I want to update about all of us, and save the job news for the end. The girls are all doing well. Since our insurance situation finally got resolved last month, I got Gwen and Georgia in this past friday for their yearly checkup (finally, huh?). They are both doing really well. Gwen is still really skinny...but no worries. She's still following the same growth curve that she has been on since birth. She is now 39 1/4 inches tall and only 29 1/2 pounds (and we'll be stuffing her with calorie packed foods from now on...). She passed her hearing and eyesight tests with "flying colors", did an amazing job as the doctor examined her, and did okay with her shots. I am amazed at how well she did. The doctor was shocked to find out how well Gwen memorizes things, and that she can write her own name. Oh, and Gwen says her own prayers now. She says the same one every time she prays, despite me telling her to change it up. Her prayers? "Dear Heavenly Father, I thank thee for this day. I bless Georgia that she'll grow and eat big food that mommy makes and drink Kool Aid. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." What a card...it's good though that she has so much concern and love for her little sister...lol.
Grace was really disappointed that she didn't need to be checked out by the doctor too (and the doctor and I kept telling her she'd have her turn in 3 months, but that didn't help). So when we got home I put her on the scale to weigh her and measured her height. She is 36 inches tall and 30 lbs 4 oz. She is still not potty trained, and we're running out of time to get it done. So...I need suggestions, if anyone has any good ideas. She is registered to start preschool in September, but she can't go unless she's fully potty trained. So hopefully we'll get it done before September, ideally before her 3rd birthday in July. She is picking up a lot on the things that I've been trying to teach her at home, and that makes me feel good about all the work I put into the lesson plans I do for the girls each month. Her temper tantrums and stubborness have gotten worse though...sigh. She can still be such a silly little girl though and she's got an amazing imagination.
Georgia is huge!! She is 30 1/2 inches tall (way above average for her age!!) and 22 pounds (average). She is getting so big!! I can't believe how much she's changed, and how much she's grown. I'm really missing my little baby, but loving the big girl she's becoming. She is just as much of a monkey as Grace was...she climbs every where!! She loves to dance, and her latest thing is trying to sing. She is such a clown too...she loves to make people laugh. She's also been picking up on more and more words lately...her latest is thank you and diego (she loves dora and diego). She also likes to sit with books and read her version of the story, or to come up to you and tell you a little story in her jibber jabber talk. So cute. The doctor was really pleased with how many words Georgia knows as well (and very sympathetic...Georgia screamed the whole time we were there). She said that usually the baby of the family is spoiled, and therefore has no need to learn as quickly as their older siblings. All I had to say to that was I know I do not treat her like the baby, cause I know she isn't going to be the baby (and no, that doesn't mean I am pregnant again, cause I'm not).
I am doing great. I know I've said before that I was really struggling with my faith and hope, but things have turned around. I still don't have much hope in the job department, but I know things are going to get better and I know that I still have a strong testimony. I have been working on things, rebuilding my faith. I am determined to prove to the Lord my dedication and make up for my lack of faith during the really trying months. My big Ah Ha moment was around Christmas time, and I still have little ah ha moments here and there, but I have been working hard since Christmas to show the Lord that I do have faith and trust in his plan for us. I know He loves us, and that there is something to learn from all of this, or some reason we are here, and so I am taking it one day at a time and thanks to that I have really started to enjoy the time that we have been here with our families. I have been expanding my knowledge of sewing and other crafts and been keeping myself busy between preschool with the girls and fun projects for others and for our family. I know right about now is the time that I report my monthly weight loss, but I am sorry to say that I have lost nothing in the past month. In fact, I may have gained a little (I can't remember). I am only at a 20 pound weight loss right now. I struggled with it a lot for the past 3 weeks because no one outside of our families seems to notice that I've lost 20 POUNDS!! I mean, I thought it would be pretty noticable. Guess not. I am back on track now, thanks to a visit from a friend that I haven't seen since January, who's first comment to me was "Wow...you look great!!" Thank you so much...you have given me back my motivation and determination to loose more weight. So all in all, I am doing fantastic and am feeling a bit more optimistic about the future.
K...job news. Robbie is doing good too. He's lost a lot of weight as well...about 20 pounds, just like me. He is also back working with J Hutchins, the company he was working with last fall. We knew that there was a chance that the lay off that happened around Christmas might just be a seasonal one, and that they might hire him back in the spring when things picked up...but only if they had enough work. Turns out, they actually have a lot of work lined up, and they really wanted to hire him back. In fact, they want him to stay with the company as his career. The owner of the company has told Robbie though to continue applying to different jobs though and that they would understand if he got another job during the year. So we are going to continue living with my parents for now, helping out with the electric bill and groceries, and build up some more savings for our own place. If we stay with this company though, Robbie will be laid off every winter due to there not being any work during the snowy season, so we need to save up enough to not only get our own place but to be stable enough to afford 4 months of being laid off. We have hopes though that something else will turn up during the year though. As it turns out, there's a company based in Massachusetts that won a job in Robbie's home town of Rutland (two hours south of where we are now), which is where his parents still live. Robbie sent them his resume, and they called a few days later. They want to interview him for a position with this job, and the project manager is supposed to call Robbie either this week or next week, whenever he's back up in Rutland, so that Robbie can go down to Rutland and meet with him. So we have been fasting and praying and hoping that this is the job that the Lord has had in mind for us, and that this is the reason we felt we needed to move back home for. This company does their own site work (excavation and such), their own designing, and building. Robbie has had experience in all three departments. It also helps that we are already in Vermont, and they wouldn't have to worry about relocation expenses, AND it helps that Robbie is a Rutland native. So...fingers crossed!!
We're all doing well...happy and hopeful. Thanks to all of you who have kept in touch with us and have prayed for us...we appreciated it and are so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family. I'll try to be better in updating the blog...I promise!!
