The Worth of a Quarter

A quarter really won't buy you much these days...that is unless you have a three year old. Carson will do pretty much anything for a quarter. If Carson doesn't want to clean his room one day, we'll offer him a quarter and the room will be clean in a flash. He loves to have a quarter in his pocket when we go to a store so he can get a piece of candy. The other day Carson asked me to get him some juice. I was in the middle of feeding Callie and told him I would do it when I was done. He asked if I would do it right then even using the magic word please. I told him no. He then responded, "I will give you a quarter Mommy!" I couldn't help but bust out laughing.

Me Time

Now that we have two kids, I think it's going to be harder to get some me time in. Today I was able to get some me time in. I start back at work next week and was in dire need of a haircut. Mom has been trying to get me to go to her new hair lady. I finally decided to try her out. She is fabulous! It was so nice to have my hair washed, conditioned, massaged, and cut. It was a wonderful hour!

Hooray for a new cut!

Even though I do need a little me time, I do love my kiddo time.

Learning About Babies...

Carson is still doing great with Callie. He is learning more and more about babies each and every day. When Callie's cord fell off, we were finally able to give her a real bath. Carson wanted to take a bath with her. We had to explain to him that Callie is too little to take a bath in the bathtub. He learned there was a baby bathtub also known as a sink.

The other night, I told Carson it was time to brush his teeth. He told me that Callie had to brush her teeth too. I told him she couldn't because she doesn't have any teeth. If only I had a picture of what his face looked like when I told him that. He had never noticed that before. He didn't believe me. I had to show him before he would brush his teeth.

Gold Family Time

Jordan's parents came down on Christmas and stayed through New Year's Eve. Ali and LeGrand and their girls came down too during this time. We had a blast. We stayed at a rented beach house. We were able to watch the sunset on the beach. We played games one night...and yes I am smarter than a 5th grader. Team LeGrand/Ali and Team Jordan/Meagan made it to the million dollar question and each got them right. LeGrand demanded another million dollar question for both teams to answer to determine the true winner. Team Jordan/Meagan were declared the true winner. We finally found a game that Duane didn't beat us at. It was a ton of fun to play with the girls. The weather was fabulous...70s. The Sunday everyone was here, we blessed the baby. Jordan ended up with a kidney stone the day after Christmas. He passed it that Sunday evening. He came for church and was able to bless Callie. He then had to go home because he was feeling awful. That is why there is no family picture on the day she was blessed. Jordan has stopped drinking sodas in hopes of having no more babies (kidney stones).





My grandma made the blessing dress. It is gorgeous!

Christmas

Alright, it has taken me forever to add new pics to my blog but I am finally doing it. For those of you who don't like the blogs that post tons of pictures, go ahead and make your way to a different blog (Alice...haha). I have been asked to add more pictures with the baby. Here are some pictures from Christmas.

This is a family picture of Christmas Sunday. It actually turned out pretty good surprisingly enough.
Christmas Eve we spend at my grandparents. We eat BBQ sandwiches and get to open presents from my grandparents and cousins (the grandkids exchange presents).

This year I took charge and passed out the presents.

The chaos of opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Carson loved opening all of his and Callie's gifts.

Callie just watched all of the craziness that is Christmas Eve.


Santa did come and visit the Gold house. This year Carson asked him for a fishing pole and a kitchen...two totally different presents. Jordan and I woke up early and made muffins for breakfast. We were waiting on Carson to wake up. I was so excited for Christmas this year because Carson is such a fun age. He really loved Christmas. I was in the other room when I heard him coming down the hall. I screamed and told him to wait and stop right where he was. I didn't have the camera and camcorder. I scared him because he was not expecting that. Poor guy. It was so great though because when he got up and saw what Santa brought him, he was super excited. He said, "Santa brought me a kitchen and fishing pole!" If you look carefully in the picture, there is no fishing pole. I asked Carson again what he got from Santa. He looked again and said, "Hey, where's my fishing pole?!" Thankfully Mommy and Daddy bought him one so he did get the two things he wanted along with a million other things. Again, Callie just sat back and watched.

Daddy's New Home

New Year's Eve we were driving Jordan's sister Michelle to the airport. Jordan's family had come down to visit and bless the baby. They stayed at a beach house that they rented. When we were coming over the bridge to take Michelle to the airport, we saw three different policemen, all of which had someone pulled over. After we dropped Michelle off, we had to go back to the beach house to fill in her seat with the remainder of our stuff (we so need a van!). When we were coming back over the bridge for the last time to go home, the police were still there. Did we remember? No. This was apparent when we were pulled over. Jordan was driving and I was sitting in the backseat with the kids because it was easier for Michelle to just get out of the front seat at the airport. Carson looked at me and asked why we were stopped. I said a policeman pulled us over. He asked why. I told him because Daddy was driving a little too fast. He then went on the why escapade. Why? Why? Why? After answering a million whys as to why we were pulled over, Carson stopped and sat quietly. The speed limit on the bridge is 45. It ALWAYS has been...except for now it is 35. When did it become 35? Who knows! I couldn't believe it. Oh well. After receiving a fabulous ticket, Jordan slowly started driving again. It was really quiet in the car (very unusual in the Gold car). About five minutes down the road Carson in a serious tone asked, "Mommy, is Daddy going to jail?" I was able to get out a "no" before fully busting out laughing with Jordan. No, Daddy would not have a new home...in jail. Carson sure knows how to break the tension.

CTR

Sunday was Carson's first day in Primary. He is now a Sunbeam...though I don't think the classes are called that anymore. At any rate, Carson was super excited about going to Primary. It was the only way I could get him up and ready for church (Jordan was at his morning meetings). Before we left for church, I handed Carson his first Book of Mormon. I debriefed him on not crying or fussing because he doesn't get to pray. I informed him that everyone would take turns (he ALWAYS wants to be the one to pray and can make a scene if he doesn't get to pray). When we arrived at church, Carson didn't want to go to Sacrament Meeting. He wanted to go to Primary. I informed him that no one was in Primary until after Sacrament Meeting. When he finally did get to go to Primary, he was so excited and he had a great time. Carson received a CTR ring in class. He learned that CTR stands for Choose the Right. I thought man I can totally use this to help parent. After we came home and ate lunch, it was time for a nap. Carson did not want to take one. I told him he needed to Choose the Right and listen to Mommy and Daddy. He then responded, "No, I Choose the Left!!" What a crack up!

A Look Back on 2008

I've thought a lot about the last year as the new year approached. So much has happened in my life this year. I told Jordan that if there was any year to send out a family letter, this was the year! Did we? Of course not. I barely managed to get all of the Christmas photo cards sent out. I was reading through Heather's blog, and decided I wanted to blog about my year as well. I kept thinking I wanted to write it down, but after a couple of weeks thinking about it and not doing it, I decided to just blog about it. So if you don't want to read on, that is okay. I will totally understand. This is mainly for me to remind me of all of the craziness we went through and yet some how survived with the help of the Lord.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you have never done before? This year I began teaching my own class. I went out of my comfort zone and applied for a job that I was not even qualified for. A special education job was the only job opening available in February. I told Jordan that I couldn't apply because I was not certified in that area. He told me to apply anyway. I did grudgingly. I received a call back to interview. After I left my interview, I knew I had completely blown it. I kept thinking of all of the answers that I should've said. I thought to myself at least I had this interview as experience for my next interview. The next day when the principal called, I let the answering machine pick it up. I knew what she was going to say and would take it better on the machine than by talking to her. To my amazement, I was offered the job. I taught Kindergarten Special Education from February on to the end of the school year. After that, we lost a special education unit at our school so my job was gone. I was able to come back in August teaching my dream job of regular ed. third grade.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for 2009? Do I even know what my resolutions were? They are probably in my journal and I doubt that I ever really kept any of them. I am so awful at making a ginormous list of resolutions and never being able to do them all. This year I decided to do things a little differently. I am slowly adding one resolution at a time. Last week we began exercising daily as a family. We go to the walking park by our house. The whole family has really gotten into it. Now that the exercising has become almost routine, it is time to add another resolution to my life until it feels routine like...and so on. We'll see how well this works at the end of the year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth in 2008? Yes. It has been the year of births. My second cousin's wife, Sarah, had a little girl in the spring named Gracie. Another second cousin's wife, Rebecca, had a little girl a few months later named Bailey. My best friend from childhood, Angela, had her first baby in July on the 24th (the same day as Carson's birthday). She had a little girl named Alison. To complete all of the girl births this year, I had Callie December 5th.

4. Did anyone close to you die in 2008? This year we have been blessed to not have anyone close to us die. The year before was a different story.

5. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? I would like to have a more peaceful and fun going summer. This past summer was filled with so much uncertainty, that I don't feel like I was really able to spend it the way I wanted to with Carson. I wasn't sure if I was going to have a job in the fall and there was hiring freeze for teachers. Jordan was laid off in June so we lost income and insurance (keeping in mind that I was pregnant). So much was up in the air that I am sure I have a few more grays in my hair from it. This year I hope to know that I will have my job in the fall. I hope that Jordan will be working on base, which will allow us to save my summer paychecks.

6. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? December 5th will remain etched because it was the birth of our second child, Callie. It was much different this time than with Carson. We had to make arrangements for Carson while I was at the hospital. I was induced so that was nice to know ahead of time the date. We had to be at the hospital at 4 a.m. I ended up having her at 12:50 p.m. It was an easy labor with very little pushing. It was amazing to see how Carson took to her immediately.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I think my biggest achievement this year was landing a job. Right now it is really hard to get a teaching job in our district. So many of the people that I graduated with are without jobs. Budget cuts continue to occur. It was so important that I get a job because I am taking over the role as breadwinner for a few years while Jordan finishes school. He received his Associates Degree in December and begins FSU this month.

8.What was your biggest struggle in 2008? My biggest struggle was in the summer. With all that happened, it was so hard to pray and know it was going to work out. I am the kind of person who needs a plan with dates and times. This summer I didn't have a plan with dates and times. I didn't know if there would be an opening at Waller. I knew the principal said she would hire me back as soon as she could if she could. I didn't know what we were going to do for insurance. I didn't know how long it would be before we had another income coming back in. It was a true test of faith.

9. Did you suffer any illness or injury in 2008? I had never used our insurance until I started teaching. Three years of no sick doctor visits. When I started teaching, I was sick with one thing after another within the first month. I had pink eye, the flu, and strep throat within two weeks. Five year olds will do that to you.

10.What was the best thing you bought this year? This year I attended Time Out for Women in Tallahassee with my mom. While there, I bought a canned food rotating system from Shelf Reliance. It is the best thing I bought. I now can see what I have and it is not hidden in my pantry. It also has been great in inspiring me to get more involved with my food storage. I was able to add a lot of things to my food storage this year because I was more excited about it...a big part of it due to the rotating system.

11. What did you get really really excited about this year? Christmas! Carson was so excited back in June and only became more and more excited as each day passed. I also knew that Callie would be here at Christmas too so I wanted Christmas to come more than I ever have. I loved seeing the excitement and wonderment of Christmas in Carson's eyes...from the lights, to the tree, to the presents and wrapping, to the nativity scene and the story of the birth of Jesus. This year I put my Christmas decorations and tree up earlier than ever in November because I really wanted to enjoy putting them up rather than being really round and pregnant and not enjoying it.

12. What do you wish you had done more of? I wish we would've had more family activities. We do some things off and on throughout the year as a family, but we don't have a ton of traditions. We don't have a family movie night or things like that that I think would be nice. When Jordan's family came down last week, I realized how much we don't do that we could do as a family...like go to the beach, play putt putt, play games, etc. I want to do things together that our kids will look back and say I remember we always did this. We have started walking together as a family and it has been really enjoyable. Carson asks when we are going every day.

13. What do you wish you had done less of? I wish I would have worried less about things that were out of my control.

14. What was your favorite TV Program in 2008? I still enjoyed my Grey's Anatomy this year. I also got into Chuck, the Mentalist, and Life really loved them all.

15. What was the best book you read this year? I got into the Twilight series. I read all four books as Jordan laughed and asked me if I just learned how to read. I told him I'd go back to being illiterate after I finished all four. I finished them in about 2 weeks. My favorite of the series were Twilight and Breaking Dawn. I did enjoy stopping and reading for pleasure. I don't do that enough.

16. What was your greatest musical discovery this past year? I have fallen in love with Taylor Swift this year. I just can't get enough of her music.

17. What was the best movie you saw this year? I would have to say Twilight. It was the most anticipated movie for me. I read the books before going and had never done that for a movie.

18. How would you describe your personal fashion statement this year? Round. Ha! I started off the year in my nice dressy work clothes. When I moved out to the portables in August, I realized that between the treks I would be making to get everywhere and being pregnant, it was okay to wear denim to work. I went for a much more laid back look. I am hoping to get back into my regular clothes soon and get back into the more dressy side.

19. Where was your favorite place you visited this year? Disney World!! We had to go two different times this year due to Jordan's kidney stone, but it was a blast! Every time that Carson watches a Disney movie and sees the blue castle and Disney logo, he asks when we can go back again. I told him Callie has to be bigger.