New house, new teeth, new words

I have lots of good updates for the blog in this post!! Lots of good things have happened for our family since I last updated and we are STILL adjusting to all of them! 

First. We are all moved in to Tommy's parents house!! Since Tommy has started graduate school at UAB and I am starting an internship along with my last semester of college (hallelujah) we are going to need a live in babysitter to help us with the kids. (Except its reversed because we live with our babysitter haha). Betsy and Emily are going to help us with the kids while we get through these next two semesters! We are loving it so far. I thought it would be hard for both families to adjust, but we are doing great! I guess I can't speak for Betsy's family- but they seem like they are doing great too. ;) 

Second: Tommy started school this past week! He is taking an online class and one class on campus on Thursdays. Yay! He is a little relieved because when he looked at his classes yesterday they weren't as scary as he thought they would be. So that is good! I am trying to keep all the stress off him that I can but I am not sure how well he would say I am doing at that.....

Third: I landed an AWESOME internship opportunity. A website called Birmingham Mommy, that I have been following for years, responded to an email I sent them saying that they would love for me to write for them for a few weeks to get my hours in. Its going to be really fun because I get to choose what I write about. The first article I sent in was about how to keep your kids safe online now that school has started back and they pretty much have to use a computer. I technically start my internship on the 12th so you won't see any of my content on the site until then- but I am still writing and saving articles to get ahead. 

Fourth: AnneMarie has gotten her two top teeth!! Thank GOODNESS because the girl eats like a 400lbs man. She can eat a whole kids meal by herself. She wants to eat corn cobs and turkey legs. Steaks!! I am always nervous when my babies want those things and don't have any teeth- but I feel better about giving it to them the more teeth they have. (Don't worry, I am not giving her steaks...although she would eat them). 

Fifth: John is loving being at his Grams house. She gives him all the cookies he wants and he basically does whatever he wants! He asks where Daddy, Pap,and Meme are as soon as he wakes up in the morning They are all gone already- because everyone over here is on such an early schedule. Betsy teaches seminary, Emily and Tommy both work in the surgery center so they have to be there early, and Butch leaves around six two. My kids have both adopted a 6:30AM schedule sooooooo you can probably assume how I feel about that. But that means they go to bed pretty early so its not all bad. 

John loves having so many dogs and he always wants to go out there and when he can;t go out there hes looking  out the window. 

He is doing really good with his speech. He can say all the names of the trains on Thomas and Friends and he asks for drinks/foods by name now- (i.e. hot dogs, chips, apple juice, peanut butter) when before he would just say one word for all foods. So we are pretty stoked about that! 

Everyone is handing the adjustment well so far and we are so thankful that Butch and Betsy are so willing to help us and let my kids destroy their house on a daily basis. We are so lucky to have them. I definitely scored in the in-law department. All my friends keep telling me they could never live with their in laws but this is like the greatest thing I've ever done! It feels like a family sleepover all the time. 

I'll update again soon an hopefully things will still be going this well! You know what they say though- when things are going this well its only a matter of time before....well you know. I won't jinx it!! 

BG

Around the World and Back again, that's the Sailor's Way

Around the world is exactly where we've been since I blogged last. Does anyone know who says that by the way? Here's a clue.

Anyhow, its been a minute or two since my last post. I haven't missed blogging about much though, just my first child being born. And my second child. But there is no time like the present to start the old blog back up again. I just finished another semester of school, so I am out for seven weeks! Yay! I have to go back in September for my FINAL SEMESTER! I am hoping if I blog every week for 7 weeks that will be long enough to make it a habit. Its just so hard while I am in school and have two kids!! But I really do enjoy blogging. Its the closest thing I have to a journal! 

Since I missed so much time between now and my last post there is no way I will ever catch up so I will just start with what's going on with everyone now. 

Tommy- Ole Tommy recently graduated with his Bachelors in Business Management! I am so proud of him. He really focused on school when we got married and he has been kicking butt ever since. I love that guy. He got accepted to UAB's MBA program and he will be starting that in September. He is going to pursue UAB's Dual Degree program where he will have the opportunity to get his MBA and his MSHA at the same time. He will start the MSHA program next summer. I am not looking forward to him being gone all the time, but I know its what's best for our family in the long run. So I am trying to be tough and make him proud! 

Brittany- I already told you I finished up a really hard semester of school. Somehow I ended up taking all of the really hard upper level classes at the same time. But now all I have left is an internship and two classes next semester and I will be finished with my Bachelors too! Right now I am just focusing on having fun. I was always trying to do schoolwork when AnneMarie would sleep. John doesn't take naps anymore so he took care of himself a lot. I would also have to give Tommy the kids pretty much as soon as he walked in the door so I could go do homework. I feel like I haven't been playing with them as much as I should. So we have just been playing everyday for three days! Real summer is almost over but it just started for me!!  We have been swimming everyday and we just got back from the zoo this morning! 

John- Our Bubba is getting so big! He is so sweet and has started giving me kisses all the time. He is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine right now. All the rest of us have to put up with that Thomas the Tank Engine theme song every time its his turn to pick a show. I just started implementing the "taking turns picking a show" rule because he will watch Thomas all day if I let him. I tell him AnneMarie gets a turn and then Mama gets a turn, and then he gets a turn. It actually works out for me because whatever I turn on for her he usually gets interested in too. He is two and a half years old now. He still struggles with his speech. He can communicate with Tommy and I but it involves a lot of whining and he throws a lot of fits. So that's hard. He has been getting speech therapy twice a month. The therapist doesn't think he will qualify for any free preschooling to help because he has made so much progress since we started seeing her. We are going to meet with the School District Representative on Monday. I almost hope he does qualify so that he can be around other kids his age. I think that would help him a lot. John is also potty trained!! He picked up on that very quickly so we were all super happy about that. $20 something dollars I don't have to spend on diapers every month! John is so fun now that he is getting older. He is a good helper, loves all things trains, loves hot dogs, and apples! 

AnneMarie- Its amazing how different your kids personalities can be. Annie and John are so different in almost every way! John was a tiny little baby when he born and she was a chunk. She is a chunk now! She is bigger than her two year old cousin Lina. Like I am starting to get genuinely concerned! haha! She loves food. She refuses all baby food except for the fruits because she wants to eat whatever John is eating. She has two little teeth and I am pretty sure she is working on her top teeth since she's been a little extra fussy lately. She loves our dog so much. She will laugh if the dog is just walking around! Belle is a good babysitter. Annie reminds me of John when he was little. He would sit and watch the entire movie of Brother Bear and The Nightmare Before Christmas. She will sit and watch the entire movie of The Good Dinosaur and Tangled. Which is good for cleaning time! Annie is sweet and cuddly, she loves to be in water (bath or swimming), and she loves it when John plays with her. (Which isn't that often because she pulls hair and pinches...) 

We are getting ready to move in with Tommy's parents at the beginning of August. Since Tommy is starting grad school and I am going to have to do a 20+ hour a week internship in the fall, I am going to need help with the kids. I am looking forward to having another adult to talk to during the day and a bigger space for the kids to play in other than our apartment. John will like being able to go outside and Tommy is going to love saving some serious dinero. We are hoping to rent a house when we move out in six months that is the same size or bigger than our apartment that has a little backyard for the kids to play in. They just love to be outside and I hate having to keep them closed up all day. 

That what's going on with the Green Team lately! We are going to the beach next week and hopefully hooking up with my parents and siblings down there. But if that doesn't work out I am still looking really forward to seeing my grandparents and my aunts and uncles! I haven't been to the beach in years so I am about to die to get there!

BG