Teaching Mommy

Whirlwind

teachingmommyblog — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:53:00 +0000

My little girl turns 4 today, and I have to ask myself a single question:

How the heck did we keep a child alive this long??

I don’t know where the time went. At 4:16 pm four years ago today I was taking the first look at what would become one of the greatest motivation of my life.

I fell in love instantly! She was such a beautiful baby! Even now, she’s gorgeous. She’s going to grow up to a supermodel…I just know it…so long and skinny.

(Seriously…who can do this? Toes on their forehead? She didn’t get that trait from her Mother, of that you can be sure)

From day one she had a sense of humor, and we, as her loving and devoted parents, exploited it:

(She’d make this face and then laugh immediately afterward)

(eating her own feet…again…flexibility is not a trait she got from her mother)

And, yes, we have had our accidents and mishaps along the way, the greatest of which was your fingers (which I still have not stopped feeling terrible about, I’m sorry to say). But life is still fun…still brings laughter…and even in the deepest adversity, I have found a reason to laugh because of my Lilas-bug. Do I have days where I wish I were a better mom? Every. single. day. Do I have days where I wonder what we did wrong as parents? Yes…without question. But then I look at how polite she can be…how generous…and how much she just wants to make everyone happy. I see her heart break when we’re upset with her. And I see her heart explode when she sees us overwhelmed with joy for her. As exhausting and frustrating as it may be, being a parent, it is also the most enlightening and enjoyable position I will ever be honored to fill.

I do have days where, as a bad mommy, I wonder selfishly what life would have been like should Lilas-bug have never been. In all honesty, I think it would have been easier. I think we would have been at a better place financially, would have finished school without kids in tow, we would both be working as teachers already instead of dreaming of “one day,” and life would have been, in general, much easier.

But I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now. Something would be missing. I always knew from a young age that I wanted to have kids. I can’t imagine my life without my children, and rightfully I shouldn’t be able to. I have learned volumes about myself since having kids — who I am as a person, how God sees me, how to be a more patient, loving, and generous person. My life has actually improved since Lilas graced us with her presence. I would still be depressed without being able to see her innocent laughter as she tells me for the umpteenth time, “I farted!” I would not have learned so much about self-control, and putting my own desires aside for the greater good, had it not been utterly necessary for the health and well-being of my child. I would be a much more shallow, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, depressed, self-depricating, intolerant person, were it not for my daughter.

So thank you, Lilas, for coming earlier than we had planned. Yes, it made things more difficult. But it is those difficulties that have made life so much more enriching. Although you cannot read this yet, I hope to show you every day how completely devoted I am to you. For you…many hugs, many kisses, many head-butts, forever and ever.

(not so) Wordless Wednesday

teachingmommyblog — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:43:00 +0000

I haven’t shared pictures of my kids in a while…so here they are…in all their adorableness. Did I mention I just want to eat their faces off!!! Ah! The cuteness is killing me!!

Anyhoo…pictures…

(thank you Kristi and Vickie for letting me steal these)

(The above picture was taken by Lilas…good work, if you ask me!)

Unnecessary Immunizations

teachingmommyblog — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:58:00 +0000

So we had the kids’s well-child checkups yesterday, and here’s what happened (copied and pasted from facebook…I’m lazy tonight):

We were told at Lilas’s 3-year check-up that she wouldn’t have any other shots until age 5 (except flu). Well we went to her well-child checkup yesterday and she got FIVE shots! When I got home I looked at her immunizations sheet they printed for me and noticed that all of her immunizations after the first year were missing! They recently switched to electronic records at the doctor’s office, and somehow this very important detail of her shots record was left out! So I call them up, tell the secretary this, and she tells me she doesn’t know how this information got “lost” on their electronic system, but that the nurse she spoke to told her that all the shots Lilas got were needed. I pressed her to ask the nurse again if she was basing that on the electronic records or the paper records…because if it was the electronic ones then she has the wrong information and my daughter just got 4 shots she didn’t need (5th was flu)!! She sighed, sounded frustrated with me, and said she’d get the nurse to call me back. I finally get a call back from the nurse today, and after a 10-second pause on my voicemail she tells me that I was RIGHT and she DID get unnecessary shots! All she needed was the flu shot! She then goes on to say that there shouldn’t be any adverse consequences from this, and that it’ll basically just act like a booster. Oh, but man was I MAD!! I know it was a clerical error…but my little girl has gone through so much this year already! I hate to see her go through unnecessary pain like this.

Birthday Party Ideas

teachingmommyblog — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:43:00 +0000

So I think I’ve finally come up with an economical and fun theme for my little Lilas-bug’s 4th birthday party in 15 days (actual birthday in 17 days).

My idea: FOOD FUN!!

Here’s the thing…we can’t really do any sort of outside activities because it’ll be COOOLD! It’s Montana…and it’s Fall…we got lots of cold here. So I’ve been rackin’ my noggin trying to figure out some sort of theme that is cheap (yay!), that can be done inside (double yay!), and that will entertain kids between ages as low as 1 to as old as 7 (yay! yay! yay!). Yeah, if that’s not a difficult thing to figure out then I’d like to know what is…

So I figured the one thing that all kids like to do is play with their food. Heck, I like to play with my food! So that’s what we’ll do.

Here’s my thoughts so far on activities (and I’m open to more ideas/suggestions):

Instead of a birthday cake we make cupcakes (cheap!) and have frosting, sprinkles, etc on the table for the kids to decorate their own cupcake. I already have the cake mix, and I’ve had sprinkles sitting in my cupboard for FOREVER! So this is a good excuse to use up the stuff I have lying around.
Dirt cups: chocolate pudding, leftover cake crumbs, gummy worms…nuff said
Bread sculpture: I did this when I was younger at a VBS thing, I loved it, and I still remember it to this day. There’s some bowls of bread dough on the table, and each kid is given a hunk of dough that they can mold into whatever their little hearts desire. Basically it’s like play-dough with bread. They’ll be baked at the party and sent home with the kids and eaten later in the party.
Bubble art: Okay, so this isn’t a food activity…and it does require going outside…but the weather won’t be freezing…just chilly…so I figure one activity outside would be okay. The night before I make a bubble solution, divide it into a few different containers and add some watercolor paints. At the party each kid is given a big piece of cardboard with a sheet of paper taped on it. Colored bubbles are blown and the kids catch as many bubbles as they can on their sheet of paper. They then have really fun piece of art to take home.
Party favors: all the kids gets their own square of sugar cookie dough and the plethora of cookie cutters we’ve had forever and never use at their disposal. At the start of the party all the kids use the cookie cutters to make some sugar cookies, which will be baked throughout the various activities, the present-opening, the cake consuming, whatever. At some point during the party all the kids get markers, stickers, glitter, whatever other craft supplies we have lying around…and they each decorate a paper bag however they wish. At the end of the day the bags are filled with the cookies the kids made plus a little sandwich baggy filled with three colors of frosting, and everyone is sent home with a personal and delicious party favor!
Alternate idea: kids are sent home with same art-covered bag, only instead of cooked cookies they cut at the parties, they’re instead sent home with a small ball of cookie dough, the same frostings, and a cookie cutter of their choosing. I have TONS of cookie cutters, and I pretty much never use them, but they were a wedding gift and I don’t feel right about parting with them. So more than likely we’ll do the first cookie idea…

That’s all I got for right now. It’s the cheapest, funnest, most widely age-appropriate party I could think of. Of course, we’ll have a grill going with some hot-dogs and burgers for the kids, so they’ll have non-sugary foods there too…but most of the food for the day will be made during activities for the kids.

Is it sad that I’m actually intimidated by the idea of throwing a birthday party where Lilas will actually be inviting friends?? I mean…what if no one can come? What if she gets all excited about inviting her friends and no one shows up? What if the kids won’t sit still long enough to do any activities? What if it’s snowy outside and they get stir-crazy? What if I can’t entertain them long enough?

*sigh* Birthdays are hard…

For LeEtta

teachingmommyblog — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:35:00 +0000

I don’t have much time to post…should be writing a paper…but since it’s breast cancer awareness month, I had to do something.

My Aunt LeEtta died of breast cancer when I was, I think, 8 years old (I remember being in 3rd grade). From what I remember, and I may be wrong since it was so long ago, she had breast cancer, it spread to her liver and eventually to her bloodstream, eventually ending her battle. She left two young boys behind, who are now in the excellent care of my Aunt Vanessa.

In honor of my Aunt who I did not have enough time to get to know well enough, I designed this shirt. If you read this…could you please consider buying a shirt on cafepress? It doesn’t have to be mine. But Cafepress will donate a portion of all proceeds to breastcancer.org and every little bit helps:

So I’ve been a little busy…

teachingmommyblog — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:30:00 +0000

…to say the least. I’m behind on everything. I’m stressed. I’m tired. And I’m not updating my blog like I should (bad Karen). But I have a good excuse…my classes are KICKING MY BUTT!!! I’m hoping to get a handle on them soon…not likely…but I’m hopeful.

To tide the masses over I’m sharing a video of my cutie little boy, who is the laziest baby EVER! Trust me…I have proof:

Week 1: Anyone know how to slow down time?

teachingmommyblog — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Fall 2009 full-time classes with two kids under 5 in-tow, one of which is still nursing…say it with me now: AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Okay, so it’s not even the two kids that’s the problem. It’s the gobs upon mountains of homework I have this semester. It’s only been a week and I’m already behind! Wake up, breakfast, kids, class, class, kids, lunch, class, kids, physical therapy, housework, kids in bed, homework…the bright side? It’s a three-day weekend. LOVE IT! And I finally got a chance to do some house-straightnin’. Another bright note: I am PRODUCTIVE! No laziness for me! I’ve been cookin’ it and doing housework on my slow days and actually getting at least a little bit of the homeworkness done at night (as much as I can actually get done in 3 hours).

We’ve also recently procured a combo coffee-pot and espresso machine. Which, of course, means I will actually have the energy to stay awake during class. Such a lovely bonus for this sleep-deprived student mommy. Now to just figure out where they sell Huckleberry syrup…

As far as the family front goes, Lilas’s fingers are nearly fully healed, with all the stitches gone and the skin-graft on her index-finger nearly off. She’s doing awesome in physical therapy, gaining back the movement of her fingers a heck of a lot faster than the physical therapist thought she would. It’s actually pretty cool, getting her a bike was the best thing we could have possibly done. She wants to ride it all. the. time. and when she does she has to grip the handlebars with all of her fingers. So, without even knowing it, she’s relearning how to use those fingers! I love it when things multitask!

Gavin is also feisty as ever, recently biting Ryan in the lip (and, yes, he did actually draw blood…vampire baby). He has 5 teeth and has been working on his sixth for dang near a month. Little boy is CRANKY! Not to mention he wants so desperately to crawl, but is such a chunk that as soon as he tries to move his legs underneath him he ends up falling flat on his belly. No matter, he army crawls like nobody’s business! And he’s moved on to trying to stand on his feet while still on his arms and knees. Bear crawl, anyone? I think he’ll walk before masters the ever so elusive art of crawling. He can alternate his arms and legs like he’s crawling anyway, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. Oh yeah, and did I mention he’s 22 lbs already? CHUNK!!

And finally…my dear, dear husband. How awesome is he? He’s such a rock star! Ryan has been doing so amazingly with the kids and the house and everything. Sure he has his own classes…sure he’s the one that works…but, and these are his words not mine, he’s faster at reading than I am, has less labor-intensive classes than I do, and gets to pretty much set his own schedule at work (provided the work gets done by a certain day, he can go in whenever). So he’s been pushing me to let him take care of as many things as he can so I can study and get my GPA where it needs to be to get that much needed scholarship. Isn’t he wonderful?? Best husband EVER!!

Somehow this semester and all it’s business has helped us to focus and get our priorities in tip-top shape. My phone keeps me on track and on time, my husband keeps my sane, and my kids keep me smiling (and tired…). Now if I can just find the time to learn the 15 songs I have to learn along with all the reading on my various syllabi, that would be awesome.

newest shirt

teachingmommyblog — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:47:00 +0000

I had another shirt design pop in my head. I know some mothers may not like it, but I’m a breastfeeding mother with a decent sense of humor, so if I’d buy it if I could. Anyway…for all the breastfed babies out there (as always, you can get it at my CafePress store):

Perfect!

teachingmommyblog — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:30:00 +0000

I should have updated this yesterday but, what can I say? I’m lazy. And busy. Ridiculously busy. That’s a better excuse.

Yesterday marked the first day of my beautiful little girl’s physical therapy. Or should I say it marked the preliminary physical therapy “get-to-know-you” session? We didn’t so much do any actual physical therapy as much as the doctor had her try and move her fingers so he could see how much use she had out of them to start with. Do you know, that little girl moved her fingers more willingly and with greater dexterity for the doctor than she ever did for her parents! The doctor said her fingers look great and are healing wonderfully, and that it should take a few weeks to finish physical therapy. She’s starting to regain some nerve endings in those tips, but it will still take months before that’s back 100% too. We go back twice next week and were given an exercise she can do at home that she LOVES! We put skittles in a mug with beans in it and have her dig around in the beans with the owie hand for the candy. Oh my goodness is she ever more than willing to use those fingers if it means free sugar!

Cool thing #2 that happened today: Most of the stitches on Lilas’s middle finger came off today! This is a good thing, especially considering the PT doc yesterday told us that it will still be at least another week before they either dissolve or come off entirely by themselves. She was just playing and then said “Mommy I hurt!” I looked down and saw skin as smooth as a baby’s bottom where half of the stitches once were. Then less than an hour later another 1/4 of the stitches came out. I think there are maybe 4 left. And I love how smooth that finger looks now! The surgeon did good work, leaving no trace of a scar. Lilas’s not as scared to use it either since they’re out. Now the other finger is still all together, and I’m not in a rush to have those ones come out since it’s stitched all around. Heal, baby, heal!

And finally, another good thing: As parents we have done a good job. Every time we see someone, usually adults, Lilas goes straight up to them without even the slightest hesitation and shoves her owie fingers in their face. Of course, they’re usually shocked to see them (who would blame them? one of them does have stitches all the way around and is partially black, after all), and they ask her “Oh no! Did you hurt your fingers?” To which my incredible little girl replies, “Yeah…They’re PERFECT!” My little girl sees her owie fingers as PERFECT!! We’ve been telling her that if they can move then they are still just as good as her other fingers, and I guess it worked. She doesn’t see them as any different than they were before…just shorter. She thinks they’re PERFECT!! This is probably one of my proudest Mommy moments EVER!!

So I can get an extra entry…

teachingmommyblog — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:04:00 +0000

Ms. Priss is having a 3-month Huggies diaper giveaway. As much as I would LOVE to switch to cloth diapers, it’s simply not in our budget at this time. So I will do whatever it takes to get the covering for my son’s booty for as cheap as possible. And since free is just about as cheap as you can get (besides someone paying you to take stuff from them, at which point I would be concerned about their mental state and call the authorities…but that’s just me), I’m gonna go ahead and write a little blogsy about this to get an extra entry.