No London! No!

London has been getting into EVERYTHING!!...and those chubby little legs are fast. He can get across a room and to a fireplace, electrical cord, blow dryer, etc in seconds. He also uses his crawling skills to crawl up my leg and crawl toward me while sobbing when I leave a room. Yes, London suffers from extreme separation-anxiety. It's bad. I cannot walk out of a room without him crying and trying to get to me. We currently have a gate blocking the living room and the kitchen and he will hold onto the gate and try to knock it down to get to me. I am actually quite thrilled that he is so attached, but sometimes I just need a break! Lately, he has been wrapping his legs around my waist and reaching for me when other people (including daddy) want to hold him. He is also having serious sleeping issues. Almost every night he cries hysterically at one point and he still requires a nighttime feeding. I know the pediatrician is going to bust me on that one because she told me at his 6 mos appointment to break that. I actually do just rock him back to sleep the first time he wakes up, but if he wakes up again I give him a bottle. I can't remember the last time he slept through a night, that's not good. Luckily, I am off work so it's not too horrible when I get no sleep. But work or no work, being tired sucks!...and being a mom is work~ hard work. I thought that I'd have so much extra time this summer but with Kary working long hours, I am lucky to wash some bottles, throw in a load of laundry, and catch a quick shower, all during a very unpredictable naptime.
London and I have been trying to keep busy this summer, but like always, money is tight with me not working so our options are limited. We spent a day with London's Tues. babysitter last week and it was nice to be around an adult but our conversation was interrupted every 30 seconds by her wild screaming children showing off in front of London and I. Plus, there is not much London can do at this point outside. He mostly sits on a blanket, sweats, and watches the other kids play. It's crazy to think that next year London will be a toddler running around. It's exciting but I am not ready for him to be out of the baby stage.
London is growing out of all his clothes. I mostly rotate a few onesies since it is so damn hot out, and it's not worth spending $ right now when he grows out of things after wearing them once. He will be 9 months on Tuesday and is already in 12 mos clothes. I am wondering if he will be a big kid, or slow down once he starts walking. I'm also very excited to see how much he weighs at his appointment. I am guessing about 25lbs. That kid can numb my arm in a few minutes.
London experienced his first fireworks last night as the neighbors were shooting them off. We carried him outside to see what he would thing~ bad bad idea. First, because they are loud fire in the sky, and second because it was almost 10pm, he had just finished a spazztic crying fit, and only napped that day for about 30 min at grandma and grandpa's. That is a very dangerous combination.
We have decided to put the whole house buying thing on hold. We have got to get our debt to income ratio down. And now I will go off on a much over-do rant...this may not be the place for this but I have to get it out! I spent 6 years in college, 4 undergrad, 2 in grad. I had a 4.0gpa, I busted my ass, I did not go to parties, I studied. I got a job in NC because the teaching profession is pretty hard to get into in PA. Being of high standards, I did not want a sub job. I didn't rack up 50K in student loans for that shit. I have been teaching 7 years, my salary has not increased in 3. I work 40 hours a week at school and about 15-20 at home. I write lesson plans while holding my baby and eating dinner. I work as a mom, nurse, psychiatrist, mentor, referee, educator to 20 kids a day. I get about half of my check taken out each month. I make enough money in a month to pay about 4 major bills I have. It is RIDICULOUS! I am a well-educated person. I am disgusted that anyone can get a degree in a few years or less and make double what I make in a year doing something meaningless. I guess I should have known, the world is just messed up and I am sick of putting my dreams on hold and not being able to even support my family on my salary (if you can call it that) Sometimes I just want to give up, scream and figure out what else to do with my life. For now I just hope things get better. I am grateful for what I do have and know that many people have it way worse. I am just so sick of living paycheck to paycheck....just one break...please!...before baby London and the dogs have to get jobs...ugh!