Adjusting

Life is busy now. Last night I had a work meeting and then my first Divorce Care class at a local church.  Graesen came with me to both.  Here he is eating during my work meeting:

Today we got more snow :(  Graesen joined me in the afternoon at work.  He was so tired that he got very upset for a while.  He just wanted me to hold him.  Poor guy is just exhausted from this new schedule.  He fell asleep for the night at 6:00.

Full time

Today was my first day of working full time at my new job.  It went really well, and the projects I made for the kids to do during bathroom time helped a ton.  They now have little things to do while they wait outside the bathroom for their friends.
Graesen spends Mondays with Evan, so he had a full day of playing.  He was so tired when he got home.  Poor boy is just not used to all this business...

Papa love

Graesen and I headed to my parent's house after church today.  I worked on projects for my classroom, while Graesen "helped" or played.  I got a lot done, and am excited to have some things for my classroom.
My dad got out his matchbox cars from when he was a kid.  My sisters and I played with them as kids and thought they were so cool.  I knew that Graesen would think it was so special to play with his papa's cars.  I just love watching him bond with my dad. 

*Graesen is quite proud of himself for being potty trained and likes to wear just his underpants while inside.  He also changes them several times a day, because he thinks they are so cool :)

*Tonight while saying prayers with Graesen, he thanked God for a bunch of people, then his back pack, and finally, garbage.  Why he thanked God for garbage is beyond me.

Snow :(

I was a little bummed when it started to snow today.  I am so anxious for sunshine and warmer days.  It was just crazy today, with wind blowing the snow sideways at times.  Graesen, of course, had to drive a truck in the snow on the way out to the car :)

We actually did not accumulated much snow at our house.  Maybe 1 1/2 to 2 inches.  It was melting as it fell, so not much stuck.  However, Graesen and I went to my aunt's house for dinner tonight, and she had 6-8 inches (this was after a lot of it had melted).  The weird thing is, my aunt only lives about 2-3 miles away from me.  How she has so much snow in her yard, while I have so little is beyond me.

We picked up Graesen's car that he painted last week.  He was totally bummed that we were not staying to paint.  I was totally tempted to just stay and let him paint one of the little, cheap figurines for kids, but I didn't want him to ruin his clothes.  Last week I brought a running long sleeve shirt of mine for him to wear, and I just didn't want to risk him ruining an outfit.  We will definitely have to go back soon since he loved it so much.

Graesen quickly cheered up when I told him we were going to the art store, and I would pick up a craft for him to do.  I needed to get some things for my classroom.  I am working (my mom has helped a ton) on creating some quite activities that I can carry in a bag for the kids to do during bathroom breaks.  I have up to 10 toddlers per day and I take them to the restroom several times.  We do not have a bathroom in our classroom, so we all walk to the restrooms.  It is really hard for the kids to sit still and wait for each other.  I am hoping some little projects will help this time go more smoothly.  I am making (with the help of my mom) a buttoning activity, eye spy bottles, glitter bottles, and lacing cards.  I also picked up a couple of small things to decorate my room with.
I grabbed Graesen a car painting out of the dollar bin.  He loves art so much.  I hope he always does.

First day of school

Graesen went to "school" for the first time today.  I am lucky enough to be his teacher so that I got to see him experience this milestone.  One of the things I struggled with the most about getting a divorce was the fact that I would be working more, and therefore, missing out on a lot of special moments in Graesen's life.  I felt so blessed when I was offered my new job.  I am working full time, but still watching Graesen grow :)  Graesen will be coming with me full days on Thursday and Friday, and one additional afternoon per week.  Evan usually has Mondays off, so Graesen gets to spend a full day with him then, as well as, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.  One afternoon per week Graesen will stay with one of his grandparents (my class is full that afternoon and it alternates which day each week).
I start full time next week, but since Graesen's first day was going to be just an afternoon, landing right in the middle of nap time, I decided he should have today be his first day.  I knew that he would be too excited to nap his first day, so coming in the morning today would give him a chance to check things out during non-napping hours.
Graesen was so excited for today.  Last night he said, "Mommy, I am so excited for my friends!"  This morning he was thrilled to have a full lunch box to carry and his mommy to join him for his new adventure.  I told him I wanted to take a couple of pictures before we went into school and he just plopped down on a rock, put on a big cheesy grin, and started waving at people who were walking into the church for bible study.  He was seriously radiating excitement and I am so glad that I got to be there to see it!

Graesen did a pretty good job today.  He had a couple of times when he tried to "take off" to explore the rest of the church and look for doughnuts (we have doughnuts there on Sundays).  He was also too excited to sit still during circle time.  He wanted to check everything out and didn't quite get that Mommy is a teacher.  Really, though, he did really good.  He is the youngest in my class, and could really be in the younger class (there are a few kids in that class that are actually a few months older than Graesen), but I am so grateful I get to have him in my class.  Graesen has never been to daycare or preschool before, so he just needs time to figure out what it is all about.  He did a great job walking in line as a class, using the potty, playing with friends, doing artwork, and sitting down for lunch. 
I had curriculum time today for an hour and Graesen started to freak out when I had to leave.  Luckily, it didn't last long and I came back to find him happy as can be eating lunch with his new friends (who, by the way, were very sweet and welcoming to him).  Tonight he kept asking if we could go back to school another time.  I think that means he liked it :)

He earned it

I made Graesen a deal that if he went #2 on the potty we would go to the store to buy him a new toy.  He is doing great at using the potty, but had been holding it a lot when he needed to go #2.  Today he went while he was with Evan.  So, as soon as I got off work we headed to the store.  He walked around and looked at so many things, trying to convince me to let him get everything.  But then he saw it, a toy he has always wanted.  His "vacuum."  He is technically a bit old for this toy, but it is what he wanted :)  Since I knew he would grow out of this toy in a hurry, I let him pick out a small hot wheels truck too.  He was so proud of his new toys.

Then this afternoon he had an accident, and it was #2 :)  Oh well, at least he made it once today.  My main concern was that I didn't want him to start holding it and having a tummy issue.  Beyond that I think that he is doing great (1 accident per day) considering he just decided to start using the potty a week ago.  I am sure that he will continue to improve.

Tomorrow Graesen will go to his first day of "school" with me.  I have his outfit set out, his immunization record filled out, his nap time stuff collected, and his lunch made.  He is getting meat and cheese roll ups, blue berries, gold fish crackers, and fruit snacks for his first school lunch ever :)  We are a nut free facility, so no peanut butter sandwiches, and Graesen has never been very interested in meat sandwiches (although he will eat the meat plain).

School bound

This big boy, will have his first day of school (with me as his teacher) on Friday!

My background check came through, so I am officially a lead teacher now.  I will start full time on Monday.

Sick momma=lazy day

I have a nasty cold with major pressure in my head and ears.  No fun!  After I got off work I knew I didn't want to do much of anything.  Graesen and I did stop and Red Robin's for lunch, because we had a gift card and I was starving.  We ate quickly and left.

When we got home Graesen took a 4 hour nap, so I napped too.  I probably could have just slept through until tomorrow, but Graesen would not have liked that.  Other than that we have just been doing a lot of lounging around.

2 going on 16

Graesen thinks that he is so big now that he uses the potty.  He has wanted to do everything on his own the last couple of days and has had a bit of an attitude.  I must say, though, that he makes a very cute "big" guy :)

Naughty

Graesen was rather naughty today.  After church we went shopping with my aunt for birthday presents (for my niece and nephew) and some summer clothes for Graesen.  Graesen was not in a good mood.   When we stopped at the food court to eat, he kept trying to run off!  Little stinker!  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  Usually a good night's sleep does wonders for his behavior :)

The beauty of creating

I took Graesen to a pottery painting studio today.  He, of course, chose a car to paint.  I love watching Graesen create.  He gets so quiet and thoughtful.

And that sweet, painting boy of mine has decided to potty train himself.  When I say "train himself" I mean he just decided to start going Thursday night and all I have to do is remind him to go every 30-45 minutes.  He was not dry when he woke up this morning, but throughout the entire day he only wet his pullups one time.  This included holding it for 2 hours while out with me and for 3 hours while out with Evan's family (he thinks public toilets are scary).  I bought him a Cars travel toilet seat today that folds up and fits in his diaper bag, so I think that should solve the public toilets issue.  I am so surprised by how quickly he is training and how it has been totally his choice to train now.  I am putting him in training pants while we are at home and we will start wearing them more in the next few days.  I didn't think he would be able to hold it while out and about (so he wore pull ups), but I was wrong.  He still hasn't gone #2 in the toilet yet, but I know he will get it very soon.  Yesterday he had an accident and today he didn't go at all.  I think he just needs to figure out the timing of it.  He is getting so big!

 *Random side note: I just realized that my post last Friday about our "Wild Friday Night" has a huge typo!  I meant to write "I wouldn't trade this mommy kind of lifestyle for anything."  I accidentally left out the "n't" on "wouldn't!"  That totally sounded bad with that typo!  I guess I need to stop posting in a hurry, with a cat or child crawling all over me, or when I'm tired :)