These last 3 weeks have flown by too quickly. And on this melancholy night, I want to reflect back to my sugar's first day of dental school at UNLV. It was a long time coming for this special day, and we were so proud of him. Afton was excited to see her Daddy and she could not wait to wish him good luck as soon as she woke up, which happened to be at 5:45 am. Jack was not quite sure about what was going on, because on this day, August 27, 2012, Daddy was wearing a suit and driving away. How could he possibly play ball and read books all day with him, if he was driving away? Either way, it was a very bittersweet experience.
We knew this would be a challenging experience, for all of us. It definitely proved to be true.
My sugar - He spent countless hours at school studying through the night, (with some ping pong here and there.) He had 28 credits to tackle; classes called Human Structure and Function, Embryology, Neural Anatomy, and others that I can't even pronounce. We celebrated our 9-Year anniversary on September 20. His gift from me was a used plastic divider to help him organize all of his notes, and his gift to me, well... I never got one. He also had to stay late that night to study for a quiz the next morning. (Yay, just keep reminding yourself that we are in dental school and come what may!)
In the end, he had to prepare for, and pass 14 finals in 10 days. We brought him food to make sure he was getting some sort of sustenance, other than what he picked up at the REBEL Gas Station right up the street; it also provided us a brief, but needed, opportunity to see him. There were nights he did not come home, because "that is 40 minutes of study time I just can't lose, " as he put it. He slept on an aero bed in the school, with my Snuggie (very useful). Shockingly, he was pleased to find out just how "well" the body and brain can function on so little sleep. Overall, due to his dedication and persistence, he was successful and we are truly proud of him.
9 years baby - Come what may!
Brought daddy, and all these dudes yummy dinner.
So glad to have him home, even if he is asleep.
Afton- During this time, she struggled in the beginning dealing with Daddy being gone. She liked to have him there to snuggle with after her naps. She liked playing in the backyard on the trampoline with him. She liked playing "family," reminding him that he is the daddy, mommy is the mommy, she is the little girl, and Jack is the baby brother. She just liked having Daddy there. In time, she grew to understand that Daddy is in school because he wants to be a dentist. She became very proud of him and decided to change her desires of being a teacher like mommy, to becoming a "princess dentist" instead. Who wouldn't want to have a "princess dentist" do their filling? (The little girl is a business-savvy genius.) She became very understanding of Daddy being gone and in turn, a strong support for her little brother Jack when he was having a hard day missing daddy.
My girl wishing Daddy luck on his midterms!
Dinner Date
Jack- "I want Daddy HOLD me." This very sentence was uttered so many times during the summer that the phrase, "If I had a nickel for every time...,"seems to pop in my head. To say the least, Jack was a Daddy's boy. He only wanted Daddy to get his milk, to feed him, to hold him, to brush his teeth, to put him in the car seat, to take him out of the car seat. You get the point. This made life challenging. However, I am pleased to say that for my benefit, he did start to love me like he loves his Daddy. One Saturday, a few weeks into the semester, Daddy went to go get Jack from his nap, and was very upset when he opened the door to see Jack standing in his crib screaming, "I want Mommy HOLD me!" It took some getting used to but he eventually came to grips with it... Daddy on the other hand, well. He still loves to hear, "I want Daddy HOLD me."
Yes, he is wearing a tutu. Don't judge him.
Me - Well, I have a new found respect for the "Stay-at-Home" mommies and "Single" Mommies of the world. I basically became both of those overnight. For the last 8 years, I have always had my summers off, and had to get geared up to head back into the classroom at the end of August. This year, as my teacher friends on Facebook were posting the daily stresses of preparing their classrooms, attending trainings, hosting open houses, etc. I was stoked to be sitting at home playing with my babies. Little did I know that this new found career was 10 times harder than teaching. Please don't get me wrong in me saying that. Being a teacher is an extremely challenging career because each day is filled with new dramas and new issues, but there is something different about being home with the new dramas and new issues of a 3- and 2- year old. Their dramas and issues just seemed to wear me out. They still do, but those first few weeks were rough. Needless to say, I eventually became accustomed to the playing with each other, fighting with each other, loving each other, screaming at each other, snuggling together, shoving apart, teaching, counseling, listening, cooking, cleaning, driving, and everything else that goes into a 24 hour day. I fixed a broken washing machine, scared away a gross pigeon, made the boy and girl's Halloween costumes, rushed Jack to the ER for consuming Tylenol PM (thank goodness he didn't actually, but it was an eventful/expensive afternoon to say the least), hung Christmas lights, made cute little gifts of encouragements, all while being a "Stay at Home Single" mommy. Oh and did I mention, I was watching my sweet little 2nd cousin, Archer who was just 8 months old, as well?
My little helper- Did you know you are supposed to drain your washing machine
every 6 months? (Gross)
Disgusting
Hooooooo Hooooooooo!
Pretty little peacock
$800 plus bill
I now have a deep love for the Double Stuf OREO. So good!
(I just hope I can do a better job of documenting it on this little bloggy thingy.)
Love reading your blog Jenn. You are so blessed with your beautiful and happy family. Best of luck to all of us for this new semester. ♥
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