Crazy Sunday!

I am exhausted. We've had like, 5 nights in a row where we haven't gotten to bed before midnight, and The Boy was awake for 3 of those nights at 4 a.m. Uggh. He slept better last night, so at least I slept from midnight until 6:30, but I'm still exhausted.

And church this morning was just a disaster. The Boy spit up a TON - the 2 bites of ice cream I had Friday night were 2 bites too many. He was spitting up chunks the whole time before the service started as I was trying to chat with different women. Now, the women who had kids were totally okay with it, but there were a couple of women who were looking at me like, can't she get that kid under control? I mean, I'm talking MAJOR spit up - chunks all down my shirt, skirt, legs, and all over the floor. It totally doesn't phase me any more, but I guess if you're not used to it you'd be grossed out.

So, he was doing that everywhere, and then I put him in the carseat on the chair in the sanctuary, and some little kid ran into the chair, knocked the car seat off, and Grant fell out and hit his cheek, and of course started screaming. This was like, 2 minutes before the service was supposed to start, so the sanctuary was packed and everyone turns and stares at me, with spit-up chunks still down my Ann Taylor skirt. It was just nuts. I wanted to go home right then.

Here's hoping that that doesn't set the tone of the week!

Reverse

That seems to be the direction we're going in with The Boy, at least as far as his sleeping habits are concerned! He's been a terrific sleeper pretty much since day 1, giving us 4 hours at night from one-week-old. From about 2 months he was sleeping from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m., and it's just gradually lengthened since then. For the past 4 weeks he had regularly been sleeping from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., eating, and then going back to sleep until 8:30 or 9.

Until this past week. He's been awaking at 4 a.m. to eat for the past 5 nights. He's STARVING, too - takes him 25 minutes to eat! (He can eat in about 10 during the day!) So, last night I tried to "dream feed" him before I went to bed at 10, hoping to make him sleep longer. Well, the reverse happened - he woke earlier and more! He woke up 2x, both for like 45 minutes a time.

And, when the Mom didn't go to bed until 1 a.m., it makes for a short night and a dazed mommy! Hopefully he'll nap well so I can, too!

Zzzz's

The Boy needs his Z's! He was tired when we got home from church early this afternoon, so we put him in - where else? - his swing to take a nap. Well, he slept in that swing for 4 1/2 hours!! We kept waiting for him to wake up, but he just slept and slept and slept. He then took an early evening nap, and then went down for the night at about 7:30. Growth spurt?

Dos Minutos

When running Day2 of Week 5 this evening, I started thinking about the dichotomy of time. Yes, a second is always the same length, but can often feel longer or shorter depending on the circumstance.

2 minutes. Sometimes it's an eternity, sometimes it's the blink of an eye.

When finishing the last 2 minutes of a Couch-to-5K running segment, it's an eternity. When lying in bed, savoring the last few moments before I have to get up in the middle of the night to feed The Boy, it's lightening fast.

I am often thankful that time never speeds up or slows down. Before going to an event I'm dreading, I repeat to myself, "12 hours, and it will all be over." It's then a blessing that time never changes.

However, as I'm drudging along, trying to finish my last couple of minutes of running, I wouldn't mind if time would at least just slightly speed up.


P.S. FYI, for the references to running, check this link out:

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Pacifiers Needed

Who knew that The Boy would become a pacifier-crazed baby over the last 2 weeks? Standing in the aisle at Target, elbow-deep in rows of pacifiers, I realized that I have been branded by the Mommy iron. Because, of course the Boy has to have a certain kind of paci - or pluggie as Daddy calls them. Not just the cheap-o brand will do - oh, no, we have to have the Mam blue, sparkly, silicone-tipped pacifier. And, because I love this kiddo so much, I'll gladly be elbow-deep in the pacifier aisle, making sure I have the right type.

A cold, rainy day here in the Midwest! We awoke this morning to the workers arriving earlier than scheduled - around 7:30 instead of 8. We had gone to bed late last night, so 7:30 was early! (Even though I had already been up with The Boy a couple of times during the night!)

We have lots of family coming in this weekend, so I'm off to organize and clean and organize and clean some more!

Here's a new favorite picture:

Head Down!

At my 32-week appointment yesterday, we found out that Baby W. is officially head down and ready to go! :-) Our OB did say, though, that she's occasionally been wrong about baby's being head down -- and laughingly said that some babies have pretty firm bottoms! :-)

Matt and I will hopefully close on our house Friday, which means Friday night will be our first night in our first house! :-) We're very excited. Baby W.'s room will be the first room painted. :-)

A Pain in the...

BACK!!! Argh! About 3 days ago I awoke to horrendous back pain in the middle of the night, and it hasn't gone away since then! :/ It's worse when I sit for a long period of time, or when I sleep. I'm going to try to pick up a heating pad tomorrow to see if that will help. :/

Matt bought me a body pillow yesterday, though, and that was a miracle to sleep with! SOO Much better!! I highly recommend it to other pregnant women!

Off to do school work!

97 Days!!

So, my computer counts down the days until my EDD, and I just saw that it's now saying 97 days! I remember when I was counting down days until our wedding, I was so excited to reach 2-digits. Now, I'm excited, but when I read "97 days" it causes a small amount of panic, too! Eek! Only 97 more days until we'll meet, have met, or be close to meeting Baby W. (who is still name-less!)

Team Blue!

So, we found out last Friday that we joined Team Blue! It's a boy for us!

Here's a picture taken at the doctor's office, right after we found out it's a boy! And, here's one of the first shirts I bought for The Boy. Isn't it adorable? He'll look so much like his Daddy!

Middle-of-the-Night Musings

1. After not having a firecall in almost a month, we were awakened to the pager buzzing at 1:30 in the morning. Matt rushed around the house trying to find clothes, put contacts in, etc, while I tried to wake up enough to help him. I found his thermals for him, considering the wind chill is
-2 out right now!

I've been surfing the web and listening to the scanner for the past hour-and-a-half, and just heard that the department is back now. Hopefully he'll be home soon.

2. A new Wal-Mart opened here recently, and presumably to attract business, their gas prices are LOW. We filled up for $1.93 and would've gotten 5 cents of that if we had a Wal-Mart card. (Whatever that is). We almost bought a gas can just to fill up! Haven't seen it under 2 bucks recently.

3. Lizzie now has all of her puppy shots! Yay! Thanks to a super sweet, semi-retired vet who's in the office in the mornings just because he loves it. :-)

Okay, hopefully the pager will stay silent for the rest of the night...Sleep Well!

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better? What City Do You Belong In?

I found this fun quiz about what city should I live in, so I thought it would be fun to post! I like their analysis: "You're a big city girl with a small town heart." :-)

What a Cutie!

When Lizzie's really listening to or watching something, her right ear stands up. Cute!

Visits With Old Friends...

We left this past Monday to visit our friends Mike & Rachel and their son Jonathan. They live north of Chicago and are preparing to leave for Thailand to be missionaries. (They're hoping to leave next fall). So, we're trying to squeeze in as many visits with them as possible before they leave.

We hadn't seen their son, Jonathan, since he was about a month old, so it was a lot of fun to play with him!! Here he is in his special fireman outfit worn just for Matt.

Back in the Saddle Again!

Or, should I say, back on the other side of the desk again!

Monday I'll start a very part-time Spanish teaching position at a local Christian school. (And in local, I mean local: it's about 3 minutes from our house!) It's one-class-a-day, 4-days-a-week, and I'm through-the-roof excited! It feels great to break out my Spanish supplies again: lesson planning, here I come!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes! I'm trying to be a better blogger!

It's Blustery!

It's a blustery day here in the Midwest! Snow is on the ground, the wind is blowing, and the smell of a wood stove is permeating our house. My last post I mentioned that there's almost no other profession I love as much as teaching. Well, today is one of those days that makes me love my current profession as a stay-at-home-wife. Being able to get up, make hot chocolate, have supper in the crockpot, and just generally not have to go out in the cold is fabulous! Though I LOVE teaching, and hopefully will be able to do some part-time work soon, being able to stay at home, love my husband and enjoy being a wife is even better than being in my classroom.

So, bring on the hot chocolate, baby! The low is 10 here tonight! As my dad would say, it's going to be brisk!

The Greatest Profession Ever

When you teach, there are days, and then there are The Days. They're the ones where your lesson plans are clicking, students are interacting, and the classes are clicking along. On those days, when I'm in my classroom doing this thing called teaching, it's almost a rush. To have my students learning Spanish, laughing with me---the days when teaching almost seems effortless, those are the days that I absolutely love my chosen profession.

Yes, there are the frustrations, and, yes, if you listened to me complain sometimes you would wonder if I actually enjoyed my job, but overall, teaching is just the best profession there is. To have even a small impact on a young person's life, what more could I want to do? To be able to teach my student some Spanish, give them a positive idea of learning, and to encourage them to be positive, constructive citizens in this world...there is almost no other profession I could love more.

Check back soon for the almost clarification.

Back-to-School!

Though it often comes too early and too soon, the start of a new school year holds a special excitement and anticipation that only a teacher can fully appreciate. I'll try to describe the feeling for all of you non-educators!

You leave your classroom in June, feeling tired, impatient, slightly cynical and just all-around cranky from the previous school year. 180 days with 15-year-olds is enough to leave any teacher having white-sand and crystal water visions! So, the green grading pens are put away, teacher manual's stored, and the classroom locked up.

Then comes the special bliss of summer -- sleeping in, staying up late, and being creative for creativity sake, not the student's sake. Flexible schedules, no deadlines, and leisurely lunches invigorate a tired teacher. Summer projects are completed (or put on the list for next summer!), and the fresh summer days are breathed in deeply.

And then, that day in August comes, when you walk back into the school building. As the car is parked, you view the building with fresh eyes. Even the building itself seems excited: the smell of fresh paint lingers through the hallways and the freshly-waxed floors gleam.

Teachers greet each-other with smiles that were virtually non-existent 3 months previously, administrators start meetings with a positive plan for the new academic year, and curriculum is creatively planned. Anticipation builds as teachers get ready for the new year.

A fresh optimism fills the hallways as teachers count-down the days until students will, once again, flood into the builidng. Break out those grading pens, baby! A new school year, here we go!

Burn Out

Last week the count-down began. Before the bell rang, I caught a conversation between 2 students, both seniors. They were discussing whether or not the count-down to summer (and, more importantly, graduation!) should include weekends - and both felt strongly about their personal method of counting, with the countdown updated weekly in their planners with cute markers and stickers. I just smiled and continued my "6-minute-shuffle," the time I have to organize, sort, and stack between classes.

Inside, though, I thought "Woo-hoo!" only 52 (or 70-something, depending on your method!) days left!! Visions of leisurely mornings, followed by afternoons by the pool, filled my brain. The 6-letter word that's a teacher's motivation this time of year: summer.

I love my job. However, the late-nights, the continual pressure of school-work on your mind, and the never-ending to-do lists wear on even the best of educators after 9 months of school stresses. If you're not in education you may have problems understanding the constant pressure that weighs on the mind of a teacher, but if you could learn even a fraction about life From the Other Side of the Desk, you would understand.

Almost three years ago, when I was embarking on this journey of education, I talked with one of my now dear friends, who had previously taught in a year-round school in California. At first I thought it was utterly crazy, but after talking more with her, and after three years of this concept steeping in my teacher-crazed lifestyle, I wonder if, perhaps, year-round school isn't quite as out there as I originally thought.

The basic concept (scheduling the school days with more smller and more frequent breaks through out the year as opposed to the one major summer-time break) is radically different. And, in fact, that's one reason why year-round scheduling fails in school districts---it's simply to hard to go against the ingrained, traditional school schedule. However, is the tradional method always the best method?

There are a myriad of supposed problems-economic, scheduling, funding, support-the list goes on. I don't want to debate the advantages or disadvantages (if you're that interested, just google it). I just want to propose one simple idea: would I be a better educator in a year-round school?

I think, perhaps, I would be. For the longest period of time a teacher in most year-round school district teaches with out at least a week-long break is six weeks. With a year-round schedule, every time that I, professionally, felt tired and needed a break, I would have one! There would be no long-haul, hard-core push from spring break until summer. More frequent breaks translates into fresher teacher AND fresher students, which would help motivation and classroom management.

I LOVE summer. The thought of giving it up is terrifying. However, if I hadn't just pushed myself to the max for the previous 180 days, would I need the summer so desperately? If I had frequent breaks from my classroom, would I need 2 1/2 months of so badly? If I were able to frequently escape the pressures from my classroom, would I be so worn-out by the end of the year?

Hypothetical, I know - I'm not likely to teach in a year-round district. At this point in the school year - only one grading period left - an educator can't help but wonder what would help prevent exhaustion. Tell me what you think.

As for now, I leave you with this quip:

"Teachers love summer as much as parents love fall."

Never Dull!!!

Teaching 15-year-olds is never dull, and I think you could teach for 30+ years and still be surprised. Though I've only taught for 3 years, here are 2 semi-funny, semi-inappropriate for the classroom, yet true, stories that happened this past week.

The first comes from my own classroom--between classes last week, a student wrote an anatomically inappropriate word in huge letters on my chalkboard. (And when I say written on the board, it was in 4 foot letters across the entire chalkboard). When I walked into my classroom and saw it, I tried to remain calm and just casually erased it as the class was slightly snickering. When I stepped out in to the hallway for a moment later that class and came back in, the word was written again, this time spelled in smaller letters, but still spelled incorrectly! I just tried to ignore it and continued the class.

After finding out who wrote it, I talked with the assistant principal about the kind of funny, but still inappropriate word for a Spanish classroom!! The principal laughed and told me to just ask the student why she did it, and then the principal told me this similar story that came from a recent biology class...

The biology class was doing group presentations, and one group (of nice, but boisterous students )chose Tourettes Syndrome as their topic. Their opening statement, and their opening Powerpoint slide said, "Tourettes Syndrome: What the F*** is it?"

Nice, eh? Ah, the life of a highschool teacher - - - sometimes, a little more boring would be nice!