My First Week

I made it through my first week of full-time work in...damn near four years.
My brain is on overdrive. I'm so thankful for the Saturday and Sunday off to recover, otherwise I may have exploded from the insane amount of info that I took in.
I really think I'm going to like this job. Training has been tedious at best, but the one day last week that I spent in my own store, at my own desk, with my own tasks...was glorious. The day flew by, I'm surrounded by awesome people in my work space, and I felt good.
Remind me of this in a couple of weeks when the busy season with Thanksgiving and Christmas overwhelms me.
I will say, being away from Henry was hard. It was really hard. I came home two nights and hid in the bathroom and just lost it because I missed him so much.
Things will get easier, I know.

Creative Crumbs {{October}}

{Autumn}

Autumn photos have to be some of my favorites. There are very few things NOT to love about autumn: pumpkins, hayrides, cool crisp nights, bonfires, hot cocoa, and spending time with family and friends. I LOVE AUTUMN!

Top Photo: Amber's of Take No Thought
Bottom Photo: Jenn's of These Ripples & Waves

Clearly Amber and I both felt as if pumpkins were perfect for our Autumn theme! Her photo of her kiddos climbing in the mini patch is so adorable!

Link up your autumn themed photo with us this month and then next month join us for November's theme on the 28th:

{Thanks}

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Don't forget the grab button!

Twenty-Seven

Yesterday was my twenty-seventh birthday.
To say that I was looking forward to turning 27 would be a gross understatement. If anything, I was straight dreading the entire thing.
There are something about my birthdays that don't sit well with me. It's not the 'getting older' bit, but something deeper, something more...personal. A birthday is suppose to celebrate a unique individual, make them feel special, cared for, and loved.
Typically birthdays leave me disappointed and this year, sadly, was no different.
I'm glad it's over. Honestly. Only...I wish tomorrow I was turning 28.
Perhaps this year will surprise me. Perhaps 27 will be a successful, happy year.
I have no way of knowing.
As silly as it sounds...I just don't like the number, and for some reason, I have a huge shadow looming over me with doubt and fear about the next year. Things just seem to be in such a huge limbo right now and I can see a lot of hardships in the next year on the way to resolution.
I will say, yesterday was not without a few pleasant surprises. My mother-in-law made me a delicious carrot cake, Jeremy took me out for dinner and let me pick out a tablet, my grandmother bought me this gorgeous comforter, and my friends and family left lots of well wishes on my Facebook page.
There's always, always a silver lining...sometimes we just have to work hard to search for it.

Pumpkin & Apple Picking

A really, really BIG change.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged.
I won't lie and say that it's been because I've had nothing to say. I've had plenty to say, I just don't know if I knew how or if I was ready to say it.
Big changes are coming to our household. Changes that, although I pushed them, I am still 100% completely unsure of. Changes that are going to effect our family in a million ways. Changes that will be good, although difficult.
A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge and applied for a full-time position at my work. Let me start by saying that I really did NOT expect to get it. I had tough competition and our interview process at work is something that literally needs practiced and perfected in order to win a position. I had never applied for a specialist position, so I had no idea what to expect - I went in blind but was surprised at how well most of the answers came to me and I left confident that I had a pretty good interview.
When I was offered the job I was both excited and terrified.
This has not been an easy decision for me at all. I applied for the job halfheartedly, sure I wouldn't need to make a decision about whether or not I was truly ready to go from part-time to full-time, so when the offer came, I had to make my mind up quick.
When I accepted the offer, I did not celebrate. If anything, I felt...sad. I felt sad that I would be returning to work on a full-time basis and missing out on being home with Henry - my pride and joy - like I had for the last 3 years. I was sad that there would be days that I would not be home when he needed me. And I was sad that I would miss out on milestones and the little daily things that I have treasured so much. I was sad that things would have to change, that he was growing up, that life goes on, the this was going to be both good, bad, and so difficult.
However, this is going to be mostly a good thing, I know it.
Do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself of that?
For one, this means a whole lot more income for our family. Which means much more opportunity for Henry as he gets older to do more and explore more and have the things he wants and needs. We won't even mention our current insurance situation - so the full-time insurance I can provide is going to be a God-send.
For two, this means that I will be out of the house and in an environment with real-live adults. I know that may sound crazy, but on a given week, I may come in contact with an adult other than Jeremy just a few times. Work is often an escape for me, and I love the people I work with.
For three, this position is perfect for me. It's the only reason I applied for it. Essentially I will be designing kitchens for people. I get to learn a new software and be creative while I work - which is awesome. I've often felt trapped in my part-time position because the ability to be creative or have a voice was not there. I think this is going to be a big step towards feeling much more fulfilled at work.
For four, Henry needs out of this house. He needs to socialize, to learn. I'm looking into full-time preschools for him next year. I think he'll be ready. In the meantime, I'm hoping a good friend of mine will have an opening in her home for him where he can play with several other kids his age until then.
I am so utterly grateful for the three years that I got to spend home with Henry. But the truth of the matter is this - I'm still out of the house 5 days a week. I miss dinner with my boys almost every night. Jeremy and I simply just 'trade-off' child care duties while the other scoots off to work. The biggest difference will be that instead of me being out of the house for 4-5 hours during the week and the 9 hour shifts on the weekend, it will be 9 all the time. I will have a set schedule, with a full weekend off plus an extra Sunday a month. Most days I will be home at 5 or 7...and at this point, with our marriage kind of rocky at the moment, I think that those hours in the evening together and full weekend days are way more important than the few hours I will be missing during the day. At least that's what I'm hoping.
This has been so hard for me. The idea of stepping away from that 'mostly stay at mom' position and into the 'working mom' position seems almost impossible to me.
But here it is...and I think I'm ready to embark on this adventure.

My Potty-Trained Boy

We officially have a potty-trained boy in our household.
It's been a good week since we've had even a small accident and I have to say that I am so, so, so proud of my boy.
Have I told you the story of how Henry potty trained himself? No? Well let me get to that then...
When I was setting up and participating in my first craft festival, we ran out of diapers. Well, we didn't run out...we just forgot them at home in the rush to get ready and go that morning. Jeremy was gone, working on a customer car, and I couldn't leave. The festival was out in the middle of a cornfield at a local farm so there was no where close for me to go to get diapers either. We were stuck...and I knew it was going to be hours before we'd be able to get him anything to wear.
He had just about soaked through his pants when I explained to him that I was throwing away his current diaper and he'd have to tell me when he needed to go potty because there were no more diapers for him to wear and no change of clothes either. (I seem really unprepared, don't I?)
Surprisingly, he did great!
The entire weekend at the farm he began peeing on the ground. While this may seem a little rough, I was just glad he wasn't going in his pants. This, however, caused quite the ruckus when we got home. Instead of sitting or standing at the potty to go, he wanted to pee on the ground. We compromised and let him go in the tub...but we knew we eventually had to break him of that too! It took some convincing, but we eventually did.
Then there was the issue of #2. He had no interest, and even when he was telling us every single time when he had to go pee, #2 was still a no-go for him.
I went to the store, I spent about $25, and I bought him 1 big toy and 2 small toys for him to earn by sitting and then ultimately going on the potty.
Believe it or not - it worked. It took almost two weeks, but eventually he said 'Mommy, I really want my new play-doh firetruck so I go on potty, okay?' And he did! He sat right down, did his business, and then immediately ran to get his new toy.
For almost two weeks now we have had a fully potty trained boy!
He often wants us to go with him to the bathroom, but I've noticed more often in the last couple of days that he will go on his own when he needs to. He's getting pretty good at dressing and undressing himself too when he makes his little trips. I'm so proud!
Did you struggle with potty-training? How did you finally potty-train your little boy or girl?

Creative Crumbs {{September}}

I really hope you guys were more organized this month than what I was! I felt so bad as I was emailing Amber from Take No Thought at 11 p.m. last night to tell her how my post and things were coming. Seriously - that's bad!

Our theme for September was {Everyday} and I honestly took about 20 different photos that would fit the theme. I had a really hard time narrowing it down to one but I finally did.

Top - Amber's photo from Take No Thought
Bottom - Jenn's photo from These Ripples and Waves

There was just something about that photo of the bathtub - bath toys everywhere - that screamed 'everyday' to me. Not only does this tub get a LOT of use daily, but typically the toys get pushed aside and are left to reside in the corner of the tub until I get motivated to clean them up. Such rings true for so many things in my life - dishes, laundry, errands - they get pushed aside until I can find the motivation and time.

I loved Amber's photo! If you know Amber, you know she cannot live without her planner - perfect for her everyday!

I've left the link-up for this month open until the 2nd of October - so take your 'everyday' photo and link up with us! If you don't quite make it for THIS month, make sure you link up with us NEXT month on the 31st instead. The theme for October is:

{Autumn}

I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

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