I'm baaaaack!!!!

SO...it has been forever and a day (actually about 7 months) since I last posted a blog! Sorry for being such a slacker, but now I really do plan on being better about blogging more frequently! Life has had a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns in the past few months. It has been a real test of Josh's and my patience, marriage, and household in general. In order to explain what has been going on...I will give my "Top 20 list" of things that have been going on:

1. I (Lauren) lost my teaching job. I was pink-slipped, and not offered a job back this year.

2. I have applied to many schools and have not yet received anything positive from anywhere I applied.

3. I am having to learn how to be a big more careful when it comes to spending $$$, which is something I have been blessed enough in my entire life I have never had to worry about. THIS has been hard.

4. I had to apply for unemployment...which was a VERY humbling experience. But let me tell you, I could not be more grateful for those checks every other week right now.

5. Josh has been working his butt off trying to keep business up and money coming in...up at about 4 am every morning and home at about 4 pm every afternoon. That's a 12 hour work day.

6. Josh had to sell his old truck (2005 red F250, diesel, FX4). It was either get rid of it or pay $13,000 to get it fixed. He is now driving a 2006 Lincoln Mark LT (truck). It's a very nice truck, but just not the same as his old red firetruck that he loved so much.

7. My car has been in the shop 3 times this summer with a new radiator, fan, serpentine belt, other belts, tires, and the list goes on.... Thankfully I have an extended warantee which has made things much cheaper than they could have been.

8. At one point in the middle of the summer our kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom were OVERRUN by ants. Ugh. It had to have been the most disgusting experience I have ever had.

9. My mom was on vacation in Iowa (Okoboji, to be specific) for about 2 months. It sucked having her gone for so long! Hayden missed her Grandma!

10. On Monday, Mom broke her toe. She is now wearing some stupid shoe and using a cane! Not fun!

(Now for some positive things that have been happening...)

11. Since I did lose my job, I am now a temporary stay-at-home-mom...which is the most amazingly wonderful feeling in the world. I couldn't be happier to be at home with Hayden. She has been going through so many changes this summer, that I am so excited to have been there to experience every second of it!

12. Hayden started crawling just after she turned 7 months old! She hasn't stopped GOING since!

13. My Sister-in-Law Jana had her little girl, Elizabeth Cathleen Ainilian, on May 23!

14. Hayden got to experience her first 4th of July!

15. Hayden and I went to Lake Okoboji to spend some time with our family. She had her first trip in the boat...and loved it!!

16. Hayden is now eating tons of finger foods. In fact, she's getting to the point where she would MUCH prefer finger foods over her baby food. Some of her favorites are tofu, avocado, and Purely-O's (organic Cheerios).

17. Hayden got to take her first trip to the OC Fair. She LOVED looking at the animals!!

18. Hayden is standing up on her own. Not walking yet, but we're sure its coming pretty soon!!

19. Hayden is just so curious and LOVES to play Peek-a-Boo!!!

20. Most recently, Auntie Jana had a birthday, so Hayden and her cousin Elizabeth got to spend some time together! (Hayden is almost 10 months, Elizabeth 3 1/2 months)

We have loved every second of this summer and time spent with Hayden. I am having a hard time grasping the fact that she is almost 10 months old....which means she will be 1 year old in just a couple of months! Despite all of the hard times we have gone through, we're a very blessed and happy family! And again, I promise to try harder to keep up with blog posts!