Garrett Family Lately...

Daddy- Not much new with him. He works too much and I wish he could just get a break. Thankfully his day job with his mom and step-dad's company has slowed down a bit. So instead of working 55+ hours a week for them he works about 40 hours now. On top of that he still works every Friday and Saturday night at Hurricane Bay. He has been there for 4 years now. The money is amazing and I am not sure he will ever leave there. So the only day we really have together as a family is Sunday's and that doesn't start til about 11am. I try my hardest to keep quite and let him get his sleep. He is an amazing Daddy, he works hard to support our family and gives us everything we need. I don't thank him enough!!

Mommy- I'm busier than ever. I'm in my last semester of classes before I can apply for the nursing program. I thought this semester would be easier for me, instead of having 4 classes, I only have 3. It is still full time and the same amount of credit hours I had last semester. I now go to school 4 days a week instead of 2. Seriously I don't know why I thought it would be easier. I work my butt off. Any free time I have, my face is planted in my books. One of my old roommates, who is a nurse now, said this is the point that weeds out all the students who will not make it through nursing school. She said this is simple compared to whats in store for me. This has been discouraging, but I am NEVER giving up. I want this more than anything. Every time I take another test or another practical I get the best feeling ever, especially after I see my grade and it just re-affirms me that I CAN do this. I am getting 2 A's and a B. My goal is 3 A's. One of my classes is in the new nursing building, at GCC. I get to see all the students in their nursing attire and it brings over this excitement and emotion in me that I can't explain. I can't believe I'm actually doing this, I'm about to make my dream come true, FINALLY. After this semester I have to pass a NET test and turn in my fingerprint clearance card, then off to the long wait for the nursing program. They say it is about a year to a year and a half wait. During this time I am going to continue to work on my bachelor's degree in nursing. This is not needed to become an RN but I am going to get it for better opportunities and the ability to get a much higher pay. I tease Jearel and tell him at that point I can be his sugar mama and he will no longer have to work!
~Both Jearel's mom and step-mom take Jay during my school hours and if it wasn't for their help, I could not be doing this. Thank you both so much for all your support. Yes daddy gets Jay, as well, two nights during the week. Thank you babe for giving me the opportunity to finish. I know you sometimes wish I just got it done before Jay. I can't complain cause I feel the same way.
~Thank you Jay for you and giving mommy the motivation to finish.

Jayla- She amazes me everyday. Her personality keeps growing, she is so goofy and always trying to make us laugh. She makes the silliest of faces, which I am sure she gets from me. She has become so animated with her toys. She makes cars say vroom and pushes them across the floor (yes we gave a girl cars to play with). She kisses and loves on her dollies like they are real babies and she is the mama. She loves to play tag and often thinks our dogs are chasing her. She is the biggest outdoorsy person I know. We live outside, otherwise there are temper-tantrums. Her little red wagon has become her favorite toy. She loves to point to everything and makes you tell her what it is. We know she is learning from it because every time we ask her what something is she can point to it correctly. This being said she loves her books and instead of you reading to her she wants to point to all the pictures. We can sit here for hours doing this over and over.
~She is so close to walking, we practice and practice, but every time she tries on her own she falls face first to her hands and knees. I think her problem is she starts leaning forward before her first step and can't keep her balance. This may come from the fact that she cruises along all the furniture and walls which gives her that leaning sensation. I don't know how to correct that! Any ideas??
~She no longer uses her pacifier. It has been 3 weeks now and we can officially say she is over it. This was not because we rock as parents, it is probably because all four of her teeth are coming in on top and I think the pacifier hurt her. But at least now she is no longer interested, which made it easier for us to just toss them. I have been working on trying to give her milk in a sippy cup instead of a bottle, but she has been a little under the weather lately so it hasn't been so easy, I may have to wait until she is feeling better. Although she does very well with sippy cups now. She loves her water, NO JUICES, out of them.