Congrats Katey and Jeff!

Our good friends Katey and Jeff got engaged last night! We're so excited for them...and very excited for another wedding! Katey and Jeff have been together for over 2 years and are such a great couple and we couldn't be happier for them

Congrats Katey and Jeff! Can't wait for the wedding!

Maelin's First Tooth!

It's official: Miss MaeMae has FINALLY gotten her first tooth! You can barely see it: it's just poked itself out of her little gums. She's stubborn as a mule when it comes to me opening her mouth so I can look at it. She locks her jaws together and no one can get in there.

So how do I know it's there? She was laughing yesterday and I saw a little white line: looks like a fingernail clipping on her gums. Later she was chomping on my thumb and it hurt! It was sharp pain instead of pressure pain. I'm going to try today to actually open her mouth to see if I can see it, but it's there!

Maelin's first tooth. Now she'll be able to eat those candy apples she keeps pointing at!

Maelin's First Christmases!

Boy, it's been a busy but super fun time with the little one. On Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Laura's for dinner and xmas fun with her teenaged daughters (I can't believe how fast those girls have grown up!), my sister and her two boys, my mom of course and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kat. We had a great time!

Maelin was a champ. She was tired from all the activity, but she hung in there in typical "I can go anywhere and do anything" fashion. She took a quick nap when we first got there and then again with my Aunt Laura around 8:30pm and then we took her home and she went right to sleep like always. She is SUCH a good baby. We are so totally lucky: not only is our little one cute, sweet, smart and happy, but she's so GOOD. We can usually take her anywhere and she's so mellow about the whole situation.

Anyway, we had a great time opening presents with my family. Here are a couple pictures of Maelin's first Xmas Eve with the Kimling Klan:




My two nephews couldn't have been cuter either. Ryan was singing "The Music Man" all night was given a "band in a box" from Kat and Jeff, so he was pretty excited. He also had a great time playing with the two older girls. Cole was adorable...we gave him a Pizza Set and after he opened that, he didn't want anything to do with any other gifts...he was hilarious.

We were pretty tired when we got home on xmas eve, so we all went to bed and woke up to...SNOW! 8 inches of snow to be exact! It was the biggest snowfall on Xmas Day in 40 years! It would have been picture-perfect if we hadn't had to get in the car and drive 40 minutes through the snow to Grandma's house...(isn't there a song about that?????) We almost didn't make it but we prevailed and showed up at Kevin's Mom's house just in time to see everyone and start another round of gifts.

Kevin's sister-in-law Sally gave us a fantastic "Baby Signs" book that we've already started using with Maelin. I'll post another time about how beneficial this is supposed to be for kids. It's pretty fun figuring out what "mommy" and "daddy" and "cat" means...we also got some really cute toys for Baby. Nana (my mom) and Grandma (Kevin's mom) went all out and got her some great books, clothes, toys and stuffed animals. My mom got Maelin her first baby doll! It's the cutest thing ever. Here's a few pics of Maelin celebrating her first Xmas Day:





We battled our way back into town through the snow, said a sad "goodbye" to Nana and settled in on Xmas night. I was exhausted and sweet baby Maelin slept like a champ. We woke up on the 26th to Santa! He had come all the way through the snow to see the baby since she's sooooo good. She had a great time opening up her stocking and the "busy ball popper" that daddy got her.

After all that, we've been taking it very easy. Kevin had to go to work, but Maelin and I have stayed home (it snowed again yesterday so we didn't even leave the house for 2 days!) and we've taken naps together, read books, played with new toys and just really really enjoyed being home. I LOVE not going to work!!!

9 days left...make the time slow down!!

Merry Christmas!

Good morning everyone! Believe it or not, but Maelin's first Christmas is a white one! It's snowing like crazy outside: should make for an interesting drive to see Kevin's parents...

We had a great time with my famliy last night and now we're getting ready to go to grandmas and we just wanted to say a quick "Merry Christmas !" to all our family and friends. We hope you have a great day!

Kevin, Mara and Maelin

Hectic Chrismas Happenings

I've been trying to post more, but between getting everything ready at work for the holiday break (thank god!!), finishing up xmas shopping, cleaning the house for my mom's arrival, wrapping presents, writing thank you and xmas cards, laundry, etc...well, I just haven't gotten to it much this week. I'm sure you understand. (oh, and I forgot to mention that MaeMae has another cold...)

Let's see...I probably won't have much time to post in the coming days either. Yesterday was my last day of work for a while!! My vacation is officially called "Sixteen Whole Days With Maelin." It's very exciting. Yesterday was also Ann's (my student teacher) last day. We had fun, but it was also sad. I think I'll be more sad on the first day the kids come back and it's just me in there by myself again. I have some great pictures of her last day and our party with the kids, but I have to wait for Ann to email them to me. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

My mom is coming for xmas today! She's coming in tonight and staying till Xmas night. I'm very excited to have her her but it's always a bit awkward when we have people stay with us because they have to sleep in Maelin's room and I always feel bad when she wakes up or I have to change her diaper because although I'm used to getting up at 6am on a Sunday morning, I know that the rest of the world is not...

However, it's going to be very nice to have Nana here. I can finish laundry and wrapping and she can play with the baby.

So if I don't have a chance to post much in the next few days, I hope all of you have a magical Christmas with your family and friends. Miss MaeMae says she hopes you celebrate responsibily like she is in this picture...

Merry Christmas!

Crazy Christmas Time

I have some adorable pics of Miss Maelin to post here for you, but I haven't had a chance to get them off of my camera yet. As soon as I do that...

Christmas time is busy for everyone, but it's totally crazy when you have a baby who needs to stay on some sort of a consistent schedule. I'm trying so hard to get everything done but it's just impossible!

I had a bday party on Sat night that was really fun...we went to a Belgium Brewery and it was just like being back in Brugges! Maelin came and we had so much fun. She was just a little star: she was being passed around to everyone and was in such a good mood. Uncle Jeff bought Kevin and I one more beer so we would stay a bit longer so we didn't get home until after 9 which is past Maelin's bedtime. I had a cookie party the next day, so I stayed up late baking and then got up early to finish.

The cookie party was a success: it was great to see all my friends and our cookies were so yummy! My sister took a lot of time making gorgeous Martha Stewart Gingerbread Snowflakes and they were sooooo pretty. Maelin came to the party for a while: she had a great time eating the sprinkles!

I stayed up late last night (till midnight...a weeknight no less!) wrapping some presents. This is the latest I've ever gotten that done. I'm usually so on top of Christmas. I love to wrap presents and I used to try to make them so pretty, with elaborate bows and ribbons. This year, you'll be lucky to get a wrapped present at all from me! I think I'll start doing gift bags....

Christmas is such a fun time of year but throw a baby into the mix and it completely changes your priorities. I guess that's going to be true of everything now!

Friday Night at 9pm...

Check my previous post about things that change when you have a baby...I think it was number 16 or 17...

Guess what I want to do RIGHT NOW????

Yup...go to bed. If any of my friends are up and reading this, I would pay you $20 to come put Maelin to bed for Kevin and I. I'm sooooooo tired and I still have to feed her, then Kevin puts her to bed, then I pump. I won't be going to bed for at least another hour or so...assuming little pumpkin goes to sleep right away.

Those of you without kids: please enjoy the luxury of having the house to yourself and being able to do whatever you want whenever you want and being able to go to bed when you're tired with the GUARANTEE that you'll get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep...

Oh, those sweet bye-gone days...

The Drama of 2nd Grade

To be an effective teacher, not only do you have to be able to teach reading, writing, math, science, social studies, etc., you also have to be an effective therapist/child psychologist.

A good example of this is what happened in my room this morning. Yesterday, Michael found a note in his box from his "secret admirer". Now we don't allow 8 year olds to "go out" or to even talk about boyfriend-girlfriend stuff in school, so I told Ann (who's still solo student teaching) to try to figure out who did it. She called all the girls together this morning and she got nothing from them. Nobody would fess up.

So I came in swinging my MA in Psychology around...I can get them to tell me the truth! I thought! I talked to all the girls and told them about honesty and how I was going to call all their parents unless someone told the truth because at this point, it was more about all of them lying to me than about the note. All 8 girls stood their looking at me with big eyes and one by one, told me it wasn't them.

Okay, I thought. Time to switch gears. I took each girl aside individually and told them how important honesty and trust is and how sad it would be if I had to call their parents because someone was lying and to just please tell me the truth so you don't get your friends in trouble! Again...each girl looked me right in the face and either told me it wasn't them who wrote the note or they blamed Jenny.

Poor Jenny. Since 7 girls were blaming her, I had two options: either believe them or assume they were all ganging up on her. She is usually pretty honest, but 7 girls all had the same story! I thought she was probably lying, but I didn't want to accuse her outright, so I decided to wait a bit and see what happened.

Turns out, I didn't have to wait long. About 2 hours later, I was in the room getting some work done, and Melissa came up to me and very quietly said,"Mrs Corzine, I did it." Melissa is one of my very top students, very sweet and the LAST person I would have thought would have lied about this! I thanked her for telling the truth and sent her back to her desk. Then I called the other girls out in the hall and talked to them about how they accused poor Jenny and how they owed her an apology. You could tell they all felt bad.

I had Melissa write Jenny a letter telling her she was sorry and I told Melissa she had ruined my trust in her and I was very sad she had lied. Melissa started crying because she's not used to being in trouble and said how sorry she was.

All of this over a note to a boy...and they're only 8 years old. Can't imagine what my life is going to be like when Maelin gets a bit older and starts acting like a typical "girl"...

Things That Change When You Have A Baby

People keep telling me, "You've really changed since you've had Maelin." I know this...there are many things that have changed: a few of which I've talked about before. Here is an extension to the list of the ways Kevin and I have changed since little MaeMae has come:

1. You are no longer freaked out by throw-up. You just don't panic and clean it up as best you can because it's guaranteed there will be more of it later.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices...who cares if you can't go to happy hour on Friday night??? You get to stay home and watch your baby laugh and squeal and coo at you!

4. You respect your body ... finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own...you would do ANYTHING to be sure your baby is never hurt.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person...(I am doing much better at this one than Kevin is...)

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

16. You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have. (or baby clothes, or baby toys, or baby anything...)

17. You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night!

18. You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having.

19. You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule...up at 6:30am on a Sunday? Yay!

20. Your kitties — who used to be your babies — becomes just kitties(although our two kitties are doing a great job hanging out with me again. they are sleeping with me again and Gizmo just LOVES the baby)

21. You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late.

22. You learn that taking a shower is a luxury and you can go for longer stretches than you ever thought pre-baby.

23. It's the best thing you will ever do with your life: bar none!

Maelin and her Good Friend Zeke

We have an awesome neighbor...we're really lucky because she takes care of the stuff she's supposed to, she's willing to help out with anything that we all need to do regarding our properties and she's super sweet and friendly.

You can't ask for a better neighbor than that...AND one day she brought me gelato from our neighborhood spot without me even asking her! She just knocked on our door and said she thought I might like some. Now that's a good neighbor!

She has an adorable chocolate dog named Zeke. Now Zeke is a young doggie and is pretty energetic so there's lots of times our neighbor will go outside with him and he gets so darn excited, he barks his little tail off.

Maelin thinks that's pretty funny. Every time we're outside and Zeke starts barking, Maelin laughs and laughs and kicks her legs and watches Zeke and laughs again. I think the first time I ever saw her really give up a good belly laugh was when she was watching Zeke play.

Now Maelin listens for Zeke. A few times lately we've heard him playing outside and we've gone out to visit. Zeke loves Maelin as much as she loves him. He runs right up to her and sniffs her and barks and runs around. The two of them really couldn't be cuter.

Here's a picture of the two of them on Halloween. Maelin is a chicken and Zeke was Godzilla (or Dogzilla...). His costume was a bit small which could explain the look of humiliation on his little face, but Maelin couldn't stop staring at him...it was if she was saying, "What happened to my friend??? Why does he look so funny and why is he so sad? By the way, what the heck am I doing in a chicken suit???"

Maelin is 8 Months Old Today!

Boy these kids grow up fast. One minute they're these little, squirming, things and the next, they're recoginzing you, eating food and saying, "dadadadadadada" (yes, we're pretty sure Maelin's first word is "dada".)

Maelin sure is a cutie. She loves people and she loves to smile and yell and squeal at just about everyone. She has figured out how to roll over and she's working on crawling. She's got a couple of teeth that are getting ready to pop through and she's growing out of clothes faster than I can buy them...which is pretty fast.

I can't believe how adorable she is and how quickly she makes the people around her smile. She's the best thing ever!

Happy 8 Months Baby Girl!!

It Was Bound To Happen...

Yesterday I went to pick up Maelin from daycare as usual. Sondra answered the door holding Maelin: the little pumpkin was kicking and squealing and laughing when she saw me. I reached out to take her and...

She didn't want me. She wanted Sondra. Maelin looked at me again, put her thumb in her mouth, starting crying and arching towards Sondra. I was devastated, so I gave her back to Sondra for a minute thinking she just needed some transition time.

As soon as Sondra took her back, Maelin stopped crying and started squealing again. The little bugger. So, I tried again. I reached out to take her and...

She didn't want me. Again. She wanted Sondra. She started crying again and did the whole routine all over until I gave her back a 2nd time.

At this point, I was getting really upset. I didn't want to show it though, so I gathered her stuff together and said, "It's time to go bye-bye!" and reached out to take her back. She's MY little girl, for gosh sakes! As soon as I took Maelin again: yup, you guessed it, she started crying again and arching towards Sondra.

Sondra reached out to take her but I turned away and just whispered quietly to Maelin to get her to calm down. She was still whimpering when we left, but by the time we got in the car, she was happily chewing her toys and was just fine.

Hence goes the working mom's dilemma: I'm sooooo happy that she loves Sondra so much and it obviously shows she's getting excellent care there, but damn it, Maelin is my baby girl: she's not supposed to cry when I hold her!! I remember this happening to me in reverse when I was a nanny, so I knew to expect it, but I didn't expect how devastating it is when it does happen.

It made me want to immediately quit my job: to march in to my principal and tell her that I'm sorry; Maeln comes first and I'm not going to let someone else raise her any longer. Then I got home and saw my first student loan payment since I consolidated them...it's over $300 per month. There's no way Kevin and I can afford for me not to work: we need to have money for Maelin and bills and insurance and cars and LIFE! Life is so bloody expensive and Kevin does not make enough for us to live on his salary alone. I just cried the whole way home because I'm so sad.

I'm sad that I can't stay home with Maelin. I'm so sad that I didn't have enough foresight that I might want to stay home so I didn't run up the credit card debt by traveling that we have. I'm sad that I had to pay for both of my degrees myself, hence my large student loan debt. I'm sad that teachers don't make more money so I could pay everything off sooner! Mostly I'm sad that someone else gets to spend 8+ hours a day playing with my adorable baby girl and I only get her for 3.

Time to go get her. Keep your fingers crossed that she's happy to see me today because I don't think I could take it two days in a row...

Teaching is a Hard Job

Not to complain or to say we teachers have it worse than anybody else, but listen to this:

My poor student teacher Ann is having quite a day. Today is her first day of "solo student teaching" where I'm not supposed to be in the classroom at all. I've been sitting out in the hallway testing all the 2nd graders on their reading so I've been able to listen to what's been going on.

She did a great job this morning during the literacy block. All the kids were on task and even though the charity dentists were here and taking kids out of the room right and left, Ann was able to redirect all the kids when they came back in and they all did great. She made one mistake which seems like a little thing but it's still biting her you-know-where:

She left 3 minutes early to take the kids to PE. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Well, she forgot that our Autistic boy J. was with his special group and when he came back to the classroom, the other kids were all gone. Didn't matter that the special ed teacher was with him. Didn't matter that I was there and was able to talk to him about where the kids were and how we would go find them together. J. just shut down: crying, sobbing and refusing to move. I finally stepped in (remember, I'm not supposed to be helping at all...Ann is supposed to be dealing with everything but there's no way I was going to leave this all on her) and I got him to at least go to PE. J. just sat there the whole hour and then refused to come back and sit down.

When J. refuses to do something, he means it. He stands as still as a rock and you have to use all your strength to pull him along. Then he finds something he can hold on to so you have to pry his fingers up off and continue to pull him. Then he keeps crying and dragging his feet while you're pulling or lifting him to where he needs to go.

J. did this during writing after PE, on the way to lunch, after lunch and just now again. I stepped in every time because it's hard for me to deal with it gently (actually, we're not supposed to touch the kids at all, but what do you do?), let alone poor Ann. Now I just went and had a talk w/ my principal because I finally got J. to respond to me and not just refuse to do anyting I asked of him: he is sitting here next to me happily playing on the computer while all the other kids are taking a math test. Is that fair????

My principal said to just let him be and for Ann to try again tomorrow. I have spent about 45 minutes dealing with J. today: imagine if she were by herself? There usually isn't a seasoned teacher sitting out in the hall for new teachers to call on for help when one of their students gets out of control. Are they supposed to leave the other 23 kids alone while they deal with the one???

No wonder 1/3 of all new teachers quit the profession after 3 years of teaching...mabye the average salary of $29,500 per year just isn't worth it to put up with the J.'s of the world: while you're supposed to be testing and teaching 23 other kids...

Christmas is Coming!

We spent some of the day getting our mini Christmas Tree set up. As our house is only 988 sq feet, a large tree just wouldn't work, so we have a fake 3 foot one that I set up on top of a corner table. It works for the time being. Another benefit is that it's up off the floor so Miss MaeMae can't grab anything off of it.

I'm so excited for her first Christmas. I know she's not really going to understand anything that's going on, but I'm looking forward to it just the same. We've already bought her her main present: we got her a toybox. We knew that it didn't really matter what we got her this year, since she'd be happy to roll around on a roll of wrapping paper, so we got her something that she needs that we wouldn't necessarily get her at any other time of year.

I found a great one online: here's the link to it if you're curious (or bored). We got it in the cherry color. I'm very proud to say I bought it on "Cyber Monday" on the Monday after Thanksgiving, so we also got free shipping on it AND it was on sale for $114 which is quite a bargain. It should be here sometime next week and Daddy will have a great time putting it together!

Anyway, Maelin was very interested in her first Christmas Tree. She kept putting her fist in her mouth and squealing so we brought her up close to look at it and boy, did she want to put that tree in her mouth! Because it's so little, she could have easily pulled it right off the table, so we kept her at a distance, but she sure loved it!

I also got her her very own Christmas stocking with her name on it! It's adorable: it's red and white checked from Pottery Barn Kids with an angel and it's bigger than Maelin is! I'm going to try to see if Maelin can actually fit inside it and if that works, I'll post a picture of that too...

I think one of the reasons I'm so excited for this Christmas is because we didn't celebrate any holidays when I was a kid so this is a first for me too. I'm so looking forward to creating traditions with my family that I never had: what a wonderful time of year!

The Joy of Teaching

I'm heading into the BEST time of my job...my student teacher Ann (who is doing a fantastic job) is getting ready to do her "solo student teaching"...which means she has to do EVERYTHING for the next two weeks!

I have great plans...I'm not even supposed to be in the room much so she can have the "true" experience, so this is the partial list of what I'm going to be doing starting next Monday:

*I have to test every single 2nd grader on their reading scores: I would only have to test mine normally, but I'm nice so I offered to do all the kids since I have Ann.

*Progress Reports are due before xmas, so I've got grading and scoring to do.

*I've been meaning to organize all my IB (International Baccalaureate) stuff for 5 years now so I'm going to take 4 boxes of files, papers, notebooks, copies, books, etc. and make some sense of it all! This should take the better part of a whole day.

*I'm going to sneak in and organize my supply closet: I have things in there I can't find so I'm so excited to see what games, papers, paints, etc. I have hiding!

*I'm going to research Loan Forgiveness for teachers...I've heard some grumblings of different programs where the government will reimburse your student loans if you work in a high-needs school district for more than 5 years. I'll keep you posted what I find out.

*I'm going to outline my lesson plans for the rest of the year. This will take whatever remaining time I have left.

To reference a previous post...THANK GOODNESS FOR STUDENT TEACHERS!!!


HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER?

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period .

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.

9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off."

10. You believe chocolate is a food group.

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says
"Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their
behavior when you are out in public.

14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own
children.

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least
five items!

18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."

19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils

20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally,

21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.

Things I Love About Maelin

Maelin is almost 8 months old. We've passed a few first milestones: rolling over, first foods, squealing, sitting up, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas is almost here, etc. and it got me thinking about how darn fast these kids grow up. It seems like I just had her: it seems like only yesterday I was sitting here writing about how tired I was and how Kevin and I never got any sleep and how horrible pregnancy was.

Now as I write this, Maelin is being rocked to sleep by her daddy. We had a great day today. We went to the park and went out to lunch with our friend Christina and we played with the kitties and then we took Maelin to the mall where she had her first few tastes of bbq! She's still getting over her cold so she's been a bit cranky, but just "delightful" (as her doctor calls her) anyway. She smiles so much and she just loves to be held and talked to. She lights up when she sees someone she knows and she loves to try to talk to them. She's discovered that her voice creates reactions and she loves figuring them out. She met a new doggie last night at our friend Katey's house...her name was Biscuit and she just had a grand ole' time playing with that little thing.

Before we know it, I'll be sitting here writing about how it's Maelin's first birthday soon and then she'll be walking and talking and running around. She'll be asserting her totally stubborn side by telling me "no!" and I'm sure she'll turn into a total Daddy's Girl because already the two of them are so much alike. I just can't believe how quickly it's going by.

Thinking about that made me think about the things I really love about my daughter. Her little personality is so distinctive so far and I can't wait to see her grow up and turn into whoever she's meant to be...with a lot of stubborn struggles along the way! Here's a quick list, and by no means comprehensive, about things I love about Miss MaeMae...

*Her gummy, toothless grin

*The way she squeals when she sees Gizmo

*How she reaches for me when she wants me to hold her

*The way she smiles at me in the morning when she's laying in her crib and I go to get her

*How her cheeks overflow down over her chin...like she's squirreling away food for the winter

*How much she loves her daddy: she just lights up when she sees him and then squeals at him

*What a calm baby she is...she just goes with the flow. You can take her anywhere or put her in any situation and she's just fine.

*Her blue, blue eyes

*How she's learned to put her toes in her mouth

*How she talks to me from the backseat of the car...she yells, "aaaaaaaahhhhhhh" at me when we're driving

*When strangers talk to her (when I'm holding her of course), she studies them for a minute and then lights up with her toothless grin

*How much she looks like Kevin

*How much she loves the people she knows well...Uncles and Aunties and Grandparents

*Her funny facial expressions: sometimes it looks like she's so bored and she can't believe her rotten luck at being where she is right now

*How sweet and chill she is: especially when she's sick. If she didn't get up in the middle of the night, I wouldn't even know when she's sick

*What a great sleeper she is

*Her total stubborn streak...if she doesn't want to do it, she is NOT going to

*She has given us such a purpose to our lives

*She's amazing company: I'm never bored or lonely when I'm with her. She could make you laugh all day just by staring at her or watching her

*How she has created so much extra love in the world for people who know her

*She's created a family out of Kevin and I

*She's the absolute best and amazing aspects of Kevin and I: she's our pride and joy

As I look over this list, it feels so incomplete: there's just no way I can put into words how special this little girl is to us. I love her with an intensity that I never even knew existed: it's so consuming, it's somewhat overwhelming. This list is by no means complete...it feels so lacking but it's impossible to describe all of the qualities that Miss MaeMae has that makes her special. That's why she is who she is...we're figuring out something new about her every day.

What an amazing journey it's going to be!

Maelin's First Thanksgiving

We had a super fun, but very busy Thanksgiving yesterday. We got Daddy up early (leaving the house before the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade started was a first for us!) to go to his mom's house to spend the day with Kevin's family.

We were able to see Aunt Sally and Uncle Steve (it was Steve's first time meeting Maelin, so that was exciting), Uncle Chad and Aunt Jessie were also there, along with Grandma and Grandpa and Great-Grandma Gertie. I bet it won't be hard for you to guess who the star of the day was...

Maelin was great. Chad and Jess brought their adorable doggie along...Oakley is super friendly and loved Maelin. She squealed whenever she saw him and we got a really cute picture of them sitting together. Maelin loved Uncle Chad because he looks and sounds so much like her daddy does...it was pretty cute.

She loved the sweet potatoes and the stuffing. Most of all, she had a great time smearing all of it around on her highchair which is just what a First Thanksgiving should be all about.

Later on, we went to my Uncle Mike's house for my family's get-together. My brother and sister were there, along with Maelin's little (and big!) cousins. As usual, Mike made a fantastic turkey: he uses an amazing brine which keeps it super moist and yummy and you almost don't even need the spinach-cheddar mashed potatoes or herbed gravy to go with it...(notice I said almost.)

My family is super noisy and loud and rambunctious and my cousins are getting older now: 13 and 11, so we're busy hearing about high school and soccer games and gasp! boys, so Thanksgiving at Mike's house was a hoot. It is so wonderful to just hang out and catch up with everyone: I think Thanksgiving should be every month or so!

We had a busy day going around, but we wouldn't change it for anything. There is nothing more important than our families.

Good-Bye Beau Dog

Our good friends Steve, Sherry, Hannah and Jacob lost a member of their family on Friday. Their German Shepard, Beau, passed away. I'm not sure how old he was (I've known him for over 11 years), but I'll always remember him as a huge dog (sometimes he didn't even know how big he was...he once knocked me over when I walked in the house because he was trying to say hello!) who had an equally huge heart. He was the sweetest guy ever and he will be missed by many people; not just S,S,H & J.

I've had to say good-bye to many beloved pets and I know how horrible and hard it is. They're members of the family and they leave behind huge holes. Maelin, Kevin and I wanted to send out a poem that was sent to me after I had to put my sweet little kitty Chloe to sleep a few years ago in honor of the many pets we've all had over the years who are waiting patiently to see us again.

We'll miss you Beau!

Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Maelin and her Cousins

Today my sister and I took Maelin and her two boys, Ryan and Cole who are 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 to the picture place to get pictures of them. They were adorable! Maelin kept falling over so she eventually just landed on Ryan's legs and that's where she stayed during the pictures. Cole wasn't too excited about the whole business, but we got a few good ones of him anyway.

I have adorable xmas pictures of Maelin in her xmas dress sitting in a xmas present near a tree and in a chair near the xmas tree, but y'all are going to have to wait for your xmas card to arrive in the mail to see those... (if I don't have your current and correct address, please leave me a comment because you aren't going to want to miss these!!!)

Snot Suckers and Other Thoughts

Baby Maelin has another cold! Poor thing: I really wish someone would invent a snot-sucker for babies that actually works! I stick this blue thing up her nose which she HATES and try to suck the snot out but it doesn't do anything except make her mad. Then she sneezes and snot goes everywhere, or she barfs on me because she's swallowed so much of it, or she can't breathe because it's clogging her nose, or she's breathing "snot bubbles" out of her nose because there's so much of it.

If someone were to invent a battery-operated snot sucker that pulled the snot out of the babies' noses, that person would be a millionaire because all the sleep-deprived moms would pay big bucks to have their babies' able to breathe.

Thanksgiving is almost here and I'm really excited to see all the family. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is just hanging out with everyone. (oh yeah, the food is good too). We are going to Grandma Lea's house in the morning and then to my uncle Mike's house in the evening. We get to see all the family!

We're going tomorrow to take pictures with Baby Maelin...not xmas pictures as you might expect, but pics with her cousins: Ryan and Cole. It will be the first "official" pictures of all the Kimling grandkids so I'm excited. Heather and I bought the kids matching sweaters so they're going to be so cute!

I'm trying to convince Kevin to get our xmas family picture taken next weekend...we'll see how that goes.

For those of you who haven't been able to see her lately, here's the latest pic of Maelin doing baby things...

I've Never...

My younger sister Vanessa was out to visit this past weekend and I'm not sad to say she is way more hip than me. She's only 4 years younger but she feels to me like a fabulously single hipster! She has some crazy Puma boots that she wears over her jeans and they look horrid to me but she insists they're in style and and really cool. I don't get it.

She has tons of great jewelry, lots of belts and things she wears and she has been to 3 concerts in the last 2 weeks. It makes me tired just writing about it, let alone living that life!

Anyway, it got me thinking about how old I'm feeling lately. I know 7 months of sleep deprivation coupled with a full time job would make anyone feel old, but hanging out w/ my hipster sis really got me thinking about the things I've never done. Here is a short, limited list of some things I've never done (and might not necessarily want to do...)

I've Never been to 3 concerts in one week.

I've never been to New York or San Francisco.

I've never been to the Opera.

I've never owned my own house. (a real-stand-alone-not-connected-to-anything house)

I've never been further west than Hawaii.

I've never been to a Frat Party.

I've never even been to a real college party.

I've never volunteered at an animal or homeless shelter.

I've never had an eye exam.

I've never been to a prom...someone else's or my own.

I've never been without a cat.

I've never seen a horror movie without having nightmares.

I've never been arrested.

I've never been in a car accident.

I've never been in the hospital due to sickness.

I've never had someone really close to me pass away.

I'm sure there's tons more things I could mention, but those are just a few. Looking them over there's a couple I'd really like to get working on...maybe the arrested one!

We Went to the Park!

Auntie Vanessa is visting us from Seattle this weekend so we're really enjoying hanging out with her and the rest of our family. This morning, we got up early (early for Auntie, but not for Maelin and I) and went to Boulder to have brunch and play at the park with Aunties Kat, Vanessa and Heather and Uncle Jeff and our cousins Ryan and Coley.

This was our first trip to the park where Maelin actually got to play! I was brave enough (I'm slightly afraid of heights) to take her up the really high spiral slide and she loved it! We also put her in the baby swing and although she was too little (she kept sliding down in it) she thought that was great too.

Then Vanessa took her on the big swing and that was just right. She loved just swinging with Auntie and watching her cousins play. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time being outside and enjoing our family.

Maelin's New Friends

I'd post a picture of her friends at daycare, but I don't have one yet. However, it turns out that Maelin is a HUGE fan of fat, gray and not-so-smart kitties. Good thing we have one because she loves him! Her head turns the minute she hears him running or when he jumps up on the couch she immediately tries to grab him and eat his fur.

He loves her too. He'll follow her around and the other day I caught him licking the top of her hair as I held her. I'm glad she has such a sweet animal to grow up with.

Maelin's other new friend is her dolphin that Christina brought her from SeaWorld. When you push his fipper, he makes dolphin noises and shakes and she just thinks he's great. Her other friend was a chicken that clucked the "Old McDonald" song and we overused that a bit on her so we're resting him till later. We think chicken can come back around xmas and he'll be as good as new.

It is so much fun to watch this little person discover her world and the things in it. It's totally amazing.

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we were able to meet Grandma Lea and Grandpa Larry at the pumpkin patch. Although it will be much more fun when Maelin is a bit older (there was a petting zoo, a hay maze, a hay ride and a few activities that Kevin really wanted to do but couldn't....) the weather was fantastic and we all had a great time.

Grandma Lea is dealing with her cancer again: it has returned. We're keeping our hopes high that she will continue to beat it because we love her so much and Grandmas and Grandpas are so important!

Maelin's First Halloween

Maelin had been so excited for Halloween: she was asking us every day how much longer till Halloween...she just couldn't wait to go trick or treating and she would not let up.

Not really. Mommy couldn't wait till Maelin's first Halloween because I didn't get to go trick or treating as a kid so I plan to live vicariously through my daughter for a while.

Grandma Lea bought Maelin her chicken costume and I can't get over how adorable she looks in it. We wanted her to be a Spring Chicken because when she was about 4 weeks old, she had a onesie shirt with a spring chicken on it and Kevin would tease her that she was a spring turkey. We thought having a little chicken for Halloween would be fun.

Of course Halloween didn't go exactly as I had imagined: what does anymore? Somehow, Maelin knew that something was up and didn't take her usual nap when we got home from daycare. (how she knew, I'll never know) So we bundled up our little chicken and headed out. We decided to just go visit friends and we made it to Keith's house and then to Kat and Jeff's house where we took a breather and had some dinner. (Maelin did: Kevin and I didn't eat a thing that night...) We hung out at J & K's for a bit and then Steve and Sherry called: they were bringing their twins over and we were so excited to see them! Hannah was a cookie and Jacob was a cow! They were excited to see our little chicken and they were so cute as always.

Then we tried to go see our friend Katey, but she wasn't home. At this point, it was about 9pm and our chicken had had enough of being in her chicken suit and getting in and out of the carseat so we headed home.

We had a very nice night...lots of treats, adorable pictures but the best part was just having fun with our friends.

To Move or Not To Move...

Kevin and I have an adorable Wash Park townhome that we love. It was updated before we moved in and it's only 5 blocks from Wash Park which is a fantastic location. We are two blocks from Wild Oats and a little cafe, 4 blocks from the light rail station and we're about 3 blocks from an I-25 entrance which is super-convenient for our commutes. We have concrete countertops (which according to HGTV is very "in the now..."), original hardwood floors, french doors into Maelin's room, original tile in the kitchen and bathroom and an European feel on the outside. We also love our neighbors. (my neighbor Anne brought me gelato from the gelato place which is also just a few blocks away last week without me even asking her!) Our place was built in 1910 so it has great character and we LOVE it.

So, why would we move now in this horrible housing market? I'll tell you why: we have 880 sq feet upstairs and 200 sq ft downstairs in the basement (which we only use for laundry, cats and storage.)

We knew we wouldn't be able to stay here forever but I thought we could just power through having a tiny house with two adults and one growing baby. People in New York do it all the time, right?

Turns out, it's driving me CRAZY! Upon reflection, I think it's one of the things that's fueling my depression: not having anywhere do do anything sucks. Just to put Maelin on the floor to let her roll around takes a herculean feat of engineering: we have to move the coffee table into the kitchen or on top of the couch and then we have to jump over the couch onto the rug and then sit around her. Then we have to put everything back (keep in mind I'm tripping over bouncy seat and bumbo and all sorts of stuff while we're doing this.)

Chores are fun. I usually fold the laundry upstairs on the coffee table...it's the only place where I can spread it out and organize it. However, I was putting some pictures into albums yesterday and I had to try to put the laundry on top of my pictures and then they all fell over from the weight and I burst into tears because I do that now at a drop of a hat and threw the laundry across the room in frustration.

See why we need to move????

So we drove around the last two weekends looking at which neighborhoods we would like and it turns out...not many. We like downtown! We like the neighborhood feel of Wash Park and we like the way the houses are brick and different: we also like being so close to everything. How do we compromise with the space we need but keep the downtown feel?

We think we've found something though. We decided we like Englewood...it's about 30 blocks south of us so it's still close to everything and it has a pretty nice feel to it. The houses aren't as big as what we would find in other subdivisions, but we think they'll be big enough for what we need:

I want at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I want a yard with a fence. I want a garage. I want a basement where there's room for Maelin to roll around and we can childproof it and where there's space for Kevin to have a "man room". We think we've found that in Englewood and the kicker is this: some of the houses we've looked at cost THE SAME amount as what we paid for our tiny bit of Wash Park.

So now we've got to get our house staged and sold. I'll get busy on that. Wish me luck...

You Know You're From Colorado If...

My sister-in-law Jess sent me this today and I got a chuckle out of it...

You're from Colorado if----

You'll eat ice cream in the winter.

When the weather report says it's going to be 65 degrees, you shave your
legs and wear a skirt.

It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be cancelled.

You'll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature.

You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make
fun of them.

'Humid' is over 25%.

Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the
mountains.

You say 'the interstate' and everybody knows which one.

You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.

You grew up planning your holloween costumes around your coat.

You know what the Continental Divide is.

You don't think Coors beer is that big a deal.

You went to Casa Bonita as a kid.

You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such
activities.

You always know the elevation of where you are.

You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it's going to
snow tomorrow.

You don't care that some company renamed it, the Broncos still play at Mile High.

Every movie theater has military and student discounts.

Everybody wears jeans to church.

You actually know that South Park is a real place not just a show on TV.

You know what a 'trust fund hippy' is, and you know its natural habitat is
Boulder.

You know you're talking to a fellow Coloradoan when they call it Elitches, not Six Flags.

A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you.

When people out East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you
just laugh.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels 'sticky'
and you notice the sky is no longer blue.

Go Rockies!!!

Such True Words...

Those of you who used to hang out w/ me (ie...before Maelin) probably have gotten to know my good friend Dan. He's such a cool guy: he's the child psychologist at the school I work at and we've been instant friends since we went through new teacher training together 4 years ago when we started at our building.

I chatted with him for a bit today and we had a really interesting talk. I've been too overwhelmed to visit with him much this year and he's so easy to talk to (hence the child psychologist part....) so it wasn't long before he got me teary-eyed.

The fact is...I'm just not happy this year. I don't want to be working: I want to be with Maelin while she's still young and needs me. Kids grow up so fast: no one knows that better than I do because I see every day how quickly these kids become independent and start growing into their own little persons. It happens in the blink of an eye and I'm missing it.

I had no idea how much I would love being a mom. I adore Maelin and I count every single second I have with her as such a blessing. She's the most perfect and precious thing I have ever had the privilege of being around...and she belongs to Kevin and I...I can't get over how lucky I am to be her mom.

Dan told me today..."It's too bad you had to spend so much money and time in college and in training only to discover you wanted to be a mom...it's too bad you didn't get knocked up when you were 16: you could have saved yourself a lot of time!" He makes me laugh through my tears.

I'm not sure yet what the answer is...all I know now is that I'm depressed and sad most of the time: when I'm at work and then when I get home because I know my time with Maelin is so limited. I'm thinking of all sorts of alternatives: I've even contemplated working at Starbucks in order to get the health insurance. If you have any ideas, feel free to send them my way. Kat suggested Prozac: I'm even giving that a thought.

6 Month Checkup

Miss MaeMae had her 6 month checkup complete with shots today. I got to take a day off of work and spend it with her...how much fun would being a stay-at-home mom with her be????

Anyway, I digress...

Our little sweetie has now grown to 15 1/2 pounds and she's 26 inches long. If you don't remember, she was 6 1/2 pounds and 19 inches when she was born, so we're movin' right along!

One funny note...she's in the 25% for her weight (not surprising...she's such a petite little thing), the 50% for her height and the 75% for her head circumfence! Our little one is Sputnik!!!! She's got a huge head! :-)

No Child Left Behind...What Do I Think About It?

I had an email this morning about this article that was in the Washington Post and a question about what I thought about it. I was typing out my response and figured I'd put the whole conversation here to see what you all think about it...

(I don't want this to turn into a political discussion though...just what do we think is best for kids!)

So here's the article and then my thoughts are below it...

Why 'No Child' Was Needed
By Karin Chenoweth Saturday, October 13, 2007; Page A19

A very odd notion is circulating these days that the No Child Left Behind law has forced schools to become boring, dull places where children do endless worksheets and are discouraged from thinking for themselves. This argument holds that under "No Child," students are forced to simply regurgitate what teachers tell them, which -- because of flawed standardized tests -- is often confusing and sometimes demonstrably false. Get rid of the tests, or at least pay less attention to their results, critics say, and schools can return to their pre-NCLB excellence.

Particularly with Congress considering reauthorization of the law, versions of this argument are heard almost any time No Child Left Behind is discussed. I find it very puzzling.

I keep wondering: Don't the people making this and similar arguments know that long before No Child Left Behind, far too many classrooms were boring, dull places where children were forced to do endless worksheets, discouraged from independent thinking and subjected to teachers providing confusing and sometimes demonstrably false information?

For example, my eighth-grade history teacher in suburban New Jersey taught that the American system of slavery was fair not only to the slaveholders but also to the slaves. He did not present his assessment as opinion but fact, and (hard as it is to believe today) was backed up by the textbook we studied. At least he tried to teach us something. My eighth-grade science teacher told our class point-blank, "You aren't going to college anyway, so it doesn't matter what I do." He didn't teach much of anything, and his class was a zoo, teetering on dangerous. My elementary school teachers had been able to control their classrooms, but they didn't teach a whole lot of history, science, art or music. In introducing a unit on batteries, for instance, my fifth-grade teacher said: "I don't like science either, but we are supposed to cover this." She never bothered finding out whether we learned anything about batteries -- tedious "covering" was enough.

Educators often complain that every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks he's an expert because he went to school, so I try not to draw too many conclusions from my personal experiences. But they are consistent with every serious history of education I have read, and they are hardly unusual. Most baby boomers I have talked with consider themselves lucky if they had one or two really good teachers in their school careers -- which means they sat through a lot of not-so-good instruction.

Fast-forward to my children's educational experience in Montgomery County. Now in college, my daughters went to public school before No Child Left Behind was passed and as it was taking effect. Though in many ways they had an education superior to mine, they both had their share of tedious, confusing and demonstrably false instruction.

In fact, once they entered middle school, I noticed that if there was no outside assessment, it was a tossup whether the teachers taught much of anything at all. Sixth-grade English was pretty much a waste for my older daughter, in part because her teacher spent inordinate amounts of class time updating her computerized inventory of Beanie Babies.

Those teachers were able to get away with such low levels of instruction because no outside assessment held them responsible for whether their students learned anything.
My younger daughter, more than her sister, benefited from two trends now sweeping the country: accountability and rigorous curriculum. Because her high school adopted the International Baccalaureate curriculum, which has assessments scored by professionals outside the school she attended, my younger daughter enjoyed both a high-level curriculum and teachers who were not afraid of being held accountable.

Every child deserves that. The International Baccalaureate curriculum may be a bit of overkill, but a deep, rich curriculum that aims at helping children become educated citizens should be available to every child.

If teachers have little incentive to teach anything that is not on the state tests, we should fix that. Teachers need to be supported by good standards and curriculum, high-quality materials, orderly learning environments, and rigorous assessments. They certainly shouldn't be focused only on teaching what is tested by what are mostly low-level state assessments.
But people should keep in mind that if there are no tests, some teachers have little incentive to teach anything at all.

Karin Chenoweth is the author of "It's Being Done: Academic Success in Unexpected Schools." She wrote the Homeroom column for The Post from 1999 to 2004.

I put the part I thought was the most important in bold...

This was an interesting article. However, I don't think the author is fully versed in the impact that NCLB is having on schools. Unfortunately, there have always been bad teachers and there will continue to be bad teachers...NCLB does NOT have the authority to get rid of teachers!!!! I think that's the misconception that a lot of people have about NCLB. All it has the authority to do is CLOSE UNDER-PERFORMING SCHOOLS. That's it.

The reason I bolded a statement above is because what NCLB has done and will continue to do is demand that EVERY student be at grade level by 2014. They want 100% of kids to be at grade level. Now I agree that is what should happen, but is it realistic? Of course not! NCLB does not take into account special education students, 2nd language learners, learning disabilities, etc.

Most importantly, NCLB has continued to demand this of our schools and teachers and then not give us any funding or materials or resources to make sure that it happens!! Not only is the government not giving us extra materials to get 100% of our kids to grade level in 7 years, they are cutting programs and resources all the time and expecting us to make up the difference! Our district just had the technology and GT programs cut. Gone. No computers for you kids!! However, our standards still test the kids on technology...so where does that leave the teachers?

I am very much in favor of high-stakes testing: in fact, I'm in favor of pay-for-performance as well. Let's get rid of teacher tenure!! No more hanging out in the classroom for 30 years unless you really want to be there!! NCLB does not have the authority to get rid of the kind of teachers that were described in the article above (by the way, I teach at an International Baccalaureate school...). All it can do is close the school. How does that help the kids?

Here's my thoughts: get rid of NCLB and the outrageous expectations it forces on teachers and schools. Get rid of teacher tenure that allows poor teachers job security. Implement pay-for-performance raises: in other words, if my students raise their scores on MANY tests (not just one...what if my kids were having a bad day that day?) I get a raise the next year...and I get to keep my job. Implement Peer-Evaluations amongst teachers. Believe me, teachers know who is doing great in their building and who needs to go. Give me an incentive to help the higher kids succeed; don't overload me with pressure to get my 2 low kids to grade level at any cost...forcing me to ignore the higher kids. Give me resources and master teachers to help: stop cutting funds that would help me put technology in my classroom or buy books we desperately need. Finally, leave me alone and let me do my job.

Can You Believe It????

Last week one of my favorite students was home sick with pneumonia. She had it so bad, she was in Children's Hospital for two nights on oxygen. She's back now, but I just got a phone call from another parent: another of my students has bacterial pneumonia and will be home for a week, at least. Of all years for this to be going around my classroom: the year I have a new baby at home and I have 3 sick days left...

Keep your fingers crossed that my student teacher Ann doesn't get it...

Student Teachers...Where Would I Be Without Them?

Just want to post quickly about how much work my student teacher has done for me so far this year. She's home sick today (get better soon Ann!) so I'm really feeling how much I've come to depend on student teachers and how wonderful it is to have two professionals in the classroom all day long. It's invaluable: I've had time to get so much done that I wouldn't have been able to do thus far: I'm not as crazed, my room is clean and organized and the kids have two adults to talk to all day long.

Here is a look at what my student teacher does and how much I'm going to miss her when she graduates in January:

*Created and wrote and printed my center lists (computer, listening, word work, math facts, journals, etc...)
* Created and wrote and printed the spelling lists for the entire year
* Created and wrote the modified spelling lists for 6 months for the low kids (the normal list is too hard for them)
*Created table signs for each table and an instructional sign for me to use while teaching
*Gives me bathroom breaks (INVALUABLE)
*Gets me water when I'm out and I'm right in the middle of teaching
*Made every single one of my student files/notebooks (all 90 of them because each kid needs 3-4)
*Lends support during lessons when 5 kids have their hands raised and there's only one of me
*She was able to be my sub during the week I had pneumonia: she carried on as if I was here and I didn't even really have any sub plans created. Had she not been here, I would have had to drag my sick self down here every day to create, copy and explain sub plans
*Helped me create my back-to-school night powerpoint
*Does my recess duty every Wednesday morning AND Wednesday afternoon so I can pump
*Takes care of the kids who are acting up so I can concentrate on the rest of the class
*Runs small reading groups while I'm working with other kids, doing lesson plans, grading, etc.
*Takes care of the teaching while I'm doing the testing of every child every week. This is great because otherwise I'd have to give "busy work" to the kids while I'm doing the testing
*Teaching an entire unit for the next 2-3 weeks in the afternoon for her class. This frees me up to get a lot of the administrative stuff done that I don't have time for during the day
*Attends all grade-level meetings and contributes to our planning
*Sits with the lower kids for their support so I can attend to the rest of the class
*Allows me to have bathrooms breaks!!(I said this twice because you have no idea how horrible it is when you have to go and you know you can't leave your class and lunch time isn't for another hour)
*Takes care of the class when one of my autistic kids is rolling around moaning on the floor
*Is a general support and company throughout the day

This last point is huge. Teaching is somewhat solitary: we have each other to talk to but we're so busy throughout the day, we never have the time. The majority of the day, we're in our classrooms by ourselves. Having someone else in here to chat with is great!

So thank you to all the student teachers out there: I know how hard you work (FOR FREE!) and all of us veteran teachers really appreciate you!

****Can someone calm me down about what's going to happen when Ann leaves in January????

Our Night Out Without Baby!

Kevin and I have been feeling really house-bound and isolated lately so I called my good friend Emily who has asked to babysit and got her to come over on Sat evening so Kevin and I could go out and pretend we are child-less for one night. Emily was happy to do it and we are SO lucky to have such great friends who we can trust with the baby who live close by who can babysit for us.


We got Kat and Jeff to go with us and we went to dinner at 730 South which is a kind-of upscale Chili's. I had a glass of wine at the bar while we waited for our table and then we had an adult dinner where I only thought of the baby once (okay, maybe twice). Then we went to the Wash Park Grill to have a drink at the bar but they were too crowded so we went over to Reivers. We sat and chatted and played video Bowling (can you believe the video games have credit card slots now?????) and watched the Av's game.

We really had a nice time being out and being slightly dressed up and acting like adults, but the problem is that once you're a parent, you are always a parent. There is no "break". I had the phone out the whole time (I only called home one time to see how she was doing...for the record, she was a bit out-of-sorts but doing okay), I was exhausted and by 8:45pm I was ready for bed. We stayed out till about 10:15pm and then went home because I was so tired and couldn't have taken much more! Good thing for me Kat and Kevin weren't feeling great either so I wasn't the only one who had had enough.

We walked in and Mae Mae and Emily were sitting on the couch watching Maelin's Baby Einstein video. She was so cute...Emily said they had a good time but Maelin was a bit cranky and didn't want to sleep so they stayed up and watched her movie together. It was so cute to come home and see the living room torn apart because they needed more room to play and see them sitting together.

I know it wasn't easy for me to be gone from my baby...especially since I'm gone from her so much during the week, and it wasn't easy for Maelin to be with someone new but I'm so glad we did it. I want so much for Maelin to be comfortable with the people who love her (ie: our friends and family) and to know that Mommy does leave sometimes but always comes home.

We had a great time but deep down, I missed my baby and wanted to be at home. I just wish I didn't work so much...I may have to do something about that before the 08-09 school year starts. Let me know if you have any ideas!

6 Month Picture Time

Can you believe it that little Mae Mae is already 6 months old? We went back to Portrait Innovations today (thanks for coming with us Auntie Kat!) for Maelin's 6 month old pictures and was she cute!

I promised Kevin I would stay on a budget because these aren't even going to be the Christmas pictures because Christmas is still 2 months away: these are her 6 month old pictures. The problem is that our house is so small, we're running out of room to put them all. I've been putting her recent pictures over the older ones, but we're still running out of room because she's so darn cute! What to do...buy a bigger house, I say!

Hope you enjoy these: I'm sure you'll also be getting them attached in an email or in hard copy form from me very shortly...the cutest part of the whole experience was when Maelin decided that she was no longer interested in smiling for the nice lady: she wanted to eat the fake flowers and then she wanted to eat her new black shoes. Hey, at least she's consistent! (btw: these are the raw form: the edited ones are much cuter and you can click on any of these pictures to see them bigger....)

Race For The Cure

Yesterday Maelin and I went to the the Komen Race For The Cure. I wasn't sure if we were going to go or not because of her ear infection, but when we woke up on Sunday morning, the sky was clear and all we needed to do was bundle her up. We went with our really good friends Steve, Sherry and their 4 year old twins, Hannah and Jacob. Steve's mom passed away from breast cancer about 5 years ago, so they race in her honor and I wanted to go with them to support a great cause.

Kevin got up early and helped us get ready. We layered Maelin in long sleeved pants and shirt, then a long sleeved fleece thing then her boots and two hats and her coat. She looked like the stay-puft marshmallow man, but she was warm and happy! Our friends came to our house at 7:30am and we walked to the light rail station. Maelin was so good: it was a bit chilly out and she just sat in her stroller and watched Jacob and Hannah and took everything in. We got on the train and went downtown where it was so crowded! Just a sea of people in pink: we saw pink dogs, people with pink wigs, and all sorts of breast cancer survivors and their families celebrating. It was beautiful.

We had to walk about 1/2 mile just to get to the start line (we entered the 5k coed walk) and by the time we got there, Maelin had fallen asleep in the stroller. The start line was so powerful: there were all sorts of bands playing and people with signs and everyone was in a great mood. It was also a bit somber: I saw a man walking with a group of people and he had a sign on his back saying "In Remembrance" of his wife and he had two little girls with him who couldn't be more than 6 or 8. I couldn't even imagine what Maelin and I would do without Kevin, so it was sobering to see first-hand how many people just in our own city that breast cancer affects.

We got about 20 minutes into the race when I happened to peek into the stroller and poor Maelin was sobbing! I couldn't hear her because of all the noise! I quickly got her out and strapped her into the baby Bjorn carrier: and that's where she stayed for the rest of the race. She ate her bottle in there, spit up in there, sucked on binky in there and made her momma really work for it. If you've ever walked a few feet (from the car to the house, for example) carrying a bag of cat litter or something equaling 15 pounds, you know it's heavy and kind of awkward. Imagine walking 3+ miles with 15 pounds hanging off of your shoulders and you'll understand why I'm exhausted today.

She was so good! She didn't cry once and she had a great time watching all the people, the music and just being outside. She was a little trooper.

Turns out our race had over 67,000 people yesterday! If you've never done the race, it was fantastic. We had a great walk (honestly, by the time I felt I couldn't take another step, it was about over. 5k is a pretty good amount to walk to make you feel like you've worked but it doesn't kill you), we were with amazing people, we contributed to a fantastic cause and we really felt uplifted by the whole experience. We're definitely going to do it again next year and we'd love for any of you to join us!

My Baby is 6 Months Old Today!

Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday that little Mae Mae was born and now she's 6 months old. Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

Of course we had a cake for her. Even though she couldn't eat it. It was just whipped cream (and I kept her hands well away from the strawberries) but she loved it! It was pretty funny: she had a great time just mashing the cake because she loved the way it felt and then I got her to put her hand in her mouth and wow! I think she was thinking, "Boy, my hands have never tasted this good!" I only let her have a little then we washed up and had oatmeal mush mixed with breastmilk. That's the same as birthday cake, right?

Happy 1/2 Birthday Sweet Baby!!