ago and he picked out the cutest little white tennis shoes with pink glitter and sure enough, she is already a size FIVE! I could hardly believe it. And the best part about her new shoes? They have NO laces! All Velcro, which is so much easier and faster.
• Clothes: 18 months! Unless it's a dress, she can no longer wear her 12 month clothes. I feel like it happened overnight. I bought her some 18mo blue jeans recently and they looked huge, but they fit her perfectly. I'm excited that she has somewhat outgrown her wardrobe though...that means it's time for me to hit consignment sales! 
• Diapers: FOUR! This is her newest development. We bought the first box of size 4 diapers today. Maybe this will be the last size before potty training. That would be nice. I am over diapers. 

• She officially weighs about 23 lbs and seems to be putting on weight more quickly now that she is eating more "real food." 

As far as the adults in this house are concerned, all is well. My latest obsession is with this new swing we got on clearance at Lowe's. I have long been wanting a hammock for our balcony. Alot of people in these apartments have them, but I just wasn't sure how I could fit one around the patio set and Joe's tool cabinet. So I decided on a "hammock swing." It's so comfortable and the weather has been really conducive to using it lately. Braelyn isn't too sure about it. She doesn't care for it.

Grammie and Grampie are flying up from Florida this weekend to look at property (yay!) and take Braelyn back for a week's vacation. It's a joke around here that sending her to Grammie is like hitting the reset button. She comes back on a sleep schedule, a meal schedule and much more independent. I will miss her, but I am really looking forward to all the free-time I will be able to fill with schoolwork and housework.

Talking to Grammie on her cell phone.

Such a *hApPy* girl!

"Just a swingin'!"

Apologies!

I promise I am going to update the blog more. I know it's important for those of you that don't live close. :o)

Braelyn is growing so fast. TOO fast. I know I always say that, but she really is. She communicates so well and is showing some very affectionate tendencies. She loves to hug, drinks only from sippy cups with straw and loves Nilla wafers. She loves to play with other children her age and animals seem to be her favorite! Our friends brought their new baby pig over and she pushed it around in her shopping basket and sang to it! Trust me, she enjoyed it MUCH more than the pig!

I had my first psych nursing clinical today and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. I knew I had some apprehension about it but I assumed it was cease once I was forced to proceed with clinical. Instead, I had a mini panic attack! That is so unlike anything I've ever experienced. That isn't like me at all! I just had a little breakdown, shed a few tears, got a pep talk and went back in there. I just feel almost guilty for going in there in my nice business clothes, my own car, my almost career....many of these people are just not that fortunate.  Needless to say, psych nursing might not be my thing, but I will keep an open mind anyway.

It's a stormy afternoon here today. Lots of trees and power lines down but we are all safe.

Here is the little Princess in early January @ Mimi and Papa's house.

Braelyn's New Year's Resolution: Bottle Free!

That's right! Braelyn is more or less weaned from the bottle! (All together now....HOORAY!!!)
She is eating mostly "big girl" food. This morning she even ate from her new princess big girl plate! She had one scrambled egg, a piece of wheat toast, half of a banana and some white grape juice. A little later, when it was time for her bottle, we put the formula in her sippy cup and she drank it all! She loves being able to drink from a straw and hasn't even asked for "baa-baa." This is much easier than I anticipated.

Typically, I don't make New Year's resolutions but this year, I am going to make a few. Just a handful of realistic, measurable ones. I'm going to wash my face every night before bed. I'm going to whiten my teeth daily. And finally...I'm going to cut back on the Coke. I have no desire to give it up completely, but a few less a day certainly wouldn't hurt me. As for the immediate future, I am spending the day updating Braelyn's photo albums. It's just such a hassle to send them all to Walmart and buy a new album. Then I have to put them in order, insert them all...etc. However, I haven't put any new pictures in since she was SIX months! Terrible!

Braelyn enjoying her "big girl" breakfast which she ate all by herself!