Chattering

Melody has figured out that she can talk. Though she only knows mama and baba she will keep saying this. She will also start a conversation saying these words and with different tones. It's really cute and that only means that she's growing up and will be talking a lot earlier than her brothers. Charlie is finally talking more and saying I want this, milk, etc. It's so great that they are figuring all of this out and maybe soon I'll stop deciphering cries.

C'est ma vie!

I am so thrilled, I found out yesterday that I am halfway done with my Master's Degree. WOO-HOO! I only have three more classes to go of the regular accounting classes then I have my CPA courses and so next year I will be graduating. I am soooo thrilled and excited. Hopefully Josh and I can be done at the same time, he's finishing his bachelor's. I am really glad that I pushed him to do it, and then one day we can tell our children that we both did it so they can do it too.

So if my plan goes right, here's what can happen. I graduate with my Master's in Accounting and Finance Management and then get my CPA. I would apply to work for the medium and large size business division of the IRS. There you automatically get promoted you don't have to compete. So I could be making double my salary now, if I were to go that path. I could also go to Criminal Investigations and train in Atlanta, GA for 6 months and get automatically promoted but at a higher level (and more money), with a shorter time to retire and I would get a government car as well as learn how to use a gun. The last part doesn't sound as good but it is Criminal Investigation. There are many routes I can go within the IRS and as long as I work hard I can get there.

In other news...

Josh and I are considering getting Disneyland annual passes and go there frequently for the kids. We love Disneyland as one of our first dates was there. We just haven't been to it in a while, the last time we were there Space Mountain was still closed and California Adventure hadn't opened. So we want to venture out and do more. We'll continue working in putting our house together the way we want to, but also want to do something fun.

I personally love it, since I want to start sharing great and wonderful places with my kids. I've been there, I've done that now it's time to pass it on.

Oh I decided, I will have the fourth kid. I will go for it next year when I am done with all the travel and training and school. So we'll see when it happens.

Having fun on my day off!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Today I had made plans with my new friend Hilary to go out and do something with the kids. I had told Hilary that in my last ward I never did anything with the young moms because I was always working. So they formed groups to take their kids out and do stuff and I always felt left out because of work. So Hilary suggested that we do something on one of my days off.

So today is a federal holiday and unlike popular belief I did NOT get last Thursday off, only President's Day. So we decided to do something. We thought about going to the park but with all the rain coming our way it looked more like a no. So Hilary mentioned the playground at the Westminster mall and so I said sure. I had only heard about it once and thought it would be fun for the kids and not be inside the house all day. So we went and all the kids had a blast!

I am really glad that Hilary convinced me to go and can't thank her enough for making me feel like I don't have to miss out because I work. So I'm looking forward to... oh man! The next holiday is Memorial Day! Oh well!

Elle a neuf mois!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

So my baby is growing and I found this great site Smilebox and have made a scrapbook to show just how much she has grown.

Ni hao!

This past week they have started giving Ni Hao Kai Lan on Noggin and the kids are loving it. It is kind of like Dora the Explorer but in Mandarin Chinese. So the kids love saying "Ni Hao" which means hello. I have been watching this show with them because it's cute and besides I can't watch my stuff with them, they control the TV. So I have been learning the chinese words as well. My supervisor is Chinese and so I have been practicing my Chinese with her. She's shocked and has not heard of the show. Every day I go into work I say a new word. I think it's funny!

Alan has started doing homework for preschool and so this is the beginning of a gruelsome journey 12 more years in the making. Just when I thought I was almost done with school and with my own homework and then it hits me that I also have to help them out. As long as they don't come here with like Advanced Calculus, I can help them.

Charlie is talking more and more. So now I keep telling him no and no. He'll be like watch me mommy or look at me mommy, listen mommy. It's so cute. Even his teachers are amazed at the fact that it's all coming out now. I told them, same thing happened to Alan. One minute they are barely talking the next they won't stop saying a lot.

Melody my precious baby is still saying mama. She's very quiet and keeps to herself but if she needs something it's mama. One thing I love about her is her smile and wanting to interact with people. I brought her to work last Tuesday and everyone loved her. One lady made a comment saying that she didn't know the IRS was hiring agents this young. Everyone started laughing. Melody was just so cute they want me to bring her more often.

All three of my babies are adorable. They have great hearts and are loved by all. Makes me wonder if I should keep with my plans on having the fourth?

A Melody Moment...

Every thing that kids do are always counted as special times. For a mother, it never gets old and it is always surprising when they do something that has been done before. Though all the kids in the world have done it, it is surprising when Melody does something unexpected.

Today, twice, she said "mama." Though she's not my first child, it is always shocking and with great gratitude I thank god for the beautiful life I am able to raise. She's growing up and it is somewhat of a bittersweet moment when your baby starts talking and you realize that your baby is not a baby anymore.

Charlie is talking a lot more now, and is so smart that he can read upper and lower case letters. He knows how to spell some words and I am truly amazed. Alan understands a lot now, and can tell us what he wants when he wants it. Today, he did not want to wear a polo shirt to church, he wanted his new nice clothes.

As my children get older, it pains me to know that they know more and become so independent that they forget about mom and dad. It happens though. Today my baby said mama and it's a great thing and soon she'll be like Charlie trying to figure out more words.

On another note, Josh and I have just celebrated our 9th year of being together. Not a wedding anniversary, which our eighth is coming up, but nine years of being us. I can't believe that it is getting near to a decade since he and I have been together. It makes me happy because though we have our ups and downs we have made it to nine years of not ever breaking up. It has been tough but we have worked through it and are moving forward. We look to a brighter future, though it's quite nice right now, we can't wait to see what is in store for us.

We have gone through many things and we are still together. We feel very blessed to have made it this far as we have seen some of our friends divorce and give up on the thing that they once used to cherish so. There is hope out there, all you have to do is to be willing to work at it. Things in life aren't supposed to be easy, they have to be challenging. How else can you really appreciate what you have if things have been handed to you? That is why Josh and I really are grateful for what we have and how far we have come. Three kids, a home, an eternal life together.