going going, back back, to cali cali... :)

tomorrow is it! we leave for california in the morning for an entire week!! time for the other half of the family to meet miss thang! i have been packing all day--mainly her stuff. its amazing how much more is required to travel when you add a little one to the picture. she has her own little bag that is probably way more organized than mine will be.

i am having some anxiety about traveling with her though. i'm always a little nervous on planes, but having her with us brings it to a new level. i know she will be great, but i'm still anxious! our plane stops twice, and we change planes once. thats the price you pay when you go with the cheapest flight! but i think that might actually be good, we'll have an opportuity to get her out of the seat and walk her around. hope i'm right!

well, baby is calling...time for dinner # 1 of the evening. :) i am bringing my camera in hopes of getting a ton of pictures of addy with her californian family!!

please send good thoughts and prayers our way that we have a great day of traveling!

maternity leave is just a fancy term for "working from home"

alright...since this blog is private, i am going to vent about work right now. this week i have learned that maternity leave is just a fancy term for "working from home". ugh. part of being a teacher (a good one at least) is to be prepared for when you do take time off. we have to find a sub, write lesson plans, and in my case, create about 70 documents of class schedules and student schedules. i take full responsibilty for this and do it with a smile. it is part of the job.

now on to my peeves of the week:
1. i created my class master schedule last weekend. for those of you who don't know, it is a schedule based off the school master schedule telling us where all my kids (different grade levels), aides, and myself are to be every minute of the day. it is a task. a task which i enjoy in my own OCD way. ;) i had it complete--ready to go. i came to find out on monday that the school master had changed. when that changes, so does mine. i got it edited and up to school on tuesday thinking i was finished. nope. i found out last nite that they had changed the schedule AGAIN. so first thing this morning i edited mine and got it to school this afternoon with baby in tow. annoying.

2. from my master schedule, i have to make individual schedules for each of my students. this is where most of the work comes in. to have schedules for each student, monday thru friday, it totals to about 70 seperate documents that have to be laminated, cut, and velcroed. so you guessed it...when the dang master schedule changed, i had to edit each of this schedules not once but twice. not an easy task with a 9 week old baby. what is so irritating about this is that the person who comes up with the school schedule does not see the big picture. this person fails to see how every little change that is made affects different classroom. school starts monday--the schedule should be ready and finalized before thursday nite. again, annoying.

3. why were there documents needing to be faxed from my school to another district on my desk this morning? i am on maternity leave!! yes, it was about my former student but ANY special ed personnel can take care of this. yep, you guessed it-annoying.

4. last nite was meet the teacher nite. obviously i didn't go because, again, i am on maternity leave. at the end of last school year, i let each individual parent know i was going to be out until Sep 28. i also sent home a big letter explaining who would be subbing and who to contact if a question arose. tell me why i had parents there last nite asking where i was and looking irritated when they found out. according to some reliable sources, the reactions on their faces were as if they were saying "um didn't she already have the baby? why is she out?". teachers have lives outside of the school building!! ugh. so annoying.

vent over. i feel better now. thanks for your time. :)

2 pink band-aids and a belly full of tylenol

well we survived. addy was a trooper...already like her mommy! ;) hah! but really, she did well considering she got a total of three shots in her legs and one given orally. it was the saddest thing i have ever seen. she was so happy, oblivious to the impending pain, smiling and cooing like crazy. then all of a sudden the nurse held down her legs and dusty held down her arms and bam! three shots and two band-aides in the span of 5 seconds. super duper fast. the look on her face...ugh..breaks my heart to think about it now. she cried her eyes out until she fell asleep in my arms. we got her home, fed her, bathed her, and put her to bed but not before giving her a dose of infants' tylenol. so far so good...she is still sleeping.

on to the good news. she weighs 10lbs 14 ounces which puts her in the 25th percentile. she is measuring 22 1/2 inches--50th percentile. doctor says she is perfect and growing just like she should! all is well!!

2 month appt tomorrow

addy has her 2 month appointment tomorrow. ugh. she is scheduled to receive 4 shots in her little legs. i'm trying not to think about it because when i do, all i can picture is her crying and me not being able to console her. dusty is taking off work to come with us. we are, however, very excited to find out how much she weighs and how long she has gotten. our last official appt was at 2 wks and she was 8.6 pounds and measured 21 in. we're guessing that she is at least 11 lbs now, but i have NO idea on the length!

wish us luck and more importantly, keep little one in your thoughts!

slide show

i made this slide show for the heck of it...i still can't believe this little one is 8 weeks old already. turn your volume up to hear the blog music with the slide show...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

a little something for me..

i did it. i joined weight watchers again. it is time to get serious about losing this baby weight. the cool thing about it is that ww allows extra points for nursing mamas. i think my mom was a little jealous with all the extra points i get! i have already lost close to 20 pounds since having her without trying much. i'm hoping that the rest will come off with some ease now that i am putting some effort into it. i'm also attempting a new workout video.

i have begun the 30 day shred by jillian michaels of biggest loser fame. i have done it the last 3 days and i am SORE. ouch. its convenient though...only 20 minutes. can't beat that. the video claims you can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days...so we shall see....

all i want is to be able to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes by the time i go back to work in a month. i really don't want to have to buy all new work clothes. that would be no bueno. so...wish me luck!

stylin' and profilin'

little miss thing got her some new shoes! the californian in this house decided we needed to get her a pair of vans...and this texan couldn't agree more! they are so dang cute! a little big, but she'll grow into them...

good morning beautiful

addy has been sleeping until about 5 or 6 for the past week or so. it has been such a treat that she is sleeping through the nite now. sleep has never been so enjoyable for dusty and myself!

anyways...when she wakes up and gets her breakfast, she is in the BEST mood for about an hour. she is all smiles and coos. usually dusty gets to share this particular time of day with her because i am pumping. (ah the joys of breastfeeding...) well this morning i actually got some pictures of this sweet daddy/ daughter time! enjoy!! oh and duke joined in as well.... :)

7 weeks!

little miss addy is now 7 weeks old...where does the time go? it is becoming scary how fast time is flying by. i really am trying to focus myself in all the little moments i have with her...i want to soak it all in as much as i can. i think that darius rucker song says it best..."it won't be like this for long..."

on another note, we go to california in less than 3 weeks! its about time this little "texi-fornian" gets to meet the other side of the family. we can't wait! the next couple of weeks will be full of planning and hoping that birth certificate shows up in time--i requested it a month ago! oh and i will be buying a few outfits for her cali debut!

time for some new pictures of the past week!

sleeping in her boppy vibrating chair...love how she is so stretched out! she is getting so big! when we first brought her home, we had to prop her up with rolled up blankets!

i could literally eat these toes!

this face cracks me up!!!

LOVE her!!

so dang pretty

bath time!

now we can't forget about duke...he has been an amazing big brother to his little sister. he really does love her. here are a few pics of duke lovin' on us this week!

MY little miss sunshine!

baby girl is now 6 weeks old--holy cow! when did that happen? i feel like we were just at the hospital having her. amazing how time flies...and it seems to fly faster with this little one in our life. its already august? no way! thank goodness i'm of work until september 28...i still have almost 2 whole months off with the most fun excuse to miss work ever--addy! and i am less freaked out to go back after getting the daycare situation taken care of AND meeting my new principal. man, is she great. i met with her to go over my maternity leave and when i told her i am having anxiety over missing the beginning of school, she told me--and i quote--"leslie, that little girl of yours is way more important than any of this. you enjoy your time with her because you will look back one day and be so glad you did." now if that isn't the best thing to hear from your new boss, i don't know what is.

like i said, miss addy mae is 6 weeks old as of yesterday. in the past week we have had one major development that is the best thing i have ever laid my eyes on--smiles, smiles, and more smiles! wednesday morning when i went to get her out of her crib about 5 am, i said good morning to her and she looked up at me and smiled the biggest smile i have ever seen. it melted my heart. i have never seen a more beautiful smile! it is definately worth the wait!