Holy smokes. It's been eight months, exactly. How have I not blogged since August? What is that all about? I'll tell you what that is about. Crippling third trimester exhaustion, plus the crazy, whirlwind of life that is the month leading up to having a baby and then the incredible change of life that comes with the first few months after having a little bundle of joy. I've thought about blogging so many times, but I just have not made myself sit down and write. Blogging more frequently is on my list of "30 Things to do While I'm 30," so I am going to force myself to get some blogging time in. So, I am throwing up this post to as a fly-by alert that I'm back, and I'm going to make a giant list of things to blog about and fully intend to be back around much more frequently!
Penny
Sweet Puppy.... as long as she's sleeping
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Monday, August 13, 2012
An Open Letter To My Uterus
Dear Uterus:
I'm not sure if you have really been paying attention over these past 29 years, 5 months, and 21 days, but the body you're part of is not exactly known to be an 'over-achiever.' Sure, we've been known to put in extra effort when it really counted, but as a rule, we've been pretty content in our mediocrity.
Take our musical forays, for instance. Our ability to play by ear made us a very decent piano and French horn player. However, our contentment with being decent led us to not practice. Had musicality not come so easily to us, had we been forced to practice and practice to master the music, we could possibly have been excellent instead of being 'pretty good.'
You may also want to refer to our academic history as well. We pulled down As and Bs in high school without cracking a book. In college, we faced a little bit more difficulty but were able to maintain Bs and Cs with minimal studying. Had we not been so content in our own mediocrity, we could've made Dean's List our entire college career, and not just our last semester. If bits and pieces from the lectures hadn't naturally just clung to our brain and we'd been self-controlled enough to force ourselves to study for hours each night, we could've graduated with honors instead of just simply walking across the stage.
But you, Uterus. You apparently want to get this whole child birth thing perfect. So much so that you have decided to start practicing already. Sure, the occasional Braxton Hicks is one thing. It caught me by surprise the other day when I literally arched my back and had to grab the arm rest for support, but it was a one-time shot. You need to start preparing yourself, I get that. I forgave you for that incident. However, today..... today was not cool. I do not appreciate laying in the fetal postion (although the irony does not go unnoticed) for over an hour, clutching my abdomen as I have consistent contractions every 10-15 minutes. I do not appreciate having to call the after-hours on call OB in a panic because I don't know if I need to come in or not. I don't appreciate being terrified that I'm going to give birth 10 weeks early.
For the record, I do thank you that you stopped 'practicing' and that keeping my feet up and drinking water is making you happy.
So please take a note from the rest of this body - let's just be content in our mediocrity. We're pretty good at winging it at the last minute. I'm sure this birth thing will be fine. We got this.
Sincerely,
A very stressed out mamma who would prefer not to go into pre-term labor.
I'm not sure if you have really been paying attention over these past 29 years, 5 months, and 21 days, but the body you're part of is not exactly known to be an 'over-achiever.' Sure, we've been known to put in extra effort when it really counted, but as a rule, we've been pretty content in our mediocrity.
Take our musical forays, for instance. Our ability to play by ear made us a very decent piano and French horn player. However, our contentment with being decent led us to not practice. Had musicality not come so easily to us, had we been forced to practice and practice to master the music, we could possibly have been excellent instead of being 'pretty good.'
You may also want to refer to our academic history as well. We pulled down As and Bs in high school without cracking a book. In college, we faced a little bit more difficulty but were able to maintain Bs and Cs with minimal studying. Had we not been so content in our own mediocrity, we could've made Dean's List our entire college career, and not just our last semester. If bits and pieces from the lectures hadn't naturally just clung to our brain and we'd been self-controlled enough to force ourselves to study for hours each night, we could've graduated with honors instead of just simply walking across the stage.
But you, Uterus. You apparently want to get this whole child birth thing perfect. So much so that you have decided to start practicing already. Sure, the occasional Braxton Hicks is one thing. It caught me by surprise the other day when I literally arched my back and had to grab the arm rest for support, but it was a one-time shot. You need to start preparing yourself, I get that. I forgave you for that incident. However, today..... today was not cool. I do not appreciate laying in the fetal postion (although the irony does not go unnoticed) for over an hour, clutching my abdomen as I have consistent contractions every 10-15 minutes. I do not appreciate having to call the after-hours on call OB in a panic because I don't know if I need to come in or not. I don't appreciate being terrified that I'm going to give birth 10 weeks early.
For the record, I do thank you that you stopped 'practicing' and that keeping my feet up and drinking water is making you happy.
So please take a note from the rest of this body - let's just be content in our mediocrity. We're pretty good at winging it at the last minute. I'm sure this birth thing will be fine. We got this.
Sincerely,
A very stressed out mamma who would prefer not to go into pre-term labor.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Fun With Words
I'm sitting here, wide awake on a Friday night while my hubby is off in dream land for a while. He is going through a pretty big thing at work right now and was up until 1 am this morning on the phone trying to trouble shoot a problem (after working about 11 hours), then went into work at 6 am, got home after 7 pm, and was on the phone most of the evening trouble shooting more problems. One of the guys that works for him is supposed to call again around midnight, so he's trying to catch a nap incase he needs to go in to troubleshoot again. It's overwhelming for this pregnant wife and I am glad we only have about 4 more weeks of this!
I, on the other hand, while awake during his midnight and 1 am phone calls, slept until 9 and then took a giant nap after I had lunch with my parents. So rather than bother him or keep him awake, I grabbed a pillow and a cozy blanket and Penny and I are snuggled together in the recliner watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony. I am not sure why in the world I decided grabbing a blanket was a good idea. In case you are unaware, pregnancy makes you hotter than blue blazes. I was unaware of this until I started to have hot flashes. Good gooley-moogley. Add a 40 pound lap-furnace and I'm toasty over here. The blanket is now being used as an arm prop instead.
In addition to watching the Olympics, I am cruising the blogs that I make a point to follow. One in particular I frequently read is my lovely friend Darby from Life With the Hawleys. I may have mentioned this before, but Darby and I went to college together and worked in the same office. I love her style and reading her blog and aspire to be as good at blogging as she is! Anywho, she did a Wordle post, and I thought it would be fun to do one too!! So, here is my Penny Wise & Pound Foolish Wordle.
Clearly, I talk about teaching and my pregnancy a lot. I thought it was pretty cool! They are fun to do, just go to worldle.net and you can create your own! I wish I could do this with my texts... I wonder what words would come up the most! What words would come up the most if you could make one with your texts... or better yet, Facebook statueses?!
I'm currently taking pictures so I can write a post about my kitchen. It will definitely be a two part post, because I'll have to do the "before" and "after" pictures!!
I, on the other hand, while awake during his midnight and 1 am phone calls, slept until 9 and then took a giant nap after I had lunch with my parents. So rather than bother him or keep him awake, I grabbed a pillow and a cozy blanket and Penny and I are snuggled together in the recliner watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony. I am not sure why in the world I decided grabbing a blanket was a good idea. In case you are unaware, pregnancy makes you hotter than blue blazes. I was unaware of this until I started to have hot flashes. Good gooley-moogley. Add a 40 pound lap-furnace and I'm toasty over here. The blanket is now being used as an arm prop instead.
In addition to watching the Olympics, I am cruising the blogs that I make a point to follow. One in particular I frequently read is my lovely friend Darby from Life With the Hawleys. I may have mentioned this before, but Darby and I went to college together and worked in the same office. I love her style and reading her blog and aspire to be as good at blogging as she is! Anywho, she did a Wordle post, and I thought it would be fun to do one too!! So, here is my Penny Wise & Pound Foolish Wordle.
Clearly, I talk about teaching and my pregnancy a lot. I thought it was pretty cool! They are fun to do, just go to worldle.net and you can create your own! I wish I could do this with my texts... I wonder what words would come up the most! What words would come up the most if you could make one with your texts... or better yet, Facebook statueses?!
I'm currently taking pictures so I can write a post about my kitchen. It will definitely be a two part post, because I'll have to do the "before" and "after" pictures!!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The Incredible Growing Bump
Hello!
In case you can't tell.... I'm getting HUGE. Just as a comparison, here is a side-by-side of me at 7 weeks and me at 27 weeks.
So, I failed to post three times last week - I am dreadfully sorry. I was exceptionally exhausted last week, sleeping probably about 13 hours each day. I did spend one day on this post, but after spending about an hour editing my pictures and trying to get them formatted here the way I wanted to, I got frustrated and stopped. But never fear, here I am!
First, I promised growing belly pictures!
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| 19 Weeks |
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| 20 Weeks - Half Way There! |
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| 22 Weeks |
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| 25 Weeks |
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| Today - 27 Weeks, 3 Days |
Such a big difference! And I still have 13 weeks left to go..... good gravy.
Well, I suppose there is another big announcement to make in regards to the pregnancy....
drum roll please.....
It's a boy!!!! We're so excited that we'll be having a son. And look how handsome he is already:
Well, I hope this post has at least been interesting. It's quite late and I am struggling to be witty and creative, but I did want to make a point to show some belly pics. I will try to be charming in my next post. :)
Isn't he just amazing? Needless to say, we're smitten. We are also very eager for his arrival, but this little pumpkin pie needs to bake as long as possible!
Well, I hope this post has at least been interesting. It's quite late and I am struggling to be witty and creative, but I did want to make a point to show some belly pics. I will try to be charming in my next post. :)
Thursday, July 12, 2012
I've Got Class
So, I promised a series of fully-fleshed out posts of what I did in the eight weeks I neglected my corner of the interwebz. I figure I might as well go straight down the bullet list I created for you in my previous post. So first up to bat: long term substitute position!
As I mentioned way back in the beginning of this blog, I had to quit my full-time position as an Admissions Counselor in order to do my student teaching. My student teaching internship ended in December and I knew I didn't want to sit around all day and twiddle my thumbs. So, I became a substitute teacher for our local school district. I thought it was a great way to stay in the classroom, sharpen my classroom management skills, and get to know other teachers/principals in the area so I could hopefully make good connections to be gainfully employed by the fall.
I loved seeing the different schools and for the most part, really enjoyed substitute teaching. I also did remediation tutoring every Friday for a school that was literally two miles away from my house. I must have made a great impression on them, because their long-term substitute that they'd set up for a 2nd grade class fell through and the principal asked me if I was interested. OF COURSE!
I had 19 little darlings in my classroom. They really were sweet little ones, although they tried to test every limit they possibly could. I had two boys in there that I thought were going to put me in the looney bin. They routinely played tag....in the classroom. WHO DOES THAT?! They would especially start this game when I was working one-on-one with another student. One day, one of the boys fell and bruised his shoulder. He begged the nurse not to tell his mom why he fell, but guess what - Mom got a phone call anyway.
I had another little boy that was pretty much me in 2nd grade... he was constantly reading. Which isn't a bad thing.... I get excited when I see kids who love to read. However, when I'm trying to explain the differences between the European explorers to the class for the umpteenth time because as a class you can't tell the difference between Christopher Columbus and Christopher Newport because they have the same name, maybe reading about the origami Yoda isn't the best decision. For the record - second graders should NOT be forced to memorize the explorers, they just.don't.get.it. Most of them can't find Virginia on a map yet. How in the world should they be expected to identify France, England, or Spain?
Overall, no matter how many times I wanted to pull my hair out during the day, I ended every day feeling incredibly happy and fulfilled. It made me very confident about my decision to switch careers at 28. That being said - I have no desire to teach second grade permanently. Oh my goodness. Give me my 5th graders any day of the week. I love those kids. However, I'm grateful for the knowledge that I am a 4th or 5th grade teacher. Some people are meant for Kindergarden, some people are meant for the older kids. I just happen to be best for the older kids.
It does make me a little sad that I decided to take this coming year off. I'm eager to get into my own classroom and make my mark. However, being a first year teacher taking maternity leave in October just stressed me out, so I'm staying home with my little Squido for the first year, and then will jump back on the teaching horse in 2013! Yay!
As I mentioned way back in the beginning of this blog, I had to quit my full-time position as an Admissions Counselor in order to do my student teaching. My student teaching internship ended in December and I knew I didn't want to sit around all day and twiddle my thumbs. So, I became a substitute teacher for our local school district. I thought it was a great way to stay in the classroom, sharpen my classroom management skills, and get to know other teachers/principals in the area so I could hopefully make good connections to be gainfully employed by the fall.
I loved seeing the different schools and for the most part, really enjoyed substitute teaching. I also did remediation tutoring every Friday for a school that was literally two miles away from my house. I must have made a great impression on them, because their long-term substitute that they'd set up for a 2nd grade class fell through and the principal asked me if I was interested. OF COURSE!
I had 19 little darlings in my classroom. They really were sweet little ones, although they tried to test every limit they possibly could. I had two boys in there that I thought were going to put me in the looney bin. They routinely played tag....in the classroom. WHO DOES THAT?! They would especially start this game when I was working one-on-one with another student. One day, one of the boys fell and bruised his shoulder. He begged the nurse not to tell his mom why he fell, but guess what - Mom got a phone call anyway.
I had another little boy that was pretty much me in 2nd grade... he was constantly reading. Which isn't a bad thing.... I get excited when I see kids who love to read. However, when I'm trying to explain the differences between the European explorers to the class for the umpteenth time because as a class you can't tell the difference between Christopher Columbus and Christopher Newport because they have the same name, maybe reading about the origami Yoda isn't the best decision. For the record - second graders should NOT be forced to memorize the explorers, they just.don't.get.it. Most of them can't find Virginia on a map yet. How in the world should they be expected to identify France, England, or Spain?
Overall, no matter how many times I wanted to pull my hair out during the day, I ended every day feeling incredibly happy and fulfilled. It made me very confident about my decision to switch careers at 28. That being said - I have no desire to teach second grade permanently. Oh my goodness. Give me my 5th graders any day of the week. I love those kids. However, I'm grateful for the knowledge that I am a 4th or 5th grade teacher. Some people are meant for Kindergarden, some people are meant for the older kids. I just happen to be best for the older kids.
It does make me a little sad that I decided to take this coming year off. I'm eager to get into my own classroom and make my mark. However, being a first year teacher taking maternity leave in October just stressed me out, so I'm staying home with my little Squido for the first year, and then will jump back on the teaching horse in 2013! Yay!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
I'm baaaaaack
WHAT?!?!? I haven't updated since May 13th?! Oh my goodness. I dropped the ball on that one, folks. My bad. So here's my plan. In this post, you get one quick "Here's what you missed" overview. Then, I pinkie swear that I'm going to post at least thrice this upcoming week to be more specific on everything I tell you here.
Heeeeeeeeere we go.
- My long-term sub position was amazing. That is the main reason I was lost in an apparent black hole. I loved being with the same kids, day in and day out. I got to learn their little idiosyncrasies, think fast on my feet, and really became more comfortable in my role as a teacher. That being said... I hate second grade.
- One upcoming post will be a photo series in which I call "Watch how my stomach grows". The Squido that is temporarily calling my uterus home is doing splendid. I will also do a super fun gender reveal in that one. :) I'll save all the fun, baby related issues for that post.... but baby is going great! I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow, and Squido Magillicudy has been kicking up a storm lately. I am loving feeling those little baby kicks!
- My kitchen floor currently consists of half avacado green 1976 sheet linoleum and half luan. Pictures and explanation will come, I assure you.
- It's freaking the hottest summer on record, Penny hates that we can't play outside, and I'm pretty sure she gave me the silent treatment one day this week.
- I went to Ohio for a week.
- I picked out a nursery theme.
So, everything that has happened in the past months can pretty much be summed up with these bullets, so be on the lookout for fleshed out posts!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Vloggy Vlog
Inspired by my amazing friend Darby over at Life With The Hawleys, I've decided to to my very first Vlog. She and her friend Crystal from Homemaker in Heels are hosting a Vlog link up party. I decided to jump on board since I have been interested in making a Vlog for some time now. Also, I've been really feeling a desire to get more into the world of blogging and becoming more involved in things like this. I'm eager to get connected with other blogs and I saw this as a great ticket. Darby and Crystal met via blogging, and hopefully soon I can be friends with people like Crystal (I'm already in love with her blog!) and other amazing blogging ladies out there in cyberspace.
So without further ado, here is my very first attempt at a vlog. Enjoy!
So without further ado, here is my very first attempt at a vlog. Enjoy!
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