I Am Still Here!

Hello, fellow readers!  I am still here and have NOT fallen off the face of the earth!  I actually am very good about reading and staying up to date on that sort of thing, but I have been horrible once again about writing.  Things have been quite busy around here in the past few months. 

Hannah turned a year old on October 4th, so she’s already 13 months old now!  Wow, how the time flies!  We celebrated with family and friends at a princess party, and she was definitely quite the little princess!  It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with people that are so close and dear to us.  It really made me realize just how fortunate we are to have such close families and friends that get to be so involved in the life of our little girl.  She is loved by so many people around her and is just truly blessed!  She is doing very well and is starting to repeat a lot of words and sounds, and she is starting to associate words with their meaning.  It has been so neat to watch her begin to understand what words such as yes, up, bye, etc. mean.  She is so cute when she repeats what we say because it’s like such a grown up talking in such a little body!  She is still pretty petite and only weighs about 18 pounds and is still in a little size 2 shoe.  She loves to walk behind her toys and that sort of thing, but the little ornery thing isn’t brave enough to just step out and walk on her own.  I think she could definitely do it if she wanted to, but she’s so afraid of falling that she just instantly sits down or crawls.  She can be quite the little stinker with a very dramatic personality!  She fills our days with excitement, that is for sure! 

Other news on the home front is that we listed our house for sale this week.  It has been quite the scary process!  We weren’t even really looking to buy a different house, although we have talked about it.  We only have 2 bedrooms on the main floor, and I’m starting to worry about what we would do with Hannah whenever we have another baby.  So, we started to looking for a house with three bedrooms on the main floor.  Our realtor called us when she listed a new house and we looked at it.  We really like the space, and it’s a home that we would get to fix up some things and truly put our personal touch in, which is what I love to do.  Anyway, we have a contract signed on that house contingent upon selling ours, so….here we are!  The sign went in the yard on Monday and really made it all too real.  I am scared to leave this house because I love it.  We have done so much to make it what we want, and this is our first home together.  On the same note, I know that it’s not big enough for us to stay in forever and it isn’t in the most kid-friendly neighborhood.  So, now would be a good time to move on.  Before this can all happen, though, we’ve got to sell ours first.  We are showing it for the first time tomorrow, so send prayers our way that all goes well! 

This school year is definitely kicking my behind!  I have a larger group of kiddos and some of them are very high needs.  It has been a trying year; however, I know that all teachers have these years.  I just hope and pray that I am doing enough to actually make a difference in some of their lives, and I hope that they walk away from each day having learned something new that day.  I continually pray for more patience and understanding, and I hope that I can still have an impact this year.  I hate to walk away from a day or a school year feeling as though I haven’t done anything to help my students.  I have had many days like that this year, so I am trying really hard to not get discouraged.  I am sure that there is positive to every day somewhere!  🙂 

I will close with a few pictures of the little miss…  I need to go make sure the house is all ready to show tomorrow!  Enjoy the rest of your week!