If you didn't know...

life is beginning a new chapter in the Call household. The year 2014 is only a few months in and a lot has happened in the everyday lives of our little family. Take a step back with me into the past few months for me to describe what has happened, what is currently happening, and what will begin happening in the next few months. 2014 is shaping up to be the most growing our family has had to do, yet!

At the beginning of the year, we had the opportunity to spend sometime down in a state that neither Matt nor I had been to. Florida. My father and step-mom have made this humidity ridden state their home and boy did we love it! We spent a whole week with my family. We saw plenty of animal life and experienced the beauty that excess water does to vegetation. Let me just tell you, it is a heck of a lot different than here in desert land Utah. When the week was up it was incredibly hard to leave. But, we put are big girl/boy panties on and came back to the real world which meant the start of some really challenging weeks ahead.

To start off, the beginning of January meant the beginning of my 55 day journey through Student Teaching in a 1st grade class. Student Teaching was the last "hoorah" I had to complete, alongside my senior project, before I could graduate and go into the real world. My classroom consisted of 24 kids who were hip height, all of which had different levels of interest, reading scores, math high and lows, and personalities from all walks of life. Student Teaching pushed me past my breaking point and times, granted I was between 25-37 weeks pregnant during the whole ordeal. Yes, I was pregnant.
Call me crazy, call me insane, ask me "how I did it" as many times as you want and I'll always say, "It's what I had to do, so I did it"
Was it hard? Yes.
Was it exhausting? Was it ever.
Was it worth it? I can describe how helpful and enlightening the experience was.
Was it what I expected? Not in the slightest.

See, kids have a way of acting differently when you become the authoritative figure. They try and figure out through a twist of games they play, just how far they can push you and how hard you'll push back. It took me almost halfway through my student teaching to realize that I was the one in charge and that I needed to demand/teach that respect should be given when I am the teaching. I also had to remind myself that these kids are 6 and 7 years old and I was the one teaching them the virtues and facts of life. Such as, not pushing other people, or pulling on people's clothes, saying "Excuse me" when they fart or burp, no pushing in line, saying a genuine sorry when they did something wrong, not touching themselves or others where they shouldn't be touched, and not starting a fight but learning how to deal with it and avoid having them. There was a lot to teach but I found that the more prepared I was the happier I was and the happier the kids were. (Oh, and substitutes are the worst things for your kids, it throws the scheduling and everything you have built as their teacher, off.)---Basically, when I have my own classroom I can never be sick.

4 Months Old

Mr. Lawrence is now 4 months old! He officially turned 4 months old on June 27th but I haven't had a moment to sit down and right this post about him. Finally I have a little bit of time (which means I'm putting off cleaning and writing this blog post instead)

At 4 months he:

- Giggles when he sees himself in the mirror

-Talks and talks and talks

-Loves his owl Socrates 

-Is eating 6oz each time we feed him

-Smiles all the time

-Is starting to teeter but always gets stuck on his arms which trying to turn over

-knows how to push off his arm to push himself back to his back, which is his favorite place

-love to cuddle and coo's softly when I hold him close to my chest to lull him to sleep

-loves music, especially show tunes, a boy after my own heart

- has been getting progressively louder and louder with his voice to the point of exhaustion

- is 12lbs, 11oz (quite a jump from his birth weight of 6lbs, 3oz) 

-Loves the ladies and will give a smile to anyone who smiles to him

-loves car rides and will fall asleep almost immediately 

-has almost gotten rid of his binkie and has become confident with ripping it out of his mouth with his tiny hand...hasn't figured out how to put it back yet

-will talk for 30-40 straight with emotions between frustration. happiness, and just giggling

- cries only when he is extremely tired, hungry, or poop filled

-recognizes mommy and daddy (what a treat that is to see him light up when he sees you) 

-loves getting his clothes changed!! He is so funny. I try and get one of his arms caught in the sleeves and just let him struggle a bit, he thinks it is the funniest thing. I guess onesies are a close second to a baby straight jacket. Haha. 

Woo-wee "Way to be"

So much different!!!!

It's been over a year and a half since I have written anything here. I think it is a dead space where people used to write things...do people really read blogs anymore. Is that still a thing, or has snapchat, instagram, and Facebook taken over for good? Not that it matters, frankly I've done a bang up job of keeping every one updated on our lives. For instance, our son is now 2 1/4 years old! He has a vocabulary of 30+ words that he uses on a daily basis, while integrating even more language each day. Mr. C is doing well and continually combatting some pretty difficult brain injury issues, but we make the best of it because we have each other's backs.

I am loving my job! The title of the blog is actually one of the cheers we use at school, among others. I have been teaching 2nd grade and I can't see it any other way. I'm hoping to stay there for next year, but wherever they need me, I will go.

Catch-up

 Life has flown by, crept slowly, and zoomed past.
We have now been living in Las Vegas for 3 months. It's amazing what has happened, changed, and developed since that 9 1/2 hour drive down south to start a new chapter of our lives.

I have started a new job, a new career. I have been, for the past 2 1/2 months, a full-day Kindergarten teacher to 25 of the craziest, sweetest, dramatic, smart, hard-working, lovable children I have ever met. I could spend a good hour typing stories, quotes, and the happenings of just my classroom. This I will say, you have no idea how much work goes into being a teacher. The hours are horrendous and the pay not incredible. It's amazing how much it comes down to loving these kids as your own and wanting them to succeed. That will be for a future post, solely dedicated on my adventures in the classroom. Keep posted.

My little boy is growing up. He is now 8 months and I couldn't be more obsessed with him and his new energy. He is crawling everywhere, laughing gut belly laughs, grasping mommy and daddy's hands to hoist himself up into a standing position. Remember how I said he was only 8 months old! This kid is going to take this world by storm!
Some of his favorite things to do, eat, and see:

• He loves his owl Archameteis (sp?) 
• He crawls like a mad man after the cats,who surprisingly aren't down on getting tumbled by an 8 month old
• He loves apples, lil' crunchies, and squash 
• He loves to hold his bottle by himself
• He takes three naps a day and goes down like a champ
• He sucks his thumb only when sleeping 
• He loves to cuddle when he is tired but only when he is tired
• He loves to have mommy and daddy on the floor with him
• He loves baths and gives mommy a bath in the process from all the water flying 
• He loves people and is often your friend about an hour after meeting you
• He loves new places and spends a good amount of time just taking everything in
• He loves his command center ONLY after he has had adequate crawl time
• He loves to pull mom's hair and dad's beard to assert baby dominance
• He enjoys finding each speck of unswept particle on the ground and eat it ---every time
• He loves the song "Hooked on a feeling" and will dancing wildly 
• He will lick anything if given the chance
• He loves to be held and is one of the happiest babies I have ever met
• I love him and here is a photo dump to show you this cutie who we are so happy to have as apart of our family.    

This little boy would never have been possible without this hunky man:

He had his 26th birthday on October 26, 2014! We were happily in Utah for the weekend and he was celebrated more than once on his birthday happiness. He is absolutely amazing and I am so grateful for him in my life.
Here are some birthday pics from our trip:

Sorry for the scattered post, but I had to post something! It's just been too long. I'll try and be better at it!

Little JLC

This little man was born February 27, 2014 at 3:15 am. The labor story has yet to be written here...check back later for more info!

We couldn't be more elated to be his parents and are blown away by the happiness he exudes and the love that he gives us on a daily basis.

He is a little over three months now and here a little update on what is going on with the Little Joshua "Lawrence" Call.

-He LOVES to kick his bassinet in the morning to grab mom's attention.

-After he notices he has your attention he gives away the biggest smile as if he is saying, "Good morning Mother, I'm so glad that you decided to acknowledge me. I Love You."

-He is drinking 6 oz of formula every 3-4 hours and burps like a champ. 

-When is gets frustrated he releases his anxiety by snorting loudly and displaying the most concerned of eyebrows. 

-He LOVES to kick and punch his fists into the air, especially under the baby gym. 

-He loves girls. He loves to flirt and smile and show his beautiful brown eyes.

-He has the biggest brown eyes (like his dad) which he loves to open wide. 

-He often goes cross-eyed when he's trying too hard to focus on something.

-He loves diaper changes. He is often dancing and moving so much that it is difficult and crazily messy to get another diaper on.
-He loves to look at our ceiling fan.
-He is often frightened by Matt's sneezes.
-He sleeps from 8pm to 6:30am.
-He has been trying to flip onto his side but gets stuck and starts to cry, asking us to push him back over.
-He sucks on his whole fist as much as he does a bottle.
-His newborn hair has all fallen out and a new crop of hair is emerging.
-He loves to grip our fingers while eating and more often than not finds the most comfort in the arms of Mommy or Daddy.
-He loves to smile and does so much that it tuckers him out after awhile.
-He has a distinct happy sound and unhappy sound. (Matt and I are getting better at identifying which it is)
-He loves his cousins, his grandma, his cat, and all people he comes in contact with.
-He is probably one of the cutest (we're biased) babies around. 

-He loves music and loves to hear his mommy and daddy sing to him.

-He talks. He talks a ton! He coo's and gah's for minutes upon end. 

-He is in love with his owls and finds them super fascinating.

-He is a binky lover as well. 

-He is able to hold his head up on his own and loves to crane himself back 

-He loves to fall asleep to "Edelweiss".

- He thinks the piano is funny.

-He has his father's eyes.

-He has his mother's toes.

-And he LOVES walks, car rides, and loud noises (especially family gatherings)

-He is a baby of many faces.

 And we LOVE watching him grow. 

Too cute to not share

This little cupcake is almost 3 months old and I couldn't have asked for a cuter, sweeter, and just kissable face than we were lucky enough to receive. I am just mystified by his laughter, joy, and forgiving love he has for myself and Matt. What a treasure he is. 

Brianna's Graduation

May 2, 2014 I (Brianna) finally graduated from Utah Valley University (used to be UVSC when I started my first year there) with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education. Why stress the finally? Because by national statistics, it took me almost twice as long to get my undergraduate and in the amount of time someone could have received their master's and maybe on their way to a PhD.

Regardless, I did it.
After looking back on those 7 years that I put into finding out what I was meant to be, it's humbling to see how much I accomplished in those 7 years.

Through those 7 years I:
-Got rejected by BYU twice. I desperately wanted to go there but God had other plans for me.
-Freshman year of college was an atom bomb. I failed Chemistry...twice.
-I was apart of the music program and was positive that I was going to some successful vocal performer.
-I decided to audition for the Latter-Day Celebration* choir at the LDS Institute on campus. I was rejected.
- I made a lot of friends and had many grilled cheese sandwiches in the cafeteria with my friend Blue.
-I dated and played around, more than I did my work. I was just scraping by.
-Had to retake Math 1000 three times before passing.
-I auditioned again for the Latter-Day Celebration choir and was excepted as a 2nd Soprano.
-I switched my major to Behavioral Science.
-I took Marriage & Family classes, Sociology, Psychology, and Sex Psych.
-I changed my major to Exercise Science. (Lasted only a semester...didn't want to do the additional chem classes)
-Took a Child Development class and failed it because I succumbed to other's opinions of the teacher.
-Performed many solos in LDC* and had the spirit in my life every single day for a year and a half. -Was pointed in the direction of the Nauvoo, IL performing mission which would change my life for the better and prepared me to finally take the step towards marriage.
-The summer of my mission I received revelation that I needed to apply and get into the Elementary Education program.
- I got into the program and started the two year program with eyes wide open. I was finally getting some right.
-Dated my now husband for two years of my college life before excepting his hand in marriage we married.
- I started the program and I couldn't have done any better. Suddenly I was good at something, really good. I enjoyed the material, the science behind teaching, and was getting high GPA's.
-I met one of my best friend's, Leah. (Who happened to get married the same day as me)
-I observed for countless hours in many different classrooms, came to terms with my own adequateness, and learned more about myself, my confidence, and my abilities over such a short amount of time.
-I was scared to find that I was good at teaching and kept fighting an internal battle to own and realize that was the truth.
-I student taught with Veraunica, Leah, and then by myself for 55 hours.
-In my final year I was pregnant through my who student teaching experience and had to take three weeks off in the middle of it to have my son (another post will be a 3 month update, birth story, and everything in between I haven't had time to write)  
-I finished my student teaching, wrote and aced my student project, graduate with a 3.4 (where the cause of such a low GPA was the result of 4 failed classes throughout my stay, but my accomplishment was raising the GPA from a 2.7 to a 3.4 in 2 years. Not bad eh?)
-Walked across that stage proudly.
-Attended a job fair in March and was offered a job at Doral Academy in Las Vegas, NV starting August 13 as a Full-day Kindergarten teacher.

The other day I was filling out a survey for an online course I am taking to continue my educator education and I was able to put "Bachelor's" for What type of Education. It felt incredible.
Now here are some pictures of the Graduation day!
Woo-hoo, 2014!

Happy Graduation Day!