Blessings

[I wrote this a while back, but then I forgot to post it.  So keep in mind this was written about a week before Christmas]

It's been a while since I last posted, and I just realized I never did a video post like I promised.  I'll try to get that up soon.  We're trying to do some catching up before Christmas because obviously we will have plenty to post then!

The month of December has been a little crazy, in a wonderful way.  It definitely has not been what I had expected it to be!

Since we went to California for Thanksgiving, instead of Idaho like we normally do, we had decide to go up to Idaho to visit family the first weekend of December from Thursday-Monday.  Jim had work, so it was just going to be Jimmie and myself.  The weather was getting to be pretty cold, so we headed over to the park one last time while we still could.

He sure loves the swings!

Of course, within the first few days of December we got our first big snow! We had several inches and it just kept coming.  I was hoping it wouldn't delay our trip any.

 Nala thought the snow was great fun!

Turns out, the snow didn't delay our trip, but I was feeling pretty sick on Wednesday night/Thursday morning so I felt it was best to not try and push it, and delay the trip one day.  I spent Thursday recovering, and that afternoon I got an email from a BYU employee informing me, and all of the other student teachers he was in charge of, that there was an opening at Foothill Elementary for a teaching aide.  (Foothill is the school in Orem that I'd done my student teaching at in both April-May and October.   So I know the school and staff pretty well.  In fact, the current principal was actually my CFA, the person who observes/helps you through your student teaching, back in April/May.)  I had previously decided that I would start looking for a part-time job when I cam home from Idaho.  Nothing too big, but something that would get me out of the house and just bring in some side money.  Had it been any other school or position, I may have thought twice about it... but it was far too perfect to pass up.  This was probably the best opportunity, for getting a job that I like, possible.

I quickly emailed the vice principal, who emailed back immediately telling me to quickly hurry up and fill out the application online and we can interview tomorrow morning.  We set up an interview for 9:30 am and decided that I would just drive up to Idaho after the interview.  I got a call about as soon as I got home that if I wanted the job, I could have it.  But it started Monday.

So, my Idaho trip was cut a bit short on both ends.  Between finding out the position was open, to actually starting all happened so quickly...it was kind of a whirlwind.  But I see it as SUCH a blessing with some divine intervention going on there.  By all accounts, I had been planning, for weeks, to be out of town when I got the email and for when I interviewed.  I was so grateful to have been allowed to interview last minute and got the job.  After 2 weeks of the job, it's been great! A lot of running around and filling in any gaps that need to be covered throughout the day.  PE classes were great.  I loved being able to work with all of the grades, especially the younger grades.  We got to do fun activities like speedball, animal walks, parachute...you know.  All the great things :)

Idaho was filled with Christmas decorating, chatting with relatives, and game playing.  It was a lot of fun to be able to see everyone even though it was just for a short time.  It's been a while since the Idaho clan was able to see Jimmie.  I think a few of the younger cousins in particular were very excited to play with him again :)

 Grandma Tucker and Jimmie

 You can see the Christmas tree that we got to help set up

 As can always be expected, we played lots of fun games together!

 Jimmie wasn't sure what to think of it all

But he got to play with some measuring cups!

And he got to sit in the same high chair that his Grandma Foulk sat in as a baby.

Those two just have way too much in common ;)

At home, things continue to be awesome.  Jimmie and Nala are more interested in each other than other and she seems to be the main motivator in his crawling/scooting.  He's just GOT to feel her tail! and her paws! and her whiskers!

Such and exciting life :)

 Sometimes, I feel like I'm being watched

 This kid makes the best faces I've ever seen.  He continues to be a total ham.

 I love coming home to this little face!

 He's always so curious as to what is going on.

 We made a few different salt dough ornaments with Jimmie's hands and feet for ourselves and some relatives.  We made a few of these Santa hands because I thought they were awesome.

Post-work snuggles.  You can see one of the footprint ornaments in the background.

 Crawling position...He gets to this and scoots, but normally ends up on his tummy and rolls a lot.

Any way you look at it, he's moving quite a bit.

 And he learned how to stick out his tongue! It's hilarious.

 And we went to his "6 month check-up"! Surprisingly, he hadn't grown hardly any at all.  He was 18lbs 13 oz and 26 (?) inches long.  He's continuing to eat solid foods in addition to nursing and is trying all kinds of new things.  The slowing of his growth is totally normal especially since he is becoming more mobile and independent. 

 We planned to go up to Idaho again the weekend before Christmas for a family Christmas party.  Unfortunately when we tried to go up, the roads were absolutely terrible and cars were going off the road left and right.  We didn't even quite make it to SLC before we knew we needed to turn around.  We were pretty bummed, but knew it was for the best. 

 He was so excited to go and was all decked out in his Ho Ho Ho shirt.

 We were supposed to open our Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Tucker at the party, but since we didn't make it, we decided to have a mini-party at home and open the presents that night.  Jimmie thought it was awesome and got a cute little sock monkey and these cute, cute jammies.  He loves them a lot, but though the Whopper candies that Mom and Dad got should he his as well.  He grabbed them as soon as we opened them,  haha. 

Jimmie is loving his big boy baths and has so many fun bath toys.  It's probably one of his favorite parts of a day.  Sliding, splashing, toys..what's not to love?

We're so excited for Christmas and to have some time off of work to spend together as a family.  

More Christmas fun to come!