Most of my blogs are about our girls because, let's be honest, our world pretty much does revolve around them. I thought I would give a little update on me and Cory. First of all, Cory has been working with his company for over 3 years now. I remember when he first took the job, we had a lengthy conversation about the fact that there may be some travel involved. Both of us knew that there could be some travel, but I think we both secretly hoped and believed that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. While I was pregnant with Adilyn, he had to travel to Michigan quite a bit, but once she was born he actually was able to work from home a lot that summer. I still remember him working at the kitchen table, computers everywhere, papers scattered around, on a conference call with the dogs barking and little Addy screaming bloody murder. That must have been pretty rough for him. It was great to have him home those first few months as a new mom! Once his Michigan project ended, he went for about 6 months with no project at all. Luckily, at that point, his company still paid him even if he wasn't actively on a project. Those were the days...for him more than me, but still. He was here, and we were a sweet little family of 3.
Last year, he got a project in Minnesota. The company wanted him there most of the time. As luck would have it, the project started right as summer ended. This meant that Adilyn and I would be on our own for the beginning of the school year. At that time, Adilyn was fully into being a typical two year old. She was literally attached to my hip from the time that I picked her up until the time that we went to bed. I cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and did whatever other chores that had to be done with Adilyn pretty much in my back pocket! It was pretty rough. Luckily, I found a great babysitter, Caitlin, who watched Addy on game nights. We did have a few extra stressful moments! One of the most stressful for me was when Adilyn got sick on the night of the biggest game of the season, so I had to stay home with her, and then bring her up to school with me while we waited for Cory to get there. He came straight there from the airport just in time! In the end, we won, so I guess the stress was good luck. After that project was over, he was gone off and on to California and doing some other things. Then, things started to change at his company, and no longer would he be paid if he was not on a project. Now, instead of hoping that he would be off a project so he could be home with us, we were hoping for any job, anywhere! Nothing seemed to be coming on the horizon, so we were getting nervous. Being the guy he is, he couldn't just sit around the house. He decided to do some handyman work with our neighbor, so the poor guy was outside building fences, fixing siding, and various other random work. We made it through those weeks without a paycheck pretty easily.
Just as summer was ending, he got a call about a project in Sacramento. It was to start August 1 and go through the end of October. Awesome, because that is the exact length of volleyball season. Here I am, now with two little ones. We couldn't complain because there was no way that we would have been able to pay for daycare with two, so he started the project. We got into our little routine. Cory would leave at 4:30am Monday morning, and he would return around 1:30am on Thursday night. We would have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday together, and start it all again on Monday morning. My babysitter came over on my game nights, and one other night to keep me sane! We "Skyped" sometimes at night, and Adilyn would talk to him and show him all her toys. We had it all down. October came and went, and the project continued, and continued, and continued. In fact, it's now May, and he is still going there. I think that he was home for about ten weeks or less this entire school year. It's been rough, but we have dealt with it. I have to keep reminding myself that there are people that are a lot worse off than me. I'm just glad that I didn't know in August that he was going to be gone all this time! I think I would have had a panic attack right there!
Anyway, all that being said, he is looking at switching companies sometime soon. Will there be travel? Probably. Will there be steady paychecks? Definitely. Will we be able to deal with whatever comes our way? Absolutely.
Adilyn did a two week swim lesson at Houston Swim Club. She has always loved the water, but she has never loved putting her face or head under the water. I tried to work with her each summer, and she would have so much fun playing and splashing. The minute I dunked her, all fun ended for those minutes. When we started the lessons, I was concerned that she would totally freak out and not even get in the water, but she did very well. Although she cried almost every lesson (off and on), she always did what they told her to. Through her tears, she learned to float on her back and dive for rings. Amazingly, she never fully resisted. It was rough for us to watch, but we have come to realize that our sweet Adilyn is just a cryer. Anytime she gets nervous or uneasy, she cries. Anytime she doesn't get her way, she cries. Anytime she gets scared, she cries. I firmly believe that through the swim lessons, she was not that upset or scared; she was just nervous. There was only one day that my heart was breaking for her because she looked so scared. It was probably the roughest 30 minutes that I have had to endure. The very next day, she only teared up a few times. She always talked positively about the lessons, and she never once said that she didn't want to go back. The techniques that they used were a little different, but they really seemed to work! By the end of the two weeks, Adilyn willingly put her head in the water, floated on her back by herself, fipped over from her back to grab the edge of the pool, and went to the bottom of the pool to get rings. My little "guppy" graduated to a "goldfish"! She was so proud of herself, and each night at bedtime she would say, "Mama, talk to me about my swim lessons." The true test will be howshe acts when she is in the pool with me this summer!
