Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Life's Many Chapters

Becoming parents was the start of by far the most exciting, amazing, fulfilling and challenging chapter of our lives...no doubt about that.

When Knox was first born, I think that chapter would have been titled "Holy Crap, What Happened to My Independence?"  (Am I the only one that went through that?  Man, it was hard.  Awesome - supremely and utterly awesome - but hard.)

But as he got older (and easier!!), the title evolved into "This is So Easy Now - Let's Do It Again!"

Enter: baby #2, the chapter that was at first titled "How Little Sleep Can One Really Subsist On?" (Seriously, the answer to that is about 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep to keep you going but definitely not sane.  And lots of coffee.  Lots and lots and lots of coffee...and prayers.)

Just a little over 3 months later, and we have arrived at the chapter entitled "We Got This Two Kid Thing Down."  Bahahahaha - I just made myself laugh out loud.  That is just an outright lie.  We have gotten used to having two sweet kiddos, but we by no means "have it down."  We take it day-by-day, even hour-by-hour some days.  Regardless, we wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I mean, look at these little faces - life is pretty.darn.good. with these two munchkins.

(I'm pretty sure Lucas will kill me later in life for posting his "junk" all over the interwebs.  Sorry, buddy!  The picture is too cute not to share!)



Beauty.


Mmmm, I could eat him right up.


Funniest kid alive.



Chubba-Wubba with Aunt Jackie.



Shnookums.  Love.



Cuddles with mom-mom before bed.



Even baby Lucas is rolling over now, playing with us, and is generally just such a joy to be around - he coos, smiles and belly-laughs, and it is the best thing EVER!



And now, we are about to begin an entirely new chapter.  The one that I have spent the past three years preparing for in grad school.  The one that will challenge us in new ways.  But it is the one that we (I, in particular) am so excited about.

It is the one that has both mommy and daddy working full-time.

Yup, that's right.  Mommy got a job!  And not just any job.  A teaching job at Hoover High School teaching 9th grade English/Language Arts.

Alleluia!!

It is truly a dream job.  It is the high school where I did my student teaching.  And it is the high school Knox and Lucas will attend one day.  It is a great school academically and athletically.  And I cannot wait to get started.

Did I mention that I start on December 1?  Oh yes, I have a whopping 15 days to prepare for my very first day in my very own classroom.  Gulp.

With that said, I have tons to do: lesson plans, final exams, oh and finding a day care for Lucas.  Prayers for strength, endurance, patience, and a perfect day care situation for Lucas would be so very much appreciated.

I can't wait for this yet-to-be-named-chapter to begin.