Summertime and the livin' is...

Crazy. Baseball started this week, school is finishing up, Chloe is getting teeth (hopefully)...and this all explains why it's been a week since I posted. Colin is loving coach-pitch ball this year. He's so excited about it. He can't wait for school to finish up and has started counting down the days. Chloe is attempting to add more teeth to the few (6) she has and is a little unhappy about it all. Poor girl. I've been working like crazy and debating starting work with a second service in addition to the one I am currently working with, so I've been testing with other companies in my "spare" time. ha! I want to get things down pat with work before school is over so that I have a schedule that'll work around swimming and park time. :) We'll see how that goes.

Well, the kiddies are waking. Time for another full day!

Checkup for Colin. Other updates.

Today would have been a surgery day, but instead we went to the Pediatrician for a checkup. His unaffected ear is looking great. A very thin membrane has formed over the hole in his eardrum and the doctor is confident that it will get thicker over the next month. He also found his tube in there. Colin thought it was pretty cool...and small. :) We have to continue using plugs for a while to make sure that he does not get any water in there. It is still as risk to re-rupture. So excited! He might get to swim this summer without the worry of earplugs!!!!

Work is going great for me. I'm starting to get a routine down, which is nice, and I'm feeling less nervous about it. So far I'm edging on $500 for my total earnings in less than 3 weeks! Yippee! More than I expected getting started. Supposedly, you continue to increase your income for the first few months, so I'm even more excited about the months to come. So far, the hourly rate I'm earning is continuing to increase while the amount of time it takes to finish my work is decreasing.

It's only Tuesday, and we've had quite the week. Jeremy started to pull out the cabinets in our laundry room yesterday afternoon, in order to remove the now moldy drywall from behind them...the cabinets had been built around the pipes. Ugh! And in the process of getting them out, one of the pipes sprang a mini leak. And, of course, in the process of trying to fix the mini leak, it turned into a major leak...the water to the house had to be shut off, and in the end, we called a plumber. Then, today, I didn't realize that the drainage pipe for the washer and dryer had to be cut as well and hadn't been capped yet, and I started a load of laundry. And left to take Colin to the doctor. So, when Jeremy returned home...we had a basement full of water. So, he spent this afternoon sucking water out of the carpet and capping the drainage pipe, so that I don't create any more messes. :) And, it's only Tuesday.

Sometimes I really wonder about the odds of the things that happen around here on a daily basis.

I've been neglecting my blog.

No idea why. Just have been. So this post will be a schloo of updates.

The main man doc from Cali e-mailed me back. He is very interested in taking a look at Colin to assess the situation. He may provide the same answer as our current doctor, but it will be peace of mind if nothing else. Now we have to work out insurance logistics...ugh...and figure out when to schedule the appointment. We already have a visit scheduled with my Dad in July, so that'll probably be it. Hate to wait that long, but obviously can't really just take off to Cali. I'll cancel the May 1 surgery for now...and figure the rest out later. Never got around to calling local docs for a second opinion yet, still on the to-do list.

I have lots of cute Easter pics, I'll post those tomorrow. The kids of course had a wonderful weekend and the holiday itself was great.

Chloe is adding word after word and finally says Ma Ma!!!!!!! Yippee! So happy. She also says a dun (all done) and pup up (puppy). I love it. She is so sweet.

I haven't actually started working yet, but tomorrow is supposed to be the day. Wish me luck!

I Got a JOB!

In less than a week from getting my final results, I received a job offer! And, it happened to be with my #1 choice of companies to work for! And they offered me a little more money than I was expecting! So, I'll be working on an oncology account, which I think will be okay. It happens to be an area that I struggled with in the course, but I'll take that as a challenge. I'm so excited to get started! Jeremy and I are going to spend the day getting my office set up and ready to go. Interested in being an MT? Check out this site. In exactly six months, I completed the course and got a job from home! I'm so happy I decided to do this! I'll never have to go work in an office again! Yipee!

I PASSED!

My medical transcription final! Yipee! With high honors! Now the job search begins! So happy this stage is past!

YIPEE!!!

I Just finished my medical transcription final!!! It is done, and I think I did really well! I started it Friday night and had 48 hours to complete it. It took more than 20 hours and I am soooooo glad to be done. I won't find out my results for a little while, but I'm pretty sure I did well. Hopefully I passed with honors!

Thanks to all who helped make things work so I could get this done! Jeremy got called to work this weekend on Friday, and both of our moms became last minute babysitters!!! Thanks so much! Thanks also to Jerm for stepping up and being super Daddy and making things so easy on me this weekend so that I had no worries but the test itself! Love you as much as always!!

HUGE sigh...of relief.

The Weekend and such.

This weekend was so nice. Pretty non-eventful, and therefore, relaxing. Friday I helped with the Half-Day Ministry at our church. Whenever the kids have a half day at school, we provide crafts and activities for K-6. Colin brought his buddy, Aiden. Saturday was spent convincing Colin that it was time to let go of some of his toys and to donate them so other kids who didn't have so many could enjoy them. We actually were able to fill three nice size boxes. Sunday we visited with Gram and Pap Ferra. Jeremy's Uncle Alan and his wife Selma were visiting with Vinnie as well, so that was nice. Chloe and Vinnie are just about old enough to "play."

This week I am preparing to take my final for the medical transcription course I've been taking. I'll start the exam on Friday with 48 hours to complete it. I'm nervous and excited. And very ready to be done and move on to other things...like a job. :)

So I've Done It.

I am officially a ChaCha guide. No, I won't be teaching dance lessons. Ha! So many of you are laughing at the mere thought! Stop it now!

ChaCha.com is a new search engine, like Google and Yahoo, except you have the option of having a live guide help you search. I am now said guide. Supposedly, you get paid, based on experience...anywhere from $5 to $10 an hour. So, I figured, I'm already on this hunk of technology for like 5 hours or so a day, for stuff for Colin and school and blogging and all of the other time wasting efforts of my life...might as well make a little income on the side.

I'll let you all know how it pans out. Could be a scheme, dunno. But, it was featured on Good Morning America and that Diane Sawyer, she's no joke!

Consumed.

With finding a way to make money from home. Just until I make it through my MT schoolwork. I started researching to help my mom find viable opportunities for at-home income, and then started thinking about some off the opps that might work for me. We need to work harder at building the kids college funds. :) If you've tried anything, good or bad, I'd love for people to share experiences. Minus stuffing envelopes. I already gave that a try. :) So funny how obsessed I can become on a whim.

Back on track.

This week ends our spell of appointment-free weeks. With all of the free time over the past few weeks, ha, I've been focusing on being more goal-oriented about finishing my coursework. For those of you unaware, I am once again in school! (surprise, surprise) This time, I am taking online courses to become a medical transcriptionist, something that, aside from Colin's issues, I know nothing about. But, it is a job that I can do at home to provide a little extra income. Thus, the lack of blogging! Something had to go! But, I'm back. I'll try to be more dedicated to updating. Honest. And, thanks to those diligent friends of ours who let us know you really are reading it...feel free to post here as well!

Colin received his second report card of the year and all is well, especially after realizing he missed 12 of the 55 days this quarter. I think he's trudging right along at a great pace. He had his first visit to the principal's office last week. He has been pushing the limits both at home and at school lately, which is fine. A phase, I'm sure. His crime: crawling under his desk after being repeatedly asked to stop. The funniest thing is, his teacher told him to take a walk to the principal's office and when he got there, to decide if he was ready to go back to class and follow her rules...if not, he need to talk to the "man." Colin chose to talk to the head honcho. (I personally think he was being nosey and wanted to see how the big man spent his day.)

He still will only wear the BAHA sporadically, which is fine. I still have my heart set on this super-dooper, one of a kind doc to open his canal soon anyway. :) If not, then we will push it a little harder. To that note...I am having all of his CTs and MRIs sent this week to said doc, along with profile pics of our boy and audiograms...time will tell. This amazing man has agreed to take a look at all of his information, FREE OF CHARGE, so that we don't have to make a special trip for a visit until we know if he truly is a candidate. Blessings, little blessings!

Next week we head back to orthopedics with the new ortho. doc to re-x-ray and see if his curvature has changed, thus determining if he'll return to wearing his brace 24-7. Please pray that things remain unchanged and that I find guidance to make a good decision about what to do next if they don't. I really don't think that the brace has made a difference for him in the past, and the research I have done tells me that this is typical, and I'm finding it hard to follow the advice of our ortho. docs...I honestly don't hold the most confidence in any of them. We lost our primary doc to retirement a year or so ago, and nothing has felt right since. His treatment has changed entirely, along with their speculations on where it will go over time.

Chloe took her first unaided steps yesterday! Colin was ecstatic! He wanted to "practice" again with her tonight. So funny and cute. She has also taken to sitting in his lap at any given opportunity. He loves it. She loves it. I love it. It usually ends with her applying a good smack to his head before toddling off to find something else to occupy her time, but it is so darn cute, if at least for the moment.

And, for those of you unable to view the video below: Chloe has said "Dad" forever. It is the only word she says consistently. But,now, when prompted to say "Mom," she replies with a determined "uh, uh!" She knows what I want to hear; she's just not ready to satisfy my Mommy craving in that way yet. Such a little diva!