Let's see where I left off.... October 2011. I had just had Analeia. Since then we have moved twice, once to Arlington when Tom's parents moved in with us and again when Tom's job transferred him to San Antonio. I went back to work when we moved to Arlington to help make ends meet and a few months after we moved to San Antonio, Tom got a promotion!
Here's a "Cliff's Notes" style update on the kids:
Analeia is 2 years old now. She had to have been the most sensitive and attached child out of the bunch, which definitely taught me patience in a new way. She has grown into this beautiful, fiesty, red-headed toddler with an opinion all her own. She is able to read other people's emotions so well that it affects her emotionally. I'm pretty sure that's why she is so sensitive. She has sass, singing skills and dance moves that could put a few pop stars to shame ;-) She is very shy and takes a long time to warm up to people she is not close to. My side of the family thinks she looks just like I did at that age. She currently goes to daycare and breaks Mommy and Daddy's heart each time she is dropped off because even though she doesn't always cry, you can see sadness in her eyes and sometimes a little tear will roll down her cheek as we say goodbye.
Jaina is now 5 and although she is old enough to go to Pre-K, she does not qualify due to income restrictions so she homeschools for now. She is sweet and kind but she also knows how to push her siblings buttons, especially her brother's! She loves all things girly, especially princesses and ponies, and is convinced she will grow up to be a hairstylist someday. I look forward to seeing how her passions grow and evolve throughout the years.
Alex is now 6 and definitely all boy! He is rambunctious and loud but sweet and loves his Mommy and Daddy. He's currently in Kindergarten and doing so well that the teacher nominated him for the Gifted and Talented program! He is real big into Ninja Turtles, superheroes, Cars, Planes, and computer/Wii games. Right now he's fighting off a bout of Pneumonia and is snoring in my bed as I type this.
Myranda is currently 10 and in the 5th grade. She likes to read and collects American Girl dolls and Monster High. You can tell she's definitely a preteen and going through her transition to becoming a teenager because she's stuck in between stages, and I can tell it's bothering her from time to time. She's learning where she fits in the world, if that makes sense. She's very helpful around the house and loves to sing little improv songs that she randomly makes up. She also enjoys going to church with me and memorizing Bible verses.
Andrea is 13 now and full of spaz and spunk! She is quite the clown, and there is never a dull moment around her. She is always coming up with silly comedies and making her friends and family laugh. She is currently in band and is the first chair flute. She amazes me with her musical talent and math skills. When she's not goofing around she sings beautifully and she is a very compassionate soul. Analeia absolutely adores her.
Samara is currently 14 and I can't believe how fast she is maturing! She is growing up to be a smart, talented young lady and it amazes me how grown up she can be. Don't get me wrong, she still has a lot to learn about life and being independent but she seems to be learning through the lessons life throws at her with a grace that is beyond her years. She's currently in Theater Productions at her school (advanced theater) and is doing very well. She plans to go to college and major in theater when she graduates. She's also taking advanced Biology so she's definitely got a lot on her plate right now but she's doing well.
Update on Tom and me:
Tom and I are growing more and more in love each day. He's my best friend and soul mate. In fact, many times we end up saying the same things at the same time, which makes our kids roll their eyes at us lol. We will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary on March 11th and we look forward to the rest of our lives together.
This song pretty much sums up our love:
Church Update:
When we moved to San Antonio, the kids and I (As many of you know, Tom does not go to church.) had to find a new church home. A couple months after moving, I found Harvest Hill Baptist Church. They are a wonderful KJV Bible believing Independent Baptist Church with warm, friendly members who made us feel right at home. We have now been members for several months and the children and I enjoy getting the privilege to serve and praise the Lord with our new church family. We still love and miss our church family at Spring Valley Baptist Church in Fort Worth and think of them often.
Job update:
Like I said earlier, Tom got promoted recently. He's now a Network Engineer for +Rackspace. In fact, Rackspace is the reason why we moved to San Antonio. They gave him the option of transferring to Virginia or San Antonio early this year and after careful consideration, he chose San Antonio.
I recently joined a home health agency called National Nursing & Rehab in September as an Administrative Assistant in the Recruiting and Marketing department. Recently my job has evolved to focus more on graphic design requests, recruiting graphic ads, social networking and SEO tasks, as well as various other tasks requested. I absolutely love what I do as well as NNR's mission, and look forward to growing with such a wonderful company.
So I guess that's it for our corner of the world. I will try to come back and update more often. I apologize also for not being so interactive online. I used to participate more in discussions and posts but I've kind of become more of a lurker since I've gone back to work. When I went back to work I got very down and when I'm depressed I tend to quite joining conversations. I haven't really told anyone about being depressed but I'm sure those close to me could sense I wasn't as chipper. That, and it takes me forever to come up with something meaningful to post. I like to compare myself to writing genres - I'm a poet, not a novel writer, so my posts and comments tend to be short bursts of words. So, if something requires more than a couple words I over analyze what I want to say and spend way too much time trying to say it. I then get distracted or something comes up that by the time I remember to post, it's usually too late. But now, I'm in a good place and hopefully my memory won't fail me and I will post more often!
Here's a good song that sums me up :-)
