10 years

(this isn't the youngest pic I have of Bailey, but it's the youngest I have of her on my computer. This was from her fourth birthday; you can just see how much she's grown!)

10 years ago Bailey decided to join our family. There are so many reasons why her birth was so special for me, not the least of which is that she's my first. Other than my friend, Erin, we were alone the moment she joined me and she and I have had this incredible bond since then. As you know, each child is so different and so special. Bailey is the one I can always count on to be responsible, does her homework without giving me a hassle, and is really just a great kid. I am so fortunate to be her mom and feel so blessed to be given the responsibility for such a great spirit. She has changed very suddenly from a little girl to almost a teenager in the last couple months. No more playing with dolls or most toys, but she loves to read, listen to music, hang with her friends, and is beginning to ask about makeup and boys. In some ways I'm really excited to see how she's going to grow and change, but the rest of me is wondering where that sweet little baby is who peeked over or under her crib bumper to see her mama when she woke up every morning.

Bailey, your mama loves you more than anything in the world. You make me so proud to be your mom. Thank you for being the first.

A budding musician

Fifth graders in our district get to start band if they want (no orchestra unfortunately), so Bailey was really excited to sign up. She has been going to band class for over a week and the other day the band teacher brought in some instruments so the kids could try them out and see what they wanted to play. Bailey had been thinking about the flute, clarinet, or trombone, but after playing around with them, she settled on the clarinet. She said it was the easiest for her to make noise out of. This last Thursday, we went down to the school when they had a music store reps there and rented the clarinet for her. So far, she's just happy to make a noise at all, so it's pretty cute. I'm thinking earplugs are going to be essential, though. And yesterday I was walking back to our house from the park and could hear her, so I'm not sure how much my neighbors are going to like us. :D With Jason and I both being talented musically, we're both just very excited to see one of our kids begin learning and hopefully start a lifelong love for music.

Sometimes I'm a good wife

Jason has a coworker that always makes sure that when it's someone's birthday they get a card and she makes them whatever treat they want. Her birthday is coming up next week so J asked me to make her a card so that her birthday would be special too. Of course I procrastinated until the last minute, so I spent a couple hours tonight making the card for him to take in tomorrow. I was a little disappointed because I don't think it's as refined as it could be, but J likes it. Hopefully she will too.

Party planning

Our kids get to have a birthday party with friends every other year, so we do them on even years. Bailey is going to be ten next week, so we spent the better part of the weekend planning her birthday party the weekend after next. I designed the invitations and then she helped me make them which was a huge trial of my patience, but she wanted to be involved, and she thinks all my scrapbooking stuff is cool. I figure I'm going to need her to think that in the years to come, so we worked together. She keeps talking about how quickly she's changing (and asking me a hundred times if that's normal). It seems sudden that she's going to be ten already. I think the card turned out pretty cute, though, and we have some good ideas for goodie bags for the girls along with a few other little things. I'm just hoping we don't lose our sanity with a bunch of ten year old girls spending the night. :) Better than the group of eight year old boys we had earlier this year, though.

Very exciting!

So after meeting with the adviser on Friday, I was anxious to complete the rest of the requirements so I can get my date stamp as soon as possible. The one thing that is out of my control is receiving my fingerprint clearance card. I kind of procrastinated getting fingerprinted because I was so busy with that class, but I didn't realize that it can take up to 3 months to get your card back. So you can imagine my surprise when it came in the mail Monday. I was so excited to get it, but then that means that I'm behind on getting my transcripts in and passing the entrance exam. Sunday I ordered all my transcripts, and timing-wise, that's out of my control as well, but even Fullerton shouldn't take more than two weeks to get in. And tonight I went to take the exam. I was really nervous about the math section because it's definitely not my strong suit and they don't allow calculators. But, I bought a study guide that I heard was really good, and I've been getting high passing grades. Unfortunately, the math section on the exam was extremely difficult for someone like me who is numerically challenged without a calculator. It was a lot of questions like what is 6 7/8% of 49 1/3 and junk like that. So I guesstimated as best as I could and actually passed. I'm getting really excited now, all that's left is for them to receive my transcripts and I'll officially be on the wait list. We're starting to talk now about the things I'm going to need in school, so if any of you nurses have recommendations on a good stethoscope, let me know. I heard you should get a really good one but a lightweight one, and I haven't a clue where to even start looking. And I have to say I'm looking forward to wearing scrubs and tennis shoes all day versus what I have to wear now. At least I'll be comfortable.

Good and bad news

I met with the academic adviser yesterday and had a really good meeting. I've met all the prereqs and am ready to apply to the nursing program. The only thing that will hold up my application is receiving my fingerprint clearance card, taking the entrance exam, and official transcripts. But, as soon as those have all been received, I'll be date stamped into the wait list and it will be official. The other good news is that I can take my co-requisites while I'm on the wait list, so that will lighten my load considerably during the program. And, I've passed a couple co-reqs already and can test out of another. The bad news is that the second anatomy class begins in just a couple weeks. So, as hard as the first one was, and as much as I really want a break, I'm going to be back to it in just a couple weeks. I keep telling myself it will be worth it, and it will when I'm done. I just have to stick it out. The adviser said that most people have to take anatomy 1 over again, so my B is looking pretty good right now. I've never worked so hard for a B before, so I'm going to be happy with it and remember that when it's all said and done, it doesn't matter what my GPA was.

We're also gearing up for back to school. Bailey and my mom got back from their trip back east just in time to meet the kids teachers, and we're pretty excited about them so far. While Bailey was gone, I had taken the other two kids to get their bags and shoes and other school stuff, so today Bailey and I went out and got hers. It was nice to spend some time with just her. She's getting so grown up--I swear she's going to be a teenager before we know it. We took one of the cars into a shop and had to leave it because they weren't going to be able to finish it today, so we're down to one car again. But, hopefully when that's done, I'll have A/C again. It's pretty miserable when its 115 out to have no A/C, but it's also hard to find the time to give up a car to get it fixed. In the meantime, while Bailey and I were out today, the battery started having a hard time in the other car, so we had to take it in to Walmart for a new battery. If you've never lived in a place like Arizona, it's horrible on batteries. We pretty much need a new battery every other year or so. So that was fun, but at least we got some school supplies while we were there and had fun hanging out together. At least she still likes hanging out with me for now. :)

Passed

I was so stressed out last night I couldn't sleep and then today I couldn't eat anything before I went in to take the exam. But my hard work paid off, and I passed with a B. She even got the essays graded tonight (and in the same form as all the other essays, I got a 95% on that section), so it is totally official that I passed. I'm meeting with the advisor again on Friday so double check that I've met all the prereqs. I've sent in my fingerprint card, so I should get it in a few weeks (unless I've committed some crimes that I don't know about), and then take the entrance exam. Once I've got the card and passed the exam, then I'm free to apply to the nursing program. I'm very happy!

ETA: I forgot to mention that my wonderful husband did take me out to my favorite restaurant for dinner to celebrate. He's proud of all my hard work. Also, I just found a nursing forum online specifically for this area, and got some validation. Other students on the forums are talking about the college that I'm going to and how ridiculously hard the science classes are at that jc. More specifically, they're saying that the class I just took is one of the most difficult, so now I'm really pleased with my B. I passed, I'll take it.

A blessing and a curse

I'm at the end of taking the last prerequisite before applying to the nursing program at our local on-line JC, and this class has just killed me. I've been talking to my cousin, who is already a nurse, and found out that this class is way harder than any of her anatomy classes were, and it's only the first half of the course. They go into so much depth that they break up anatomy into two parts, one is a prerequisite and the other you do while you're in the program. Anyhow, I've suffered through all sixteen weeks and have a B, so I'm doing okay, and I'm really looking forward to being done, but I'm way stressed about the final. The final was supposed to be due by Saturday, and then on Thursday, they announced that the systems were going to be down all day Saturday for upgrading, so our prof had to push back the final date to Monday. It's nice cause I have to take Monday off now to go down and take the final, and I got two extra days to study. And that's pretty much what I've been doing this weekend between cleaning and cooking. The bad part is that I wanted to be done with it and enjoy the weekend with my family. Oh, well. Tomorrow's the big day, hopefully I'll pass this dumb class and be done with it. One step closer to my goal, that's all I ask.