The last 1/2 of September and the entire month of October has flown by at record speed for the Hood family. We have been very busy! Here are some of the things we have been up to:
- I traveled to Fort Collins, Colorado for 8 days for a nursing lactation certification conference at the end of September. While there, I was lucky enough to stay with my beautiful cousin Kelley and her husband Ross, and their most adorable 6-month old, Emerson. It was so nice to stay in their beautiful and comfortable home and spend some quality time with them. I fell in love with Emerson instantly---he is a very happy and fun baby. Spending time with him, made the distance between my own very beautiful children much more bearable. Here is a link to my cousins blog, and a few pictures while I was visiting. For the last couple of days while in Colorado, I traveled down to Littleton to visit one of my best friends from college, Meagan. We spent Saturday at a lovely outdoor craft and antique sale. I loved seeing her sweet little girl, Lauren. Lauren and Logan are about 6 weeks apart and it was so fun to play with her---and notice the differences between boys and girls. :-) Here is a link to Meagan's blog, so you catch how cute Lauren is.
- Upon returning back from Colorado, I was busy from day 1. I served as a Community Helper to Ben and Logan's preschool. I visited with about 130 children, ages 2-4, and spoke to them on the role of a nurse, importance of hand-washing, what germs are and how they spread, and how to keep their bodies healthy through various means of nutrition, cleanliness, and exercise. I had SO much fun talking to the kids and really felt a passion for a young child's health education in the little time I spent with them. Wish I could do that for a profession...hmmm, maybe I can? Keep reading...
- Also, in the last 2 1/2 weeks I have spent over 30 hours in continuing education and certification classes. Last week, I spent 2 days in a Childbirth Educator certification course. I have been teaching childbirth classes for over a year, but never was certified. I am so glad I took the course, because I really feel I learned new things and can contribute new and exciting information, activities, games, etc to the classes that we offer at Westover Hills (the hospital that I teach at). So hopefully, in a couple of weeks I can say I am a certified Advanced Nurse in Lactation and Childbirth Education. Really cool. :-)
- Ben has really been loving preschool. He has been really focused learning his letters, numbers and starting to read. He is constantly asking how to spell certain words and when he is coloring, he is trying to spell words by himself, phonetically. Randy and I have been amazed at how intelligent and smart he is. Of course, we expect nothing less...but have been amazed at how quickly he picks up on things. We feel very blessed how smart and how much he loves learning. He is at a great age and we are loving every minute of it.
- Logan has continued his speech therapy in the home. While I was gone in Colorado, he experienced the most progression in his speech in the 6 months we have been recieving therapy. The therapist said this was great, and almost expected because I was not at home with him, anticipating his every need and want. Therefore, he was forced to try harder at talking. He has about 7 words in his vocabulary now. The therapist said I really shouldn't get anything for Logan and to stop anticipating his needs unless he verbally tries asking for something (how can a mother do this???)---so that he has to try to speak more often. I find this to be very hard and almost impossible to do as a mother. We know what they want even before they ever ask for anything... Since Logan is turning 2 in a mere 8 days (!!!), and he has not progressed very well in his speech, we have started the transition for more services that would eventually lead to him going to a preschool program within the school district when he turns 3. He still has one year to "catch up", but we have to start the transition now to ensure the documentation is in place when he turns 3. Until then, we are adding another appointment with a speech therapist every week. So, he will have 2, 1-hour sessions every week for speech therapy in the home. Hopefully this will help him even more. I'll keep you posted.
- And finally, have I told you that I love health education and working with children? Well, recently, with the down-turned economy, and living through hard-times for EE Hood & Sons, I started to look for a job to supplement our family's income and provide a stress relief to Randy. I absolutely LOVE staying at home with my boys, but the older they get the more comfortable I get with the idea of returning to work. SO, even before I went to Colorado, I had applied for a school nursing position at an elementary school that was less than a mile from our home. (It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.) And while, I did not recieve that job, I was called for a job intervew at another near-by elementary school. And in a matter of days, I sat through 2 interviews and was offered the job! I will be the new school nurse for Thousand Oaks Elementary school for Northeast ISD---starting Nov. 1st! The pay is really good and I will be able to carry my entire family on their provided healthcare insurance, for over 1/2 the cost that Randy pays now for our family. I am excited about the opportunity---however it is very bittersweet at the thought that I will be leaving my boys for work everyday. The boys will remain in their Tues/Thurs preschool program and my mom has graciously volunteered to help me with them every Tues/Thurs. She will take them and pick them up from school. (Thank you Mimi!) And I have found a wonderful nanny to come into our home Mon/Wed/Fri to care for the boys. She came very highly recommended and after interviewing her and seeing her and the boys interact with each other, it seems like a great fit. My work hours are from 7:30am-3:30pm, so by the time Logan is waking up from his nap, I will be getting home from work. I think the work schedule, location of the school, quality of the school, and the great child care I have been able to find for my kids is perfect. Randy and I are continuously amazed that no matter how hard things become, there is always a silver lining, and our Lord continues to provide. AND I get to continue my passion for public health, health education, and young children! (And having the summers, holidays, and weekends off with my kids is a major perk too!)
So, I am incredibly sorry for being such a BAD blogger lately---I know I have disappointed one of my loyal followers (my Uncle Dick!)---and I promise to try to keep up better. :-)
I will keep you posted on our new adventures---seems to be a lot of change in the air!
