Beach and Bar

Saturday, Alex and I are off to Ocean City, MD with Abuelos while Pat puts in the last long haul towards the Bar exam.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers :)

pictures

Ok..as if there has not been enough NEW stuff... I updated the pictures (on the left) in July albums.

Enjoy :)

Update

Saturday, July 19th, the Bednars had a wonderful Crab Fest Picnic. The entire family went to play, talk, eat, and enjoy the pool. At the pool were 2 little girls about 3-4 years old who were swimming by themselves. Once Alex was in the pool with his swimmies, he wanted nothing to do with me and declared his independence. He swam away and went after the girls. It was a nice time :)

Sunday, July 20th, Alex and I traveled to Fairfield to sign paperwork and allow Pat time to study for the Bar. That evening, Abuelos had a church softball picnic. Alex had a blast running around, swimming, and playing in the rain. In the pool, Alex swam by himself and played with Logan a 6 year old boy. At the end of the picnic, there was a storm and both boys ran in circles very excited about the rain.

Monday, July 21st, Abuela watched Alex and I went to Hagerstown to sign paperwork. While there I was hit with surprise blows. 1, I would need to come in Wednesday to sign additional paperwork. 2, I was required to attend a New Teacher Academy Aug. 4-7th and 12-13th. 3, All teachers start on August 14th and students start on August 20th. Pat also contacted the landlord and found out that they will not let us out of the lease. So we will be payign this rent until October. Thankfully, Abuelos agreed to house us!

Tuesday, July 22nd, we visited Mammaw in the morning (see previous blog) and in the evening, we visited Magnee and Pap. At Magnee and Pap's, Alex got his first experience of Noggin' and Max and Ruby, explored Magnee's garden, played with weed wacker, snow blower, and lawn mower, and dug with 2 shovels.

Wednesday, July 23rd, Abuela watched Alex again as I sat through 2 hours of benefit information in Hagerstown. That evening, we all went to the Fairfield Firehouse.

Thursday, July 24th, we said goodbye to Abuelos and Mammaw and got boxes from El Vista. Alex and I visited a daycare, Children's 1st Academy, in Boonsboro that has an opening for Alex. Afterwards, Alex and I drove around Baltimore to home. Alex refused to sleep and had a few tantrum on the way... but we finally got home after 2.5 hours. Once we got home, Pat and I unloaded and started changing addresses on credit cards, cars, bank, investments, and every other bill. Are we forgetting anything?

Overall, a very busy time for the Carrs!

Fireman Kyle

How do you become a 2 year old's hero? Besides being a cartoon with a catchy song... you give him a tour of a firehouse!

Kyle was a great sport and showed Alex the Fairfield firehouse. Kyle graciously allowed Alex to "drive" the fire ENGINE (the one with hoses), fire TRUCK (with ladders), and ambulance. Kyle also showed Alex lots of hoses, ladders, hammers, extinguers, flashlights, hats, boots, poles, and TONS of medical equipment. Alex had Kyle open every door and explore every nook and cranny of the emergency vechiles. Alex LOVED talking to Fireman Kyle and leading him by the hand to explore new areas. Kyle was a great sport. At the end, he allowed Alex to close the doors and sent him off him toots of the horn that made Alex jump! :)

Visit with Mammaw

Tuesday morning, Alex and I went to visit Mammaw. There Alex got to water Mammaw's flowers with the watering can and hose, take a walk, have crackers, and drink milk from a Big Boy cup. At the end of the visit, Mommy and Alex were wet but everyone seemed happy :)

Yea!

Today was Pat's last day of BarBri classes. He now has less than 2 weeks until the Bar exam. We will all be very relieved when the studying is over :)

Other news, today Alex went without peeing in his trainer during errands, wetting during his nap, AND went poopy in the potty. Very exciting times.

Job stuff... Pat received his official letter for his job and will start September 15th. I will sign my contract with Boonsboro on July 21st.

Not so good news... Our medical benefits run out August 1st from Penn Delco and will not start with Boonsboro until September 1st. So we will have a month without medical coverage or hopefully receive CHIP assistance. However, we cannot apply for CHIP until August 1st.

I also contacted 2 daycares. Only 1 has gotten back to me and will not have a spot until January. I am hoping this is just a fluke and things will go more smoothly...

Potty Training

Less than a week of running around naked, we have started a potty training chart. For each time Alex went potty, he got a Curious George sticker for his chart. Todays sticker count: 14 stickers and 1 accident.

We are even at the point where Alex will go into the bathroom himself and setup himself on the potty. Then he will announce, "Mommy, I'm peeing!".

This has been an interesting experience :)

Growing Quick...

Yesterday, Alex took some big boy steps. 1st he climbed up on the toilet all by himself and went potty!

Then he climbed up on the kitchen counter to get a was cloth to help clean.

Crazy little monkey!

Puppet Show

The past 2 days, Alex and I have been trying to do a craft each day. Our craft has been making Sesame Street puppets. So far we have colored, cut out, and glued Bert and Oscar the Grouch. Then this afternoon, Daddy put on a puppet show for Alex which was met with rave reviews :)

PhotoShow

final job update...

Boonsboro High School will be my new teaching home...I will be teaching Spanish 1 and 2 on a block schedule using Realidades :)

Lord please give us strength!

Trike

While visiting Abuelos, Alex rediscovered his trike from Gramps. Unfortunately, most of the time was spent in the house (happily riding around in circles and playing loud music) but some time was outside. This is when Abuelo wanted to teach Alex how to ride down the hill. You will see Alex riding down the hill, refusing to bring the trike back up the hill, and demanding to go higher up the hill.

Explorer Alex

Since I got a new camera, I am not as protective of my old one (is that a mistake?). This has allowed Alex to go around snapping pictures and enjoying every minute of it :)

4th of July

For our Independence Day, we relaxed in the morning and then had Gramps and Mimi over for dinner. Once everything was cleaned up, we drove over to Sun East Bank to watch the fireworks at Sun Valley. We got there too early and waited 30 mintues or so in the rain. During the fireworks, Alex was strapped into his stroller and was ready to leave after the first 5 minutes. No fear over the noise but was bored to tears (literally) over the pace. We got to see the finale and then home to bed!

Fairfield Visit

June 27th to July 2nd, Alex and I spent the time at Abuelos while Daddy was busy with his BarBri classes. The time was spent interviewing, visiting family and friends, riding tractors, and driving his trike. Alex and I had enjoyed ourselves!

Happy Birthday, Mimi

Mimi's actual birthday is June 27th but since Alex and I going to be away, we celebrated a day early! On Thursday, Pat, Alex, and I went to Mimi's to make chicken and saffron rice and celebrate. The dinner was fun, Pat helped Mimi set up her new TV, and then we were off to the pool. It was a nice evening!