Real Estate fun

Hello family and friends! The past couple of days have been pretty crazy so I thought I would share some updates. Brandon got a call from his friend at work and said his wife (who is a realtor) has been slammed with buyer leads. He had mentioned awhile back that I was a realtor in Arizona so his wife's manager called me asking if I would be interested in a position with their buyers team. Their office is located 10 minutes from my home and I would be able to work remotely most days.

I worked independently at Century 21 and have always wanted to be a part of a real estate team especially now that I'm in a new city! I started my online real estate training (to hopefully finish asap!) and have an interview on Monday with the sales team to see if I would be a good fit. It is a little scary to think I may be full time again for the Summer but it is also very exciting! I am extremely nervous about how the transition would go with Mace Face in daycare part time. I would hopefully be able to work out a schedule where we could start with 2 days a week and eventually when he is comfortable 4. 

My goal has always been to be full time again by the time he is in preschool or kindergarten. I love every minute of being home with him but I also find me missing socializing and learning. I am such a social butterfly that being home all the time just isn't healthy for me honestly. I think I would be an even better mama, wife, friend, etc. if I had another outlet to let me be the social talkative person that I am :)

There is NO guarantee I will be chosen for the team but it is fun to think about the possibility. I know if they don't choose me I would have the opportunity to join C21 again which would be very convenient thats for sure since they have trained me. I will update you all very soon and post some pictures of Mason's adventures this week. xoxo

Little People Everywhere

Hope everyone is having a great week! This week has been so much better for Mace and I compared to the last couple of weeks. I felt so bad for him when I wasn't feeling well because we weren't able to do all the fun activities we normally do. We are definitely making up for that this week. 

On Monday, Mason had his speech evaluation. I am a little disappointed in the coordinator child specialist we were assigned because this is the third time she has been more than 45 min. late to his appt. She always calls me frantic on the phone saying she is running late and doesn't want to bore me with why. Sounds like a lot of it is personal reasons not work related reasons. The teacher in me kind of wants to scream because I am a punctual person and I am taking this VERY seriously. I really hope she isn't like this with other moms who have kids with more serious needs than Mason's! The good news is she doesn't seem to be worried about Mason's progress. He is having trouble making words but he is starting to mimic sounds. For example, I said can you say outside? His response was "ous led" He is getting the vowels down for sure! I always give him a big hug and get all excited when he tries too!

On Tuesday I drove to Midland to visit my sister and some friends. We took the kids to the library for story time then headed to Pizza Sams for lunch. I had to laugh as I looked around and saw how gutsy we were for bringing 6 kids three and under to a restaurant! They did a great job and loved the pizza. After lunch, the kids got to watch one of the cooks make the pizza. He was being cute with them and throwing flour and making funny faces through the window. The kids loved it! Mandi and I were able to visit some baby shops next to the restaurant as well. It's crazy how many more baby items are out since I had Mason! 

On Wednesday my friend Jason and his son Liam came over to play with Mace man! It was a special occasion because they live in Arizona and we hadn't seen them in 9 months! Liam and Mason always got along so well in AZ and it was great seeing them pick up right where the left off. They enjoyed throwing water balloons together and playing with all Mason's cars. We are so happy we got to have a mini reunion with them :)

Yesterday I was playing around with my camera and took some fun photos of Mace man. He likes to wake up from his nap, take his pants off, and lounge with his pacifier for a few minutes. Another big milestone is Mason slept in his big boy bed for his nap yesterday! I'm hoping today he will do the same. He has a hard time with change so I'm trying to start out with naps then hopefully have him in there full time by late Summer. This has been a fabulous week so far for us seeing all our friends. I am looking forward to taking Mason to the splash pad this Friday with his friend Miles. Have a great week everyone.

What a week!

I know that it's been awhile since I updated my blog but it has been for good reasons. In my last blog, I talked a little about my wonderful hives. They decided to stick around for over a week..eek! Instead of getting better they ended up getting worse and worse. The doctor put me on steroids which unfortunately intensified my reaction instead of healing it. It got so bad that I ended up having my dad and step mom come to help me with Mason. At one point, my back was an entire hive and when it was exposed to air, it felt like someone had set me on fire. SOOOO painful and so awful of a feeling to have. I am still not completely sure how I got them. My gut tells me it had something to do with my bra which has elastic in it along with the dress I wore which also contains elastic. I need to be VERY careful with that material now! Here is me at my worse. Sorry these are graphic! Kinda happy to share because if you ever experience this I'd be happy to give you tips on how to be comfortable :)

I could only wear Brandon's boxers at one point!! Stupid underwear is all elastic or spandex …grrrr. By the way this is the UGLIEST I have ever felt in my whole life! Wish I could have taken a picture of the beauties that were on my face.

It even made me lose my tan for awhile! I was turning weird colors. Felt like fire ants on me :/

We decided to drive up to the U.P. despite my beautiful appearance. My savior with the hives ended up being Claritin and Zyretc. Thanks to those medicines my body is finally back to a nice tan and NO hives! 

Brandon was in a Fathers day golf tournament with his dad and Grandpa over the weekend while I got to spend some time with his grandma. We played with Mason and had some fun at the park. Brandon's grandma hung out with Mason a couple times at night so Brandon and I could spend some time with his dad. We went to the casino and I won $60 our first night! 

                                           Mason is a mini version of his papa Wally!

After our U.P. visit we visited Brandon's mom in Cheboygan. Brandon and I were able to go out and see the movie 22 Jumpstreet which was hilarious. I love Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill's humor so it was right up my alley :) Mason had fun going on tractor rides with grandma and making homemade pizza from her pizza oven.

We then went to Petoskey to see my grandma Gloer. Mason was able to play outside a lot and we found a great park with an area designed specifically for 2-5 year olds. He was such a big boy going up and down the slides all by himself. Mason is also talking a ton! He has a speech therapy appt. tomorrow and I am excited to tell her all the progress he has made. He even said Mason today! I was shocked and almost cried :) I feel like there are still a million things I'd like to talk about but this is getting a little long. Lots of fun things to update you all about soon ;)

Picked "ma" a flower 

GG's visit

With the crazy hives going on I wasn't able to share much of the fun activities that went on over our weekend. I am happy to say that my hives are almost controlled now. I had  a really bad outbreak this morning but thanks to some benadryl I am finally finding some relief and don't look as scary. You should have seen the way the lady at CVS looked at me when I wen to pick up my meds. She definitely kept her distance ha. Needless to say I won't be doing many outings this week until they're completely gone :)

Brandon's grandma Cheri came last week to help me with Mace since I had thrown out my back. My chiropractor warned me my disk would probably stay slipped and not heal if I kept lifting Mason daily. With Brandon gone all day I wasn't sure how not lifting him at all would be possible. Brandon's grandma graciously came down and was a life saver! I had a few days to heal my back, get adjusted by my chiropractor, and I'm almost back to normal now. It's amazing what just a few days of help can do when you're in a sticky situation. 

She brought a bubble blower for Mason as a surprise and it was crazy how many bubbles this thing produced! literally hundreds of bubbles at a time. I remember driving up after my chiropractor seeing them flying over our rooftop. So funny :) Brandon was also able to work on Mason's room over the weekend and it's looking awesome! Most of it is done it's just up to me to find bedding and decorations for him now. I'll post pictures soon. Have a great week!

Itchy itchy!

So I have determined that I am officially having the worst luck ever! So bad that it makes me want to either laugh or cry. My back is finally feeling a little better thanks to the chiropractor but a new development in my crazy body has emerged!

Brandon's grandma took us to lunch on Saturday then we came back, hung out, and I laid down with Mace for a little afternoon nap. I woke up to discover hives ALL over my body! I am allergic to elastic (usually a mild allergy) and thought my sun dress could be the issue. I took a bath, some benadryl, and was hopeful these stupid hives would disappear.

Unfortunately the hives got even worse. As I am typing I am in so much pain! They are raised, burning, and sooooo uncomfortable. In Arizona I had an outbreak like this that lasted almost a month and it was one of the most painful things I have experienced. I am not sure what triggered it but I am praying it goes away very soon. I have a doctor appt. this morning to see what other meds I can take to help control it without feeling completely drowzy and out of it. 

So gross!

        What my whole legs and belly look like now too :(

On Sunday, I went to Grand Rapids to host a baby shower for my friend Stephanie. It was so nice seeing my friends and having girl talk. I am so excited for all the new babies arriving this year! Here is a little fox I made for her new baby! He's so cute I think I'm going to make Mason one too.

I will end my blog with a little video of Brandon and Mason playing some baseball outside. It's amazing how many new things Mason is doing. He can very clearly say "There it is mama" and he loves to help me around the house and outside with daily tasks. He's such a fun little man. Have a great week and I'll update you on my doctor visit!

Help has arrived!

I just read my last blog again and thought to myself. Yikes, this was too depressing ha! That's the funny thing about writing you never know what kind of mood you will be in. I can finally walk again which has been so helpful. Brandon's grandma is going to be coming down today until early next week to help me with Mace face while I get some things done around here. I haven't been able to vacuum, pick things off the floor, so her help will be much appreciated. I am one of those people who has a hard time going to bed with a tornado of a house…it's all I can think about. I need to learn to relax more and go with the flow. Hopefully someday I can be like that more!

I have also been on the job hunt again. I was looking for jobs heavily when we first moved here but there just wasn't a whole lot open. All of a sudden it seems like more and more jobs are opening up so I am hopeful I can find something. I am actually leaning away right now from a lot of teaching positions. I do miss teaching don't get me wrong! I know I was a great teacher, I did love what I was doing, but I realized that was the ONLY thing I enjoyed about the career. Teaching is about 20% teaching and 80% headache mess. I would love a teaching job where I could teach then leave the rest of the political drama behind me. 

Right now I am looking into some sales positions and marketing. A lot require sales experience or leadership roles so hopefully my realtor experience and years as an educator will show I could be a good fit. Someday down the road when Mace and his future sibling are older I would love to do something of my own! I have dabbled with sewing and photography and would hopefully be able to do something on the side with the skills I've learned over the years. I am definitely not a "pro" at either yet…hopefully with some more practice :)

I hope you all have a great week! xoxo

Ow

I am a little late on my post because this has been quite the week. I threw out my back on Saturday doing the dumbest thing! I was putting away dishes, sneezed, and felt this huge sharp pain run down my leg and was frozen in my tracks. Some of you know about my terrible history with my back! My dad and mom both had terrible backs so unfortunately I got the bad back gene. I have a degenerative disk (basically it's a disk thats dead and useless with no fluid flowing through it) and two other disks that bulge from time to time. It is very painful and hard to find relief. I used to get epidural injections but that isn't an option for me right now.

Today was a really tough day for me. I wasn't able to pick up Mason because of the pain. Watching him cry and reach his arms out for me was so hard :(  (On top of that my house was a tornado and I literally couldn't pick up anything off the ground) I broke down for the first time in a long time today. I'm not ashamed, I honestly think I needed it! I kept thinking to myself "my mom would be here to help me." It can be a very lonely feeling not knowing who to call in emergency days like today. Today was one of those days where I can definitely see the life changes that have taken place in my life. I miss my mom so much it seriously feels like a battle some days to smile and be positive. I hope someday I can stop the tears on days like this and make some adjustments so I don't feel this again.

I did go to the chiropractor tonight and they did some popping to get me back in shape. Unfortunately, I am still not feeling relief so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I am currently sitting with an ice pack on my butt and back! ha :)

On a happy note, we did have a nice relaxing weekend for the most part. We took Mason to an art festival in Pinckney and had some fun fair type foods, had Mason play with farm animals, and we even got him finger printed! At his wild age I want to make sure I can track him! ha :) 

I wasn't able to take that many pictures this weekend but we did rescue a turtle named Harry. For some reason Harry likes to cross the road everyday in the same spot. I keep crossing my fingers he doesn't get hit. Have a great week everyone.xoxo