on work and breastfeeding.

work | i wanted to get some real time under my belt before blogging about my feelings of being a working mom.  in a nutshell, it isn't as bad as i thought it would be.  day 1 definitely had me more anxious than anything.  i have been prioritizing and balancing things pretty well and it's definitely doable.  now...those weeks when jake is out of town [for work] and i'm working and taking care of a wee one are kind of tricky but we make do because we have to.  i have some great family who constantly offer help and a dad who will cook me a steak dinner on a tuesday just because jake's gone!  my sitter friend takes care of drew like she does her own and i have winter/spring and summers breaks to look forward to.  do i miss her?  terribly.  but a schedule that changes on the half hour, makes for a busy and quick day.

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breastfeeding | the first week she was born, i actually said to myself, "if i make it a month i will be proud".  now...i have to say i'm loving it.  is pumping at work twice a day a little taxing?  yes.  but here are some benefits i've found [aside from the normal/obvious ones].

-- while it is time consuming, i get to "check out" for 15 min. two times a day and check facebook.pinterest.instagram have a little time to myself [thankfully, right now, my schedule allows this]
-- i get to hang with my tiny lady while jake does other things like dishes and laundry, you know...because "i'm tied up at the moment"
-- i get to be the last to kiss her goodnight
-- if when she gets up anywhere from 3-5 am, there are no bottles to be made as i sleep walk to her room
-- easy on the wallet
-- easy on the waistline [i may nurse forever for this reason alone, as i still eat like i'm pregnant]
-- i have an excuse to eat an extra 500 calories a day

my happy little pickle butt.

...

kids say the darndest things.

oh dear.

today, in a language group, we were writing vocab words that belonged 

in different categories.

the category was "things that are stinky".

and this is what one 3rd grader wrote...

when i asked him why he wrote such a bad word, he proceeded to tell me, "you know that song that says, you know you like to think your sh*t doesn't stink?...that's why..because it's not true.  it does stink".

my oh my.  did we have a chat.

i also had a student yesterday who came to me so so so excited and said, "mrs. menz, my mom said i get to have an ipod touch when we win the lottery!!!"  i didn't have the heart to tell him the odds are stacked against him.  funny sad, because i had a student say something along these lines last year when talking about visiting disney world. 

busy girl. no hubby. other randoms.

what a crazy couple of days.  fam left sunday and today :(  i hate to say goodbye.

emma is getting so so so big and i swear, she's the smartest.  really.  granted, i am surrounded by kiddos with delayed communication skills daily, but i really do think she's a genius.  maybe it's because she has her parents' undivided attention, maybe because my sister doesn't talk "baby" to her, maybe because she's been in school since she was a wee one.  she perfectly articulates words like burglar, delicious, refrigerator and magnificent.  she can even annunciate "r" appropriately.  she expresses analogies, she uses and understands abstract concepts....i'm rambling. 
...she said to my sister, "mama i'm going to miss aunt lyndsay" as they left today :(

what else...school.  school began today, although i didn't pull kids.  i spent seven hours making my schedule.  seven....actually probably more like 6.  after waiting on the schedules of the other sped team [we're low on the totem pole so we are at the mercy of everyone else].  i took 30 minutes for lunch, popped into see a few kiddos and finally finished right at 3.  oh my dear, is that stressful.  i will spare you the details.

other things...for anyone who has read taking charge of your fertility or anyone who is charting or at all in interested, my sister turned me onto this website...the beautiful cervix project.  very interesting and very educational..warning: graphic though [the site name says it all].

no hubby.  jake is in baltimore all week for a training.  all week until friday!!  this has never happened.  and while i'm creeped out by being home alone, and missed him coming home tonight at 6...i'm going to take advantage of being a single lady for the week.  [and how sweet is it that my s.i.l. and b.i.l. have invited me for dinner tuesday].  here are some things i plan to do [or not do] this week, that jake would never let fly:

• leave dirty dishes in the sink because i'm not quite ready to unload the clean dishes
• sleep in the middle of the bed [maybe with remy]
• not make the bed
• leave my makeup and straightener on the bathroom counter [alllll week]
• turn the ac up at night so i don't have to wear socks to bed!
• leave my clothes on the bed

okay so we'll see how many of those i actually do [since jake is rubbing off on me], but...

happy week to all.

 

another day at the cloffice.

somehow, i managed to pull my groin and something in both hips while working in my cloffice.  i tried to hang some things by standing on a stack of about five chairs, when my principal walked in and shouted, "you're going to kill yourself".  well, that obviously startled me and then, you know how when you feel like you're going to fall and you over-correct and try to compensate and everything goes tense?....and then you feel a pull?  that's what happened.  so, i blame it on my principal.  workman's comp?

i'm pretty well finished with getting everything put back together to start the year...minus making folders, data sheets, a schedule, schedule notifications and reading new IEPs [yikes].

here is my room last year.  i didn't have as much time or energy to spice it up last year.  we opened a brand new school and i was new to the district.  so it was just ok.

i'm sharing a room again this year.  the other slp and i shared last year, but she got her own space this time around [fine with me, she's been around longer].  so, this year, in the back half of my room is the instructional assistant to the essential skills sped teacher [the back half of our room connects to her room].  it works.  with prop 3 passing in april, the possibility of having my own cloffice next year looks pretty promising!  here's what's new:

a bulletin board

a first day activity.  everyone will get an owl on which they will write a bit about themselves.  the owls will obviously go on the tree.

birthdays, signs, concepts... 

[the orientation of the room doesn't really allow me to use the white board for its intended purpose.  oh well.]

notice the rosie the riveter poster.  my fav!

and...the balls.  a bigger version of these. 

i'm pretty big on the feng shui of a space.  i have to feel good about it or i get anxious.  let's hope this gets me through the year!   t minus one week...

oh and one more thing...

so thoughtful | a friend left me a little surprise after the baby shower.  she very sneakily put it on my dresser with a little card that said, "dwell in hope...i thought of you when i saw this".  so sweet.  made me cry [good tears].  thanks, kate.

i've gotten lots of great feedback about the blog and lots of people have reached out and offered their prayers and thoughtful words.  i've been able to keep in touch with family [far and wide] so much easier.  i love it.

oh and just one other thing... the summer days are flying by, but also crawling at the same time.  it seems that i'm living my life in 28 day cycles [or 34...or 30, depending on the month], which makes time crawwwwwl.  but yet my summer vacation is ticking away so quickly...how does that happen?  school is back in session august 15th and i'm going back on the 3rd to get my cloffice ready.  i do miss the kiddos though....[sigh] bitter sweet.