2010 So Far

Well so far this year has been pretty good for us. I have only been working about 25-30 hours a week which is still a lot, but not as much as I was before. I really enjoy my time at home with Gary & the kids. Gary & I have been trying to take some time out of each week that we will take our kids to a sitter and go out on a date just the two of us. Sometimes, we only make it to Wal-Mart in that time to do a little shopping, but at least it is time for just us two.

We have been attempting to try and rebuild our porch, driveway, and carport, but so far that has been unsuccessful. Everytime that Gary has a weekend that he is off with no other commitments it rains. So, it kinda stinks that we are always having to go walking through a muddy driveway and through the rain, but we can't fix that problem until it stops raining. Go figure!

Alyssa's birthday is coming up next month. She is going to be 6 years old already! My how time flies. Even though we just bought her a pair of $35 shoes like 3 weeks ago, she informed me today that she wants Heely's (the shoes with the rollerskates in them). Yah...that's my five year old. I love how once they start school they suddenly start finding out all the great things that are out in the world that they can try to convince mom and dad to buy.

Bryant is turning into, well....his dad! Everyday he reminds me more & more of Gary. Not only does he look just like Gary, but he always wants to do whatever it is that his daddy is doing. His vocabulary amazes me for a 2 year old. He is always using big words like "actually." We recently took him out of his crib and put him in a toddler bed. We had procrastinated for so long on doing this because he was always so good just to lay down at night in his crib and go to sleep. We were afraid that putting him in a bed that he could get in & out of meant trouble, but he adjusted very well. So below is a picture of that & a couple of other things.

My New Years Resolution

So my resolution for 2010 is to keep my blog better updated. So I figured I would start by posting some pictures of Christmas and some pictures of the work we are currently doing to our house.

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was probably one of the least hectic, more laid back Christmas's that we've ever had. We woke up and opened gifts here at home with the kids, then went and had breakfast and lunch with Gary's parents & grandma. Then we went and spent dinner time with my family and headed for home for awhile to relax before I had to go to work. Everyone at my work was required to work some part of Christmas so I volunteered to work graveyard shift so that I could be at home with my family the whole day. So as Gary & the kids went to bed, I went to work from midnight to four in the morning. Gary was very sweet & got up with the kids the next morning and took them out for breakfast while I slept in.

We've also been doing a lot of projects around the house, trying to make the outside of our house look better. We plan on putting stucco on the outside of our house at some point, but we are probably going to add on another bed, bath & closet before we do that. We only have 1 bathroom and our bedroom closet is super tiny, so it is something definitely needed. But, a little at a time we are getting things accomplished. We have been trying to get our yard finished. So we have put in a pond and some flowerbeds and planted some trees. The first part of December, we poured two concrete patios in our yard and this weekend we spent tearing down our carport and jackhammering up the concrete underneath it & our front porch. The concrete that was there was very poor quality and so it kept chipping away a little at a time and our carport was very old and the roof was rotting on it. Plus our trailblazer barely fit underneath it. So now we plan to pour all new concrete in those spots & build a new carport.

So here are some pics of everything....

I'm A Horrible Blogger

Okay, so it has been months since I posted anything on my blog, I know, I am horrible at keeping it updated. I am always so busy & I always think about doing it, but I just never get around to it. It's one of those things that just gets put on the backburner, along with many other things that I won't mention (laundry, yard work, scrapbooking, basically anything that is going to take longer than an hour of my time. Oh yeah, I wasn't going to mention any. Sorry just thinking out loud!) :)

So here goes what I am going to try to make a short & sweet update...

Gary is back to work full time at the mine now, working mandatory overtime of 50 + hours a week. He is still going through the process for Border Patrol. They just completed the last step of his pre-hiring process which was his Background Investigation. Holy cow, they want to know anything & everything about you & everything about everyone that you know too! Which job he is going to have in the end we are still debating. Menawhile though, he is back to his usual crazy, hectic, busy life with work, djing, household chores, and playing stay at home dad with the kids in the evenings.

Alyssa just started her very first day of Kindergarten yesterday. She was so excited to start school and reminded us everyday for the last 3 weeks of how many days left until she was "big enough to go to school". Her first day was an early release & she got out 2 hours earlier than a normal day and she was already exhausted. We let her ride the bus home & when she got off you could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She told us that she had started falling asleep on the bus ride home. Poor kid! I knew it would be a big transition. Here is a picture of her right before we took her to school yesterday morning.

Bryant is about to turn two & is as busy as ever. He talks pretty much non-stop now & is starting to sing songs. I love it at night when he sings the songs with us as we sing to him at bedtime. During the day, he is in to absolutely EVERYTHING. He thinks he has to always have a pair of keys & one of daddy's screwdrivers in his hand. The scary part is that he knows how to use them too & is always sticking keys into the locks on my house & car doors & has learned to take the screws out of pretty much anything. He definitely keeps us on our toes.

I am still working at Denny's for the time being. Before Gary went back to work full time, I went ahead & took an R.P. position (fill-in manager) & have been training for that. With Gary working full time now & Alyssa being in school & dance, it is very hectic to try & work around everyone's schedules and not have to rely on a babysitter too much. I feel like I am a horrible parent sometimes because I do have to take my kids to a babysitter just so that I can work, but until our jobs & future get a little more settled we feel like it is the right thing to do for me to continue working. I don't know what we would do without the help of family & we hope they know how much their help is appreciated. Other than that, I am just trying to stay somewhat caught up with housework.

Here area few pictures we have taken of the kids over the last few months.

Okay so the dog had to join in on the fun too!

What A Crazy Life!

Well things have been so hectic for all of us that I haven't had any time for blogging. Gary of course went back to work for the mine part-time for the time being. I am working usually 40 + hours a week at Denny's. And the kids are just busy being kids. Gary & I usually work completely opposite schedules, him working the days that I have off and me working the days that he has off. Although it leaves us seeing each other in passing usually, it works out nicely so that we don't need a sitter very often for the kids. Gary is still pursuing his border patrol stuff and has passed everything needed so far. Now it is just the sitting and waiting for them to call him to go to the academy. That will be when it gets fun with him being in New Mexico, 7 hours away from us for 6 months. I am working and attempting to keep up with my housework somewhat. It drives me crazy that I don't have time to keep up with the simplest things like laundry. I can keep it all washed & dried, but am lucky if I can get it folded & put away before we're pulling clothes straight out of the basket to wear. A couple of my managers at work keep asking me to go into training to become a manager myself so that they have someone to take over when one of them leaves in a few months. The one most persistent about it is quite obviously not married , nor does she have children. I keep telling her there is absolutely no way. She just doesn't understand how incredibly hard it is already to try to be a working mom. It would be a great opportunity for someone, just not me.
Alyssa had her 5th birthday a few weeks ago. It makes me feel so old to think that I have a kid that is going to be starting school soon. We took her last week & got her registered for kindergarten. They tested her vision, hearing, motor skills,etc. She of course passed with flying colors. She was a little shy at first, but she eventually warmed up. We don't know which school she'll go to yet or who her teacher will be but we should find out in June sometime. There are 3 elementary schools in Safford so she could end up at any of them. We were allowed to put down a preference, but they don't guarantee anything. I am hoping that she will get put at Dorothy Stinson just because she has cousins that go there already & I think it would put her (and us) at ease a little to know that they are there too.
Bryant is growing up so fast. He has just become quite the little chatterbox in the last couple of months. There isn't a word out there that he doesn't attempt to say. Quite the same about trying to do things too. He is definitely all boy! He climbs everything & loves to play outside & be on the go. Everyday he says, "Daddy got truck. Go bye-bye truck." I don't know what it is about Daddy's truck, but he definitely likes it. Everytime we try to leave he runs straight for Gary's truck & is quite upset when I have to go chase him through the sprinklers to bring him back to the car. And I still love him like crazy even though I do have to chase him through the sprinklers. :)