The end is near!

My thesis was approved by my committee and the graduate coordinator this week!  It went through a TON of revisions since I submitted it a week ago but I'm really proud of the way it's turned out.  I was finally able to schedule my defense, which is my last hoop to jump through before graduation.  I ordered my cap and gown this week and did a happy dance because I was so excited.

Proof!  135 pages of awesomeness.

I had to print out a hard copy for my committee members and it looked like a novel!  Mind you, this was with two-sided printing. And over 80 pages of this were single-spaced.  BOOM.

Anyway... if you're looking for some academic pursuits to break up the monotony of your summer vacation, you should come to my defense meeting!  It'll be Thursday, June 28th at 11:00 in room 125 of the Taylor Building.  All friends/family/acquaintances/strangers who are interested in children with language impairment are welcome.  It's sure to be a (scholarly) party.  And heaven knows I need the prayers and support.  This has been an extremely time consuming but rewarding project, second only to baking the little man in my oven for 9 months.

Speaking of the little man, I feel as though every single day with him recently has been an absolute riot.  He's obsessed with giggling, eating food off my plate (still no sign of teeth at 10 months old... he just gums everything in sight), standing (on his own!), playing with pens and markers, playing catch (well... he and Spencer gently throw the ball back and forth at... not to... each other), dancing whenever he hears music, clapping and waving, and banging on the piano (which is sweet, sweet music to his piano-playing mother's ears).  He's constantly happy; tears are rare except when food is taken away from him or we're pinning him to the ground to change his diaper.  

He's standing ALL. THE. TIME.  He fights every position except standing (and has since he was 7 months old).  We've avoided cuts, bumps, and bruises pretty well up until now but he's just starting to get adventurous with letting go when he's standing or taking steps with us.  I'm pretty excited that I'm finishing up with school right when he's trying to start walking.  Any earlier and I still would have been slaving away on the thesis.  What can I say?  The kid's a keeper :)

Basically, we're doing pretty well!  Our Lake Chelan trip and Spencer's birthday are coming up in the next two weeks but we'll think about those once my defense is over.  As for now, I'm loving all this new-found time I have!  It's mostly spent on sleep and quality time with my boys :)  And maybe a LITTLE bit on preparing for next Thursday's meeting... but just a little bit.

We love you all!

Um....

I did it.

I finished my thesis.

124 pages.

ONE MONTH.

No sleep.

And now...

Relief.

As of August 9th, I will only respond to "Master Cornett."  Or "mom."  :)

Update Time!

Hey all!

I am deep in the midst of the busiest time in my life so it's a miracle that this post is being written at all.  I've been working on thesis every spare second of every day (and night) and unfortunately, those "spare" seconds have come at really awkward times.  But some days, you just need a little break.  Today that break comes in the form of a blog post.

As busy as grad school has been, I've told myself that no matter what, Colton is priority 1.  So as soon as he goes down for a nap, I write and write and write and write.  And as soon as Spencer comes home from school or work, he takes over feeding/changing/playing so I can write and write and write.  And when Colton goes to bed around 9:00 at night, I get in my car, drive over to the almost-deserted Taylor building, and write and write and write until ridiculous hours of the morning.  I got home at 4:00 this morning :(  But I'm almost done!  I have about 85 pages finished and I completed my data analysis last night.  I can do this.  I can bust my tail for two more weeks.  And THEN I'll be FINISHED!

So I'm not getting much sleep... but it's no less than when Colton was a newborn.  And my boys are my motivation!  I'm thinking about language impairment and social communication intervention and counting productions of emotion-based words so often during the day that when I'm with Spencer and Colton, I make sure I'm with them and no one else.  Thesis goes on the backburner.  And THAT is my reality check.  I'll do anything I have to do if it means I get to play with my boys every day.

As for Spencer... he's amazing!  He's the only reason why our house is ever clean.  He lets me focus on school and he kicks into full housekeeper gear and keeps our place looking great.  AND he's a great dad!  I can get lots of Colton smiles but Spencer can get that kid to absolutely crack up.  It's pretty cute.  Spencer quit his job at Calloway Labs and is now doing the same thing (drug testing) for the company that originally contracted Calloway.  He's getting just as many hours as he was before but now he doesn't have to drive to Salt Lake a bajillion times a week.  Huzzah!  He's throwing in a couple extra hours in at the Telefund again, too.  AND he's taking classes.  AND he still manages to go to bed at a normal hour (lucky man...).  Superman, maybe?

Colton's adorable (duh).  He just had his 9 month appointment and is weighing in at a whopping 23 lbs (90th percentile!).  Our doctor took one look at his chunky legs and asked us if we wrestle with him.  Yeah... we practically do.  Every time we change his diaper :)  OR... every time I try to take his picture with my phone:

He's now obsessed with a show on Nick Jr. called Bubble Guppies.  Don't ask me why... he just is. Here's proof:

He's not QUITE as wild about kiddie pools yet... but we're working on it!

He REALLY likes getting into awkward places:

And he's kind of obsessed with door stoppers:

And tearing everything off tables, chairs, couches, counters, shoe racks... basically anything he can reach!

He loves mooning people...

He had a bladder infection a few weeks ago (SAD SAD baby) and kept falling asleep in crazy places:

You'll be glad to know he's staying pretty regular...

But BEST of all... he loves to see the temple!

We love you all! The next time you hear from us... I'll probably be done with my beastly thesis! (WOOHOO!)