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!

Actually, *Here's* the Deal

There are a few things I mentioned in the past couple posts that I wanted to expound on or clarify. I have an entire post dedicated to clarifying one of these things, which I hope to publish in the next day or two.

As to the blood tests and subsequent Dr. visit, the news is most definitely good: I do not have mono. What a relief! And almost as much as a relief, I do have a virus of some sort. Since this virus presents with fatigue and not much else that is obvious or measurable, I didn't recognize it as a sickness right away. "Tired" is my usual, and I was just noticing a more tired, more easily discouraged, more impatient me, and was trying my hardest to just snap out of my lazy/depressed funk. So it was pretty encouraging when I found out that something was actually wrong with me! You know, when I'm not feeling great, my weaknesses and all the things I'd rather not admit that I struggle with are intensified, and it isn't as if I think, "Who is this?!?!?" in disbelief. I readily recognize this person as who I really am down deep, and it can be pretty discouraging to see all that yuck at once. For about three weeks, I just thought, "I can't be this person. It is so bad for my children. I have to stop being this person!" One thing I did learn: feeling guilty about it only made me angry and subsequently, more guilty. As one would assume, this did not help.

Just a week after the diagnosis, things are better and I see improvement in my outlook and my energy level daily. This is good, because all three girls just came down with a cold yesterday and in general are more needy, snotty and whiny, so I need to be extra long-suffering with them. I'm not doing a very good job, but my attitude is leaps above what it was a week ago, so I'm thankful for that.

Now, as to clarification, a friend asked me if I was nervous leaving all three girls with Casey or if he is nervous having them all. As I re-read what I said, I wanted to make it clear that neither is true. Casey does very well caring for the girls (often better than I do!). I have absolutely no qualms about leaving them with him based on their safety or well-being or any such real reason. I just feel guilty. (Really. That's what I do. Quite well.) With Casey being the full-time bread-winner, and me being the full-time homemaker, the issue of rarely being away from the kids or leaving them with him is not about me being a control-freak or him trying to evade the responsibilities of fatherhood. It has everything to do with two things: it is neither practical or necessary for me to leave all three with Casey, except for occasions such as an urgent care visit.

I will say, however, that looking at things in this attitude may have contributed to my recent blueness, and we are currently tweaking things around here in this department. It may not be necessary for me to go away by myself once in a while, and it definitely isn't practical for my hubby to come home from a long day or week at work to then have to take care of the many needs of our three little ones alone, when it is something I'm not only used to, but don't mind doing. But it does refresh and renew me to have a break, and I really do not have to protect Casey from experiencing a small taste of what I deal with on a daily basis. He can handle it.

Already, as of last week, I have had several breaks and Casey has been mindful of encouraging me to get away. I even got to grab some coffee with a friend. Terribly exciting! We'll see how things play out in the "breaks" department, because some things are about to change (for the better!) around here, and breaks may not be a viable expectation in the coming months. More to come!