Friday, December 28, 2007

Christmas Morning

Kids are so funny.

Christmas Eve was insanely busy. Church 'til 8:30; dinner at the in-laws; opening in-law gifts and then home by 11. Horribly long day, and I was miserable. Fortunately, the kids behaved pretty well. S. was excited to throw 'reindeer food' out in the backyard, and even L. got into the Christmas presents.

Christmas morning, L. came into our room to wake us. It surprised me that S. hadn't already gotten up. When we headed out to the living room, I found out why. Sitting up on the couch under the new blanket her grandma made her was a sleeping S. The girl had snuck out who knows when and sat down to watch for Santa while snuggled up under her prized blanket. Too funny that she missed the fact the stockings were already full.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Stressed - Non-stressed

Way behind on the blogging... Too tired, I guess.

Way back on December 11, I get a phone call from daycare. One of the kids in L's class showed up with donut holes, and L. ate one before the teachers could get them away from the other kid. Mr. W. raced off to watch her, give her Benadryl and see if she needed to go to the ER.

I freaking hate food allergies! I also hate that some parents cannot seem to get it through their thick skulls that 'NO FOOD IN THE CLASS' means 'NO FOOD IN THE CLASS' I was so mad, I was actually shaking.

I sort of had a feeling something was going to happen that day. L. was in wild-child do what I want mode that morning. She KNOWS she's not supposed to take food from other kids...

Fortunately, the worst that happened was that L. had a solid week worth of diarrhea. Her poor little bottom.

The kicker is when I called the daycare director to ask her if they could send another note home reminding parents not to bring kids to school with food, she informed me that she had talked to the mother in question. The mom's response? 'Well, I see L. eating with all the other kids all the time.' No freaking duh! It's only during mealtimes when L. HAS HER OWN FOOD AND IS BEING MONITORED! It's not when the kids are all running around and only one child has food. Ugh!

Even before L.'s diagnosis, I would have been appalled and deeply apologetic if something I had done led to someone else's child getting sick.

Adding to the stressed portion of this post, I had noticed an abrupt decrease in fetal movement. As in, nothing but a couple stretches for 3 days. I'm fine when it's one or two days where baby decides to sleep all day, but once day 3 came, I started to get very nervous. To top it off, I was pretty panicked about L.'s run-in with her food allergy earlier that week.

I called my ob office and cried until they let me come in for a non-stress test. In typical 'it stops making that noise as soon as the mechanic is there' fashion, the baby flipped and started kicking up a storm within 10 minutes of the monitors being strapped on. I suspect now that she had actually put her head down and settled into my pelvis. Once she popped back out, I could feel her move again.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Baby Poll

In a fit of maternal weirdness, I have created a baby poll at expectnet:



Have fun, take a guess at what the Wheezers will be bringing home sometime in February.

Whoever gets the lowest score will receive something from me (although I'm not exactly sure what, yet, beyond bragging rights):

Point system is below:

incorrect gender: 400 points
date & time: 5 points per hour
weight: 5 points per ounce
length: 10 points per inch

Vitals so far:
1. Doc at the ultrasound said this baby looks like a girl, but he's been wrong before. Current due date is 2/8
2. S. was 10 lbs 3 oz and 22 in. at birth. Due 4/4; born 4/17
3. L. was 9 lbs 5 oz and 21.5 in. at birth. Due 2/11; born 2/18

Click on the banner above and happy guessing!

Friday, December 07, 2007

I've been ELFED!!!!!

Many thanks to Chaos Among Us for the really cute notepad and bookmark (handmade by HER, no doubt). Both the girls wanted ones exactly like them. 'Santa' and I need to find some crafting time, LOL.

Time for me to get Elfing!!!!

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Birthday Blues...

I am now old enough to legally date someone half my age. Mr. W. informs me that he does not approve of such activity.

The plan was for Mr. W. to take the girls to a Christmas parade. They would ride on the float their daddy, grandpa and other assorted males from Mr. W.'s church put together and toss candy out to the spectators. I would go home and sulk for a few minutes about being all alone on my birthday, and get over it once I realized I had peace and quiet for a good couple hours.

However...

Mr. W. called at 5:30 to tell me that S. ended her day a half step away from a visit to the principal's office due to misbehavior. Her daily folder merely had a note stating that her teacher would be calling that evening. She offered to tell her daddy what happened if he would let her still be part of the parade (love the little bit of blackmail). No parade for S. and her sister! In fact, no fun at all for S. the entire evening.

Neither one of us could get her to fess up to what she had done, but we did get plenty of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. After a very weepy dinner, I started in on S.

Me: S. what happened in school today?
S.: I don't know.
Me: Oh yes you do. Your teacher will be calling to tell me exactly what happened. I promise you it will be much better for you if you tell me first.
S.: My stomach hurts
Me: That's because you know you did wrong today
S.: *sniffles*
Me: You want to know how to make your stomach stop hurt?
S.: *sniffles* yes...
Me: There are two things you need to do. You need to tell me exactly what happened, and you need to apologize to everyone you did anything bad to.
S.: Why does my stomach hurt?
Me: Because there is a little voice inside you that tells you when you've done the wrong thing. I promise that if you tell me what happened, your stomach won't hurt as much any more.
S.: Is there any way to get that voice out of my body?
Me: No. That voice is good for you. It is supposed to keep you out of trouble. Now tell me what happened. Your teacher will be calling soon.
S.: *sniffle, sniffle, sniffle*
This is when the phone starts ringing and S.' eyes open very wide.
Me: Too late now, I'm sure this is your teacher, and she will tell me exactly what happened today. Go get ready for your bath.
Mr. W. carried her off while she started crying all over the place again.

I answered the phone, and sure enough, it was S.' teacher. She told me all about S.' morning. Apparently, she managed to get into all that trouble BEFORE lunch. Oh joy...

Monday, December 03, 2007

School Assessment and Report Card Time

I attended my first ever parent-teacher conference on Thursday, November 22. Overall, S. is doing quite well academically. She's blowing through her standardized tests. Her class is participating in an experimental study intended to identify students at-risk for math problems. Part of the assessment is to take a series of math tests at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. The big 35 question exam, she got all of 3 questions wrong and ranked 'Very Superior'. She's also showing proficiency in most of the verbal/reading elements. Her teacher indicated she's the only one in the class who has done that. (Big, warm, prideful mommy glow goes here)

However (and you know, there's always a 'however'), S. continues to have some behavior problems. I'd say a full 1/2 of the worksheets she brings home are only half done. This is because she is not listening to her teacher, following directions and being quiet during the 20 minutes she's supposed to be working on the blasted things. It's not a big deal in Kindergarten. She is learning the stuff as evidenced by her test scores. However, this will become a significant issue in 1st grade, when the kids will have much more in the way of silent work.

She is also having behavior problems in PE. The tail end of class, the kids are arranged in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, this puts her right next to the kid most likely to harrass another kid. He is having family issues, bless his heart, and winds up acting up at school. S. is the kid most likely to give a good reaction when harassed. I cannot believe the PE teachers haven't made a little change with the seating arrangement. S.' regular teacher and I both agreed that while S. needs to learn to ignore certain behaviors and this boy needs to learn to stop certain behaviors, sitting these two next to each other is not the best way to accomplish this. S.' regular teacher has asked that the kids be moved around, but the PE teachers have not agreed. If I get another 'fix your kid because she's been awful in PE' note, I will be setting up a conference with the PE teachers and make the same request.

Overall, S. is doing just fine. She's making lots of friends (judging by the fact we can't go anywhere without some kid running up to her and giving her a big hug) and really loves going to school. Plus, her penmanship has improved dramatically. I was writing as well as she is now only after my 2nd year of Kindergarten.

I know it's a few days late, but... YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm an insurance geek. Yes, I'm thrilled that hurricane season is over!!!!!!!

Please feel free to laugh at me.

482
ABNT20 KNHC 010302
TWOAT
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1030 PM EST FRI NOV 30 2007

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...AS THE 2007 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON APPROACHES ITS CONCLUSION...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48HOURS.

ISSUANCE OF THIS PRODUCT WILL RESUME ON 1 JUNE 2008. SHOULD ANYSIGNIFICANT DISTURBANCES DEVELOP DURING THE OFF SEASON...SPECIALTROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENTS WOULD BE ISSUED...AS NEEDED. SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENTS CAN BE FOUND UNDER WMOHEADER WONT41 KNHC...AND UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIADSAAT.

$$

FORECASTER FRANKLIN