Fall Back

So I promised to be a better blogger, huh? And uh, it's been...well, not quite a month since my last post, so I guess that's an improvement. I would love to come up with some creative and/or witty and/or entertaining posts, but all I've got is my life which isn't all that exciting these days. So let's see, what's new with us? Other than Daylight Savings Time making me want to curl up in a ball every night by 7:00 pm...

Halloween
Miss Amelia was Little Red Riding Hood. This was a last minute costume as I intended for her to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are since she and Max both love to "make mischief" and it was one of my favorite books as a kid. However, I was a mommy fail and didn't order the pjs I wanted to use for the costume before they ran out of her size, so Little Red it was (seeing as that was one of the few costumes left in her size at the Halloween store two days before Halloween). I managed to find a goofy wolf hat while I was there, so we were a lovely pair.

It was freezing the night of Halloween, so Little Red and I hit a few houses for trick or treat with her cousin, and then came back home to hand out candy. She loved saying "hi" to everyone before it got too cold and she had to go inside.

Work
My new job is still going well. It's nice to be off earlier to be home with Amelia at night, and I am looking forward to our holiday breaks. And working with high school students is always interesting/amusing/crazy. However, through some miscommunication and some idiocy on my part, it turns out I am actually netting a lot less than my old job instead of more. And let me tell you, we weren't exactly raking in the money to start with. It's tough to be a 31-year-old college graduate and still barely scraping by. This is definitely causing some stress, and leading me to consider whether I can find a part time job after the summer instead that will allow us to save on one of our biggest monthly expenses - child care - while still having benefits. This is also factoring into the fact that while I had toyed with the idea of TFAS next year, I don't know that it will happen. Maybe I should start playing the lottery...

Other Stuff
I decided to host Thanksgiving at our house this year and also elminate another Thanksgiving stop. It's part of my goal to start focusing on OUR family rather than everyone else at the holidays. It may not always work out perfectly, but my hope is that we will spend less time in the car, less time disrupting naps, etc. and just focus on celebrating.

As for Amelia...oh, this girl. She has quite the personality! She is so funny (loves to "dance") and sweet (loves to give kisses). She also has a major stubborn streak and throws some serious fits. She is in perpetual motion and like a ninja when getting into things she shouldn't. But watching her grow is just so amazing. This past weekend she started repeating things when I said them, including "eat" and "cheese." Which I got her to say so I could take this ridiculously adorable picture.

CHEESE!
Note the hair clip to pin back her flowing locks. It stayed in for about 5 minutes.

So there you go. Nothing terribly earth-shattering happening for us. If you'd like some more regularly updated munchkin pics, you can follow me on Instagram: sem513. I don't post a ton, but I try to update every now and then when Miss A is doing something especially cute.

Next up - Christmas! Maybe I'll even post again before then.