I'm a BIG girl now

So my little baby Briles is sitting up now. Not quite independently, she has to be sat up and balanced before she can stay up without assistance, but still. Crew was sitting up like that around 7 months and Briley is not even 6. Maybe she will be walking before 16 months (Crew was a late walker but you wouldn't guess now the way he rips around the house). She can stand up holding onto things for awhile before getting to tired. She is just the sweetest little angel. I love how content and happy she is. She is kinda a tough crowd when it comes to getting genuine loud laughs from her but she squeals and smiles a ton! I love having two kids and its so fun to have one of each. I rarely leave the house without a huge flower on her head. The other day at a restaurant I heard a lady remark to her friend (that flower is almost as big as that little girl's head) and I could tell by her tone she thought it was riddiculous. I wanted to reply "well at least you can tell she is a GIRL", but I bit my tounge. I know she rocks her flowers and earrings and I love that she is very seldom called a boy.

So I am horrible about keeping this thing up, and I appologize for the few people who actually read or check my blog. I was on a roll in January but that was it. Life is great here in Arizona and we are really excited it is summer. Crew turned 2 in May. To celebrate we went up to Phoenix for the weekend. We did some shopping and stayed at a nice hotel downtown. They had a cool pool on top of the roof and so we bought some floaties, really excited to take the kids swimming. It did NOT go over well. A month or so back I had taken Crew to our indoor pool The Cove and while trying to coax him under this little waterfall they have, he slipped under and a stranger pulled him right back up. My friend was right by him too but this lady helped him up first. I think it was more the fact that I was not there to do it myself then the actual being underwater part, but he is now officially terrified of water. We tried to break him of his fear on our trip and Brian attempted for over an hour to get him in. I am sure people were ready to call CPS on us. He was screaming so hard when we held him in the pool that we finally gave up. Briley must have caught on to his fear and screamed her head off in the pool also, so eventually we gave up and went back to the room. We will keep trying until he loves the water again! We went to the zoo while we were up there too, but it was big and hot and was not my favorite zoo trip of all time. My favorite part of the whole trip was walking around downtown in the evening. We had a nice dinner then found this outdoor mall/park area that had a ton of waterfalls and little pools. Crew ran around like crazy and had a great time! It had such a tropical feel I almost forgot we were in one of the driest states in the US.

So the kids are doing wonderful and growing every day. I have decided to bite the bullet and get my Master's degree. I was wanting to wait until Brian finished his Bachelors before I went back, but I have decided that even though we will be taking out more student loans and essentially increasing our debt, it will be more than worth it. When I finish I will be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (a BCBA) and will be providing services for families with special needs children. It is what I am doing now as a tutor, but I will be the one going in, meeting the children, assessing them and creating a personalized plan for either myself or a tutor to implement. It is what my friend and supervisor Jessica is now. It will be a long hard road, but will so be worth it! I applied at ASU for an online program. Its a Masters in Education- curriculum and instruction with a behavior analyst focus. Kinda cool because it not only gives me my Masters (which I need to be a behavior analyst) but also has all of the classes that I need for my BCBA certification. It is a completely online program that gives you one class at a time every 2 months and it will take me about 15-18 months to finish. Meanwhile, I will continue working more than I am working now so I can complete my 1500 hours needed for my license. I am so excited I hope I get accepted into the program, I will hear back in the next few weeks. It will start July 4th and I cant wait to get started. All in all I should be done with everything in 2 years or a little less. It is a very substantial raise in pay so even if I work part time like I have been doing it will be worth it. Plus it is such a flexible job and I can do so many of the hours at home from my computer. Totally doable as a mommy.

Most of my friends right now are pregnant, which is super exciting but is making me feel a little baby hungry. I have been craving to have a 3rd baby right until I decided to start this endeavor. Before I kept thinking I should just knock all 4 out fast, kinda space them all 18 months apart or a little more. But now I am going to just enjoy my two beautiful children, finish my schooling to reach my ultimate career goal, and enjoy the much needed break to my body. I havent been not pregnant or nursing since 2008. So we will probably wait 2 or 3 years then have another set close together. I can tell already Crew and Briley are gonna be the best of friends. He loves her so much and always gives her a lot of attention. She, in turn, puts up with his attention and he is the only one who truly makes her laugh. So cute!

We have explored a lot of different career locations for Brian, but have now decided to stay here in AZ where I can complete all my hours and supervision with my current job. Sometime in our life we may end up in WA or UT but now it is much easier and less stressful to stay here for the next few years.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. We are going to Utah to see family and friends and I couldn't be more excited! Especially cause my very bestest Nicole will be there the entire time. I get to show off my sweet baby girl and spend time with the people I love! What could be better?