9 Months later...

and no I am not pregnant ;) haha I haven't blogged in 9 months!! There is a lot of catching up to do! We canceled our TV and internet at the end of last year so it isn't very convenient to be able to blog and what not unless I come to my parents house. This has been one eventful, exciting, emotional and amazing year so far! Lexi turned six, graduated from kinder, I got a new position at work and we finally got MARRIED, but all of you already know this :)
Lexi graduating kindergarten was extremely emotional for me, not only is she growing up so fast, but it would be her last year at Ahren's. The comfort and bond we felt with her teachers and the owners is something that I know we will never get with another school. Lexi started there in July 2009 so she has spent a majority of her life there, crazy to think! If only they had more space to grow and expand to higher grade levels. Her official last day there was the day before she started 1st grade in a public school. She went there on and off through summer for their explorers program that they offer for the students that are going into first grade to keep their minds going. I was a mess on her last day there and I know that she was nervous and sad to leave her friends that she has been with since she was a little over TWO! Then started the journey to first grade! Being the awesome procrastinator that I am, I didn't register her for school until the week before they started! I think part of me was in denial that she had to leave and go to a new school haha Apparently I am not good with change and another part was we couldn't decide what school we wanted her to go and that was another big head ache with the district that I won't discuss and get fired up about ;) Anyways, her first day of school was great! I spent the whole day nervous and worried about her being in a "big" school compared to what we were use to (60 kids and 6 teachers!) She was nervous and didn't want me to leave, but when she got home she was so excited and that made me excited for her! I am still having a hard time with the little communication we are getting with her teacher, but I think it is because I am so use to Ahren's and them letting us know what exactly was going on and if she had a good/bad day. The first couple of weeks I would ask Lexi "What did you do at school today?" and her reply was "we played" EVERY single day...so I came up with the quarter jar and if she can tell me three detailed things of what she did besides play then I will give her a quarter and so far it is working :) So far she is LOVING first grade and her new school. She has met new friends and has seen one little boy that went to Ahren's with her. She loves getting to eat hot lunch and doing PE. I am really excited for her and her educational journey :)
Here are a few pictures from graduation and her first day of 1st grade!

Her habitat project that she worked on for over a month in class was present at her graduation :) 

With her teachers, Miss Debbie and Miss Alissa

First grade here we come!

Hopefully I will be able to stay updated on this thing and not wait another 9 months! haha The next post will be all about our wedding shenanigans! (As soon as I get pictures!!)

A Little Change Of Plans.

Life doesn't always go as planned. I feel that the more I try to "plan" things in my life the further away I stray from the plan. I have worked at Budweiser since I was 20. When I started there I wanted to go to school to do business or marketing. When I got pregnant with Lexi that quickly changed. I figured I needed to do something that would benefit us in the long run, something with a good schedule and great benefits. I had ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher and decided with a baby coming that it would be a good idea to start taking child development classes and go from there. I continued to work at Budweiser while I was pregnant and when I had Alexa, Eric and I decided it would be more beneficial for me to stay home with her. So for the first year I stayed home with her and went to school. It was hard with me not working and I got lucky enough and got my job back at Budweiser in the graphics department. This was a great position because it was so flexible with my hours. I was able to go to school and take whatever classes I needed. At the beginning of this year I was planning on quitting Budweiser because I had to do my student teaching which was 4 months straight. Thank goodness I didn't do that because I have had the most difficult time with finding a teaching job which is expected with this economy that we live in. I thought for sure that I would be able to apply to a few districts and get a job. I had this whole thing planned out and as months went by and after apply for NUMEROUS jobs in districts all within an hour drive of my house I got really discouraged. I was getting burned out working two jobs. I would sub in the mornings and then go to Bud in the afternoons and it was tiring and a waste a gas. I loved subbing but it was hard having to wait for a paycheck. In October a position at Budweiser opened up. I was super hesitant on whether to apply. First being that I would have to give up subbing all together because this would be a full time position and second because I didn't want to get rejected again for another job. After talking to Eric and some friends I felt good about my decision to apply. I had filled in for this position a few times during the strike so I knew what I would be going in to. Long story short I applied for this position, had two interviews and finally got the job! It is a lot different then working in the graphics department which I am really going to miss, but I think it is a good move especially for now. Hopefully one day I will get the opportunity to use my credentials and my love for education in the classroom, but for now I will sell beer! My new position is telephone sales. Pretty much I call smaller accounts and take their beer order over the phone and I will go visit accounts in my territory a few days a week! Hopefully all of this works out!!

part of my letter... :)

It's the most wonderful time...of the year!

One of my most favorite things about Alexa's school besides the teachers is the amazing Christmas program they put on. This was the 31st Christmas program!! There is so much time and effort put in by all the kids (ranging from 2 1/2 - 6 years old) and the teachers. I always know when they start practicing because Alexa sings non stop and I love it! This year it was held at Citrus Valley High School instead of REV. I got the opportunity to go early and help with some of the set up. The owners of the school put all the decorations in a U-HAUL and set them up! Miss Kaye sets up whatever will fit in their living room ahead of time and takes a picture of it so that she has an idea of how she wants things to look on the gigantic stage and then takes it back down and loads it in the U-Haul to set it up at the high school.
This year's program started out with a slide show and I got teary-eyed! I love seeing all those smiling faces and friendships being built. Alexa has been at this school since she was 2 1/2 and a lot of kids in her class now have been there with her. It is such an amazing thing watching these friendships grow.  After the slide show came the singing and dancing of each class. Alexa did such a great job! She really has come out of her shell since her first program 4 years ago! Eric and I are such proud parents :)

Gosh she is so beautiful!

One exciting week...Two Milestones

Who would have thought that in just one week my baby would get to experience two milestones. These two milestones were exciting and emotional (very emotional for the momma) Well on August 27th Lexi officially started Kindergarten. This is something that we have been preparing ourselves for. Even though she is still at her same school it was still a very big deal for her and me. We decided to keep her there because she has been talking about being in Miss Debbie's class for the last two years, her friends that she has been in school with since they were 2 are still there and of course because we absolutely love the school and everything that they have to offer.  To help with the excitement Lexi and I made a paper chain to count down the days until Kindergarten started. She loved this. The weekend before school started we went shopping for school clothes and she picked out the outfits she would wear for that first week of school. The night before we packed her lunch and laid out the outfit that she chose. As soon as she went to sleep Eric and I decided to write her a note and make her a little sign. She was so excited when she woke up and saw this. I even snuck a little note into her lunch box (which she insists on having a note EVERYDAY of the week :) ) We got ready for the day, I took some pictures and then we were off. As soon as we pulled into the parking I felt a little anxious for her. She was totally fine and very excited because this is the same place that she has come every week since she was 2 1/2, but for me this was the first day of her whole school "career" They decorated the front with a nice Welcome banner and some colorful balloons. I took a few more pictures of her and then we headed in and straight up to the "big kid" classroom. We hung her backpack on her hook and then went inside and found her name tag and pencil box and where she would be sitting. I snapped a few more pictures and walked her to the play yard where she kissed and hugged me goodbye and then ran off with her friends.
As soon as I picked her up she was telling me all about her day and everything that she learned. I love that she LOVES school and I only hope that she will for the rest of her life. I still love school and I am old (kinda haha) Her favorite thing to do is homework and she loves to read her letter of the day books to us :)

She LOVES iCarly and had to have this backpack that is bigger than she is! Haha

She was so excited!

Her backpack hook :)

She looks so grown up!

Her name tag and pencil box...too cute! :)

 Then comes the second milestone... September 1st (not even a whole week after she started kindergarten) she lost her FIRST tooth!! It has been loose since the 4th of July where she claims that the bacon she ate for breakfast made it loose. At that time it barely moved, but over the weeks she kept pushing on it with her tongue and it kept moving to the right. It looked like she had lost a tooth because there was such a big gap from her pushing it. She begged Eric to pull it out for a couple weeks, but he couldn't/didn't want to hurt her and I definitely couldn't do it. On September 1st we went to dinner at La Mexicana and before we got our food Lexi was asking her to dad if he would pull her tooth out when we got home and he just said we'll see...I don't want to hurt you and I don't want you to cry and she insisted that she wouldn't cry. Well we got our food and Lexi takes one bite of beans and out comes the blood...no tooth, just blood. Ewww I know! I hadn't even taken a bite yet. It was still in there and Eric had no choice but to pull it out (it took a good five minutes and the waitresses were looking at us like we were crazy) Good thing we were the ONLY people in there :) She didn't cry at all...just made a couple little noises and out it came! I think I was more nervous than her and I am pretty sure Eric was more nervous than both her and I. We told the waitresses that she had just lost her first tooth and they were so excited for her, it was cute.  Lexi and I went to get Frugos to celebrate and then when we got home she wrote the Tooth Fairy a letter and was asleep in no time! She woke up soooo early the next morning and was very excited to find a letter and a special glittery $5 bill from the one and only Tooth Fairy! I had to tell her that the tooth fairy gives a little extra for the first and last tooth;)

I finally made it!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. 

The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

-Dr. Seuss

Last Friday I spent my last day in my Kindergarten class for my student teaching assignment. I remember how nervous and scared I was back in February when I started and now I feel so confident and happy being in the classroom. I had such an amazing mentor teacher that was such a great role model for me. It was bittersweet to leave. I am excited to be done, but I was really sad to leave. Those 14 weeks flew by so fast!

A little update + some pre-Easter fun...

I have been a busy momma these last couple months and as much as I love Spring I can't wait for Summer! I am excited to be done with school (for awhile) and am very excited for the beach, vegas and who knows what else. I am half way done student teaching and it has flown by! I am loving every minute of it and I have learned so much from my amazing mentor teacher. Eric has been working a lot which is a great thing and I am so very grateful for him, but I know that he is exhausted. I can't wait to have a career so that he doesn't have to work so hard.
On another note...since Easter is tomorrow we decided to have a glow in the dark egg hunt tonight with lexi and she had a blast! Thanks to pinterest I found this great idea! Since it was such a success I definitely want to have a little party with all the kids next year and do this! Here are a couple pictures from tonight...

 

I tried to get pictures of lexi with the eggs, but since it was dark all you could see were the eggs:/

This is a LONG one...Reflecting back 5 Years

I didn't think I would feel so emotional over Lexi turning FIVE, but here I am feeling really emotional about my little baby growing up. Tomorrow morning she will wake up and tell me that she is five. (She told me those exact words tonight as a tucked her into bed) Even though she won't technically be five until 8:53pm! :) I spent about 15 hours making her a book on shutterfly a couple of weeks ago and I received the book in the mail today. Seeing all the pictures in the book brought back so many memories. Thinking about 5 years ago is a little hard to remember, but here are the things that I remember the most about that day...
    A couple weeks after my baby shower I went into pre-term labor at almost 34 weeks. I remember calling my doctor's office and the nurse telling me to count how far apart my contractions were. Contractions! I don't even know what they are suppose to feel like so how do I know that I am having them? So I counted what I thought might have been contractions and called the nurse back and she told me that I needed to go to the hospital because I was in labor! I freaked out. First of all because I wanted her to stay in there until she was to term, I just wanted her to be healthy. Second, because we were not ready for her to come. We (or should I say Eric) had just started remodeling and fixing up the house. Anyways, we go to the hospital and they admit me and after getting the monitors hooked up they tell me that I am having contractions and I am dilated, but they want to stop them. Those shots they gave me hurt so stinkin bad and they didn't work right away so they had to give me something else. A few hours later they got them to stop and we were on our way back home. You would think that I would have started preparing more for her to come after this, but nope. I was still working so I was exhausted everyday when I got home. I hadn't washed one thing, but the doctor told me that she would stay in there for a while longer so I wasn't too worried. Then I went off work at 36 weeks. I relaxed, hung out with friends and just enjoyed my time off. Lexi's due date was March 26th and I still had about 4 weeks until she would be here or so I thought. At 4am on March 6, 2007 I woke up because I thought I had peed the bed. So I changed pajamas and went back to sleep. I woke up to some cramping around 8am and went to the bathroom and that is when I freaked out a little (again) I am pretty sure that nasty mucous plug thing just fell out so I called my mom and Ashley (since she had gone through this just a few years before me) and asked them if they thought that's what it was. I called the hospital and told them and they said to come on in! So I called Eric at work, took a shower, dried and straightened my hair and took my sweet time getting ready. I felt fine, just a little bit of cramping.  They admitted me around noon and hooked me up to all the monitors and gave me my first IV ever. I think I was more scared of the IV and epidural then actually giving labor! haha. After checking me they told me that my water had broke (so I didn't pee the bed after all! haha) and that she would be here that same day and that we would be leaving with a baby this time. So I called all of my close friends and family and had so many visitors. I actually enjoyed labor! I was in pain for a little bit, but got the epidural and then I was the happiest girl in the world. How many people can actually say they LOVED being in labor?! A little after 8pm it was time for me to push. I was watching American Idol and before it ended our baby girl was here! Alexa Ululani Jennings was born at 8:53pm weighing in at 7lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches long and she was THREE weeks early! I would have had a 10lb baby if she would have came on her due date. Since she was early and I was only out of work for a week, I had nothing ready for her. I hadn't washed her clothes and our house was in pieces. Thanks to my amazing best friend, Amber and mother in-law they went to our house and washed her clothes and brought back her outfit that she was going to go home in. We stayed a few nights in our home and then thanks to Ashley and Brandon they let us stay in their home for a week while our house was getting finished. It was definitely a crazy first few weeks, but I wouldn't change a thing. My mom even took a couple weeks off work to help me while Eric was working:) I am so blessed to have such an amazing family and wonderful friends.
So here I am, five years later with a healthy, smart, amazing little girl. She has taught me so much in just five short years. She is so smart, it is crazy. She remembers every little detail. Even things that happened a couple years ago! Her personality Her love for her family, animals, singing and dancing is simply amazing. Looking at the book I made her makes me very proud to be her mommy. Every day she teaches me how to become a better mom. God has blessed me with a little angel. Lexi bean, mommy  and daddy LOVE you so much!

March 6, 2007

March 3rd, 2012