Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's going to be a crazy week....

This is what our schedule looks like this week:

Monday- Homeschooling and Chiropractor visits for Brandon and I. (Brandon went and there was a sign saying they were closed. I guess we missed the announcement.) Prep chicken for potluck on Tuesday.

Tuesday- Homeschooling and potluck at Brandon's work that our family was invited to. It's a potluck for his team of employees. Solomon turns 3 months old!

Wednesday- Homeschooling, Chiropractor visits for Brandon and I, trip to the library to pick up books for the next two weeks and Brandon's office wide picnic-- families included.

Thursday- Homeschooling and dental appointment for me.

Friday- Solomon's weight check appointment, chiropractor visits for Brandon and I, drop off consignment and Brandon's SECOND interview! Exciting! It's at 12 noon if you'd like to join me in prayer. :)

Soooooooooooooooooooooo.... I shouldn't have scheduled our homeschool to start this week.

Live and learn.

Edited to add: Thursday we also potentially have either rain from the hurricane or rain and wind. So everything on our porch needs moved off, we need to make sure we have water and flashlights. EEEKS!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Looking for Fundraising Ideas...

Brandon and I have been discussing adding a #5 to the Bee Family! We were actually getting ready to update our homestudy to add #4 last October when I found out I was expecting. So little Solomon snuck in and became our fourth.

It looks like we can start the process again when Solomon is 6 months old. Hopefully, we'll be able to confirm that this week.

In the meantime, I'm looking for fundraising ideas. Any thoughts or suggestions?

A few ideas that we've come up with include using our tax return. Also, if Brandon does indeed get this promotion, we'd save his raise each paycheck. And we already save all our change and don't spend it...

I hope to have more information soon and be able to make an official announcement then.

~Steph

PS: Brandon's interview is at 12 noon tomorrow!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

*SQUEAL!* and a hodge podge

I just got word that Brandon was asked to interview for The Position on Monday at noon!

**************SQUEAL!*****************

Okay... enough of that. In other news, I'm almost done with Lainey's work for the entire year! I did something different this year and I'm so excited to share it soon! *Yay!* *Wahhhhoooo!*

Doing the same thing for Julianne, is well.. going much slower! *Boooooooooo!*

Xander now waves in response to "Hi, Hello, Good Morning, Bye, Goodbye and Good night." Yes, I've tested them all. :) He's been a bit cranky the last few days and we aren't 100% sure why. I'm guessing it's a growth spurt or teeth.

Solomon has been awake more.. and hungrier and hungrier! I've had marathon nursing sessions lasting at least an hour for the last 2 days or so. Growing is such a bittersweet thing though. It is neat to see his personality come out. Those of you that have met Brandon in person, know that well.. his facial expressions tell everything. I often lean in and whisper "Fix your face" when we are in awkward situations (per his request.. of course!) You can read his face from a mile away! Well... guess which one of our children appear to have this characteristic? Yes, my sweet Solomon. He will definitely be an interesting character.
This is his, "Are you done yet, Daddy?" look...


Still no good news on the hives situation. Still hiving.. since February now! They are less intense than they were but they are still here. I'm starting to wonder if I'll have them the rest of my life? Seriously, I do not remember what it feels like to not have hives.

Yesterday I went to the dermatologist to have a four suspicious moles checked out and only had to have one removed. I'll spare you the picture of that! It was easy to have it removed and I seriously didn't feel a thing. Don't hesitate to have any moles that looked at if they are suspicious!

I hope all is going well in your camp!

~Steph

Sunday, August 15, 2010

So, I'm still up to my elbows assembling our curricula for this coming school year. I'm piecing together different programs for Julianne and DeLainey, so the planning is all on me.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut....

I wanted to document something super exciting that is going on at the Bee House. A few months ago, Brandon applied for a position his company posted for their Kansas office. It would have been a promotion and it looked really promising. He interviewed but didn't get the position. He didn't even really get much feedback. They just said that he was a promising candidate. Hmpf.

After that, we moved into our new apartment and continued living our lives here in Richmond. We managed to make it through me being hospitalized for preterm labor without any family nearby. A dear friend, Nikki, stepped up and took the children to her house (on Mother's Day Weekend folks- she had SEVEN total children, 7 and under!) so that Brandon could be by my bedside to help me make decisions and advocate on my behalf and Solomon's too! I wasn't responding to the medications and the doctor at one point was preparing us to have a 33 weeker in the NICU. The day I was discharged, I was still on bedrest so my aunt drove up from Georgia and stayed with us until after Solomon was born.

I can't explain it, but after that "test" was passed, I started liking Richmond more. I'm sure hormones played a huge role in my homesickness. And let's face it, it has been a roller coaster ride since we've been here. Between getting things set up, transitioning Lainey to school, starting the adoption process, bringing Lainey home to homeschool, being matched to Xander, Xander's hospitalization and discharge, adjusting to life with three and then finding out that we were expecting.. it's been a WILD RIDE!

I'm still not 100% in love with Richmond, but it's growing on me. I know the exact moment that I realized that Richmond had grown on me. Brandon's company posted a position in another city (that shall remain nameless, but it's much more southern than Richmond) and we prayed and discussed it. I just did not have peace about moving. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I had a huge, huge knot in my stomach when I thought about leaving Richmond. Brandon had the same feeling. So he didn't even apply! At that very moment I realized that I do like Richmond!

Okay, so fast forward to last week. Brandon got a cryptic text message from a co-worker and immediately got on his work laptop. I knew something had to be up because he was on vacation!

He walked into the kitchen and told me that there would be an opening for the position above him.... and it was for his current office, so no relocation would be involved. I looked at him with wide eyes. This is only the second time this position has come open since we moved here in November of 2008!

The wait began. The position posted this past week. Brandon submitted his appliation yesterday after getting his supervisor's blessing. So now we wait to see what happens. I'm so proud of Brandon no matter what happens. He is an awesome, dedicated hardworker and truly loves his work. (And I'm not just saying that because he is my husband.. I once trained Brandon for a company we previously worked for and no.. we weren't romantically involved way back when either!)

If you feel led to lift us up in prayer, please do so. I'm trying not to drive him insane by asking him if he has heard anything each time we chat, so pray for that too!

I'll keep you posted!

~Steph

Saturday, August 7, 2010

I'm still here!

We had company this past week and I'm to my eyeballs in homeschool planning.. But I'm hoping to be back soon!