My Classroom

I haven't written about work lately because I've been just too darn busy, but it's actually going pretty well.

My autistic boys (yes, plural) are settling down. Each day is a challenge with them...I never know what will set them off crying or rolling on the floor so I tread very carefully around them. They haven't had any episodes in about a week, so that's good. The last time Jason flew off the handle was because he didn't get to spend as long at the blocks as he wanted to and he cried (complete with snot dripping down his shirt onto the floor) for about 3 hours. We couldn't do anything...I got the special ed teacher in here to help as well...nothing. So, we just let him cry. Eventually, he stopped and went home.

My other kids are mostly doing great! One sad story: my new boy was sooooo low and we were in the process of getting him some extra services but then all of a sudden, he just stopped coming. I finally got ahold of Dad to find out where he was and he told me he is in foster care in Colorado Springs and won't be coming back. Just like that. He's gone...in a new school now and he has to start the process all over again. Poor kid. It's amazing how much adults can mess up kids' lives!

So to my other kids...I now have 5 kids who are reading at 4th grade level and doing 3rd grade math. I have 10 kids who are reading at 3rd grade level and 5 kids who are right at grade level. My only kids who are below grade level are my autistic boys and my new little girl...who has been to 5 different schools this year. She will not be catching up anytime soon. Anyway, I'm so excited about my kids! We've all worked so hard and it's such an accomplishment to have ALL my kids at grade level or above! I'm so proud of them.

CSAP is now looming. Although 2nd graders don't have to take it, it affects every day and every person in our building. We all have to be very quiet so as not to disturb the other students, all the meetings and committees are canceled, music and PE are switched to different times and NO ONE is in a good mood because there is so much at stake riding on this one test. It's really too bad.

I hope whoever is in the white house for the next 4 years, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, take away the "high-stakes testing" environment that our students have to go to school in. It's so ridiculous. One 3rd grader that I had last year wasn't feeling good last week during the reading test and she did horribly. We KNOW she knew the answers, but she had a headache and because she had started the test, she had to finish it...we couldn't send her home till she had finished it. (you're not allowed to stop a test mid-way)

So that kid will be put down as unsatisfactory even though she was reading above grade level for me last year because she had a bad day. She will be counted against our quota of "allowed unsats" and used against us to prove how badly we are teaching our kids.

It's just not right...all that on one test. I agree teachers and students need to be held to a common standard but it should be through multiple measures: portfolios, interviews, projects and then a test. Not everything (funding, grants, raises, or if we can even stay open!) should ride on one test.

Anyway, there's my soapbox for the day. Basically, my kids and I have settled in and I'm finding I sort-of like my job after all! :-) My kids make me laugh every day and even though I'm over-worked and under-paid, I think teaching is pretty fun!

Moving?????

So we've got the ball rolling...we're finally getting our house ready to "stage" so we can put it on the market and HOPEFULLY buy something with a bit more space. Kevin and I have spent the last two weekends packing, sorting, throwing away and moving things over to my dad's house for storage while we clean and organize what's left.

Needless to say, this is not as easy as it would have been pre-baby. We usually only have about 2 hours spread throughout the day that we can work because baby is sleeping and we need to be quiet or she's playing or eating and one of us needs to be with her. Although I'm frustrated that this is taking as long as it is, I'm amazed we're able to get anything done with little MaeMae taking up our time!

Our house looks like a bomb went off! Boxes everywhere, papers, stacks of stuff for Goodwill, toys, books, empty furniture waiting to be taken out, etc. The one good thing is that I'm no longer attached to a lot of my stuff. If I haven't used it in a year...it's gone. I'm tired of carting crap around from one place to the next only to have to find a place for it and dust it.

Our goal is to get the house on the market the week of March 17. Even though we live in the one of the only neighborhoods that hasn't been totally affected by the current housing slump, the average time a home is on the market now is 90-120 days. That's 3-4 months of keeping the house perfect in the possibility that someone will want to look at it. Also, what happens on the weekends when someone wants to come see it and MaeMae is taking a nap? Hmmmmmmmm....

Keep your fingers crossed that we get all this done on time and the house breaks records for selling quickly!! I'm starting to get a panic attack! :-0

Maelin is a Crawler!

Whooo-oooooo! Little Maelin finally decided it was her turn to crawl! It took one of our cousin's matchbox cars to make her do it...I guess all we needed all this time was boy toys. Who knew...

Anyway, I've been trying to get a picture of her doing it, but she moves so fast it's impossible. Here's a picture of her standing up in her newly-lowered crib. She's very proud of herself!



I haven't been able to post lately because we finally decided to try to sell our house and we've been hard at work "de-cluttering." As you can imagine, Kevin and I are pack-rats as it is and now w/ baby Maelin's stuff all crammed into our 900 sq feet house, there is quite a bit of clutter to get through so all our spare time has been going to that. I'll post soon about our (hopeful!) plans to move.

Hope you are all doing well and Maelin sends a "Dadadadadadadaaaaa...baaaaaaa!" scream your way!

No More Pumping

The time has come, I think, to stop pumping for Maelin. I love nursing her, but I HATE pumping. We've had about 2 months worth of frozen milk saved up and we've been going through that quite a bit.

One of the main problems with working full-time when you're a nursing mom is your milk dries up. I've tried as hard as I can to pump during work. From August till December, I pumped during my plan time and during my recess time...twice a day. From January till now, I pump during my plan time. I just wasn't getting enough during the recess pump to make it worth it.

We were supplementing with the frozen milk but now we only have 1 bag left...enough for two more bottles. We had to make the hard decision to go buy some formula. I was in denial for about a week that we really needed to give it to Maelin...I even called the doctor to see if the few ounces I was still able to squeeze out would be enough for her.

Nope, our doctor said. She needs at least 30 ounces of milk/formula a day. I've been able to get about 20 ounces lately.

We got out the formula last night and mixed it with some of my milk to see if MaeMae would even like it. She GOBBLED it down...little pumpkin. Then she fell fast asleep and didn't wake up till this morning.

So, I've decided to stop pumping at work. I'm still going to try to nurse her in the morning and again at night, but we'll just have to give her formula during the day. Part of me is so sad about this...I LOVED nursing MaeMae. It was the only thing that I alone could do for her, and now it's almost over. She was so cute when she was finished nursing: she'd get a very playful, devious look on her face and look up at me and grin. Then she'd start pinching or hitting my nose. It was our favorite time together in the mornings.

I'm still going to try to keep that up as long as I can. I was able to nurse her excusively for 10 1/2 months and I'm so proud about that. It was soooooo hard and time consuming, but totally worth it.

I guess she's growing up. First we lowered the crib and now this. Why can't they stay babies for just a little while longer???

My Birthday Dinner

Wow, did we have a good time! My friends Katey, Kat and Christina took me to dinner last night for my birthday at Parisi and it was so incredible! If you haven't been here, you MUST make time and go!

It didn't start out great, however. Originally, our reservation was for 5:30 and when Christina made that reservation, they told her we'd have to be out by 7 because they need the table. They specifially said, "We'll kick you out." We thought that was a little weird, but okay. We decided to take the 8:30 reservation instead so we wouldn't get "kicked out."

We went for a quick beer before dinner at a really fun Irish Pub just down the street and we walked really quickly to get to Parisi by 8:30. Kevin was babysitting Maelin and they were having a grand old time without Mommy bossing them around. We showed up at 8:30 and they told us we'd have to wait...the table wasn't ready yet. Okay, we've all been in the restuarant business so we know what it's like when a table just won't leave. No biggie. 8:40. 8:50. 9:00. 9:15. 9:30...we've been waiting over an hour now and we had a reservation!

Okay, at this point, we're starting to get really mad. If they hadn't told Christina they were going to "kick us out" because they needed the table, we'd think nothing of it but why were they going to kick us out but they weren't going to kick anyone out for us??

We complained (very nicely) to the manager who also turned out to be our waiter. He was very apologetic and brought us a free bottle of Prosecco...Italian Champagne. Yummy. He also told us he had ordered Antipasti for all of us and as soon as our table was ready, he'd bring it over. Okay, we're all starting to feel much better.

It didn't end there...somehow, the Prosecco kept flowing. No one ordered a 2nd bottle OR a third bottle, but it kept coming. So did another appetizer (capese salad) and a bottle of Savignon Blanc with dinner and 5 desserts: pannacotta with lemon, 3 different gelatos (just like Itlay!) and truffles with coffee.

Here comes the bill...we were prepared for about $280: we figured we had had 3 bottles of Prosecco at $35 each, 1 bottle of wine at $30, dessert, apps, etc. Our bill was......$83. TOTAL.

They totally took care of us for the inconvience. Not only was the food amazing (I had butternut squash raviolis in brown butter truffle sauce), but once we got seated the service was impeccable and we each paid $22. Unheard of.

We left a VERY fat tip (about $100)and thanked the manager/server many times. Then he took our picture.

I had a great dinner with my friends. It was like being back in Italy again...although this time, I was with my girls. Birthdays are great, if for no other reason they get you out with your friends. Thanks Ladies!!

Nice, Long Weekend

We're coming up on a 3 day weekend!! Yay!! It was my (gulp!) 33rd birthday yesterday and I really had a nice day. My students made me a cake, gave me all sorts of super-tacky gifts and it was all very sweet.

Maelin gave me a very sweet card that thanked me for cleaning up her puke, changing her pants and all the things I do. It had a gift certificate for a deluxe pedicure with it! The girl does things right...

Kevin said he'll either pay for me to go visit Aunt Vanessa in Seattle this spring or to go see My Fair Lady when it comes this spring. Hmmmmmmm...I REALLY want to go to Seattle during my spring break, but it's right before Maelin's first birthday party and I can't imagine sitting on the plane w/ Maelin and trying to keep her quiet and still. Doesn't seem like much fun.

I'll have to think about it. Any thoughts?

Maelin, Kevin and I are finally starting to feel better. Maelin just has a runny nose but she's sleeping through the night again and not coughing as much. She banged her head at daycare yesterday when she was trying to stand up. She has a really sad looking bruise on her forehead...the first of many I think.

My amazing girl friends are taking me to a very nice Italian dinner for my birthday on Saturday night. We're going to Parisi in Highlands. It's authentic Italian so I can pretend I'm back in Rome...then on Sunday, Kevin and I are going to Piatti (my old stomping grounds!) for dinner and Kat and Jeff are going to babysit. Monday we're going to hang out and just relax. Maybe get some shopping done.

I love not working...have a great weekend everyone!

Colorado

I posted something similar to this before, but I got another chuckle out of it and since I'm so sick and unable to create anything worth reading today, you all get to read this too...hope you enjoy!

You are a Coloradoan if .............
1. You switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in one day.

2. You know what the " Peoples Republic of Boulder" means.

3. Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and away from the mountains.

4. You're a meat-eating vegetarian.

5. The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.

6. You're able to drive 65 miles per hour through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.

7. You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise.

8. You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.

9. You design your kid's Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.

10. You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.

11. You know all 4 seasons "almost winter, winter, still winter and spring blizzard".

12. You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory.

13. You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains .

14. You can drive over a 12,000-foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.

15. You know the 'correct' pronunciation of Buena Vista.

16. When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.

17. Your car insurance costs more than your car.

18. You have surge protectors on every outlet.

19. April showers bring May blizzards.

20. 'Timberline' is someplace you have actually been.

21. You know what a 'Chinook' is.

22. You know what a ' Rocky Mountain Oyster' is.

23. You know what a "fourteener" is.

24. .But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.

25. A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Republican in Congress does.

26. Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.

27. People from out of state breathe 5 times as often as you do.

28. Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.

29. Thunder has set off your car alarm.

30. You have an $800 stereo in your $300 truck.

31. You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.

32. Where we're going, we don't need roads!

33. You know where the real " South Park " is.

34. You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.

35. Driving directions usually include 'Go over_________ Pass.

36. You've checked for ticks.

37. You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka with a hood.

38. You've gone snow skiing in July and........

39. You've played golf in January and.......

40. They were in the same year.

41. You've urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could run into both oceans.

42. You know what a down slope and an up slope weather pattern is.

43. And the most important: You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both down stream.

Now We're All Sick

Yup, it's finally happened. Maelin, Kevin and I are all sick. Maelin (thank goodness) is on the tail end of the yucky cold but Kevin and I just started it.

I remember last year when I was pregnant and I complained about how hard it was to be pregnant and sick and going to work. I had it easy then...there wasn't a little person who depended on me when I got home.

Last year I was able to just go home, take a nap, lie on the couch, take a long bath and go to bed early. Not anymore. I have to go home and nurse my headache and sniffles while playing with baby Maelin. She doesn't care if Kevin and I have headaches or are tired. She wants to play or eat or needs new pants or something...

I had it easy then.

So far, Maelin is starting to feel better. Keep your fingers crossed that she we don't give this crap back to her and the cycle starts all over again!

Happy 10 Months Baby Maelin!

This post is a few days late, but here it is...Maelin is 10 months old! I can't belive that...I still think of her as a little, tiny baby. Here's a fun pic of her when it snowed and we were going to take her outside...

Sick Again...

Right now poor baby Maelin is getting rocked to sleep by Daddy...and it's not working. She keeps coughing and waking herself up. This has been our life all week.

Our nights look like this:

5:30pm Get home from work and put things away. Try to sit w/ baby and get her to take a quick nap

6:30pm Wake baby up because she's been trying to sleep. She's so tired, but every time she falls asleep, the coughing just wakes her right up and she starts crying. We've now been playing this game for over an hour and she can't take it anymore.

7pm Try to feed baby some dinner. Futile effort because she doesn't feel good, she has NO appetite and is cranky. All she wants to do is have me hold her. So she whines. (and whines and whines and whines)

7:30pm Put baby on floor for some play time. She's actually in a pretty good mood and has about 30 minutes of smiling and fun

8pm Bath. She's cranky when we lift her up, cranky when we change her, whiny when we take her into the bath so we go really fast.

8:15pm Give baby medicine, (fun) put lotion all over cranky baby, (more fun) and use a q-tip to put vaseline in her nose (super fun!)

8:45pm Give baby bottle but she is NOT hungry. Keep trying anyway.

9:15pm Baby has eaten about 1/2 of an ounce so give up bottle. Daddy rocks baby to sleep while I clean up: laundry, pumping, kitchen, toys, etc.

9:45pm Kevin comes out...he feels awful for Maelin. It's so sad...she's sooooo tired and all she wants to do is sleep but she can't! She can't breathe through her stuffy/runny/sneezy nose and as soon as she does fall asleep, the cough wakes her up and she starts crying. Eventually he just stops rocking her and lays her down. We can still hear her coughing, but she's able to put herself back to sleep.

11pm Baby wakes up from the coughing screaming. I run in there (I had JUST fallen asleep) and hold her for a few minutes and put her back down. She's still coughing...

1:30am Baby wakes up again from the coughing screaming. I go get her again (Kevin tried to pick her up and was NOT having that...she wanted mommy) and rock her and settle her back down. She's exhausted...she just can't sleep through the coughing.

3:00am Baby wakes up again...I get her again and hold her on the chair...she eventually falls asleep.

4:00am I'm laying in bed just waiting for her to get up again. I can't sleep because every little noise means I have to wake up.

6:30am Somehow I fell asleep...the alarm is going off. I remember looking at it at 6am, so I must have. I go to get baby and she's rollling around in her crib just moaning.

So that's been the last week...I can still hear her coughing so I doubt tonight will be any different. Poor baby.

The Yuckiest Thing Ever

So Maelin is a pefect child, right? :-) However, like all perfect kids, she has a few quirks. She likes to eat things that are not toys (Kevin's remote is the current favorite), she likes to pull Gizmo's fur out of his body and scream (he doesn't seem to mind...), and she throws up a lot.

Yup, the kid is a projectile vomiter. Whenever she gets a cold (which seems like every two weeks), the snot pours down her throat and either upsets her stomach or it makes her gag and she throws up.

A Lot.

A few months ago, I was holding her after she ate breakfast. I was all ready to go to work and boom! Maelin threw up all over me. It was even pooled in my bra. I thought that was the worst it could get.

I was wrong.

We were driving to work yesterday on I-25 in the snow. I was concentrating really hard because the roads were bad and I needed to keep both hands on the wheel. I looked up in the mirror and saw Maelin cough and just throw up everywhere. It just kept coming! There wasn't a single thing I could do! I quickly rummaged in the glovebox for some napkins and with one hand reached around to hold the napkin under her mouth and yes, I did catch some but the damage had already been done.

So now we're on I-25 at least 20 minutes away from daycare, Maelin is covered in throw up, I have no more napkins, puke is all over my hand and we're driving in snow which I really need to concentrate on. I was desperately trying to figure out what to do when I looked in the mirror again and saw her putting her hands in the pool of puke that she was sitting in and then squeal and put her whole hand in her mouth.

That did it...I did the only thing I could think of to do. I started crying and called Kevin. Like that's going to help!

So I watched her eat her puke. There was nothing else I could do till we got to Sandra's. She was having a great time...laughing and babbling the whole way. The car was starting to smell, but Maelin didn't care.

Then...yup, she coughed and gagged again and threw up again.

Who's idea was it to have a baby??????

We got to Sandra's and I was full-out crying by now. I was late for work because of the snow so I took baby out and threw her at Sandra who already had a change of clothes ready to go and the wipes to get baby cleaned up. (bless her) I got some paper towels and got to work on the carseat which next to strollers are the WORST things to have to clean. There are nooks and crannies everywhere and thanks to Maelin's culinary activities, the puke was in the belt buckles, on her toys and under her seat because it had soaked through.

The kicker was this: after I got the seat cleaned up (I still had to take it home last night and take the whole thing apart to put it in the washer which is the biggest pain in the @$#%#@ you can imagine...) I went to give baby a hug and tell her I hoped she'd feel okay and I'd leave work in a minute if she needed me.

Guess what Maelin did? No, she didn't throw up on me, but she started crying and pushing me away because she wanted to stay with Sandra.

Fine...stay with her and throw up all over her stuff!

Wow...Where Has The Time Gone?

I'm sorry its been almost a week since my last post. I guess all I can say is between keeping the house going, teaching 23 kids, spending time with Maelin, planning an engagement party for Katey and Jeff and all the other things that keep us all so busy every day, I just haven't had time to write.

Please keep checking back: it's great to read the comments from all of you!

Let's see...we've been very busy lately. We are in the midst of planning a party for Katey and Jeff. We're very excited they're getting married and they picked a date! Sept 13 will be their wedding and Maelin might get to be their flower girl! We'll have to see how she's walking by then, but she's still not even crawling, so maybe Maelin can roll down the aisle! :-0

I've had an interesting time at work lately. A position has opened up for next year that would entail someone working 3/4 time instead of full time. Kevin and I have been wrestling with whether or not I should apply for it but we don't think we can afford it. It'd be a pretty big drop in salary for only one more day w/ Maelin. I'm disapointed but the summer is coming up fast so I'm trying to keep my spirits up.

We went to the Super Bowl last night at Christina's house and we had a great time. (yay Giants!) Maelin was super cute but she wasn't too keen on all the yelling that was happening. Although she loved Christina and Eric's dog...she would squeal every time he came close! Here's a picture of Maelin with her football and Uncle Jeff...she was getting ready to throw a touchdown!





Another interesting habit that Miss MaeMae has picked up is that she loves to put her hand down my shirt...it just sits there, she doesn't actually pinch or do anything, but we just hang out w/ her hand down my shirt. Additionaly, she will do this with ANY adult female that is holding her...not just me. It's pretty funny to watch. The little girl doesn't bother with any of the bothersome stuff that guys do...no flowers or handholding or movies or dinner...just straight into the shirt. She does NOT get that from my side of the family! :-)

This week I have to stay late at school on Thursday for Family Night and I'm trying to see if Aunt Kat will come and hang out so Maelin can hang out with me...Aunt Kat, you get free pizza! :-)

Hope you all are doing well...Maelin is almost 10 months old and the plans for her 1 year birthday party are in the works!