Saturday, February 27, 2010

Happy Ninth Birthday Son!

Today is Tyler's birthday! I can't believe he is nine. Where does the time go? I know we all say that but it just seems like yesterday that he was born. I remember how excited and nervous I was to be a mom. Tyler was very planned but I wondered how would I deal with no sleep, discipline, and being tied down. Sometimes I feel bad because the first year of his life was such a trial for me. I had postpartum depression for a whole year and wasn't coping very well. I was young and naive and thought that if I tried hard enough, I could deal with it. After many, many tears and frustration, I finally went to the doc and got on some medication. To make a long story short....I soon learned what a joy it is to be a mother! I still struggle at times, wondering if I'm doing good enough but I think we all have those feelings. I realized I'm not the typical mom. I like to work. Sometimes I can be too harsh. I need alone time everyday. But, I love being with my kids. I love to joke with them. Sometimes I say things that a typical mom shouldn't say. I am trying my best. Tyler has always been such a joy to our family. He wasn't a typical baby in the fact that he hated to get dirty, he hated to have his clothes off, and he loved to sleep 12 hours a night. It has been the most wonderful thing to see him grow and develop his personality. Yes, he is a Swanson! At times it drives me crazy! He loves school, sports,and playing video games. He is a typical nerdy boy at this age but we love him! I look forward to see how he continues to grow! Sorry about the long post.....here are some of my favorite pics of him as a little baby/boy.



Sunday, February 7, 2010

New Job

I have been slacking again! This time I do have a good reason...a new job! I haven't taken any new pics so I found this one from last year. It was Kenadie's preschool Valentine party. This picture makes me smile.


As I said earlier, I got a new job. Since our pay was being cut, I decided to find a new job as soon as possible. To my surprise, there wasn't very many nursing jobs in the valley. I got hired on at Sunshine Terrace Home Health prn(as needed). It wasn't enough work to quit Alpine so I did both for two weeks. I soon realized that SST (sunshine terrace) was just in the very first stages of getting started and things were a mess! I didn't know whether to run or to stay. Sometimes things in life happen for a reason and soon this new job turned into something more. I ended up totally quiting Alpine, going through every chart, getting things organized, admitting new pt's, and doing visits. This last week I was very busy and after much hard work....things are starting to come together! They hired a new Director of Nursing who was my coworker at Alpine, my neighbor, and friend Stacey. She is doing a great job and things are looking up! I will work roughly three days a week, do visits, admit pt's, and continue to audit charts. I will have to put in more hours than I did at Alpine but that is ok. I was really worried when Alpine announced the pay cut because I didn't want to lose ground on our financial goals. Eric and I have a goal to have our van paid off in 9 months. This will be difficult but we feel we can accomplish it. Our next goal is to set up an emergency fund which will require saving for 1-2 yrs. Next, we want to invest in mutual funds, college for the kids, and pay extra on the house. We didn't know if we would be able to do any of this! Since finding this new job, I feel confident that we can keep doing these things. I am said to leave a job that I put over eight years in and worked so hard at. I am thankful that I was able to do it while my kids were really little. I am looking forward to this new adventure!
Some of the other things that have been going on:
I have a new calling as an "activity days" leader for the 10-11 yr old girls. We did cooking at my house on Friday. It was fun and we enjoyed eating our treats!
Tyler is doing basketball and was the second highest scorer yesterday! I love watching him play and he is a good kid. Tyler wants to do competitive basketball team in the spring but I'm not sure how I feel about that. We are looking into it.
Tyler is moving up to the Bear's this week. That means that Eric will be his scout leader now. Good luck! Tyler starts math club again in a couple of weeks and is looking forward to it.
Kylie and Kenadie are still doing dance once a week. They both love it and are practicing for an upcoming recital. Kylie is turning into a really good reader and likes to read on her own. Yes! Kenadie is in preschool and is ready for Kindergarten. She knows all of her letters and sounds. She still has MAJOR attitude and it is a daily struggle.
Easton is as wild as ever and loves to play wii, cars, trains, and with the neighbor boy, Bridger. He will be doing preschool next year....it makes me want to cry! My baby is growing up! Easton tells me about 100 times a day that "I'm your boy mom!" He insists that he doesn't love Eric even though we tell him he can love both mom and dad. I don't want him to grow up!