Graduation weekend!

My graduation day finally arrived! On June 7 I walked across the stage with several of my peers as we received our degrees, mine a bachelors of science in business/human resource management. I am so relived that I can officially put that chapter behind me. I feel like I have been talking about wanting to finish my degree for so long, and I am so glad that I persevered and actually accomplished my goal. My parents threw me a little graduation party with immediate family, and it was the perfect way to celebrate the day.

Bachelor's degree- check!, new baby- check!

So I am excited to announce that I am finally done with my bachelor's degree! It took me about six years longer than I had thought to do, but after years of switching schools and majors I am finally done. I never thought this day would come, it seemed like every year would be "the year" that I would finish school. My official transcripts came in the mail that said "graduated" in the status line and my diploma should be delivered tomorrow. All I can say is what a relief! Now let the job hunting begin!

In other news, we are pregnant with baby number 2! I am so excited, nervous, happy, tired, all at the same time. I need to really write about how I'm feeling one of these days. Emma sort of gets that there's a baby in mommy's tummy, but ever since we told her she has been acting like a baby. She insists that she is a baby not a big girl, wants to be rocked like a baby, and says "wah, wah" and flails about when I am changing her diaper. Oh boy we have some work to do with this kid. Hopefully when the baby comes she transitions flawlessly into the role of Big Sister and recognizes her new place in the world ;) Yea right, but a mom can dream...

My new doctor's office has much nicer equipment than my last so we were able to get a great picture of the new little bean!

Delinquent

Wow, I have been slacking in the blog department lately. I'm especially ashamed that I missed posting about Emma's 5 month birthday. I will post the shot that I took for her 5 month photo shoot this weekend. I have been so busy since I have started school again and also have started working full time again. I really miss Emma during the day, but it makes the time I get to see her when I get home at night that much more valuable. I have moved my workouts to before work, pushed my start time at work back an hour to accommodate, and many times I take a short lunch so I can leave early. I do all that to spend as much time with Emma as I can before she goes to bed. It's amazing what you will sacrifice for your kids, in my case it is sleep. I feel like there are never enough hours in the day, so it's all about prioritizing & time management. I am learning every day what is most important to me, and how to learn to make time for the people that matter. I am not perfect at it, but I am trying to figure it all out. Waking up early to hit the gym while my two favorite people are sleeping means that I get to spend three hours with my family when I get home from work before Emma goes to bed. That time is more precious to me than anything else in the world and so I will do whatever I can to protect it.

While it's been a sacrifice, I have found that I enjoy my runs before work. I love feeling like I am starting work energized and like I have already accomplished something that is meaningful to me. The longest distance I have run is 5 miles, and I am planning on running 6 this weekend with my sister since she is coming into town. I am looking forward to running outside, something I haven't done since before I was pregnant. I am also really looking forward to having a running buddy! Brandon and I used to run together all the time, but it is really hard for the both of us to get out there now. I can't wait to find a good jogging stroller on craigslist so the three of us can go for runs together this spring & summer.

For now, we are enjoying the indoors. I get the biggest smiles from Emma when I hold her in the air like Brandon is doing in the photo above. Still no giggles yet, but I am hoping to hear them soon! She is so close to laughing.

We are also embarking into the world of solid foods. So far all we have tried is rice cereal and she likes it way more than this initial photo of her trying it. She actually opens her mouth now and tries to help me guide the spoon to her mouth. Adorable. :)

This picture cracks me up, she looks like a sad puppy dog.

Goodnight all, thanks for reading!

The End is Near

What a great start to a blog, "the end is near". Well, by the end what I really mean is the beginning. Brandon is almost done with his 18 month long program called Animation Mentor and we are only a few months away from our first baby girl entering this world. Brandon has been super busy these past 18 months in school and I am so proud of all the hard work he has put into this program. His talent is really shining through and his demo reel has gotten great reactions out of people. I only hope that a job quickly follows his graduation and that we can put all the stress of late nights and job hunting behind us. I can't wait to get on with our new life as a family of three when our little princess joins us in September. And so the end is near, but new beginnings are imminent.