Time for a Change

Well, I will come right out and say it. We had a bad week in the Williamson household. For the last couple of weeks, Tommy was getting indication at work that the business was struggling. They were looking at ways to cut costs. They were discussing cuts to benefits and some other things. We had begun having our own discussions that maybe it was time for Tommy to move on. We had begun looking at job openings and talking about what he might want to do, but we felt like we were in a good place to take some time and be a little picky. Well, we are no longer in that place. After some rough days at the beginning of the week, we began to get in more of a hurry, and scrambled to find a digital copy of Tommy's resume so he could start applying for jobs. On Thursday, Tommy was laid off. The company's financial situation apparently snowballed very quickly and they had to take some pretty desperate measures very quickly to hopefully avoid going under. Tommy and 3 other people were laid off this week, including the president's son-in-law. It is difficult as we are friends with the family that owns the company and they felt horrible about letting him go. Our prayers are with the Veras and Bulins as they also deal with a difficult time for their families.
So, we have been scrambling but trying not to panic. Tommy got about a week and a half severance to buy us a little bit of time. He has already filed for unemployment so we are hopeful that will be processed quickly. The biggest decision we have had to make was to pull Zane out of daycare immediately. This was really difficult for me on Friday. It just made everything a bit more real to have to tell his school and gather all of his stuff and know that he won't be back, at least for a while. His primary teachers weren't even there on Friday to say good-bye. I know they will be sad. We feel like we will be okay financially with unemployment with no daycare expense. I am still a little nervous about our finances over the next few weeks as we were in no position of "cushion" after I was off work unpaid for a couple of months not that long ago. We should get our tax return in a couple of weeks, so that will at least recover us from the time that I was unpaid. Things will be tight for a while but I know we will get through it.
We know that God will continue to provide for us as He always has. We are keeping a positive attitude and we feel like this will be a blessing in the end for Tommy and our family. There is a great opportunity out there for him that will hopefully be an exciting new adventure. We have had an amazing outpouring of support and prayers from our family and friends. Tommy has quite a few people that are helping him with job leads and sending his resume to various contacts. I feel like he will find something pretty quickly, hopefully.
He is looking for general administrative-type positions. Human Resources would be ideal, but he has applied for several executive assistant-type positions and other things. He has experience with HR, marketing, administration, and restaurant management. His degree is in Communication and Management. If you know of anything in the general DFW-area, please let us know! We appreciate your prayers and job leads!

Crystal

5 Months Old!

I can't believe you are 5 months old already! We have had such a busy month. We were full strength back to work this month so that means you got back into the swing of daycare. Your teachers sure do love you! Mommy's getting more used to the difficult balance of working full time and being a mommy but it is still the hardest thing I've ever done to be away from you every day and to try to find time to clean the house!!

You are truly the light of our lives, Little Man! You are so much fun! You smile and laugh all the time, especially with Mommy & Daddy. You are a big talker! No one is really surprised, considering that your Mommy likes to talk a lot, your Daddy was a communication major, and your Pops speaks to people for a living. You babble all day long and it is always something very important. You squeal and jabber and experiment with new sounds. You are a pretty good conversationalist.

You love to play now, too. You have your favorite toys that you like to play with. The best ones are the ones that crinkle in your hands or make some other noise. You think it is really fun to put any toy or any thing in your mouth too. If no toy is around, your hands or feet will do. You have really found your feet and like to grab them with your hands. You rolled over once, from your tummy to your back. You haven't done it again yet though. You seem much more interested in sitting up than in rolling over. You try to sit up a lot and you like sitting in your bumbo chair or being propped up somewhere so you can see everything.



You love to eat! You nurse and take the bottle really well, even when you don't feel good. You even held your bottle on your own a few days ago, Big Boy! Once you figured out what Mommy was trying to do with feeding you cereal, you decided that you really like that too. You often get impatient when you are not being given bites as quickly as you think you should and you have been known to throw an all out fit when the food is all gone. We have started adding some pureed veggies and fruits to your diet, too. You have been eating peas, and tonight, you tried some peaches.

This month, you had another cousin born! Lylah Belle Curry was born on January 6. In the middle of January, we went to visit Lylah with Uncle Craig & Aunt Fallon in Dripping Springs. Gigi & Pops, and Uncle Robin, Aunt Jill, Emma & Foster came too. We had a great time with all the babies and Emma in one house. You had fun with your Pops & Gigi and aunts and uncles, and you fit right in with the other kiddos. We also got to finally have Christmas with Mommy's family, but since we started pretty late, you had to go to bed in the middle of it. You still got some great presents! It was a fun road trip!

All the Curry Cousins- Lylah (11 days), Foster (2 mos), Zane (4 1/2 mos), Emma (3 yrs)


Foster & Zane hanging out at Gigi & Pops' house

You had a cough for most of the month and last week, we had to start you on some breathing treatments. We are optimistic that this will be a one time issue and we won't have to deal with this again, but there is a possibility that the respiratory issues are an indication of asthma. We are praying that this will not be the case for you!

You are such a good baby and such a joy to be around! We love you more than we could explain!


With love,

Mommy