Lots of updates in the Franks household!
First, Sawyer James is 17 months old. I've said this 100 times before, but really...this is my favorite age! He is just so so funny! He constantly keeps us laughing. He can say all kinds of words. Basically, anything we say, he will try to repeat. Everytime we see a vehicle of any kind, SJ says, "Car, voom, voom!" We learned what "hot" means also. So when I give him warm food he says it over and over. Although, he did point to one of his little girlfriends (Addie) the other day and said, "hot!" Help us! If I had to sum SJ's life up in one word, it will still be "run." Always on a mission, always on the run. We like to stand alot more than we like to sit on our bottom. The slide never gets old. And we can play the good old game of tag all day long. Clay taught him how to swing a golf club and now everything is a golf club! He says, "weeee" and then will swing his spoon, toothbrush, fork, straw, cup...anything! It's pretty stinkin cute! Although this time is so wonderful, it comes with plenty of challenges! A strong willed child that would much rather scream instead of saying please (although we are getting much better at this), and would never sleep if I didn't make him! The joys of independent, strong willed children! What fun they are...what a challenge they are! My great grandma used to say, "You can sleep when you're dead." I think SJ must have heard her :) We sure love you Sawyer James! This has been the most exiting and eventful 17 months of our life!
Second, Clay and I celebrated our five year anniversary in January. He surprised me with a vacation that we just took! We went to Washington D.C., NYC, and Boston. It was incredible!!! We were away from Sawyer for 10 days...wow! We missed him so much, facetimed alot, but really enjoyed our time together...just the two of us! Sawyer spent time with G-pa and Deedee, Poppa and Lolli, and Grammy. They ALL spoiled him. He went to the zoo, the science museum, played in the pool, jumped in his very own bounce house, watched Bubble Guppies in his very own car, got a haircut at a real barber shop, played until he crashed...and my guess is, ate lots of sugar :) My mom called me and said, "Till, SJ loves Sprite Zero!" Uh, yeah probably mom :) We are so so thankful for our family and loved that they made lifelong memories during this time! In those 10 days we walked over 100 miles, started at 7:00am every morning and drug back in around midnight. We wanted to see everything we could while we were there! A vacation with Clay and I is a little more like a marathon. It was WONDERFUL and a great reminder of how important it is to continue focusing on our marriage when sometimes it's a lot easier to focus only on Sawyer. We have had lots of mentors tell us how important it is to keep each other first...so we decided it might be fun to work on it in New York City :)! This will be our last big vacation for quite a while...which leads to our last update.
Third, I quit my job. One of the most difficult decisions I have made. I absolutely loved my job! I can't even begin to describe the joy that has come from this adventure in my life...indescribable joy!!! I taught 11th grade English for 5 years and it was wonderful! I have grown in ways I could never have imagined, LOVED spending my day with 16 year olds (they are the funniest and wittiest age ever), and build some incredible relationships. After Sawyer was born, teaching full time was alot different for me. I was fully on board as the 7:35am bell rang, but my heart longed to be with my son. I LOVED LOVED LOVED my job, but I LOVE Sawyer more. So, I'm moving into a new journey in life! I've never felt the call to be a full time stay at home mommy, but I am working towards a goal of being home more often. Since I was about 13 years old I loved spending time with special needs kids. I volunteered and used quite a bit of my time in high school with our special needs classes. I spent an entire summer during college as a counselor at Camp Barnabas, which is a camp for special needs children. My heart is forever different from that summer. My love for those kids is irreplaceable.
I always thought I wanted to be a Special Ed teacher, but I also always wanted to attend SNU (which does not have that program). So, I picked Speech Communications Education with a minor in English and attended SNU. Once I started my job teaching English I fell in love with it and lost the desire to work on my Master's. Newly married, first job, a puppy...that was just plenty :) However, during those years I taught inclusion classes where students that may not have been in a regular classroom setting before had the opportunity to be in one. I had a Special Ed teacher (not just any Special Ed teacher...Coach Sailer...who will forever be the best coach and Special Ed teacher on the planet!!!) with me and we team taught. I LOVED IT! I fell in love with those kids. So, basically, after Sawyer was born, I started rethinking my future and what I wanted for our family. Speech Language Pathology has always been very interesting to me. Having the ability to work one on one to help transform a child's life (or adult), to make it just a little bit easier to walk through this crazy thing we call life. I researched tons about this career and took a class in the evenings to learn more about it. I fell in love with this! Clay and I prayed so much about this decision and my heart is completely at peace. I know this is exactly where the Lord has led me for this season of life. I will be a full time (during the day) student for three years, as I get my Master's in Speech Language Pathology. I still won't see SJ as much as I would like, but I know it is a great decision for our future. The ability to work part time, all the time, choose hours, work in homes, work one on one with people...these are a few areas that I know I will love! So, in the meantime we are looking forward to lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, paying childcare while losing one income, and of course...paying for another round of college! I'm already enrolled and I signed my resignation letter...so it's too late to stop me :) We are blessed and trusting the Lord through this journey!!!
Why wouldn't we just give him the entire ice cream cone?!
Playing with Kennedy and Beau!
These two LOVE Bubble Guppies...notice SJ is wearing his toolbelt :)
I have wanted to get rid of Jobie many times in the last 17 months...and then this happens!
Lots of places to sit SJ...that's what you chose.
Just one of those days!
Thanks Abby for this tool bench. SJ LOVES IT!
Pajama Day at school and his new nap mat!
Griffin and SJ...sweet sweet boys!
This was after I picked him up from "school" and his teacher said he didn't take a nap and instead woke up all the other kids. He walked around and tapped them...awesome SJ!
Kind of a half smile! Playing with his new toys we brought home from NYC.
Playdate with mommy!
Got SJ some new kicks! He sure likes them!
He is probably saying "Whoa" in this picture. His new favorite word!
This is hands down my favorite video of all time!
Puppy love!
This means we are a toddler I think!
Our dance moves need a little work!
