I'm A Big Girl Now

What.A.Week.
  
This week was 8-5 for me..... with probably 36 hours of that being spent sitting in a room being bombarded with the complexity that is the CAP.

CAP stands for Community Action Project, and is now my first big girl job. I'm only a week in and I think this place is perfect for me. My heart is completely happy. Completely.

CAP Mission Statement: "Improving the long term economic prospects for low-income children, their families, and the community in which they live."    Wow. Breaking the cycle of poverty.... now that's something to work towards.

CAP serves children (ages infants-5 year old) of families in the Tulsa community that are living in poverty. The care they receive is completely free.... paid for by the federal government, state government, grants, and private donations. But they care they receive extends further than a quality education. For the families of CAP children, there are a million other services offered to support their needs (nutrition specialist, family and children services,  nurses that monitor children's health, mental health specialist, disability services, just to name a few). Families are given assistance in filing their taxes (so they can maximize their returns), can participate in a first time home owners program, are given the chance to earn education credits leading to a career in nursing (job security), and can take courses on parenting.  And there's never a reason for a family to go without food or shelter or clothes. The supports for families are endless with CAP. Which is what it takes to truly help a child break out of this cycle.

Two-Thirds of low income children in urban areas enter school unprepared.

In Tulsa County, approximately 17,000 children live in low-income families.

Research in early childhood education shows that 90% of brain growth occurs in the first three years of life.

Education gap leads to achievement gap.

By the age of three, children of parents who went to college have a language development that is three times the size of children who parents did not go to college.


CAP really does focus on the whole child.... which is what I love. Which is what all education should be focused on.


I'll be in a two year old classroom and I couldn't be more excited. It's an age I love, with a clientele I love, with a mission I love. The company is great and treats their employees wonderfully. There is so much support for the teachers.... it's unreal.

You'll be hearing much more about this new chapter of my life as the pages turn. I have one more day of orientation (next Tuesday) and then I'll get to move on to my school and begin interacting with children. I'm pumped

Browse the website and check it out a little more... I think you'll love it.

And She's Back....

After a 5 month hiatus, I'm back. Being completely done with school and student teaching has left room in my brain for the creative juices to start running again..... and Saturday it hit be head on. I have tons of projects pinned on pinterest that I want to work on, but yesterday I had to have a quick creative outlet that didn't cost a penny (because this week we have seriously been on a tight budget.... like tight... it's that weird time of year when we're waiting for Daniel's financial aid to hit the bank). So first off we started with some finger painting with Dax...

This was our first time to finger paint at our big boy table instead of the highchair and it went great. I started by putting small dots of three colors on his paper. He started out timid using only a couple fingers but quickly dove right in.

Then someone decided to try a little lick...

he decided that it didn't taste very good.... and didn't try it again :)
And these were the finished products.... masterpieces if I say so myself...

This precious hand print will be going in a frame in our living room... I'll post a pic of that when it's done.
 Well apparently watching Dax be creative wasn't enough.... so after he went to bed I began rummaging through my art supplies and decided to make a bunting for Dax's room. Since May I have been trying to decided what to do with Dax's window. It's a nice big window so I didn't want to cover it much with curtains.... and then this shade thing came with it (you'll see it in a pic in a minute, I'm not sure the technical name for it) and it blocked a lot of light out when it's closed (which is nice for nap time). Needless to say, no window treatment out there was making me happy. But a bunting.... now that would be perfect. Would add some color and happiness to the window without doing much to it. And plus.... every room would be a happier place with a bunting in it.

I had tons of scrapbook paper so I used some of those to make the flags.

Alene's Tacky Glue is my glue of choice for pretty much and craft project. I just put a super thin line on the tops of each flag and put the ribbon on.

And there's the finished product! I think it turned out super cute and I love all the colors! It was the perfect touch to the window, took about 20 minutes, and didn't cost a penny!  (And ps in the last picture you can see the mobile we made a couple months ago is still hangin strong!).

Well that was my creative outlet for the weekend.... hopefully now that I'm done with school I'll have more time to be creative

Christmas Vacay!

Don't worry world.... the Freno family is still alive and kicking!  We just got back from a two week vacation in which we stayed with my parents.... parents who are stuck in the 1920's and have no sort of technology... therefore the only Internet available to me was a wireless connection known at "QueenB"  (I wish I knew exactly what neighbor this was... that names promises an interesting person) that I was able to steal, but it moved at the pace of a turtle so I didn't dare try to write in the blog.   But here's the run down on our vacation.... which was absolutely perfect in every way btw.

Vacation started the evening after Dax's surgery to get tubes put in his ears. This went absolutely perfect.

This was our boy after getting his sedative before they took him back for the surgery. We got to keep this precious little gown, socks, and doctor teddy.  From the time they took him back til the doctor came out to tell us he was done was a total of 13 minutes.  It was super, super fast. If anyone is in the Tulsa area and needs an ENT I highly recommend Dr. Vaidya.   After surgery we went into the recovery room with him and were warned by the nurse before we went in that little ones really don't react real well when they're coming off of anesthesia.... and boy was that true. For about 30 minutes it was on and off uncontrollable screaming and throwing his little body back. It was tough for both of us but luckily that ended pretty quickly and we were able to head home. For about an hour after we got home he would have short bouts of screaming but quickly began acting like himself. By noon we were actually on the road heading to begin our vacation with the family.   It's been 2 weeks now since his surgery and it's amazing the difference. He has always talked a lot so I never realized how his ear infections were effecting his hearing until the hearing test at the ENT before the surgery didn't go well. But since the surgery his speech has gone to an entire new level. He is really getting out beginning and ending sounds of words that I guess he wasn't hearing before. He can really communicate great now. He can also repeat pretty much everything we say. I'm so thankful we went ahead with the surgery.

Like I previously mentioned... vacation was absolutely perfect. It was 2 full weeks of family time (my dream). I got to spend a lot of time playing with my nieces and nephews,  catching up with my brother and sister, visiting with all my aunts and uncles and cousins, running around with my mom and dad, visited with my grandpa and mimi (a close family friend who is like a grandma to me), and most importantly I got to watch Dax build relationships with the entire family. He's now at an age where he actually really interacts with everyone (after he gets over his initial shyness) so that was a lot of fun.  He absolutely adores his cousins and mawmaw and I could sit and watch him play with them all day. It was really special.

Christmas Eve started out with the tradition of me making sugar cookies with my niece and nephew.

This is the third year we've done this and I look forward to doing it for many more years! It's one of my favorite traditions and I'm pretty sure it's one of theirs too. They pick some to take home and leave out for Santa at their house, we eat some at our Christmas Eve party in the evening, and this year they picked out a couple for Dax to leave out for Santa as well. I'm sure Santa loved them :)

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite part of Christmas. This is when I spend the majority of the day baking goodies with my mom and then in the evening my brother, sister, and all of my nieces and nephews meet at my moms house and have our Christmas together. Growing up we spent Christmas Eve at my mom's parents house and since they've passed we've done it at my parents. It's a really,  really special time. The 17 of us jam into mom and dad's living room and watch all the little ones open their presents and then the grown ups play dirty Santa.

Christmas Day was so exciting this year! Christmas is 10x better when you have kids that's for sure! It was really fun to have my parents there with us Christmas morning. Dax got some great presents from Santa...

 a rocking horse, a cleaning cart, a rocking chair, a table and chair set, one of the classic telephones, an abacus, puzzles, colored pencils, wooden cars,  and of course books. In the future when there will actually be a separation between Santa gifts and mommy/daddy gifts we'll be doing  4 things from us (something you want, something you need, something you wear, and something you read) and then a couple small things and one big thing from Santa. Santa also found some organic lollipops (i think from toys r us) so that was an exciting stocking stuffer! 
Daniel and I also got a lot of great gifts. I'm pretty sure his favorite was a Wii and mine was by far my necklace from Vintage Pearl...

I love it. The green is Dax's birth stone. I have already been eyeing what I would like to add next... I'm thinking something like this with mine and Daniel's name on it...

After Christmas morning with our little family, we headed over to my aunt and uncles house to celebrate with my extended family. There about 30 of us so that promised to be a good time! This year was a little different for us though. We usually always spend Christmas Day at my grandma and grandpa Wilson's house, but since my grandma passed in September and my grandpa is in a nursing home not doing very well we had to have it somewhere else. I was worried that it wouldn't feel like Christmas.... but was completely wrong. It just proved that us all being together is all that really matters.... not where we're at. I missed my grandma all day but wore the bracelet I had given her all day so that helped me feel like she was there with us.
From there we headed over to Christmas with Daniel's family. We had Christmas dinner and opened presents and just spent time together. Dax got some great gifts... and so did we. My second favorite gift was this awesome scarf hanger from Daniel's sister..

Absolutely what I needed! I've had over 20 scarves hanging on a couple hooks on the back of our closet door and it never failed that every time I opened the door to our closet about 19 of those would fall to the ground.  Now I have them all nice and organized.... and even have a few spots open still... guess that means I can continue on with my scarf collection :)

Well the last part of our vacation we stayed just as busy. Trips to the zoo, New Years Eve party with my family, date to the movies with my brother and sister and their spouses, playing with all of Dax's new toys (and ours), and even more visiting with family.  If I haven't said it enough, I'll go ahead and say it again.... it was perfect.

We've been back home for about 2 days now... and I already miss my family terribly.

Oh... and while we were there... I got some exciting news.... I have my first teaching job :)   I'll post more info on that in the next blog.

My Christmas Angel

I see the countless Christmas trees
around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars,
reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular,
please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs
that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can't compare
with the Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you,
the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description,
to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me,
I see the pain inside your heart.
But I am not so far away,
We really aren't apart.
So be happy for me, dear ones,
You know I hold you dear.
And be glad I'm spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift,
from my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory
of my undying love.
After all, love is a gift more precious
than pure gold.

It was always most important
in the stories Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other,
as my Father said to do.
For I can't count the blessing or love
He has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and
wipe away that tear.
Remember, I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year.

A little overdue....

Well our boy is now 15 1/2 months old!! He's getting so stinkin' big way too fast! Here's a little on what he's been up to lately...

* Is 30 inches tall and weighs 26lbs.  That's between 10-25% in length and 50-75% in weight. Short and stocky.... that's our boy :)
* Will be getting tubes in his ears next Tuesday! EEK!  I'm nervous just for the simple fact that it's surgery.... but apparently they bounce back super quick from it and are feeling pretty good by the time evening comes. After 5 ear infections in a 6 months span.... I think I'll take the surgery over more ear infections.  At the ENT doctor he didn't do very good on his hearing test but they think that may be because of fluid in his ears so they'll test it again after the surgery. Prayers that no damage has been done so far!
* He runs ... all. over. the. place.
* He can now repeat pretty much everything we say.... including the work "sucka!"   Daddy learned that one pretty quick.
* He is still doing wonderfully at sleeping in his big boy bed. In the evening he'll often say "night night" and get his blankie and binky and walk back to his room when he's ready to go to bed. We do our bed time routine, walk out of the room, he'll usually play for a little while, and then will lay down on his bed and go to sleep.  Nap time on the weekends has gotten better but it has it's moments when it's still a  battle. I think his little body is slowly making the change to one nap a day so we'll be there before long.
* Food... boy does this boy love his food. His teacher comments on it pretty often too so apparently it's not just at home. His favorite things to eat right now are peas, veggie mini corn dogs, organic cheese pizzas, waffles, mandarin oranges, peaches, pineapple, berries, graham crackers. He's sort of weird on his veggies though.... he'll eat pretty much any veggie if it's pureed, but not any other way. I think it's a texture thing... in that case... he gets it from me ;)
* He absolutely loves to write! He carries pens and paper around the house a lot... it's pretty adorable.
* He loves to sing and dance.... and his dancing just keep getting better.
* His signing is really taking off. This was by far one of the best decisions we ever made. He now does milk, water, more, eat, please, swing, and help regularly. 
* Teeth... he is slowly but surely getting teeth. He now has the two bottom middle teeth, two upper molars, and one of the teeth that was busted through the gums on the top is now "usable" so I'm officially calling that a tooth now. 
* Christmas time has been super exciting for us. He's enjoying all the Christmas books and songs and lights and trees. He's been practicing his "ho ho ho's" as well :)

Well that's about it for our little man!!! This is my last week student teaching and then I'm off into the work of being a big girl.... I'll be posting on this adventure soon!