Loads of pictures!

I posted lots of pictures for ya all! We have had a busy few weeks. This weekend was nice and relaxed though so that was great. Friday night we had some friends over and played games. Saturday morning we had some friends over and ate pink pancakes! Saturday night we had a nice home cooked meal and then went to buy our tv converter box, but we ended up buying a new tv instead!

Once we got to the store and realized that we were not too far off from buying a new tv it did not make sense to buy the converter box. We were planning to get a new tv with our tax return so we just went ahead and got it knowing our return will be here this week! We got a great deal because there was a sale and the tv we wanted was the floor model so we got an even bigger deal!

Today we took a walk after church and each got a doughnut at Dunkin Doughnuts! It was a nice treat. After we got home Josh built a fort and he and Norah played in it awhile. I rearranged Norah's bedroom while they were playing! I love to move furniture around! (Check out Josh's blog for more in depth coverage of the fort! Click here.)

That was pretty much it! Josh is making peanut butter cookies now and I am watching Extreme Makeover!

On to the pictures...

Norah loves to dump out her books from her nice organized book basket and sit in it and then read her books. I think she looks so cute it the basket.

And another similar shot from a different day.

I do not know if all cities are the same, but in Chicago all of the museums are required to have 52 free days to receive a certain amount of funding. We took advantage of one of these free days at The Museum of Science and Industry. I did not really take pictures while we were there though, but afterwards we went to a little restaurant for lunch and Norah slept through the whole thing. I think she looks so funny all bundled up and sleeping.

We went to some friends house to watch the Super Bowl! Norah was more interested in the dog cage though. She was not happy to have to come out of it and leave at the end of the night.

Last weekend we went to Canton, Ohio for Adam and Carrie's baby shower. They are expecting their first little one at the end of March. We could not be more excited for them!
Here is the present pile.

Carrie's sister Amanda and her mom did all of the decorating. Amanda was the designer of it all. It was amazing! The theme was Pea in a Pod and it was the most consistent themed shower I have ever seen.

One of the food items were these little pea pods which were so cute!

Here is Carrie opening little hand made booties from her grandma!

I made this little hat for baby Babcock!
We test drove it on one of the twins that was in attendance!

Later that night we went to a friends and Norah ended up in a penguin costume!
Not sure how that happened but she looked cute!

This is Norah trying her best to be "gentle" with the twins!

Norah's hair has been a bit crazy lately. She has curls in the back which we love, but after a nap they quickly turn into corn rows or it teases way out and sticks up everywhere.

Here is Babs pushing Norah in the baby jogger on our walk.

This is Norah and I friday morning before I wet to work and she went to daycare. Her nanny is wonderful! I love talking with her everyday when I pick up Norah. She is so cute because she sent invitations to all of the kids to invite them to a Valentines Day party on friday at daycare and she would be providing the lunch! The invitations were so cute and they said to wear pink or red. Well Norah happened to have Valentines pj's that she could get one more wear out of them. They have a big pink heart on the butt, which I forgot to get a picture of, but we also had a little hat with hearts on it too!

The feet of the pj's are my favorite part!

So they had cheese pizza, milk and doughnuts for the V-day party!
It was a huge success for the kids. I was sad I could not attend!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

On my own

Have you ever heard that song from Les Miserables? Oh I love it, but that's not what I'm referring to.

So, I started on my own at work two fridays ago. It's been good, but as with any new job, there is adjustment. I have a whole new set of co-workers to get to know and learn their personalities and they will be learning mine. That's actually been good. I think I can fit it pretty quickly with people. Once my initial shyness wears off.

I think the biggest thing is that the pace is so fast! Nothing that I have ever been used to before. It is good in a lot of ways because the day goes by so quickly. I only get a 30 minute lunch break, but have found myself working through most of them. Some days it's 1:30pm before I even realize that I have not had my lunch yet.

Even though I have had hospice experience in the past every hospice is different. I am familiar with the setting, but there is definitely alot to learn.

I meet once a week with a woman who is an LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). This is to work towards becoming an LCSW myself. I am only an LSW (Licensed Social Worker) now. Basically you need to have so many hours of supervision with an LCSW, 3000 hours of hands on clinical experience and then you have to take the board exam again, but it is a little more focused on different areas then the LSW exam....so, that will take about two years to do all of that. Not looking forward to exam again, but no need to stress about it now.

I asked Josh the other day if he thinks my overall attitude in life has changed since I started this job and as I was finishing the question and looking up at him he was already shaking his head yes very affirmatively! (Is that a word?) It was really funny! I laughed out loud. I felt like I noticed a difference in myself so it was nice to know that I was not making things up. ;)

I think this sudden warm up in Chicago has been wonderful too! Today I drove home, parked my car and walked to pick up Norah from daycare...that is not something I would typically do! I made sure to send Josh a text message to let him know of this life changing event in my life!

So, there's an update on things. Sorry no pictures of Norah...just feeling lazy about uploading.

She has been a little more snugly with us when we are with other people and more easily upset, especially in the evenings...I think she is getting her back teeth in and that is causing discomfort and she is also smack dab in the middle of the separation anxiety stage (12-18 months). Can't say I mind when she screams with joy when she sees me and wraps around my legs and will not let anyone else hold her. Expect Josh. It's fun!

Josh is doing really well in his classes. It's nice to see him enjoying it alot. I think I would cry every day if I had to take his classes! He thrives in this setting and is so excited about it. Although last night we were talking to a friend who is petitioning for PhD spots at U of C and other places and the process seems a little scary. This time next year Josh will be doing it. We will know in a year from now where we will be for the next chunk of time (possibly 6-8 years)...we are hoping for here...I think. :) I could go to a warmer place though, but we will see!

PS, I am so thankful for spell check...although I am sure my posts would be more entertaining if I just left my original draft!