Gina's Scrap

Dancing with Isaac

2010-08-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

What a happy day that was for me! I got to dance with my son for pretty much the first time. He didn't quite make it to the dancing part of the night when Joe and Carrie got married. He was asked to fill in as the Ring Bearer for Andrew and Melissa's wedding a couple of days before. It was not a big deal since we were bringing him anyway. I just wish he had made it down the aisle! Everyone was still very nice and included him in the pictures with the bridal party (well, the ones he would sit in!).

He was very good during dinner, getting down from the table but staying close to us. He didn't eat much but that seems to be a normal thing at dinner these days. Once the music started, he became the life of the party for a little while. He danced with Peter and I for one slow song. When the second one came on, he pushed the Daddy away and wanted me all to himself. We danced the whole song together and then the party really started! The next song came on and Isaac wanted down so that he could boogie! I had so much fun dancing with him that I am still in awe of how great that felt. I guess every mom thinks about what their son's wedding day will be like. I could only think that I will absolutely love dancing with my son at his wedding. I will probably cry. I have a long way to go since he is only 2 but those 2 years have gone so fast already that I know it will be here before I know it or am ready for it.

Thanks to Carrie Kupfer for this picture! I will treasure this moment in my memory forever!

Top 10 Reason's I Like Being a Teacher

2010-08-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

10. I love writing with mechanical pencils.
9. I actually like planning and having a structured day.
8. I get to be creative every day.
7. I learn new things every day.
6. Kids' minds work in wondrous ways and figuring them out each day is a rewarding challenge.
5. I enjoy being in a school, the colors, the constant learning, the smell of paper and crayons
4. I love to read and get to do this at work!
3. I get to have 20 people look up to me everyday.
2. I am tired but satisfied at the end of the day.
1. I have one of the most important jobs in the world.

A new school year has started and I ended my week extremely stressed and feeling like I was being buried under the amount of work I had to do. I got some of it done and the haze of stress lifted. When I came out of that haze, I remembered all of these things and it made me appreciate my job a little more.

Operation De-Clutter

2010-07-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have never watched the show Hoarders but I'm pretty sure that my house is on its way to being a prime candidate for that show. I have been so stressed out with the state of my house that I have avoided all rooms that are becoming a major problem. We clean the bathroom, living room, and kitchen pretty often. The bedroom gets very cluttered. The office is just a scary place. Isaac's room stays relatively clean. We are getting ready to move Isaac into the office to give him a little more space and so we only have to redecorate one room completely. I have lots of ideas for his room but we there is so much work to be done!

I read an article called "Basket Case" by Mary Mohler in Ladies' Home Journal. It was all about people who clutter up their houses and don't realize it until it is too late. That is me! I related to this article so much that I actually stopped reading it on the second page and went to start working on our bedroom. Mohler says to start small and do just one room at a time. The experts actually say that you should start in the bedroom because it "sets the emotional tone and drives the energy for the whole house." It's so true. I hate to go into my bedroom because I'm tripping over stuff that I just don't have space for and my dresser is covered with crap that I just don't know what to do with. I feel like I have gotten to the point where I can just throw stuff away and not care. So that's what I started doing.

I got rid of earrings that didn't have a match, hung all my necklaces on my jewelry pedestal, and through away anything that was ruined or broken. I went through my clothes and got rid of anything that I don't wear or didn't fit. I cleaned out the closet and the dresser drawers. The room isn't completely done but I feel like it is so much better and it's on its way to being a clutter free zone!

The office will be next since it is going to be Isaac's room, hopefully, before the end of the summer!

Testing from my phone.

2010-07-08T21:09:00.001-07:00

I now have a Motorolla Droid that I absolutely love. I can download apps and not worry that I will take up too much space. I downloaded the Blogger-Droid app and am trying it out now. When I first got the phone I played with the camera (5 megapixels) and found a Twitter app that I liked. I found a couple of games and messed around with the GPS. I kid you not, I had the thing for half the day before I even remembered that made phone calls.

Now I'm used to it and can't imagine what I was missing out on before a cell phone could do all this stuff. I am amazed that I can push a button and tell my phone (verbally) to navigate to a place and it knows what I said and what to do within seconds. I can't even imagine what more it could possibly do!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.3

Having the time of my life . . .

2010-01-31T12:21:00.000-08:00

I'm having one of those times in my life where it feels like everything is going exactly how I want it to. I had a rough week 2 weeks ago when my stress levels were so high that I felt like I was going to burn out and crash any day. I did some things to try and relax, including getting a blood test to make sure that my blood sugar, cholesterol, and all that good stuff was ok. I'm totally fine and finding that out made me focus on the mental part of my stress. I spent a little time each day trying to organize my life a bit more. Cleaned up my classroom, wrote my plans for the next week a little early and had some wonderful parent helpers make the copies that I would need through Valentine's Day and the 100th Day of School (February 8th). At home, Peter helped by doing a great job cleaning up the counters in the kitchen and straightening up in the living room. I scrubbed down the bathroom and we did some laundry. It's amazing how quickly you can get behind on things.

I'm feeling much better this week and have really enjoyed spending some time with my family and friends. I'm trying a little harder to let some things go if they really aren't that big of a deal. I am enjoying the time that I get to spend with Isaac and looking forward to Peter's schedule slowing down a little bit. This time of year is the best time for me. Spring is on the horizon, weddings are being planned, I get to start thinking about Isaac's 2nd (can you believe it?) Birthday in just 3 short months. I'm excited because I think we are going to take him to the Treehouse or Monkey Joe's on his actual birthday and then have a party that weekend for family and friends.

We are hoping to make the party a little smaller this year so that we can have it at our house. People will have to dress warm so that we can go out on the porch as much as possible. I know that it is still a bit chilly at the end of April but hopefully it won't be too bad. I also figure that since it is his second birthday, and not as big a deal as the first, we can just invite local family and friends without hurting anyone's feelings. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

We went to the Treehouse today and climbed around with Isaac. He has so much fun and it gives him some exercise after sitting at home and not being able to go outside much! He's starting to really try and jump up and down. I think we might take him to Monkey Joe's with a friend or two for his birthday. Not really for a party but just to go and jump around. It's a little cheaper to get in there as well. I am hoping to invite Amelia and maybe Anna and Will to come and just jump around and eat pizza and cake or something.

I can't wait until all my friends start having babies! Get movin' people, would ya?!

:)

The Lost Symbol

2010-01-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I got it for Christmas. I had seen it in the stores and had a passing thought of interest. I had enjoyed reading The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons so when I got this one, I thought, "Oh good!"

In the beginning of the story, Robert Langdon is summoned by an old friend, (or so he thinks) to Washington D.C. to give a presentation about the symbolism in the capitol. To be honest, I was disappointed that I did not get to read about symbolism in the capitol through Langdon's speech. It might have been more interesting than the start of this book. Perhaps my expectations were high based on the last two novels with Langdon as the main character. I was expecting a bit more action. This story seemed a bit formulaic. Langdon is challenged, lines between good guys and bad guys are drawn and then get fuzzy. Langdon cracks some codes using his knowledge of symbols and of course, there is a police chase. None of it is anywhere near as suspenseful or exciting (or should I say controversal?) as The DaVinci Code.

I think the author is losing his love for Langdon, if he had it in the first place. In the first two books, Robert Langdon is made out to be a genius. He figures things out faster than everyone around him and only needs a little bit of help, mostly to get him safely in and out of certain places. In The Lost Symbol, I personally think Langdon is pretty slow. Maybe because he does not have a strong belief in the hunt he is on. He thinks the kidnapper is a madman and delusional and that the treasure of The Lost Word is make believe. The whole time I was reading, I had a feeling that the word was not what it seemed. You'll have to read to find out what it is but it really is simple. Everyone I know would figure this out relatively quickly. However, the overall theme of this book seems to be that the answers are right there in front of us but we are too blind to see. At then end of the book I thought, "well yeah, of course" whereas at the end of Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code I thought, "Woah! That's so cool!"

However, I still had a hard time putting this book down. I'd like to go to the places in this book and see some of the things that are mentioned within the story. I'd like to know more about Noetic Science and really find out how much is fact and how much is fiction. There is a part of me that wants to believe the message in this book and find out more about it. Our history has always interested me. There is another part of me that says, "No way, but wouldn't it be cool?" This probably doesn't make much sense if you haven't read The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown has a great talent for making you believe what you are reading. It is so matter of fact and realistic sounding that even the craziest parts of the plot are believeable. It's fun for awhile to escape reality and believe in a story.

I would definitely tell people to read The Lost Symbol. I enjoyed it. I feel like there should be more to say but I can't think of anything. Let me know what you think of the book if you read it!

Thoughts and Memories

2009-09-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on Isaac's second year scrapbook. I spent some time tonight making a page about his first birthday and how we celebrated. I got to thinking about the past 17 months and it is just so hard to believe that he is so big. At this time last year, he was only 5 months old. He was not crawling. He was barely sitting up and still didn't sleep through the night. He didn't have any teeth and he didn't talk (at least not in words). At his first birthday, I couldn't believe that we had made it through his first year. It was hard but we loved it. Even when we hated it. Even when we were so exhausted and sleep deprived that we didn't know how we were going to get through a day let alone a year. Once I figured out this whole Mommy thing, it got way easier. I was better able to juggle my time at work and my time with Isaac. I had a rough year that first year. Peter coaches (which most of you know) football and bowling. Two seasons in a row and they both happened to be at the beginning of Isaac's life. I resented the sports for a long time. I hated the fact that he wasn't here to help me. However, (and Peter you are not allowed to use this against me in any way) at times, it seems like the times when I had to be alone and parenting on my own allowed me to form a very special bond with my son. Peter has his thing with Isaac too, don't get me wrong. I just feel like being alone with him really forced me to figure everything out and make decisions. Most of you know, or if you haven't realized it yet, you will, that I have a hard time making decisions. I don't want to make a mistake. I want to do the right thing and I worry that I won't. Every decision I had to make on my own with Isaac was agonizing. Sometimes it still is but I'm learning that I'm pretty good at this Mommy thing. I have a VERY happy, healthy little boy. He is so special and bright. I have so much fun with him whenever we are together. I'll even admit that I don't mind when he is whiny and just wants to be held. I don't mind making dinner with one hand. It's hard and a major pain in the butt but it's so worth it.

Well, I was thinking about all of this and trying to figure out why I have these bittersweet emotions when I realized that I miss my tiny baby sometimes. I don't know how my parents have gotten through the 28, almost 29 years of my life without breaking down and crying. Maybe they have and just haven't let me know about it. It makes me think of when I went away to college. I was focused on how great it was going to be and I was so excited. My parents and Lisa drove me up there and helped me move all my stuff in. Once everything was in my dorm room we went out for lunch. Everything was great. I wasn't nervous or worried at all. I did not think that I would be homesick. I thought it was going to be great. I was right. It was great. The one thing I didn't take into consideration, was my parents and the things they were feeling. After we ate lunch, they drove me back to the dorms. It was so crowded with people that we had to say goodbye in the car. My mom was sitting in the back with me. She gave me a hug and started crying. I had the hardest time getting out of that car. I didn't want her to be sad. I knew that it would be okay but this feeling landed in the pit of my stomach. I was suddenly scared. It was suddenly real. I was going to get out of that car, my parents were going to drive off and I would be alone. For the first time in my life, I was going to be in charge of my life without anyone there to tell me if I was doing the right thing. I had to get out of the car. Other people were waiting for my parents to move. So, I got out and waved goodbye. My mom and my sister were crying. I was close to tears. I went back into my dorm room and I just sat there. Then I started to unpack. After awhile, Peter called me and kept me busy for the rest of the day. He made it easier. Eventually, I got used to being on my own. I wonder if my parents got used to me being on my own or if they look at me now with my own baby and just get that bittersweet feeling in the pit of their stomachs. My son is only 17 months. This feeling just gets stronger every time he does something new. Every milestone and every accomplishment sends a feeling of pride and a little bit of loss through me. Don't get me wrong, I don't want him to stop growing up. I just feel a little tug of losing my baby. I know he's still a baby and will always be my baby but he's growing up and it's going too fast. How do you handle it?

I think that handling him growing up is two sided. On one hand, I'm losing the little being that depended on me for every single need. On the other hand, I'm gaining this little person who is so much like me and his father it is scary. He becomes more independent every day and I know that I'm raising a smart, self reliant little person. I'm proud of that but I miss the days when he wouldn't stop crying unless I was holding him in the rocking chair. I didn't know that I should enjoy that as much as possible. People tell you to but you are so wrapped up in everything else that is going on or that needs to get done and isn't that you end up not enjoying it as much as you should. It doesn't take long and it's gone.

Well, I have purged enough emotions for one night. I should get some sleep so that I am not sleep deprived this weekend. I'm sure Peter would like it if I was actually interested in leaving our house for a little while!

Thanks for listening!

The buzzing in my head . . .

2009-09-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I don't really get to blog much any more. I was blogging weekly about Weight Watchers but even that has taken a back seat to the rest of my life. I am very busy now that school has started again. We have a new reading curriculum and while I think that it is very good and will be very successful, it is a lot of work and we haven't had much guidance. (They are trying but there isn't much time for it) This makes for a very overwhelming and stressful year. We are figuring out what is expected from this curriculum ourselves with some support from literacy coaches but even they have a lot going on trying to cover 5 buildings between 2 of them. I enjoy the teaching part but the planning part takes a long time. I went to my mom's (was just going to stop by for a few minutes) and ended up making student V.I.P. books and putting together Scholastic Book Orders while my parents played with IKup. Then we ate dinner and played a little bit until it was time for IKup to go to bed. I took him home, got him changed and put to bed and then started working. That was at about 8:30. Now it's almost 10 and I have reading, math, and part of writing planned. I looked back at my plans from last year but there isn't much I can do with them. Everything is very different. The writing curriculum hasn't changed but there is a little bit of overlap with the reading so some of the things I did for writing last year don't apply this year. We'll see.

The frustrating thing is that I planned on Wednesday and followed what I thought we were supposed to follow and then found out that there is a better way that was hiding in the back of the reading binder. Thank goodness Nuetz shared with all of us. The way she found is way better and less repetitive. It was starting to get boring. It's just too bad that the district never went through our CD with us to let us know what the reading curriculum had for us. Yes, I realize that they went through a lot of it over the summer. But guess what? I am a teacher for many reasons. One of those reasons is because I wanted to be a mom who had time for her kids. I have always wanted to be a mom. It's the most important part of my life. I don't think I would be happy any other way. Being a teacher gives me a schedule that allows me to spend as much time with my child as possible and still work. The summer is a huge part of that. Yes, they would have paid me to go the inservices in the summer. Unfortunately, I would have paid more in childcare than I would have been paid to be at the inservice. So, I stayed home and enjoyed my time with my family.

I really don't want my plans and school work to take up my whole life. I have to be able to think about other things. That's hard to do right now. I'm the kind of teacher that usually walks out on Friday with everything planned and copied and ready to go for the next week. This is the third week that I'm going into with plans made over the weekend. I can't even carry everything into my house from my car in one trip. That's not even including IKup. Thank goodness he can walk. I have a lot to do and I take things home but by the time IKup goes to bed, PKup is home and then I want to catch up with him because we never see each other anymore and by the time I have any time to do anything, it's time to go to bed so that I can get up in the morning and do it all again. Thank goodness for my parents. I was able to get two things done that have been going back and forth with me for a week and a half.

Well, I'm getting tired and there are more things that I'd like to get finished. Thanks for letting me vent!

Life is good . . .

2009-07-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Aside from a little frustration with my weightloss, I'm feeling pretty good these days. I have found that blogging really helps me. It doesn't even matter if no one reads it. It's really just for myself.

Last weekend, the girls got together and did some scrapping! It was so nice. PK watched IK and I was able to sit and scrapbook with few interruptions. Well, unless I had to keep running inside for more tools and such. That's okay though. I got a good start on the book of me for my mother. She recently gave me all the pictures of me growing up and ordered me to put them in a scrapbook. Well, ordered isn't really the right word. More like strongly encouraged! But really, why would I say no? I got to my first birthday. Seems like a lot but it isn't. I have millions more. She was happy with what I had done so far. She said just to get a couple of pictures of each thing and get rid of the rest. I think I will scan the remaining pictures and put them on a CD, make a pocket page and put the CD in the scrapbook. That way, even though I will be throwing away the old pictures, she will still have them if she wants them for anything.

There are lots of good things happening, so much that I don't even have time to write about them now but more will be coming later!

Parents' Intuition

2009-06-28T00:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone that follows me or PK on Twitter knows that IK woke up crying tonight. At about 11pm he woke up crying. I gave him some Motrin because he's been teething. One tooth came in and we had a couple of days rest, then the other started coming in. He was very crabby the last couple of days and hasn't been eating or napping very well. He hasn't been sleeping very peacefully either.

At about 11:15, IK woke up again and was inconsolable. I felt helpless. I didn't know what to do for him. I had a horrible feeling that something was wrong. PK seemed to feel this way as well but we just didn't know what to do. After an hour of this, I called the doctor. I know it was after midnight but isn't that why they have a doctor on call? When I first decided to go to this pediatrician, they were very open with me about calling after hours. They wanted me to call if I felt there was something going on or I had questions. Now, I understand that the answering service is important. It keeps the doctors from getting a bunch of phone calls at home. It's a necessary evil if the doctors want to get sleep or have a life outside their jobs.

Having said that, I do not think that it is up to the answering service to decide whether or not I have given enough of a reason for a doctor to call me back. I called tonight after my baby had been crying and inconsolable for an HOUR. 60 minutes of screaming and what can only be considered writhing in pain. I tell this to the woman who answers the phone and she tells me that she needs more symptoms. The doctor isn't going to think crying is a good enough reason to call back. (According to her.) I had to take his temperature, rectally, while he's crying and freaked out already, so that she has enough symptoms to tell the doctor. Now, as far as I know, the answering service does not actually talk to the doctors. They page them to call my number. The doctor calls and needs me to tell them all of the information again. The doctor who called me back is not IK's regular doctor but one that I believe he has seen once or twice. She was very sweet to me and made me feel like I was right to call. No baby cries for an hour for no reason. I told her that IK NEVER does this and the only other time was when he had an ear infection. She said that she was thinking that it may be something along those lines and it would probably be a good idea to take him to the acute care center. She said that I should be prepared in case it was something that would need the hospital but she thought the acute care center would be able to check him out and just make sure.

Sure enough, IK has an ear infection in his right ear. I say Parents' Intuition because we know, mother or father, when there is something wrong with our children. If one of us calls the doctor, we have a good reason. We would never call just because our kid is crying and we don't know what to do with him. We call because our kid is crying and we've tried everything, including pain medication and he's still writhing in pain and crying hysterically.

I haven't decided yet if I will complain next time I go to the doctors' office. We'll see if my anger fades by the time the 2 weeks are up and IK has to be rechecked. What do you all think?

Sleep Troubles

2009-06-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

I realize that most of my posts are about IK. I can't help it. He's the biggest and best thing in my life right now. Not that everything else isn't great but my life pretty much revolves around him. So, if you get sick of hearing about him, or need a break from baby talk, it won't hurt my feelings! I will understand.

I titled this Sleep Troubles because IK has been having some trouble going to sleep at night. He does pretty well at nap times. I can't really figure out if it is because he's teething or if he's over tired, over stimulated, off schedule and confused . . . I don't know. Anyway, he cries when I put him to bed. He's been doing this for about a week.

My first theory is that he's feeling insecure and unsure of his life. Seems like something a 1 year old shouldn't have to worry about. But, he's used to waking up at a certain time, going to AH's house, where he had a pretty regular schedule, getting picked up by his parents, played with and fed dinner, then put to bed. Now, he wakes up later, stays home, is dragged around on whatever errands I have to do, doesn't get to see AH, who he absolutely loves, sometimes is missing his afternoon nap (or both naps) and has no idea what the next day will bring.

Theory 2: It's light out when he goes to bed so he doesn't think it's time to sleep.

Theory 3: He's teething, which I hear gets worse at night. Then when he lies down to sleep, it puts a lot of pressure on his teeth and ears and makes it uncomfortable to sleep.

Theory 4: A combination of 1, 2, and 3. I think there is a little bit of insecurity. He doesn't understand why he doesn't get to see AH every day anymore. He's been totally screwed up with his sleep schedule since we went down to Chicago and he stayed up too late. We've been pretty busy so his naps are a little screwed up. He is teething. The top two front teeth are coming in. One has broken through a little bit but the other is still working on it.

On the plus side, he's very happy in the water during swim lessons. He's also happy when we play with him and take him outside. He's just like his dad. He likes to be outside. That's good. I liked to be outside when I was little too but now I can't stand the bugs.

Okay, I'll stop boring you with all the mom talk now. I should probably get some sleep anyway!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

2009-06-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

I love my life! I keep having all these random thoughts. I figured I would write them down. Of course, as soon as I open up blogger my mind goes blank.

I just watched the Friend's Episode where Pheobe gets married. If only real life worked that way sometimes.

IK's taking a nap. He woke up at 4:30 this morning crying. Now I'm realizing that his teeth were probably killing him because it's raining. This morning I looked at his gums and I can see the little tooth getting ready to pop through. I hope the rest follow before the end of the summer. I can handle being tired when I don't have to do anything the rest of the day but during the school year it's very difficult.

This summer is so different from last summer. I'm happier. I know that sounds weird, I had just had IK last summer. I was pretty overwhelmed though and looking back, I think there was a little more than the baby blues going on. Part of that was also dreading going back to school which didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would be. I had very supportive parents and being a parent this year gave me a new perspective on relationships with the kids and their families. Now, I enjoy being home with IK. He's fun to be with, even when he's crabby. I like to take him places and PK is home more this summer. At least, he's supposed to be! No internship this year but still Football Camp.

I've even been talking and planning out when to have another baby! Not for awhile but at least I'm thinking positively about it!

I really enjoy facebook and twitter. I feel more connected to all my friends which is really important to me. We all have such busy lives but we can all take a few seconds and let everyone know what's going on. I think that's so cool and I'm glad that PK got me started on it.

It's almost time for me to start thinking about a Master's Degree. I thought I wanted to do reading but now I'm not sure. They just opened up an Educational Technology masters at the University Center. It interests me but I'm not sure if I want to put that much time and money into something that I don't really want to do as a career. I just want to teach. Reading would help me with that. Ed. tech would too but not on as big of a scale (I think). Well, PK won't finish for at least another year, so I have time to look into it and decide.

Right now, it's summer (even though it's raining) and I need to get ready for when PK gets home. We're going grocery shopping. The fun never ends!

Almost Summer!

2009-05-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Any of you who are teachers probably know exactly what I'm feeling right now. It's almost summer which means that it's almost time to say goodbye to this year's class. It's a bittersweet moment for me. I had a rough class this year. Lots of behavior charts. But all in all, the kids were good kids who just had a hard time remembering to follow the rules. Not all of them, just a large number of them. It was a very active class. I'm finding that now that the year is almost over, they have grown on me pretty significantly.

It was difficult for me to get "into" this year. I have Isaac at home and did not like leaving him. Luckily, we found Ann, who is absolutely wonderful. I may have Isaac go once a week to play with Ann and Will when he is there over the summer. It will give me and Peter a day to get things done if we need to or just to hang out. It's hard to remember what our life was like before Isaac!

School was difficult for me this year. I just couldn't get excited to go back and then I didn't have an easy class like I did the two years before. My priorities had shifted tremendously so I did not want to stay at school until 5pm every night. It gave me a lot less time to get things done. I managed and almost had a routine down. I had a lot of parents that helped out in my classroom. It made things way easier. One mom/grandma came and made copies for me every week. It was great because even if I didn't have my plans completely finished, I had things to fill in and could fudge through a day or two if I had to and then fill in my plans later. It didn't happen very often but sometimes it couldn't be helped.

Now that we are on the last week of school, I am realizing how much I like these kids as people. Some of them still try my patience but they all have great personalities and I hope they come to say Hi to me when they are in 2nd grade.

The best thing is, I get to be home with Isaac and Peter for 2 months! YAY! Isaac and I are taking Mom and Tot Swim Lessons at the pool. He is sooo funny in the water. He puts his face in and then freaks out and coughs. But he just keeps doing it! I can't wait to see what he does in a more formal setting.

I hope everyone else has a great summer planned too!

Isaac's First Birthday

2009-04-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Isaac dancing on his birthday!

The big day finally arrived. Isaac turned 1 today. I was a little worried that he would have a rough day. He has another tooth getting close to coming in. He seemed to know that it was a special day for him today. He was very happy and took a good nap at Ann's house this afternoon. After I picked him up, we went home so Peter and I could get our stuff together and then go to Chuckie Cheese for a little fun. Isaac spent a little time playing in his house and with his musical cube. Then we went to Chuckie Cheese and played. He had chicken nuggets and baked potato for dinner. His birthday treat was a chocolate frosty that he shared with Grandma Seedoff.

Here are some pictures from Isaac's Special Day!
Isaac walking around the living room with Stitch.

Isaac and Daddy playing with the Ducky.

CHUCKIE CHEESE

Can't wait to see what he does with the cake on Saturday!

My Baby's Turning 1

2009-04-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

This blog post might get a little mushy. I am feeling a little emotional this week. I'm getting ready for Isaac's First Birthday Party. I'm sure everyone out there who is a mom understands the way that I feel right now. But, it's my turn to feel it and I feel like I need to write it all down.

The top picture is from the day Isaac was born. He was looking around, fuzzily discovering this big world and seeing his mommy and daddy for the first time.

I did not know anything about this child. He was a mystery to me. I knew that he was the one that was keeping me up in the middle of the night and doing somersaults in my belly. I was overwhelmed and anxious about being a good mom. I knew that I loved him.

The bottom picture is from this weekend. It was Isaac's First Easter. He has become such an amazing child. It's like he understood when he was born that he was going to have to teach his mommy and daddy as much as they would teach him. He has a great sense of humor and curiosity. He likes to figure out how things work and push buttons to make things happen. He has a little bit of a temper when he doesn't get his way but recovers quickly and stays happy most of the time.

Isaac was named for Sir Isaac Newton. I didn't want to admit that because I honestly thought it was a little silly at first. But I loved the name Isaac and it didn't really matter where it came from. It also meant a lot to Peter. Isaac ended up being the best name and totally fitting. It means "laughing one" or "laughter". Anyone who has met Isaac knows how well that fits!

Like I said, I loved him on day one and I knew that it would only get stronger. I didn't realize just how strong. I can't imagine what the rest of our lives will bring.

The Mom Car

2009-04-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Peter and I decided that it would not be worth it to fix up my little Pontiac Grand Am (again) when we needed a bigger car anyway. We have been discussing a new car for awhile. We finally decided to take the leap. After a day of driving two different used Toyota Siennas, we decided on the "Desert Sand Mica" colored Sienna that you see in the picture on the right. We felt that we should commemorate the purchase by taking a picture of me by the car from my youth and then take a picture of me with my new Mom Car. We felt that it was fitting to have Isaac in the picture with the new Mom car.

I love my new mini van and it does not really bother me to be a grown up. Isaac seems much happier in the van as well. He sits in the same car seat but it is up high enough that he can see out the window. He can also reach his Baby Einstein Caterpillar with his feet. The smarty pants figured out how to turn it on and change the songs by pushing on the bottom with his feet. He amazes me every day. Yesterday, he was awesome. Peter and I are in trouble with our next child because Isaac is so laid back and easy going. Here are a couple of pictures of Isaac while we waited for the Finance guy to come out.

We had to keep him entertained but he hardly even fussed about being there. He played with a few of the toys that the dealership had out, knocked the magazines on the floor and watched while we picked them up, and of course, played with the blackberry. We are very lucky to have such a great kid.

Busy Days

2009-03-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

I have to say that right now, life is pretty good. We have had a couple of very busy days. Yesterday, we had a great time with Amber and Paul Grace and their kids. Isaac was happy to play with other kids. He likes to explore new places so he was very busy. Today, we went to JC Penny and got pictures of Isaac with the Easter Bunny. Isaac had a lot of fun. Peter took video of his first reaction to the bunny. He was a little tentative at first but warmed up pretty quickly. We got some really cute pictures and they had us sign another release form to use Isaac's pictures! Peter and I discussed that if we had more time, we would take him around to modeling auditions and build up a college fund for him while he's little. Probably won't happen but we can dream! The only negative to the whole experience was that I thought we were going to be able to get the pictures at $3.99 a sheet but apparently, you can't use the coupon when there is an "event". I got over it and we just ordered a few of the pictures and got 3.5x5s instead of 5x7s.

Then in the afternoon, I had my Scentsy party. It went really well and I think everyone had a pretty good time. We had some chocolate Fondue and veggies. The kids got to play with all the toys and the adults got to play with all the cool scents.

Isaac has been so much fun. I love having a child. I always knew that I really wanted kids and that I would enjoy them but I never realized how much I would enjoy it. Isaac just has such a great personality and it gets better every day. He is learning so quickly. I can't believe he already says 4 or 5 words. He says kitty(kee), uh-oh, Da, and hi! I think he's said ball but it is just "bah" but he says it when he has a ball in his hand! I'm not sure but I think it's pretty early for him to say all of these things. I think one word is relatively normal but not 4 or 5! I feel like I'm bragging about my kid but I guess that's my right as a parent.

Isaac is also really close to walking on his own. I know Peter has posted some things about this but today, he walked across the living room and down the hallway holding just one of my hands. It was like I was holding his hand to cross the street or something. He barely used it to steady himself!

My life is so blessed and even the hard parts aren't so bad. I just need to remember that and all will be great. One of my new favorite songs is Darius Rucker "It won't be like this for long". Listen to it and you'll know why!

Mommy and Isaac Day

2009-03-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Isaac and I had a great day together today. He is feeling much better after having a really bad cold which turned into pink eye and then an ear infection. This morning, he woke up smiling and had some Cheerios and applesauce for breakfast. He took a shower and then put on a cute outfit to go and have his pictures taken. I think I timed everything very well. He fell asleep in the car on the way to JC Penny. When we got there he was well rested and starting to flirt with the girls that were working. I wanted to do a barrel picture that was shown on one of the advertisements but they didn't actually have to barrels at this studio. So, I went with the silver wash tub instead. It was very cute. Isaac just wanted to chew on everything but as the pictures were taken, I thought we had gotten a few cute ones.

After she had taken about a million pictures, I took Isaac to get him dressed again and the photographer loaded up the pictures on the computer. They play with them a little bit and focus on different parts of the pictures that they take. It's kind of neat because even if they don't get a good picture, they focus in on his hand or something and make a really precious montage of pictures.

I went through the pics and found a lot that I really liked. The last time I went there, I didn't like as many of the pictures. Isaac was just really cute today. I can't wait to get the pictures back!

Then we ate lunch at Subway in the food court. I felt like I had my first mother/son lunch date! We walked around the mall a little and then met Peter for bowling and dinner in Lake Zurich.

It was a great day and Isaac was so much fun. I'm exhausted tonight but it's a good exhausted.

Blessed

2009-02-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

I don't really know how to put into words what I am feeling right now. I can only say that I am extremely blessed to have Isaac. He is such a happy and healthy little boy. He is so loving, strong, and smart. I hope that I NEVER take for granted what I have in this wonderful, bright little child.

I have a friend who is a very important part of the person that I am today. She was my friend starting in 2nd grade and we have kept in contact (somewhat sporadically in recent years). I will never forget what she meant to me as a somewhat insecure and shy girl. I may not have acted that way but I definitely felt that way a lot of the time. I never had to be like that with her. She was always there for me and I hope that she felt that way about me as well.

The reason that I bring this up is that she recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He was born prematurely and is in the NICU. Her blog posts have been very positive as well has her posts and pictures on her Facebook page. I cannot, and hope that I never have to imagine what she and her family are going through right now. I can only say that she is one of the strongest people that I know to be so positive in such a difficult time.

I know that she has faith and that God is watching over her new little family. I ask that all of you out there say a little prayer for the Young Family and their son Raef. I read her blog post and the things that she says brings tears to my eyes because she is so faithful and looks forward to the day that she can bring her little one home. I hope and pray that her day comes soon and that Raef is healthy and strong.

I realize that most of you do not know who this person is and that's okay. Just know that she and her family have a strength that all of us hope that we would have in difficult times. Again, I ask that you say a prayer for Kara, Reid, and little Raef.

Christmas Excitement

2009-01-04T16:10:00.001-08:00

What a crazy two weeks! It was Isaac's first Christmas. He didn't really know what the excitement was all about. He got a present here and there and then Santa Claus came! We thought he would just be interested in the wrapping paper but he really wanted to play with the new toys. It was hard to bring him back to open the presents! He got the hang of it by the third family party though. We'd start the tear and then he'd rip the paper off!

Isaac caught on to some other things as well. He finally figured out how to crawl. It is amazing how he literally just figured it out. No one showed him how to do it. He wanted to get somewhere and he made his little arms and legs do what they needed to do. He has also figured out how buttons work. Not shirt buttons but buttons on his toys and light switches. Our light switches are flat so all he has to do is push on it with his hand and the light goes on or off. He turns the light on or off when we go into his bedroom now. He got a toy from my uncle that looks like the front of a house. On one side, it is like being outside and on the other, inside. Isaac likes to ring the doorbell. It can get a little annoying but he's so cute that it is hard to mind the sound over and over and over again!

We are a little worried about our basement stairs but we are trying to keep the door closed and have plans to buy some gates in the next week or so. That is all of the Isaac Christmas Excitement for now. He is getting pretty close to pulling himself up on the furniture. He just isn't quite strong enough to get himself up. The other day, he took 3 or 4 steps holding just one of my hands. It's kind of crazy how fast he is learning new things.

Bagel time

2008-11-06T18:57:00.001-08:00

It's so much easier to make dinner for myself now that I can put Isaac in the high chair and give him a bagel to chew on. He's so serious about it, too!

GO BEARS!!!

2008-10-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Lisa, Isaac and I went to Babies R Us to get glow in the dark binkies. Peter and I were tired of not being able to find them when Isaac lost them in the middle of the night. Lisa had the stroller near the Kiddie Kandids studio and the photographer came out and was talking to Isaac. He kept smiling at her so she asked if she could take his picture and she'd give me a free 5x7 portrait. I was skeptical because nothing is ever free but she told me that if it wasn't, she would pay for it. I thought, what the heck, it might be fun. So we put Isaac on the carpet on his tummy first and he smiled for the camera and it was really cute. Then we sat him up. I sat next to him so that he wouldn't fall over. He only fell over once though! I was so proud. Here he is sitting up all by himself! He sat like that for a long time--2 or 3 minutes! AND we got this really cute picture out of it! It really was free and the photographer emailed to pictures to me so I have them on my computer!

Exhaustion setting in

2008-09-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

Poor baby Isaac is teething. Every couple of nights, he wakes up and fusses. He can't sleep unless I'm holding him. He rolls to his stomach and then isn't comfortable so he wakes up and cries. Last night, at about midnight, Isaac woke up and fussed. He was on his stomach but still sort of asleep, so I rolled him to his back, gave him the binky and left his room. About 5-10 minutes later, he had rolled to his tummy again and was fussing. So I went in, held him for a couple minutes and tried again. It seemed like I had just fallen asleep when he woke up again. Poor guy just couldn't stay asleep. This went on until about 1:30 in the morning. I finally put some baby oragel on his gums and he slept for 4 hours. He got up at about 4:30 for a bottle and went right back to sleep. This morning, he looked like this:

So big

2008-09-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Isaac and I were with Grandma Kupfer at Applebees tonight. Daddy met us there and ate dinner with us. Isaac got a little cranky so I stood up and held him and he was okay. Sometimes he will fall asleep if I hold him in this position so that is what I was trying to do here. I looked at this picture tonight and was amazed at how old he looks. He's not even 5 months yet. He's just so big!

Isaac's most recent Big Moment

2008-09-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

Some of you probably already know this but today, Isaac rolled over to his belly. He was in his bed and he had been rolling to his side to sleep. Well, I put him in there today and he was a little fussy. I think he was trying to roll to his side but he went all the way over and got stuck. He was up against the side of the crib. I rolled him over and turned on the mobile. He fell asleep. Then he did it again! This time he just rolled over and was fussing while he looked around!

Friday used to be so good

2008-09-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here working on my plans for next week and it occurs to me that a year ago at this time, I would have been dancing the night away at Sundance Saloon. It makes me a little sad that right this second, I would give anything to be done with my planning and other random work so that I could just go to bed. I suppose it is all part of growing up.

Yes, yes, I know. I have a child. I still don't feel like I thought I would at this stage of my life. I feel young. Tired, but young. It is a little surreal that I have a child and that it feels totally natural to meet all of his needs before mine or anyone else's. I normally would have stayed after school until 5 or 6pm to finish my plans for the next week. I would never have left school on a Friday with absolutely nothing planned for the next week. I was technically supposed to turn in my plans today and didn't. I will turn them in on Monday and no one will really care, but it is just another indication of how much my life has changed.

I was talking to Jenny Glinka today. We were discussing how long it took for Peter and I to figure out how to tell when Isaac was tired. I am looking forward to the day when Isaac does not have a cold, because today when I picked him up, Ann told me that he was probably sleepy and would most likely sleep for me when I got home. So, seeing that he was rubbing his eyes, I was a little surprised that he didn't fall asleep in the car. Anyway, I put him in his bed as soon as we got home. He talked and fussed until I thought it was hopeless. So I went in and gave him his pacifier and then shook him gently to rock him to sleep. He went right to sleep. He stayed asleep for about 15 minutes when a coughing fit woke him up. But this does let me know that there is hope for him at nap times.

Well, I am feeling extremely tired and think that I should stop what I am doing, done or not, and pick up where I left off tomorrow. I'm going to leave my plans unfinished (even though I'm going in tomorrow to make copies and prepare my classroom for Monday) and go to bed.

Just to make sure that you all know that I'm not entering a depression or even feeling down, as sad as I am that I don't get to go to Sundance every Friday, I am extremely happy with where my life is right now and where it is headed for the future. I am so blessed with my little family, friends that are always around whether you need them or not, a wonderful support system with my parents and other extended families, and a really good team of teachers to work with. I am what I would call content. Sure, there are some things that could be better, but so much is just so good. Okay, now I'm getting all sentimental and making myself gag. I better get some sleep!

Poor Baby

2008-09-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

Poor Isaac has a cold. He is very stuffy and a little cranky. I feel so bad for him. He can't lie flat or he can't breath. Then he coughs. He doesn't want to eat, although, he did eat half a container of baby applesauce today. I figured he could use the Vitamin C.

Last night, he woke up at 1am and drank a bottle. He fell right back to sleep. Then he woke up again at 3am. I didn't think he really needed a bottle since he normally only gets up once so I rocked him back to sleep and tried to put him back in bed. He woke up and cried. I gave him some Tylenol and brought him into my bed. He slept in my arms until 5:40 when Peter fed him another bottle. Then he slept in his bed until about 6:30. I feel like I didn't really sleep at all.

Tonight, I set up his humidifier, rubbed on the Vick's Baby Rub under his nose and propped up the head of his mattress. Hopefully, he'll sleep better tonight.

Back to School Blues

2008-08-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

It is the end of my weekend and my two days with Isaac. We were very busy the weekend and did all kinds of stuff. One of the best things was taking Isaac to get his picture taken. You can view a picture of Isaac having his picture taken on Peter's facebook under mobile uploads. He was hilarious. He loved the photographer! Every time she looked at him or touched him he would laugh out loud. It was so cute. The pictures won't be in until 2 weeks from now. It was very exciting though. We bought $45 worth of pictures to keep and to pass out to family and friends. CRAZY!! I can't wait to get the pictures from Olan Mills. We did our first family portrait as well!

This morning, Isaac was modeling for me. He was in his diaper. I have been watching How to Look Good Naked and Isaac had a towel over him as he was waiting to take a bath. It made me thing of the "tastefully nude" photo shoots that they do on the show. I mean, how cute is this kid!?

By the way: the mixed grain cereal did not agree with him. It made him VERY gassy so I stopped giving it to him and went back to the oatmeal. He still had a little reflux problem today but after he ate his dinner, he seemed to be doing a little better. I'm going to call the doctor and find out if that means that he has an intolerance to the grains or if it just means that we have to try that kind again in a couple of weeks. I just don't know if it means that I should hold off on veggies and fruits for a while. I hate to be one of those moms who calls the doctor about every little thing but Isaac is my first and I don't know the answers to my questions. If anyone out there has any idea please let me know. I will probably still call the doctor but I do like to get multiple opinions from people who have been there.

Cereal News

2008-08-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I gave Isaac a bottle and then sat him down in his chair. I only made one tablespoon of cereal mixed with one and a half tablespoons of formula. He was happy when I sat him down and was talking and smiling at me. I put some cereal in his mouth and waited. He kept smiling, then he moved his tongue around and swallowed the cereal. When I put more on the spoon, he opened his mouth and let me put in more cereal. He ate the full amount of cereal and was happy the whole time! I know it may not seem like such a big deal but I'm telling you, I cried. I'm so proud of him and happy that he succeeded but also sad that he is growing so fast.

I'm going to get a little depressing now for a minute. I am not excited about going back to school on Monday. I love Ann and I'm so happy that she is able to care for Isaac when I can't be there but I am so sad that I won't get to be with Isaac all day, every day, anymore. I feel like I will be missing out on so much of his life. I guess this is just something that I have to accept. I have to work so that our little family can survive in this expensive world. One positive . . . I will cherish the times that I am with Isaac and never take a single moment for granted.

Another try

2008-08-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

MORNING
Well, we tried cereal again this morning. I put the cereal in his mouth, and he has no idea what to do with it. He'll figure it out eventually. I'm going to keep going for a few more days and see if it gets better. If he's still clueless and crying, I'm going to call the doctor and ask if giving him a break for a few weeks would help. We'll see.

He also had a fever this morning. I gave him some Tylenol and he was better after a little while. I really think that he'll have a more positive reaction to the food when he's not so tired and sore.

EVENING
I gave Isaac more cereal this evening. He started out really well. He didn't cry and even closed his mouth and swallowed some of it. We went really slow. I just gave him a very little bit at a time and he didn't seem to mind. After a little while though, he started getting frustrated and cried. We took a break and I changed his diaper. Then we went back for some more cereal. He took a couple of bites very well and then cried again. It gives me hope that he did so well to start with. Maybe after a couple of days of doing this, he will get the hang of it and like eating solid foods.

Isaac's First Taste of Cereal

2008-08-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

Isaac had his 4 month checkup today and the Dr. said that he was big enough to start eating solid foods. I went to Jewel and got a box of each kind of cereal since we have to use each kind for 3 days each before moving on to other foods. We started with the rice cereal and mixed it up with some formula.

As you can see, Isaac was not totally into the spoon thing. He didn't really "get" that it was food and that I wasn't really trying to torture the poor kid. He would fuss and cry and his eyes would get really wide when I put the cereal in his mouth. Most of what went in came out again, but I'm told that is pretty normal. He was also a little crabby from getting 4 shots earlier today as well. We get to try it all again tomorrow!

My first blog

2008-08-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

All of you bloggers talking about posting on your blogs have finally convinced me to start my own blog. I don't know if I will post very often but maybe. I will try not to repeat the information that Peter puts on his blog. I will also try not to repeat the same pictures of Isaac. I'm sure that there will be a wealth of Isaac information on here. So, sorry in advance but that is my life!