Aedan: Week 18
This week was busy with a lot going on all at one time. Ben started classes on Monday, Samantha continued with preschool, the kids were still recovering from their colds, Ben ended up catching a cold and almost lost his voice, and all the while we were preparing for Ben to travel to Washington D.C. for the APSA conference.
Tuesday morning Samantha went to preschool, and Aedan and I went grocery shopping together, our now Tuesday morning tradition. I was hoping he'd fall asleep in the Ergo as we walked around the store, but he was too busy looking at all the lights and people to fall asleep. He's almost too social and distracted now. It's harder for him to fall asleep when we are out doing things. He did fall asleep in the car on the way home. I tried to keep him awake, but when he's tired and he's in the car, it's almost impossible to keep him awake. So then I was met with the decision of what to do. Do I leave him in his car seat, bring him upstairs in the house, and hope he stays asleep? Or, do I take him out of his car seat and hope he stays asleep so I can lay him down in his crib? If I leave him in his car seat, chances are his nap won't be very long. But if I wake him up, he may not go back to sleep very easily. Samantha would always stay asleep for awhile if she fell asleep in her car seat. We could put her up in her room and let her continue her nap. Aedan, however, will wake up once there is no more movement, and he usually wakes up a very unhappy camper. So, I decided to risk taking him out and getting him to nap in his crib, hoping for a good, solid nap that morning. It turned out that I made the right decision, he fell right back asleep and had a nice nap for me that morning.
As a retreat before the craziness, Ben and I got to go out on a date Tuesday night to see the Chicago Cubs play the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. We got tickets off StubHub for six rows behind the Cubs dugout at a pretty good price. This was part of Ben's birthday/anniversary present, since I didn't do too much for him this year. A baseball game is always a good present in his eyes. Ben's mom came straight from teaching in Muncie to watch Samantha and Aedan for us, although I didn't tell Samantha she was coming until after she woke up from her nap. Ben and I had a great time together without kids. We ate dinner once we got to the park, and then just as the first inning got underway, a huge and heavy storm rolled through. There was a rain delay for about an hour, so the game didn't pick back up again until a little after 8:00. Here is a picture of me as we waited in the concourse for the game to start back up again.
It was nice sitting and chatting with Ben, watching a game together, not having to worry about putting kids to bed, and getting a night to ourselves. Date nights are so important when you have kids, and I always look forward to any chance we get to do this sort of thing. It's nice being close enough to family that we can go out like this together. It will be difficult if Ben gets a job somewhere farther away, especially after living so close to family for the last four years.
Since Ben and I got back from the game rather late on Tuesday night, getting to bed close to midnight, we had a bit of a slower morning on Wednesday since Ben doesn't have to be to campus for an early class. We thought about going to the library that morning, but Samantha was not in the best of moods and I had cleaning and laundry to do, so we just stayed home and took it easy. Samantha played outside and in her play room. Aedan took an hour and a half morning nap, and I had a productive morning at home.
Thursday is when the busyness officially started. Samantha had preschool that morning and Aedan and I went to a local mom's house to talk about cloth diapers. We have been using the set we got from Heiny Helpers in Bloomington, but we don't have enough to use them full time, and we can't get any more from Heiny Helpers since we are too far away to come in for an appointment. So, Ben and I have been thinking about purchasing some cloth diapers to supplement what we have already. I put feelers out on Facebook for recommendations from other moms, or even to see if any other moms have cloth diapers that they no longer are using for their children and are willing to sell at a reduced rate. I got several responses from the Oxford Moms Facebook group. One mom was willing to sell me her bumGenius diapers that she no longer uses, and this other mom is a cloth diaper representative and could talk to me about the many varieties and styles of diapers available. So, I went over to her house for about an hour on Thursday morning to discuss diapers with her, what would be the best for our budget, and how we would like to use them. She gave me SO much information to think about and talk over with Ben before coming to a final decision.
As I was talking with the mom, I was holding Aedan on my hip facing outwards, and he fell right asleep as we were standing there. I flipped him around the other direction so he could cuddle into my shoulder as we finished talking. Then, he stayed asleep while I put him in his car seat and all the way home in the car. He woke up pretty quickly once we got home and out of the car, but at least he got a little bit of a nap in, and that's really all that matters.
After picking up Samantha and having lunch on Thursday, I nursed Aedan and we hit the road to take Daddy to the Dayton airport to catch his flight to D.C. Aedan fell asleep right away, and the plan was to have Samantha take a nap in the car after we dropped Daddy off. However, she was really tired with very droopy eyelids, asking every two minutes if we were at the airport yet.
While we were driving that afternoon, the Santa Fe crossed over the 100,000 mile point. Wow, the miles we've driven in this car! It doesn't help that we drove back and forth to Texas several times in it. (It's kind of hard to tell, but the first picture shows 99,999 and the second picture shows 100,000. And don't worry, Ben was driving, and I took the pictures.)
Dropping Daddy off at the airport was difficult for Samantha. When he got out of the car and walked into the airport, she started crying, saying she didn't want Daddy to leave. She misses him so much when he is gone. She is certainly a Daddy's girl. Then, Aedan was fast asleep in the car until we stopped and the car doors opening and closing woke him up. I hoped that as we started driving he would go back to sleep so that way Samantha could fall asleep as well. However, shortly after getting on the highway, when Aedan had fallen back asleep again, Samantha started crying, saying that she had to go potty, and that she couldn't wait or she would have an accident. So luckily, there was a gas station to stop at at an exit we were already planning on getting off at. I was pretty upset with her because she shouldn't have had to go potty again, and the act of getting out of the car and going in the gas station was going to wake Aedan up. I doubted that he would go back to sleep after that, and we only had half an hour drive left which wouldn't really be long enough for her to nap, but would also be a really long time to have a crying baby in the back seat. She did end up going quite a bit, which was good, as I would not have been happy if she really didn't have to go and woke Aedan up, making us stop for no reason. And luckily, Samantha fell asleep in the car almost immediately once we got back on the road, and Aedan fell back asleep as well. I had nothing to worry about, and the rest of the drive back to Oxford was calm and quiet in our car.
My parents like to come visit from Chicago about once a month, and we planned this month's trip around the fact that Ben was going to be out of town. They offered to come this weekend to stay with me and help me with the kids while Ben was out of town. They actually beat us to our house that night because I went out to pick up pizza for dinner and it took much longer than I thought it would to get there and then they couldn't find our order. Samantha kept saying, "I look forwards to Grandpa and Grandma coming."
Meanwhile, Ben was giving Samantha a picture tour of his travel escapades, so she could see where he was and what he was doing. Samantha thought it was pretty cool to see what Daddy was doing, except she kept saying, "Where's Daddy?" She wanted him to be in every picture, not realizing that he was the one taking the pictures.
Thursday night after eating our pizza, we had time to hang out with Grandpa and Grandma before getting the kids to bed. I was thankful to have two more sets of hands here to help, especially at meal times, bed times, and transition times when it's a little difficult to manage everything all by myself and stay sane.
Aedan was tired and went down easy that night. My mom put Samantha to bed, but Samantha always tends to act up when people are here. I had to go in her room at one point because her light was on, and she was sitting on the floor playing with her trains. Then, she said she didn't get chapstick, which was a lie because it was out on the counter in the bathroom. It was already 9:00, but she'll do whatever she can to prolong bedtime. I told her if I had to come up again, I would take piggy (her stuffed animal) and blankie away from her. Our silly little girl, she is just so extroverted. Luckily, I didn't hear a peep after that.
After getting both kids asleep, my parents and I hung out and talked and watched some TV together to relax. It's always weird sleeping alone. I never sleep as well without Ben next to me. We're not apart from each other very often, so it's very strange when it happens. I was just glad that Ben arrived safely in D.C. and was staying with his friend, Dave, from Taylor. It made me feel good that he was being taken care of in somebody's home, that he was getting decent food and not having to eat out all the time, and even that he had substitute children to keep him up at night (ha, ha).
When I go to sleep at night, I never know what kind of night lies ahead for me. Especially lately, with Aedan being congested, coughing and sneezing a lot, his sleep has not been very great. Well, Thursday night was no exception. I was up with Aedan from 12:30 to 2:40 because he wouldn't go back to sleep after I nursed him. I tried everything I could think of to get him to fall asleep: nursing him, rocking him, walking around with him, using the pacifier, and nothing was working. I had thoughts go through my mind like, "Am I going to have to put him in the car and drive around until he falls asleep?" It was a very difficult night for Ben not to be home with me because we would have taken turns dealing with Aedan. I was so tired and just wanted him to sleep so badly. Then, he woke up again at 6:00, much earlier than I would have liked, and again, he wouldn't go back to sleep. I was so tired, so I brought him in bed with me after a little while so I could hold the pacifier in his mouth and still be laying down and resting myself. But that didn't work either. He was just talking and wiggling, looking around the room, wide awake and ready for the day. Then, just because things had to become more difficult than they already were, Roscoe barked for some reason, and then a little while after that Samantha started making noise in her room. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep, but that was not an option as all the children were wide awake. Napping was definitely on tap for me that day.
Aedan was tired and went down easy that night. My mom put Samantha to bed, but Samantha always tends to act up when people are here. I had to go in her room at one point because her light was on, and she was sitting on the floor playing with her trains. Then, she said she didn't get chapstick, which was a lie because it was out on the counter in the bathroom. It was already 9:00, but she'll do whatever she can to prolong bedtime. I told her if I had to come up again, I would take piggy (her stuffed animal) and blankie away from her. Our silly little girl, she is just so extroverted. Luckily, I didn't hear a peep after that.
After getting both kids asleep, my parents and I hung out and talked and watched some TV together to relax. It's always weird sleeping alone. I never sleep as well without Ben next to me. We're not apart from each other very often, so it's very strange when it happens. I was just glad that Ben arrived safely in D.C. and was staying with his friend, Dave, from Taylor. It made me feel good that he was being taken care of in somebody's home, that he was getting decent food and not having to eat out all the time, and even that he had substitute children to keep him up at night (ha, ha).
When I go to sleep at night, I never know what kind of night lies ahead for me. Especially lately, with Aedan being congested, coughing and sneezing a lot, his sleep has not been very great. Well, Thursday night was no exception. I was up with Aedan from 12:30 to 2:40 because he wouldn't go back to sleep after I nursed him. I tried everything I could think of to get him to fall asleep: nursing him, rocking him, walking around with him, using the pacifier, and nothing was working. I had thoughts go through my mind like, "Am I going to have to put him in the car and drive around until he falls asleep?" It was a very difficult night for Ben not to be home with me because we would have taken turns dealing with Aedan. I was so tired and just wanted him to sleep so badly. Then, he woke up again at 6:00, much earlier than I would have liked, and again, he wouldn't go back to sleep. I was so tired, so I brought him in bed with me after a little while so I could hold the pacifier in his mouth and still be laying down and resting myself. But that didn't work either. He was just talking and wiggling, looking around the room, wide awake and ready for the day. Then, just because things had to become more difficult than they already were, Roscoe barked for some reason, and then a little while after that Samantha started making noise in her room. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep, but that was not an option as all the children were wide awake. Napping was definitely on tap for me that day.
Friday morning, after getting everyone ready, we took Grandpa and Grandma to the library with us. It was a pretty hot day, so I figured that would be a nice place to go. They enjoyed seeing more of our new town, and Samantha enjoyed showing off our new library. Aedan was getting pretty fussy and tired while we were there, so I put him in the Ergo and walked around the library until he fell asleep. I was glad he let himself sleep, making the rest of our time at the library much more enjoyable.
After sandwiches for lunch, it was nap time for all. I got Aedan down pretty easily while Grandpa put Samantha down for her nap. When I came out of Aedan's room, I heard Samantha playing around in her room so I went in there and had her get back in bed, then I sat in there for a little while until she fell asleep. I knew she needed a nap if we wanted to have a good evening, and I desperately needed a nap, too. Once both kids were finally settled in and quiet, I climbed in bed myself, getting a nice, refreshing nap in before they woke up from their naps.
Since Samantha took a nap, she was able to watch a show that evening and then she helped me make a cake to celebrate Grandma's birthday. That evening we went out to Skyline Chili for dinner, giving Grandpa and Grandma a taste of Cincinnati style chili. However, the restaurant was SO busy! I don't know if it was just because it was a Friday night and because school is now in session, or if it was just later at night than we usually eat, or a combination of both. We had to wait for a table, and then the restaurant was so packed and so noisy. Samantha was pretty spacey and wasn't eating too well. I couldn't wait to get out of there and get back home.
Chicago Grandma's birthday is actually at the beginning of August, but I was not such a good daughter and totally forgot to call her and wish her a happy birthday. So that was why I decided to make her a birthday cake, kind of to make up for forgetting to call her. Friday night when we got home from Skyline, we busted out the cake. It still was warm from coming out of the oven just before we left for dinner. It was chocolaty and delicious, and Samantha enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma.
After talking to Daddy on FaceTime, it was bedtime for the kiddos. Aedan went to sleep well, like usual. Samantha, on the other hand, was in her room with the light on again, playing with her trains. I went in her room and was not very happy with her since this was the second night in a row she did that. I picked up all the trains from the floor, packing them up in the bin, and putting them in her closet. The plan was to keep them put away for awhile until she could get over the problem of turning on her light and playing at night. She's such an interesting little child. When people stay at our house, her behavior is so different from when it is just our family. She always acts up more, doesn't go to sleep as well or sleep as long as she usually does, and misbehaves a lot more through whining and tantrums. I don't quite understand why she does that, but it makes it much more difficult for us when we have other people around. I don't know if she just gets overtired and overstimulated, or if it's just enough of a change in her routine. Who knows, she just loves her grandparents too much and doesn't want to sleep for fear she will miss something fun.
Friday night was okay, but still not great. He woke up at 11:40, pretty much right after I fell asleep. Luckily, he feel back asleep well for me, so that was better than Thursday night when he was up for two hours. Then he woke up again at 4:15 and as I was laying him down around 5:00 after nursing him, I heard Samantha crying in her room. Who knows how long she'd been crying for because I couldn't hear her in Aedan's room. So I went in her room and she wouldn't settle down for awhile, then she finally told me she needed to go potty. I took her to the potty, and she actually went quite a bit. (I guess that's what happens when we eat dinner late and then have dessert and let her drink later at night. She can't make it through the night without having to go to the bathroom.) Luckily, she went right back to sleep after that. After all that commotion, it took me awhile to settle back down and fall back asleep. Aedan woke up around 6:40, and I got him back to sleep for a little while, but not long. Samantha woke up a little before 7:00. It was definitely an earlier morning than what I was wanting, especially after a couple long nights of handling children by myself.
Saturday morning, after a breakfast of pancakes, we took a trip to Uptown Oxford to go to the farmer's market and to let Samantha play in the fountains for awhile since it was going to be a hot day out. Even though she woke up early and was awakened during the night, she was in a pretty good. Aedan ended up falling asleep in the stroller, and Samantha made a friend with a little girl at the fountains. They ran around and played in the water together, talking and laughing, and having a good old time. I love watching Samantha play with other kids her age. It's good for her to socialize like this and to make friends with someone without us pushing it. It was getting close to lunchtime, but Samantha was having so much fun playing with her new friend that I almost hated to make her leave.
The rest of Saturday went pretty well with both kids taking good naps, and then we just had an evening at home, eating dinner together, playing with Grandpa and Grandma, and giving the kids baths.
August 29th marked Aedan turning 4 months old! Here are his 4 month pictures, as best as I could get. The first is a progression of him laughing at Samantha. No one is funnier than his big sister.
And here he is showing his tummy time skills, pushing up on his forearms, and getting some loving from Samantha.
After a couple rough nights of interrupted sleep, Aedan only woke up once on Saturday night, sleeping until 2:30, nursing and going back to sleep, then waking up for the day at 7:00. Yay! I felt so much better after getting better sleep that night.
Daddy was so excited to get home to his family, to see his kids, and to have a family night at home. I sent him pictures of Samantha and Aedan ready for church that morning, and we were also able to FaceTime with him before it was time for us to leave for church. Aedan looked adorable in his tie onesie that Daddy picked out just for him one day at Target, and Samantha was a vision in pink. Her whole outfit was pink, and she had two braids in her hair just like Anna from Frozen.
We went to the 10:45 service at OBF so that we could have a more relaxed morning, and it actually worked out really well because Aedan was able to take a morning nap in his swing and I nursed him before we left for church. Since those two needs were met, he was able to stay in the nursery the whole time, letting me stay in the whole service to worship God and learn from His Word. I think my parents enjoyed visiting our church home while we are in Oxford.
After having leftovers for lunch and getting both kids down for a nap, which took a little work that day, I left around 2:40 to pick Ben up from the airport. It was nice riding in the car by myself, listening to "Car Talk" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on NPR. It's not very often that I get to drive in the car and listen to my own music/radio station. It was lovely seeing Ben again and being able to talk about his experience at APSA the whole way back to Oxford. It went really well, as the main purpose of him going to this conference was to have meetings with schools that are hiring tenure track positions for next fall. There were several meetings that were especially positive, a few in California, one in Texas, and one in Ohio. Ben made lots of important connections with people, and it seemed like a few people were really impressed with Ben and very excited to see his application come in.
It will be interesting to see what journey we embark on next. We knew in coming to Oxford that it would only be for one or two years, but it seems strange to think that by December we could already know the next place we're going to move. It's difficult to wrap my mind around because we both want a tenure track job for Ben, but at the same time, location is really important to us. If we have any choice in the matter, we would like to stay in the Midwest so that we are within driving distance of our families. Neither of us would really enjoy moving all the way out to California, and definitely not back to Texas again. However, if one of those schools offers Ben a position and nothing else has come up, it would be difficult to turn down a job offer just because of location, not knowing if/when another job offer would come. This is just another transition for our family that we have to leave in God's capable hands. I know I tend to worry and always be ten steps ahead of where we are, but God has always taken care of us. We feel strongly that God has always lead us where He wanted us to be. Oftentimes we thought one place was better, but it fell through and we got discouraged. However, looking back, we see that we would not have been happy at the place we thought was the best choice for us.
I am so proud of Ben for all the work he has done over the last four years on finishing graduate school and working towards the completion of his Phd. He has worked long and hard, harder than most people I know. He has done a fantastic job, has a wonderful repoire with the students and faculty he has worked with over the years, has very marketable interests and dissertation topic, and will put himself out there for as many potential jobs as possible. I am so excited for this future we will have together. I'm excited that he will complete and defend his dissertation by the beginning of December. I'm proud that he got this VAP at Miami because that looks good to many schools that are looking to hire for a tenure track position. I have a hard-working, driven husband, who has accomplished all of this in pursue of his career as a professor, while all the while, taking care of and loving his wife and two kids with all his heart. I don't think many other people can say the same thing about their husbands.
Samantha and Aedan were so excited to have Daddy back home again. Here is what he got to come home to that night.
After sandwiches for lunch, it was nap time for all. I got Aedan down pretty easily while Grandpa put Samantha down for her nap. When I came out of Aedan's room, I heard Samantha playing around in her room so I went in there and had her get back in bed, then I sat in there for a little while until she fell asleep. I knew she needed a nap if we wanted to have a good evening, and I desperately needed a nap, too. Once both kids were finally settled in and quiet, I climbed in bed myself, getting a nice, refreshing nap in before they woke up from their naps.
Since Samantha took a nap, she was able to watch a show that evening and then she helped me make a cake to celebrate Grandma's birthday. That evening we went out to Skyline Chili for dinner, giving Grandpa and Grandma a taste of Cincinnati style chili. However, the restaurant was SO busy! I don't know if it was just because it was a Friday night and because school is now in session, or if it was just later at night than we usually eat, or a combination of both. We had to wait for a table, and then the restaurant was so packed and so noisy. Samantha was pretty spacey and wasn't eating too well. I couldn't wait to get out of there and get back home.
Chicago Grandma's birthday is actually at the beginning of August, but I was not such a good daughter and totally forgot to call her and wish her a happy birthday. So that was why I decided to make her a birthday cake, kind of to make up for forgetting to call her. Friday night when we got home from Skyline, we busted out the cake. It still was warm from coming out of the oven just before we left for dinner. It was chocolaty and delicious, and Samantha enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma.
After talking to Daddy on FaceTime, it was bedtime for the kiddos. Aedan went to sleep well, like usual. Samantha, on the other hand, was in her room with the light on again, playing with her trains. I went in her room and was not very happy with her since this was the second night in a row she did that. I picked up all the trains from the floor, packing them up in the bin, and putting them in her closet. The plan was to keep them put away for awhile until she could get over the problem of turning on her light and playing at night. She's such an interesting little child. When people stay at our house, her behavior is so different from when it is just our family. She always acts up more, doesn't go to sleep as well or sleep as long as she usually does, and misbehaves a lot more through whining and tantrums. I don't quite understand why she does that, but it makes it much more difficult for us when we have other people around. I don't know if she just gets overtired and overstimulated, or if it's just enough of a change in her routine. Who knows, she just loves her grandparents too much and doesn't want to sleep for fear she will miss something fun.
Friday night was okay, but still not great. He woke up at 11:40, pretty much right after I fell asleep. Luckily, he feel back asleep well for me, so that was better than Thursday night when he was up for two hours. Then he woke up again at 4:15 and as I was laying him down around 5:00 after nursing him, I heard Samantha crying in her room. Who knows how long she'd been crying for because I couldn't hear her in Aedan's room. So I went in her room and she wouldn't settle down for awhile, then she finally told me she needed to go potty. I took her to the potty, and she actually went quite a bit. (I guess that's what happens when we eat dinner late and then have dessert and let her drink later at night. She can't make it through the night without having to go to the bathroom.) Luckily, she went right back to sleep after that. After all that commotion, it took me awhile to settle back down and fall back asleep. Aedan woke up around 6:40, and I got him back to sleep for a little while, but not long. Samantha woke up a little before 7:00. It was definitely an earlier morning than what I was wanting, especially after a couple long nights of handling children by myself.
Saturday morning, after a breakfast of pancakes, we took a trip to Uptown Oxford to go to the farmer's market and to let Samantha play in the fountains for awhile since it was going to be a hot day out. Even though she woke up early and was awakened during the night, she was in a pretty good. Aedan ended up falling asleep in the stroller, and Samantha made a friend with a little girl at the fountains. They ran around and played in the water together, talking and laughing, and having a good old time. I love watching Samantha play with other kids her age. It's good for her to socialize like this and to make friends with someone without us pushing it. It was getting close to lunchtime, but Samantha was having so much fun playing with her new friend that I almost hated to make her leave.
The rest of Saturday went pretty well with both kids taking good naps, and then we just had an evening at home, eating dinner together, playing with Grandpa and Grandma, and giving the kids baths.
She makes the craziest faces sometimes! This is what she does when I ask her to smile for a picture. :)
Of course, we have to include one of him eating the sign, since everything he touches goes in his mouth these days.
Daddy was so excited to get home to his family, to see his kids, and to have a family night at home. I sent him pictures of Samantha and Aedan ready for church that morning, and we were also able to FaceTime with him before it was time for us to leave for church. Aedan looked adorable in his tie onesie that Daddy picked out just for him one day at Target, and Samantha was a vision in pink. Her whole outfit was pink, and she had two braids in her hair just like Anna from Frozen.
After having leftovers for lunch and getting both kids down for a nap, which took a little work that day, I left around 2:40 to pick Ben up from the airport. It was nice riding in the car by myself, listening to "Car Talk" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on NPR. It's not very often that I get to drive in the car and listen to my own music/radio station. It was lovely seeing Ben again and being able to talk about his experience at APSA the whole way back to Oxford. It went really well, as the main purpose of him going to this conference was to have meetings with schools that are hiring tenure track positions for next fall. There were several meetings that were especially positive, a few in California, one in Texas, and one in Ohio. Ben made lots of important connections with people, and it seemed like a few people were really impressed with Ben and very excited to see his application come in.
It will be interesting to see what journey we embark on next. We knew in coming to Oxford that it would only be for one or two years, but it seems strange to think that by December we could already know the next place we're going to move. It's difficult to wrap my mind around because we both want a tenure track job for Ben, but at the same time, location is really important to us. If we have any choice in the matter, we would like to stay in the Midwest so that we are within driving distance of our families. Neither of us would really enjoy moving all the way out to California, and definitely not back to Texas again. However, if one of those schools offers Ben a position and nothing else has come up, it would be difficult to turn down a job offer just because of location, not knowing if/when another job offer would come. This is just another transition for our family that we have to leave in God's capable hands. I know I tend to worry and always be ten steps ahead of where we are, but God has always taken care of us. We feel strongly that God has always lead us where He wanted us to be. Oftentimes we thought one place was better, but it fell through and we got discouraged. However, looking back, we see that we would not have been happy at the place we thought was the best choice for us.
I am so proud of Ben for all the work he has done over the last four years on finishing graduate school and working towards the completion of his Phd. He has worked long and hard, harder than most people I know. He has done a fantastic job, has a wonderful repoire with the students and faculty he has worked with over the years, has very marketable interests and dissertation topic, and will put himself out there for as many potential jobs as possible. I am so excited for this future we will have together. I'm excited that he will complete and defend his dissertation by the beginning of December. I'm proud that he got this VAP at Miami because that looks good to many schools that are looking to hire for a tenure track position. I have a hard-working, driven husband, who has accomplished all of this in pursue of his career as a professor, while all the while, taking care of and loving his wife and two kids with all his heart. I don't think many other people can say the same thing about their husbands.
Samantha and Aedan were so excited to have Daddy back home again. Here is what he got to come home to that night.
Monday was Labor Day so Daddy didn't have class that day. He stayed home with us for the day, and we just relaxed and hung out as a family. It was nice to do that after a weekend away from each other. Here is Daddy and his little guy after nap time that day.
