Great news!

I don't have time to make a long post, but I have good news! I got an A in A&P I!!! So, as of right now I have a 4.0 in nursing school. Woohoo! I'm so excited and proud of myself. Now I'm sure I can get through nursing school just fine! 3 cheers for mom!

Happy 3 months my baby!.....yesterday ;/

Ok, I feel like bad mom. Aiden was 3 months old yesterday and in the frenzy of studying for my final I forgot to make him his own little post. Sorry my punkin pie! I can't believe how fast it's going. Everyday this boy gets cuter and sweeter. I love how he talks and coos now and he smiles so big. It's really getting to be fun. He's the best and he's my world. I can't imagine my life without my son. You know what's funny? The silly stuff you say when you're a mom. I always call him my punkin pie....and not pumpkin, punkin. Then I ask...And what kind of punkin pie are you? You're a punkin pie for Thanksgiving with whipped cream on top. Why? Because those are the best punkin pies of all. It's silly but he smiles. Well, he is rubbing his eyes and he's up way past bedtime, so I need to get him ready for bed. Happy 3 months Aiden. I love you so!

The lovely view out of our kitchen window

Really, he's not this horrified when we feed him!

Oh my gosh is this kid going through a growth spurt! He had 9 ounces of milk in an hour before he went down for his long nap of the day. I must say that this boy loves vegetables. All of them. He has loved everything we've given him. I can't feed him enough. I can't feed him fast enough!He always lunges for the spoon b/c I'm not going fast enough. The other day he lunged and tried to get the spoon, but it happened so fast I didn't see it coming so I was going in to give him a bite, and what happened? A spoon of sweet potatoes in the eye. He didn't even scream. He frowned then he smiled and kept on eating. I know when he's gets to be about Junior High age I'll just have to go to the grocery store and sign over my paycheck b/c he already has a huge appetite :)
Tomorrow is my last day of Anatomy and Physiology I, and I'm praying so hard that I do well on the final. Right now I have a 95%, that's my average. I have to take 70% of that though and that's a 66, so to get a 94 in the class which is the loswet A I have to get a 95. To get a 99 in the class I have to get a 100. So, pray for me and the 100 questions I'll be answering. I want an A so bad! Last Saturday morning I did the hair of this lady who has been a nurse for ages and she told me that if I can keep an A through LPN school then that's a full scholarship to get my RN and my master's which would make me a Nurse Practitioner. So, that's my goal....To keep an A through school. I'm going to head on out and study. I'll update with my score :)

My Sweet Pea

Well, the nurse just left our house. She came to give Aiden his vaccination against RSV. I read all of the papers about the vaccination and the Dr explained it really well, but the nurse just explained it really well. She told me that babies during the last few weeks in mom's belly get things from mom that protect them from viruses and infections. So, preemies don't get any of that from mom and they've put it into a shot to protect preemies. I think it's awesome b/c if he gets RSV as a preemie it means a long hospital stay. I'm thankful we have options to keep him healthy and boost his immune system.

School is ok. Right now it's very difficult. I'm holding an A, so far and I hope it stays that way. What's making it so hard is that we have our new teacher James and he has a totally different teaching style, but we're still taking Mrs. Holman's tests and quizzes. He's realizing we're struggling with the differences, so he's helping us a lot, and for that I am so thankful. I can't wait till this month is over! I'm ready to get on to A&PII. They say it's easier b/c we won't have all the tiny details like we have in this class. I hope they're right!

Not much to report today, so I won't drag this out. I hope you all have a great day :) I know we'll stay nice and cozy in our house today. Bye bye!

We have now entered the Bumbo world, and I don't think Aiden is quite sure what it's all about though. He looks at me like....Oh mom, what are you doing to me. He will sit there to eat before bed. I think now that he has this seat he'll be able to notice the tv and then that means Baby Einstein DVD's!! I want this kid to be a genius!

We had such a great weekend. We didn't do anything exciting, but Jeff had the weekend off, so it was nice to have some family time and relax.

Today our teacher didn't show up to class. She is having her baby today! One of the higher-up's came in to tell us and intorduced us to the instructor we'll have for the rest of the class. I'm telling you what, I think I had sympathy pains for her after we were told she was in labor. I had shooting pains in my belly until the end of class. I said a prayer for her that her labor would be easy and fast. That's definitely an experience you never forget. I'm also very thankful I needed an epidural to bring down my blood pressure to normal b/c that thing is a miracle. I still can't believe how much it relaxes you and allows you to actually smile. It's great having strong contractions and you have no idea. Wow, I hope she got one of those. Just the fact that it allows you to relax and not be tense is wonderful. Ok, I'll hush now, I'm just reliving the day Aiden arrived in my head.

This is all very random, so I'll go for now. Have a great day everyone!

My favorite part of the day...

is when I get home from school and see this little face and he's so happy to see his mommy. He smiles and smiles and coos and makes happy noises. It's the cutest thing in the world. I can't believe how much he's changed since he was born. Everyone warns you about how fast they grow and they do! I definitely soak in every second and love on him as much as I can.

School is still going well. This week we had one test and two quizzes and I scored and A on them all. That makes me feel so good! There was a questionnaire I had to fill out when I enrolled and I put down that I'd like to have A's, and I've lived up to that so far. It's hard work, but I know it's worth it have a good education. You really do need college now a days to have great benefits and retirement and good pay. I must admit though that I'm turning into a nerd. I watched CSI:NY for the first time ever last night Gary Sinise was looking at a body and referring to the eye cavity he referred to it as ocular and I said outloud....It's not ocular, it's orbital....Get a life Cara! It's Hollywood!

Today we got our first snow. It passed through really fast and didn't stick of course. I got excited though that it was Aiden's first snow, so I got out the video camera and was filming the big snowflakes while Jeff was in the background doing his best Bing Crosby impersonation of White Christmas....are we cheesy? Maybe so, but we have fun :)

I must go now. I have things to get done...places to go...people to see. Have a great day everyone and stay warm!

My biggie boy!

Ahhh, my Aiden is a growing boy. Here he is during his favorite time!! Aiden is now sleeping through the night! Yay! It all happened just shy of 11 weeks. It's hard work, but having a schedule and routine pays off so much! Sun night he slept from 8:45pm till 6:20am and then last night he didn't get into bed till 10pm b/c we were out running all day, but he woke up at 7am! I can't tell you how good I feel after getting 2 full nights of sleep. It makes a world of difference. i'm sure he feels better since he's not getting any broken sleep. I was a little stressed out b/c Aiden is so hungry and it's so hard to fill him up. My friend Paula got a feeding schedule from her Dr of when you can start to introduce food and at Aiden's age he can have green and yellow veggies, baby juice which he's already having and cereal which he's already having. So, I've been feeding him tiny amounts of green beans and sweet peas. I'll feed him a jar a day and I"ll give him most of it before bed, and he loves it! He gobbles it right up. We even started using a spoon and he does just fine and he's happier during the day since he's more satisfied. I know a lot of moms would act like feeding him green beans is something horrible, but it's a schedule more like how our moms fed us and we turned out ok. I'm won't stress over giving him something healthy like vegetables. I cut my pastor's hair on Friday and he had it right when he said that babies let you know when they need more. Adults aren't textbook by any means, so why would babies be? I must say it's cute when he's eating b/c he gets excited and gets his legs kicking and his arms going and he makes happy noises. Too cute!

I had another test for school yesterday and scored a 98%. I was so upset at first that I didn't get a 100%, but then I told myself to snap out of it and stop being silly b/c a 98% is great. Everything is just going so well. I think it's b/c I'm taking classes on subjects I really do enjoy. It makes a world of difference when you only take classes relevant to your career.

That's about it for now. I need to get some cleaning done. Now that Aiden is officially in his bed I need to move some stuff from our room into his and do some organizing. I also need to tackle out Mt. Everest of clothes. We're sorting out summer and winter things and picking out what we want and don't want. Then I'll pack away all of the summer stuff. It's a lot of work, so I must get started. Have a great day everyone!

2 cheers for mom!!

I must say that today has been such a rewarding day. This morning I had my first Anatomy and Physiology test and I scored a 100%!! I was so tickled b/c I thought I missed 3, but I didn't :) It gave me such a feeling of pride, and it was so encouraging! I get excited everyday at school b/c I see all of the nursing students in their white uniforms and I can't wait to get started with my clinicals. I'm back to school and I'm truly loving it.

I just got home from a walk with Aiden and let me tell you that today is the most beautiful fall day! There are a lot of big trees in the nieghborhood that have small gold leaves and I was watching all of these leaves blow off of the trees....they were just pretty streaks of gold. I need to get out and take a picture of all the trees down out street that are changing. It's so pretty!

Tomorrow is back to work and I'm kinda excited to be out and social. I know that Aiden will be in great hands with my mom and dad, so my worry is over. It's time to break out some awesome styles again! I need to get my color done! I went back to my natural when I thought I wasn't going back to work, so I wouldn't have to touch up my roots all the time, but now I think it's time to do some rich highlights for fall....nothing too light.

Ok, I'm going to head on out and get some cleaning done. Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Here's a tip!

I thought this would be helpful for moms who have a baby that is one the verge of sleeping through the night. Our pediatrician asked how long Aiden sleeps at night and I told her he goes to bed at 10pm and sleeps till 5am then he wakes up and has about an ounce of milk and goes right back to sleep. She told us that him getting up right now is just habit. She told us that when he starts fussing in the early morning to keep the lights out and change him in his bed and not to really even let him know we're there, just make him comfortable. She told us to never wake him up either b/c it would just prolong the habit of him getting up. She said that you really have to teach babies to sleep all night. So, we tried it that night and when he started fussing we changed him and covered him back up with his blankie and he slept till 10:30am. Oh my gosh did we feel great getting all of that sleep! It works, so I recommend it to all of you moms out there who need a full night of sleep. Works like a charm!

OH!!! one more thing I've learned. Aiden had started spitting up so bad, and it was frustrating, so I got the advice to put Mylicon in his bottles and switch his bottle to Dr. Brown's.....awesome! He's not getting any air at all and we just get tiny little burps out him now and his fussiness after eating has stopped. I thought that maybe it was just the drops, so I mixed his bottle as usual in a Playtex and the whole ounce I gave him before I burped him came right back up. I don't know who Dr. Brown is or how they came up with that bottle design, but it's a miracle bottle. I recommend it to all of you mommies who use bottles exclusively, or who use them only a couple times a day.

A lof of catching up to do!!!

Well, I have been MIA for a while, huh?! We've had a lot going on around here and a lot of new decisions have been made...Where shall I start? Aiden went to the Dr on Fri for his 2 month check up and he is now 10 pounnds even and 21 3/4 inches long. He's still very healthy :) Friday he had his shots as well, and it was heart breaking. All of you moms out there know what I'm talking about. Our nurse gave him a Bugs Bunny band-aid on one leg and a Daffy Duck band-aid on the other. So pitiful! I'm definitely going to talk to the Dr about spacing out the rest of his vaccinations b/c he was so sad all weekend. He was bruised where his shots went in and he was so cranky and couldn't take any naps. He just wasn't himself at all. You could tell he didn't feel well at all. I think it was b/c he's so much smaller than other 2 month olds. I definitely don't want him going through that again. This week I need to get his costume ordered for Halloween. He'll be a cutie for sure!

Monday I started back to school and I love it!! It's so nice to just get out for 3 hours in the morning and stimulate my brain and have some Cara time. I was reluctant about leaving Aiden....although he's with Daddy during that time....but I have really enjoyed it so far. All of my classes are only relevant to nursing , so it's all stuff I want to learn about and enjoy learning about. I'm glad I'm back in school. Tomorrow is my first test, but I'm not worried. It's pretty easy material. After this test who knows how it'll be. You get one class done is 16 days during the month instead of the typical 16 weeks in a traditional college, so there's a lot crammed in. We were informed to not even miss one day b/c it's like missing a whole week of information and notes. There's no homework though, just reading and studying and learning the material. It's great!

One thing I've struggled with was the possibility to go back to work. We've had a lot of unexpected and stressful things come up the past couple of weeks, so I go back to work on Friday. I'll be working Fri from 11am-7pm and Saturday from 9am-1pm, so the schedule isn't bad at all. Friday Aiden with be with Daddy till 1:30 and then my mom will watch him till 7, so I can't complain or be worried about leaving him. I know he'll be having the best care. On Saturday he'll be with Daddy until I get home. Really, I'll only be away for one day, so it's bearable. I also know that I'm doing it to better our life. I finally have peace about going back, so I know it's the right thing to do right now. I'm glad I'll be doing it now too b/c I think I would have has a nervous breakdown if I had to leave when he was 6 weeks old.

So, that's where my life is right now. I'm a part stay at home mom, part nursing studen and part stylist. It's a full plate, but God doesn't give us more than we can handle right?! It's all good. I must go now and do some catching up on everyone's blogs. I hope all has been well with all of you! Have a great afternoon!