Now and Then

A year ago...

Obviously I still suck at this blogging thing, but I'll give it a good old fashioned college try for a moment.  Lately I just can't seem to get over what a "big girl" I have now.  I think with every stage of life we've said that this is our favorite stage, but I think I now mean it...again! :)  Three is a great age!  I just sit here and marvel at the conversations I can carry on with my child.  I am amazed by the things she remembers, and I love the fact that I can actually talk with her about her day.  This school year has really taken a toll on me already, and I've had several "I am a horrible mom" moments in the last few months.  Even with my feelings of inadequacy, Lainey always manages to put a smile on my face.  She says the funniest things and looks so darn cute saying them!  I really do miss her all day long, but enough of that...

Just enjoy these current pictures of our sweet girl!

Now!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lainey Girl!

We celebrated Lainey's 3rd birthday this past weekend with the family.  We threw her another birthday party with her friends back in Memphis in July before we moved, so this one was a little more low key with family only.  It was nice to FINALLY have my parents at one of Lainey's birthday parties...it's also nice that we have seen them 9 out of 10 weekend we have lived here! :) 

Her actual birthday is today (the 19th), but we did all of our celebrating on Saturday.  We started by patiently waiting for Nana and Papa to get here.  Once they arrived we decided watching a little Huskers football would be the logical next thing to do to celebrate her birthday! (Sidenote--we will try our hardest to not have another child during football season.  There's just certain things that should not be planned during football season, and birthday parties is one of them, ha!)  My mom, my future sis-in-law, Megan and I took Lainey to Build a Bear for her birthday fun.  She picked out a lovely little dog which she proceeded to dress like Buzz Light Year and name Buzz.  We then headed back home for the family to come over and have cupcakes. 

This was a different birthday this year because I threw this party together very haphazardly...guess that's what working full time does to you!  Oh well!  Happy Birthday to our sweet girl who is weighing in at 33 lbs. and is 38 in. tall.  We love having "real conversations" with her now!  Cannot believe it's been three years since I was laying in that hospital room.  She was and continues to be a blessing daily.

The sweets spread

water balloon wreath for the front door

pig cupcakes

Sweet cheeser!  Funny story about this outfit...I bought it back in June at Cotton Tails in Memphis thinking it would be great for her mid September birthday.  Well it was 53 degrees in Omaha yesterday...yes, you read that right!  Needless to say we put her in it yesterday and didn't let her go outside! :)

Family Pic!  This is the best we could get...

We had a great weekend!  Now on to planning next year's party...

Back to the "Real World"

Ok so after two years of not being in the classroom, I have mixed feelings about what I'm about to do.  This year I am taking the full leap back into full time teaching, and I will have my own sixth grade class.  This stirs up many emotions for me!  As most of you know, I have been teaching K-8th grade computer part-time the last two years.  While I would not have traded that time at home with Lainey for anything, most of you know I was MISERABLE in that position!  Whether or not we would have moved this year, I knew for certain that I would be teaching in a classroom again.  That is where my heart is...that's what makes me happy!  That being said, God, of course, knows my heart and knew this is what I needed.  He gave us a clear sign that we needed to move to Nebraska, and we made the decision and took the leap of faith.  After deciding to move to Nebraska (jobs or no jobs) at the end of April, I was offered a position the very next month with one of the best school districts in the Omaha area.  God is so good!!!  Just goes to show what can happen when you put your trust in Him and follow where He leads! 

We've had a crazy busy summer so far, and since we moved three weeks ago I have put in some quality time at school trying to get my classroom ready.  I LOVE this time of year!  I'm the big dork who gets all giddy when the school supplies come out at Target.  I walk down those aisles every time I'm in the store...and that's A LOT!!  So needless to say, I have enjoyed getting my room ready for my new set of 6th graders.  You could say I'm not your normal upper elementary teacher...I tend to have a little but of Kindergarten in me!  My room always has some sort of color theme, and of course I like the matchy matchy.  This gets difficult when you're talking about decorating a room that will have 11 & 12 year old boys in it!  I've decided that at the end of the day, I'm going to make my room look fun and exciting, but also put enough girly touches in it to make Mrs. Tosic happy every day!  Here's a preview of my new class.  It's 93% finished...now I just have to start the undoubtedly difficult task of public school curriculum and assessment!

This is the view from my front door

Another one from the front door...

This is by my door when the kids first walk in.  This is where they will answer a daily question for me to track attendance, and where they will tell me which lunch they are having that day. 

Another view of the front of the room and my guided reading table.

A more close up picture of their morning stuff

My calendar that I am in LOVE with!!  This was the first year I actually got to use my Cricut for the classroom, so I made my calendar numbers, months, and holiday markers.  Come to find out though that I also have another calendar in which I have to do calendar math, so this is just my personal pretty one to look at! :)

Another view of the room.  I have a great big window and a door that leads outside to a little reading area with benches and tables.  How I lucked out in having a big room again in my teaching career, I don't know, but I'm not complaining!

Back of the room.  This would be where the other 7% that is not finished would be!  I have NO clue what's on those shelves and what I need on them, so we're saving that until I actually start back next week.

My desk :)

And of course my "must have"...a Huskers football schedule poster!  I can't express to you how fun it is to see red EVERYWHERE you go!!!  That will never get old!  To give you an idea, I had training for a special sixth grade Outdoor Education trip we do, and 3 out of 5 teachers had a Huskers shirt on. :)

            

So there's a preview of Mrs. Tosic's 6th grade class!  So far everyone here on staff has been incredibly nice and helpful, and I really feel blessed to be part of such a great team of teachers!  I miss my CDS friends, but am obviously being shown daily that God had a plan for us to be here. 

In unrelated news, my brother is coming tomorrow!!!

Rotella Bread, Dorothy Lynch Dressing, and Runza

So I've officially been a Nebraskan for over a week now.  In that time I have jumped right in and taken part in some of the things I love about Omaha...all of them being food! :)  We have a local bread bakery here-Rotella's Italian Bakery-and it is AMAZING!!!  They have the best bread, rolls, buns, etc.  The best part about it all is that the wholesale store is less than 5 minutes from our house.  The first weekend we were here we got a loaf of whole wheat bread, a loaf of raisin bread, and two bags of rolls for under $4!  LOVE IT! 
Another one of my first purchases here was Dorothy Lynch dressing.  A few of you have had the pleasure of experiencing my most favorite dressing, and now I am SO glad I can get it anytime I want.  We always had it at my grandparents' house, so not only is it delicious, it has sentimental value too.  And lastly...Runza!  Runza is a fast food chain up here that I have loved since I was a little girl.  Once again...sentimental value.  My grandparents just recently moved into an apartment from the home that they had lived in FOREVER.  They had a Runza just down the street from their house, so we used to walk down there when we were visiting to eat.  We would also spend 4th of July evening set up behind Runza because it was the prime fireworks watching spot (and you know how much I LOVE the 4th of July and all things related!!!).  So yes...we have already eaten Runza since being in town, and I am almost positive we will eat it again soon.  The funny part is, we don't even eat their "signature item", the Runza (Homemade dough made from scratch everyday — stuffed full of ground beef, onions, cabbage, and secret spices—and then baked fresh and served hot.)...we eat their burgers and frings!

Anyways...enough of my rambling about food.  I am going to try to do a better job keeping up with this blog now that we are so far away.  In other news, we are attempting the whole potty training thing with Lainey right now.  I HATE it!!!!  She goes every time we put her on the potty, but she's not a fan of telling us when she needs to go.  As with everything in her life, it has to be on her terms!  The good news is her preschool helps with potty training, so we'll be ready for that reinforcement when she starts next week! 

I have a lot more to tell about back to school and what not, but that will have to wait until another day.  I'm at Borders using their Wi Fi, and I'm thinking I will be kicked out in the very near future!  I did work in my classroom today and was reminded how much FUN it is to get the room ready for the year.  Oh how I have missed that the last two years!!  I met with my co-teacher the other day and met a few other teachers.  Everyone seems SO nice, and I really think I am going to like it at my new school.  It's fun to see how God is putting everything in order and has lined things up so nicely! 

Our New Home

I figured I would post pictures on here as opposed to posting them all over the Facebook world...

Getting ready to leave Memphis...

Arriving at our new home!  The first thing I did was put my "T" flag in the yard...this shouldn't surprise you!

DISCLAIMER::  I feel that I must tell you that we are renting this house for at least a year.  Those of you who are familiar with renting can empathize with me when I tell you that we are extrememly restricted as to what we can do to the house.  Forget that all the changes I want to make (paint, cabinets, light ixtures, mailbox, etc) would all IMPROVE the quality of the house...our landlord still feels the need to be stuck in 1970, and I guess I have to come to terms with the fact that it's his property-his rules!  That being said...ignore the WHITE walls and know that I will try to do all I can to work with these things I cannot change in the meantime! :)

THE DINING ROOM

This is my new Pottery Barn table that I have been wanting FOR-EV-ER!!!  The chairs were my parents that my mom repainted black.  I found fabric I love at Premier (of course!), and my mom took over from there.  She redid the chair pads, and she made the cute little window treatment for my lovely vertical blinds.  Some of you are undoubtedly laughing at my giant silverware.  I'm in love!  I found them at Hobby Lobby awhile back and have been dying to use them!  The end result...attaching them to mat board to somewhat achieve the look I was going for.  (Hopefully this light fixture will change in the near future!) 

GUEST/LAINEY'S BATHROOM

This is one of our two TINY bathrooms.  Although we've lived in an apartment for the last six years, we've had decent sized bathrooms.  This is an adjustment for the Tosics, but we are learning things we don't want in a house we buy!  Don't be fooled by the shower curtain...there is only a bathtub behind there, but I felt the need to use my pretty shower curtain I made, so there ya go!

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GUEST ROOM

I just smiled as I typed that!  It's been 3 years since we've had a guest room (obviously since the little blonde one came along), and let's just say it has been interesting seeing how many people we can fit in our tiny apartment when my family would come in town.  Now they all have somewhere to stay!!!  Lainey refers to this room as "Nana'sRoom" as she stayed with us the first few days and will hopefully be returning soon!!  This room (as with the whole house) is still a work in progress!

LIVING ROOM (a.k.a. my favorite)

So I've always dreamed of having a living room that's just for sitting and talking...no tv's, no toys, nothing!  I get that in this house, and I have loved every minute of it!  That blue chair has become my most favorite spot in the house.  I can sit there and look through the mail, read a book, work on school stuff, or simply stare out the window...all of this while still being able to hear Lainey downstairs playing.  It has been SO nice to have a "toy free" living room!  Any of you who have been to our old apartment(s) will notice a big change of color.  Insert AMAZING Mom here!!  While I was at New Teacher Orientation she was hard at work on these window panels and pillows!  She did such a good job!  Thanks, Mom!!  About the only thing I contributed to this room was the fabric/color choice, and I did the shade on my Goodwill find lamp.  The walls are bare, but they will be filled eventually...just not sure with what yet!

BASEMENT (otherwise known as the PLAYROOM & MAN CAVE)

Oh wow!  I mean, I knew having a basement was going to be great, but I did not know just how great until I finally got one!  We have put ALL of Lainey's toys downstairs and made the rule that they are not allowed anywhere else in the house.  She has tested that about twice in the last week, but I think she's catching on.  She LOVES her new playroom, and has "cooked" for us a lot more lately, ha!

Man Cave

So Jovan finally has a man cave!  He has to share with Lainey, but I'm sure he would tell you he doesn't mind one bit.  He has both TV's down there and his PS3 (which conveniently broke earlier this week).   Both of our DVD players also decided to stop working this week, but we have since replaced it.  Seeing as we have no cable and will not for awhile, we were in need of something for those rainy days! 

The lovely bachelor-looking furniture came from my grandparents' basement and will soon be reuphosltered once I can decide on a fabric.  You may also notice even though this is technically his man cave, I still get to have my Huskers and Tigers stuff in there too. :)

LAUNDRY ROOM/CRAFT ROOM

So this is a MUCH needed space for me!  My laundry room is an actual room with a good amount of extra space.  This room truly creeped me out until we fixed it up a little bit and got all my crafty stuff in it.  It's home to the heaters, the washer and dryer, and a constant drip.  The only lighting in here was a light bulb with a pull string...are you getting the creepy picture?! 

We have since added a little cute fabric, my old rug, and all of my crafting equipment.  It's made it much more homey, and I am no longer afraid of being in there!  Best part is, just as Lainey's toys were overtaking our space, so was my craft stuff...now it all has a place!

Hope you enjoyed installment #1 of pictures.  Kitchen, Master Bed, and outside pics to come!!

Say Cheese!

This has become our new favorite thing to do EVERY time we leave the house! 

Lainey: "Mommy, take a picture a me." 

Me: "Baby, I don't have my camera." or "Baby, my camera's in my bag." or whatever other excuse I can use to hurry her along while we are usually in a hurry to get to school. 

Don't get me wrong...I'm excited that she is actually wanting to get her picture taken, but it's at the most inconvenient times, ha!  Oh well!  I won't complain...I mean, just look at that face!!

Here's what's going on these days with the Tosics.  I have given up on keeping a good record of our Lainey Boo, so I will try to recap for myself to the best of my ability.  Lainey turned 2 1/2 on March 19th, and yes I keep up with that stuff because my half birthday is very important to me so Lainey's will be important as well.  She talks about pee peeing on the potty, but has only really gone on there about 3 times.  We are actually encouraging this because we do not want to potty train her before our big vacation.  I'm pretty sure we could fine about 15 books out there telling us we are being bad parents right about now, but hey--we're playing the selfish card and trying to make this trip as easy on all of us as possible! 

Lainey still loves going to school and lately has also run into her class at church.  She talks about school and church ALL the time!  If you ask her where a train or plane is going, she will 9 times out of 10 tell you it's going to church. :) 

The cutest thing ever is to hear this girl tell us she lubs (loves) us.  (She's still having trouble with her V's being B's, but the psycho teacher in me is not worried about it quite yet)  She loves to be tickled by her Daddy, but she HATES having her hair washed these days.  It's the craziest thing.  The thing she does love about bath time though is that she gets to spend time with her Daddy and her dragon hooded towel she gets to wear at the end.  Her favorite colors right now are pink and purple.

When we stop at a red light, she is extremely impatient and wants it to turn GREEN!! GREEN!!!

Lainey is definitely an encourager.  She is always telling us "You can do it!" and "Go Mommy!  Go Daddy!"  

She has great manners!  We can always count on her to say her please's, thank you's, and excuse me's.  Truly a Southern Belle, as much as I hate to say it!  She can keep those attributes of a Southern girl as long as she doesn't have a crazy drawl. 

I love writing about the wonderful things, but I think I need to write about the not so wonderful times too.  Many tears have been shed over an embarrassing moment with my child.  She is an EXTREMELY active and strong-willed young lady, and we are really not sure how to handle it.  We are trying, but there are certainly days when I feel like I honestly don't know what to do with her.  Pair that with the extreme guilt I feel since I am blessed to have a healthy baby girl when so many others have sick children or would give anything to have my independent woman, and you have ONE HOT MESS of a mama!!!  For every bad day though, we have a great one that puts things in perspective.  As a dear friend laid it out for me the other day--Lainey has had her own agenda since the moment she was conceived.  I had never really thought about that, and it is SO true!  She's a stubborn little fighter and has been since day 1.  She knows exactly what she wants and will do everything in her power to get it.  She is absolutely brilliant...and I can honestly say that is an unbiased statement.  She is the light of our lives and we are loving every minute...good and bad! 

How Do I Look?

So I don't know if it's just because I love hearing it, or because Lainey sounds so stinkin cute when she answers, but our new favorite question to ask her is "How do I look?"  The reason it is our favorite question is because the answer never changes...Lainey always says "You look byoo-ful!"  Such a sweet girl!

The Never Ending Birthday

So for basically the whole month of December we talked to Lainey about the true meaning of Christmas and whose birthday we were really celebrating.  We would constantly ask her whose birthday it was and she would promptly respond "Jesus."  At school they had a program and the closing song was "Happy Birthday, Jesus".  Lainey would sing this all the time over the holidays, and here almost two months later she is STILL singing it! 

The other night she wanted to play with the matches and watch the fire, ha!  Of couse she doesn't play with them...I light them and she tries to blow them out.  We told her to sing Happy Birthday while she was doing it and this is what she said:

"Happy Birthday, Jesus!  I know you like to party!"

 Needless to say Jovan and I were ROLLING on the floor!  Thank God for video, right?!

"I LOVE it!"

That seems to be the phrase of choice for a certain 2 year old these days.  She "LOVES" everything!  The other night I got my maternity clothes back from a friend who was borrowing them and I had to go through them and get them ready to give to the next pregnant friend (SIDENOTE--EVERYONE is pregnant these days...it's an epidemic around here!).  As I was sorting them, Lainey kept coming and picking them up and telling us how much she loved them.  Her exact quotes:  "Oh, I love this!  I love this!  This is so cute!  I love this dress!  Oh I love it!"

Jovan and I were seriously cracking up!  She is just about the cutest thing we have ever seen! 

Lainey's new kitchen Mommy made her

                                                                GO TIGERS!!!

Averaging Two Months...

So it seems that I cannot quite get motivated to keep up with my journaling.  This will naturally be one of my "resolutions."  We reached a major milestone today...Lainey is sleeping in her big girl bed this evening.  I cannot believe it for several reasons...1. I can't believe that she finally climbed out of her bed.  2.  I can't believe she just now figured out how to climb out.  and 3. I can't believe my baby is old enough to be in a big girl bed.  We seriously were not planning on changing it until we got pregnant again...guess I'll just add that to the long list of "things I had planned!"

There's so many things I want to remind us of right now.  Lainey is seriously one of the funniest kids I have ever met, and she seems to get cuter by the day if that's even possible!  Some of our favorites these days:

1. the way she says her "V's" as "B's" (mobies, beggie tales, etc.)
2. Her musical mix of "Happy Birthday Jesus" and "Jingle Bells".  She sings them ALL the time! 
3.  Me: "Lainey, did you go poopy?"  Lainey: "No, it was Bear!"
4. The fact that she knows her grandparents and calls them by name.
5. When she is asked a question now she can answer yes or no...and actually know what she is saying!
6. She loves to play Hide and Seek which her Nana taught her.
7. Her new thing is emphatically saying that she "loves" everything.  "I love purple!"  "I love candy canes!" 
8. We're pretty sure she's right-handed, but she likes to throw left-handed.
9. She loves cooking and enjoys helping in the kitchen.  She got her own kitchen for Christmas which we placed right next to ours.


There's so many more things that I need to record, but it will have to wait for another time when my brain is not so tired!  We're so blessed to have this little girl, and I can honestly say every day gets better and better with her!