Our Little Accomplishments

Dear friends! I apologize for saying something that caused such a ruckus! I really did think "more to come" was a good teaser, but would generally be overlooked. In light of the fact that it has caused somewhat of a tizzy, I'm going to post this now, instead of the post I was planning to publish (which would cause a bigger tizzy, getting people thinking even more in the wrong direction).

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that each person in my little family has accomplished something recently.

We'll start with Haley, who by far has the most accomplishments: Haley is crawling all over the house nowadays, and this week, started pulling up to her knees. She is also actually eating solids as of mid-January and feeds herself Cheerios now, too. (I had given up on solids there for a couple months. She really wasn't into it.) Now, if I could just get her to sleep through the night again. . .

When Sandy and John were here last month, Sandy started Claire on the road to potty training (and Haley on baby food, too! What a busy 'Lita!). Claire has since been potty training herself for the last couple weeks. (I'm not kidding.) Starting Monday, we will begin potty training in earnest, where she'll be in panties 24/7 and I'll keep mindful of when she last went and remind her to go if it has been awhile. (I have not been doing this so far. It has been all her, and she's done really well, considering.) Claire also started dressing herself entirely and is getting very good at it. These two things have caused my life to be that much less complicated, and I'm loving it!

Last week, Ruby started writing her "R's," as well as a handful of other letters. She often will recognize the sound a letter makes, even though she doesn't know many letters' names yet. She can pedal around the block on her big wheel, and hangs upside-down on the monkey bar. Our little girl is growing up!

The other day, I found a paper with my pre-and-post-pregnancy measurements and discovered that I have lost 12 inches since Haley was 9 weeks old. I do still have a few pounds to lose, but "tone" is what's more important and what I need to focus on now, if you know what I mean! My secret? Be incredibly scatterbrained and have stairs. Oh, I just thought of another one: last week, I finally finished Haley's birth story. A huge relief, since it takes so much mental and emotional energy for me to write them. (My apologies to anyone who has tried to follow this story from the beginning.)

The biggest accomplishment is Casey's. I am so ecstatic and proud of him, and I've known since the beginning of the week, but was not allowed to share because it wasn't set in stone (even though I knew it was going to happen! Casey's much more cautious than I!). Casey has been hired into a new position and has been promoted to a different ladder at his work--one that will enable him to do much more, should he choose to stay at the Labs.

This has been a long road. Casey first applied for this job in October (maybe even September), and has been interviewing and waiting to hear ever since. (He applies for jobs several times a year, probably. Says it keeps his interviewing skills up. This was his third job to apply for in 2008.) What took so long was the promotion. It had to be approved by several managers and vice presidents, which required a lot of back-and-forth paperwork and interviewing. Case is so funny, I've been trying to clarify that I have the facts right and he keeps telling me to just write that he got another job. I'm way too proud of him to skirt by it that quickly! I love it when this kind of stuff happens that affirms that I'm not the only one who thinks he's a keeper! Truly, my husband is a well-respected and good worker! God continually blesses his faithful efforts at work and at home. God is so gracious!

Casey has been in his current position for three years. It has been three years of ease and not much challenge. It was refreshing and renewing for him to have a break, but he actually thrives on stress, and we are bracing ourselves for a different pace, to say the least (especially since the job he's been hired for requires many skills he has yet to learn). We don't know what to expect, but our life is about to get busier. His start date is in two weeks!