5 Years Ago Today!!!

I became Mrs. Amber Marie McMullin 5 years ago today! I look back to this day and think where did the time go? I have accomplished soo much since then and continue to do so! In the time that has past, I have become of mother (of 2 AMAZING INCREDIBLE BOYS) and have finished my bacholers degree in education. I have also went back to school to attain my ZA endoresement for Early Childhood Education, and have also become a preschool teacher!! I have also become an aunt to 1 beautiful niece, and to 2 super fun nephews!! My life continues to get better and better.

I often think back to my wedding day and all the feelings come rushing back to me! I literally married my best friend!! That sounds cliche' I know, but I really have. He is my absolute soul-mate that GOD picked out just for me and no one else! He knew before the two of us were even born that we would be together and shaped our lives into the people he wanted us to be when we got married. That is sooo humbling to think about. His hand has been and always will be in our marriage. He is at the forefront of our marriage, even at times when it doesn't seem so. He enabled us to become parents and be the role models for Johnathon and Karson and our little one that will become later on!

Michael is so supportive and is always there for the small things that have come up in our marriage and of course for the life changing and tough situations! I never imagine having anyone else for me to grow old with. The two of us are inseperable!! We do mostly everything together except when I need time out with my friends, or when I just need "me" time! No one could ever compare to the support, compassion, belief, integrity, honesty, and the many more things I have found in Michael. He is truly my angel from God.

I love you more than you know and I thank God everyday for you Michael.

Thank you for your love, and unconditional support in everything I do!!
Here's to the next 5 years and beyond!! I love you more than you know! The words I have written here cannot possibly compare to the immense passion and emotions I really feel for you!!!!

Christmas Tree!!

We put up the tree tonight and decided that we’d have the boys help us hang the ornaments…I was a little scared a first since some of them are breakable and wasn’t sure how well the boys would do since well…they’re BOYS!! But, they had A LOT of fun and turned out pretty good!! The picture of the tree doesn’t give it justice…it’s WAY prettier in person :) I’m really excited for Christmas this year…we have a lot to be thankful for and for family that will be home!!! Can’t wait!!!!

Karson’s Surgery!

Karson is just about 20 months now and isn’t talking where he should be :( I’ve always wondered if he had fluid wrapped around his little ear drums where everything sounds muffled to him. I’ve talked to my doctor on many occasions about this, but he wanted to wait until he was a certain age to make sure we weren’t pushing it or anything, so I finally got my wish! Karson was referred to Dr. Spoto when he reached 18 months because he still wasn’t talking and making much conversation. Karson is filled with frustration because he can’t vocalize what he wants and often is whiny and overcome with anger because mommy and daddy don’t know what he needs or wants so he’s constantly pulling at us to go somewhere to show us what he wants :(

At Dr. Spoto’s office, they gave Karson a hearing test to see if he could pass a hearing test. I explained that I know he can hear since he follows our directions and does things we ask him and comes to us when we call him from the other room. They basically explained that the test would let us know if there was fluid way in the back of his ears where it could possibly hinder his hearing because everything was not as loud and things could sound muffled. That relieved me A  LOT because my thoughts and feelings were beginning to feel validated! When they ran the test, they explained that the normal range of hearing is between a +50 to a –150. When the results came back, Karson’s right ear was a –250 and his left ear didn’t even register!! That is crazy to me!! So, because of this, they recommended tubes so that they can drain out that fluid and keep his ears clean and clear of fluid so that he may be able to finally “hear” at the range he should be. This all happened about a week and a half a part…VERY FAST!

We went into the hospital at 6:15 this morning and he was brought into surgery at 7:30. The procedure was fast and efficient, but since he was put under during that time, we had to wait after the surgery for him to recover and feel back to normal. He did really good except that he didn’t wake up from the anesthesia very well. He was very cranky and out of sorts when he woke up and needed much comfort! I felt bad for him and was upset because I couldn’t comfort him!! After we were in the recovery room for awhile, he woke up more and was able to eat some grahmmy’s and drank some juice so that the nurses knew he was well enough to leave. We packed up our things and left to go to grandma’s house to get Johnathon. There he put down some oatmeal and chocolate milk and became our Karson again.

I hope and pray that these tubes will help him gain the hearing he needs to start vocalizing and making conversations! You’re not supposed to compare children, but I can’t help but look at other children his age that are talking in full sentences and that are able to express their wants and needs…it pains me that Karson is not there yet, but we will see what is in store for him! Karson is also receiving speech therapy and Julie is not concerned with him. He is trying to imitate sounds and try to get his voice heard so that is a good sign! We’ll just have to wait and see how these tubes will do and we will continue to do everything we can to help our precious Karson!!

Karson into Fortune Magazine?

We went to the doctor for Karson to check on his bow-legged legs and while we were waiting in the waiting room, he grabs a magazine and hands it to Mike to read…well kind of anyway!! He doesn’t grab a book or something that looks remotely interesting, but Fortune Magazine!! Don’t know what that’s all about, but maybe he’s already planning his future?? If he is, that’s great!! He can be rich and take care of Mike and I :)
People that know my family are always comparing Karson to my younger brother Austin and it’s all too true…he looks just like him as well as his personality!! He is VERY strong willed and independent…oh my…it’s gonna be a long 18 years :) Well worth them though!
As for his legs….NO BRACES!! The doctor is not concerned with his legs. He said as long as there isn’t a family history of bow-leggedness, he will grow out of it. It could take up to a couple years to self correct, but he is perfectly fine :)
Enjoy the pic!!

ApPle PiE!!

Last Tuesday, Johnathon and I went to an apple pie class where we made an apple pie together! We had so much fun rolling out the dough, shaking the apples with the cinnamon sugar, flouring the top crust, and putting it all together! Johnathon really enjoyed flouring everything including himself. We went to this class at OVEE and got to spend some alone time together. It’s really getting to that time where I need to make sure that the boYs get time individually from Mike and myself, so Johnathon and I decided that we would go make a pie :) We can’t wait to try it on Thanksgiving. He is sooo excited to show everyone his pie and his accomplishment! It is really cute. He’s been asking me every night if we are going to eat apple pie.
Can’t wait to make Christmas cookies with Karson and Johnathon!

Our Nightly Ritual!!

Every night before we send the boYs off to bed, we read them a story…well, usually it’s Michael since I’m getting things ready for the next day! Johnathon and Karson both listen intently to the stories and try to re-tell the story afterwards. J likes to read us the story too! Some of them he even has memorized :) My boYs are precious!! Still can’t believe I’m going to have a 4 year old and a 2 year old coming up here in the following months…where did the time go?? I thank God everyday for such the amazing gift of motherhood. I never thought that I would have become a mother so soon (22!!) but these have been the best years of my life and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for our family!!

Thank you GOD!!!

J found my camera!!

So I was going to get my camera today and thought I’d look to see what was on there before I took some pictures of the boYs and this is what I found!!! TOO FUNNY :) I think that just maybe he’ll get his own digital camera for Christmas!!

Halloween Fun!!!

Halloween was a couple weeks ago, but the McMullin household has been busy! Halloween night was filled with visiting friends and family in costume! The boYs are still a little young to fully go trick.or.treating, so we always go see grandmas who fill our Halloween buckets :) It’s a fun time to get them dressed up really cute and show them off! Johnathon this year was a mail carrier in support of his Grandma J, and Karson was a train engineer! They were too cuTe!! We also took them out to dinner for Aunt Sarah who is now in Montana :(

All in all, it was a fun night! Here are some pictures to showcase their night :)

**~Halloween 2008~**

Lewis Farm Fun!!

Today we took the boYs out to Lewis Farm with Karrie, Andy, Dominic, Brecken, and Grandma J!! We started out by going to breakfast to fill our tummies for the trip :) When we got there, it was extremely windy, but I was excited to get the boYs out to pick their pumpkins and to have a little fun!! They had so much to do! There was an awesome petting farm along with slides, a train, a pumpkin moon walk, and of course the pumpkin patch!! We didn’t get a chance to ride the train or go on the moon walk mostly because it was sooo cold and they were starting to get tired but we still had fun together! At the end of the trip we picked out some cinnamon apple donuts to take home and some apples to make apple crisp! I LOVE the fall and the colors and scenery of the trees, and the time we were able to share together with our family!!

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yummy!!

Mike made pancakes and sausage tonight, but thought he’d give the boYs a treat at the same time! He made them chocolate chip pancakes…Karson thoroughly enjoyed them…a little too much! I can’t believe I got all the chocolate off of his face and hands(: These are some of the best times of our lives right now and I cannot believe how fast my boYs are growing right before me!!

Dad’s day with the boys…

Nothing much to write about.  Just another day with me and the boys.  Had to go buy a space heater today… starting to get cold, but no way we’re turning on the furnace yet.  Kid’s ate corndogs and microwaved mac and cheese for lunch *shivers*

..testing out a Windows Live Writer to write this post..

Karson...out!!

Last night Karson was playing with his 2 faVorite toys of the moment, and he was laughing, playing, and just plain having a good time!! Mommy decided since he was doing well to finish up some emails and a couple minutes later, this is how she found him (: Too cuTe!! How do you even put him in his real bed when he looks sooo comfy??

Poor Johnathon!!

So this week Johnathon came down with Hand, Mouth, and Foot...what the heck is that you ask??
Well, it's a stupid virus that causes sores in the the mouth, mostly in the back of the throat.
So...he's pretty much been on a liquid diet since Tuesday and he can't really even drink water cuz it hurts him too much!!
This is taking a toll on all of us!! His sleeping patterns are horrible and Mike and I have maybe gotten 2 hours of GOOD sleep each night.
I'm just hoping Karson doesn't come down with it...it is the BIGGEST pain in the world!! J has been trying to make the best of it though...we've pretty much been drowning him with tynelol and letting him play Wii tennis to ease his pain.
Here are some pics that really show he is not himself ):


Poor J is sleeping on the couch...he wouldn't sleep in his room!!

Karson even felt bad for him!! He's trying to comfort him!

ooPs!! Karson woke him up!! He's not looking too thrilled ):

~*I'm FINALLY a Teacher!!!*~

I just knew that when I went back to school to get an additional endorsement on my teaching certificate something had to happen in my job field for me!!! It took me 6 years to finish my teaching degree and the teaching market was horrible (and still is) and I thought that I should go back to school to get another endorsement on my certificate since that's what everyone was telling me that I should do to become more marketable. I took that advice and enrolled into Baker to get my ZA (early childhood) endorsement. Last fall I started that adventure full time along with working at Wesco full time and let me tell you it was HARD juggling it all with my family life! Then along came February of this year when my friend Kristi told me to go apply to become a preschool aide for the MSR program at OV. I did that and was hired the same day! So, then I was working 2 jobs (=55 hrs/week!!) and continuing to go to school full time to complete my ZA...the only reason I was working 2 jobs was because Wesco was paying for my school :)
I finished my ZA in June and took the certification test in July and of course passed with flying colors, but the test worried me because I had soooo much riding on it!

Fast forward to now...
At the start of this school year, we did not hit the preschool numbers of children that we thought we would, so everyone was somewhat worried as to what was going to happen with jobs and we thought we were possibly going to lose some staff :( We had an emergency staff meeting after school a couple weeks ago to discuss the changes that had to take place in our preschool department in order for everyone to keep their jobs. Because our staff numbers exceeded the student ratio (meaning too many staff for the number of children we had) we had to "eliminate" 2 positions in the MSR department. The directors decided that we would keep everyone, but we needed to move 2 people to another building in order to make this happen. So, we were adding another head start classroom with a MSR teacher...this type of classroom just got passed into legislation and everyone decided that this would be best for all of us! Because we needed an MSR teacher, those who were already a teacher were given the option to move to the other building. None of the teachers wanted to move since we already started the school year and of course none of them wanted to give up their students. Since all of them turned down the position, I was next in line to take the opening if I wanted it! Of course I said yes!!! This means that I have my own classroom now and I'm officially a teacher!! I'm teaching preschool, but now I can finally get some teaching experience under my belt and move on later to a K-5 position if I choose to, but I may stay in the preschool department! I am sooo excited! I get to organize/arrange/and decorate the classroom the way I want to :) I got to order new stuff for the classroom and Mike's grandpa is building me some really cool toys shelves!! The classroom was totally empty when I started so I knew that I had a lot in store for me...

There is a lot of work to put into this, and I'm working away to get it finished by September 29th!! That's my kids' first day with me!! I have 14 students whom I get to meet next week!! God has opened this door for me and has blessed me with my own classroom!! I also get a pay raise and benefits so that's really cool too!!
If anyone wants to come see my room when it's finished, let me know!! I would love for you to come see it!!

J in Preschool!!!

Today marks a new chapter for Johnathon and for myself! Today was Johnathon's first day of preschool!!! I really still cannot believe it! He is already in school and I can still remember all the memories of being pregnant with him, labor, delivery, birth, and him growing into the little man he is today! He may be a stinker at times, but he is truly one of the greatest gifts I have ever received (along with Karson!!) and I am thankful that God has blessed me with my boYs!!

J had soo much fun! They sang, danced, played with toys, and listened to a story :) J impressed his teachers by building a tower of 21 blocks and counted the 21 blocks in order...he is gonna be my math whiz!! J is going to preschool with his cousin Gabby! I was nervous about that at first, but having each other there I think will help them make this transition!

Mommy didn't cry either!! I'm really surprised. I thought about it all night and morning, but when we got there, tons of things were going on and I didn't have time to blink and think about crying :) I'm normally a really sensitive person especially when it comes to things like this, but
maybe that'll be at the end of the year!

Here are some pictures capturing his adventure!

J walking up to the school all by himself!

Posing for a picture outside the school :)

Gabby and J had to walk in together!!

Too cuTe!!

They are sooo excited!

Going in to see Miss. Brennan and Ms. Aldridge!

Mom getting another picture before he goes in!

Saying hello to all their new friends!!

Singing the hello song :) This is when I left :(

Last Weekend of Summer!!

For Labor Day Weekend, we decided we would try an overnight camping trip with the boYs up to Mike's co-workers cottage in Newaygo!! It was a lot of fun taking the boYs in the water, playing in the sand, making goodies around the campfire, and going in the kayak. It was very exhausting at the same time trying to keep them outta trouble, but it was a good experience for them and for us! We set up our tent and Johnathon slept with us, while Karson slept in his pack and play in Pat's trailer since he went to bed before us :) We weren't going to stay overnight, but everyone talked us into it!! It was a lot of fun. J wasn't afraid of the water (so hopefully that phase is over!) and he kept his plugs in like a good boy!! He has to wear them for at least 6 months becuase of his surgery and I was afraid he might try and take them out, but he didn't! All in all it was a good time relaxing and spending time with friends right before the start of the new school year...it's gonna get busy!!