Have I ever told you....

I love my job?

With everything going on in my life right now I have found myself crying more than usual. The surprising thing about this is it's not the typical I'm-mad-and-I-don't-know-what-to-say-or-do-yet-so-all-I-can-do-is-cry. Instead I have found myself tearing up over the amazing amount of support that revolves around us. We have been reminded over and over that people are here for us and willing to help in any way they can.

I think the most surprising amount of support I have gotten has been from fellow teachers at my school. Even though they've only known me for a few short months, many have taken time out of their day to call, email, text or facebook me and let me know they can help. Just today I got 2 phone calls and 4 emails from teachers all asking what they can do for me.

I knew before I even took this job that this was where I wanted to be. I could tell just by walking into the building that is was a good fit for me. Everyone supports everyone and we work as a team. Wow, what a concept huh? Sure not everybody gets along but really, you would never know it. There is no real drama with the staff, only camaraderie.

I am so happy and blessed to be a part of this team. I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to say goodbye to my kiddos but they are in good hands. I was able to get the "old" art teacher to come in for me while I am gone. She left this job two years ago to become a faux finisher and subs in the district on her days off. How lucky am I? Someone who knows my school, knows he teachers, knows many of my kids and can teach art better than me! Having her there to take care of things has really put my mind at ease. It is hard to plan long term when you have never done something like this before.

I will let everyone know what happens tomorrow. I still believe in the power of positive thinking and I am ready to get more answers. Keep us in your prayers!

Still 26 weeks

and now on bed rest.

As you can tell, things weren't what I thought they would be at my doctor's appointment today. Not only has the hemorrhage not resolved itself but it has grown. It is now covering 5 inches of my placenta. My little man is in the 58% for his size and still none of the other symptoms are present but somehow this thing has grown. I go in for a level 2 sonogram on Tuesday as well as a follow up with my doctor. I know for sure I am on bed rest until next then but it could be even longer depending on what they see.

If at any time I start to bleed Jay is to take me directly to St. Mary's and they will deliver him. This is such a scary thought. He only weighs 2 lbs 6 oz right now and I will only be 27 weeks tomorrow. As excited as I am to meet him it is too early! I can only hope that bed rest will do it's part in keeping this baby healthy. He's got some more cooking to do until he is ready to come out of the oven!

On a side note: I wish I would have put up all our decorations last weekend when I really wanted to. My tradition of waiting until Thanksgiving weekend kept me from doing this and now it is too late. I will be barking orders at Jay from the couch on where and how I like things set up. Sounds fun huh? It will be interesting too because I got some new things on sale last year that even I don't know where to put. Poor Jay! He has to do EVERYTHING now. Yes, EVERYTHING. Pick up Caiden, bathe him, feed him, play with him, clean the house, grocery shop, cook. I don't have a clue what we will do about Christmas shopping. We might have to do that together online this year. Thank goodness he is such an understanding person, a wonderful husband and an awesome Dad. I know it will be a lot for him to take on but he is the kind of person that will do it with a smile and lots of humor.

I will also have to miss my final presentation for my Masters class. There is one thing left that I was supposed to do before completing this class and that was video tape myself teaching. I don't know how that is going to happen on bed rest. I am hoping I can turn in what I have and be done with it. It is my last class and at this point, I just want to be done. I would hate to see all my hard work from this semester go down the drain because of a 15 minute video.

I'm sure that you can tell I am completely stressed out and shocked by this news so I am going to quit typing for today. The more I type the more I realize how busy I was and how hard it is going to be to just stop everything without warning and veg out on the couch. I'm sure some of you are thinking I am really crazy to complain about this! I did make one quick trip to the library today to grab a Jodi Picoult book to keep me from driving myself crazy. Ironically, the only book they had in of hers was Handle with Care. Sort of fitting don't you think?

I will keep everyone posted on all the craziness that seems to be happening. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

26 Weeks

I am now 26 weeks and things seem to be going well. I go back in for my sonogram on Wednesday so we will know if the hemorrhage has resolved itself. I still haven't had any of the symptoms that go along with this diagnosis so I am thinking everything will be fine. We are still staying positive and hoping for the best!

I have gained a total of 8-9 lbs and my belly has really rounded out in the last week or so. I am starting to feel the knees and elbows when he moves around and he gets the hiccups several times a day. I remember with Caiden, when he would get the hiccups they would last for-ev-er. This one seems to get them more often but they don't last as long. I also feel like this little boy moves more than Caiden did but who knows. We still have no idea what we are going to name him. I have a feeling we won't know until he gets here.

On a side note, we met some friends at Unity Village this weekend and had two mini photo sessions. It was a lot of fun and we got some pretty good shots of each other. Here are just a few of me and my boys. Don't you love my husband's shoes?

These two boys had so much fun together we could have made the whole session about them. These were taken right before we left. We called them the Bruise Crew because Caiden got smacked in the face with his soccer ball and Gage has a lump on his forehead from falling last night. Ahh, boys.

Things they don't teach you in school

I am slowly finding out there are many things they don't teach you about teaching in school. Some examples from this week are:

1. How many meetings you will have. Just this week I have 5! I have 3 meetings T, W and Th from 8-8:50 and 2 meetings T and Th from 4:30-5:30ish. Did I mention that is just this week?!

2. Plan times aren't usually for planning. Every week I lose my plan Tuesday so classroom teachers can collaborate and every Thursday to collaborate with the Music and PE teacher about behavior.

3. How attached you can get to kids. I had a class of kindergartners bring tears to my eyes talking about their "Dads". I use quotations here because nothing they mentioned sounded like the kind of Dad I am familiar with.

4. Triaging is such a great way to make kids feel special and find someone they can really trust. I have started triaging with 2 students and may be getting another one soon. These kids know they can come to me with anything even if it is just a little hug and smile...it may be the only they get that day.

5. You dream about your work. I very rarely make it through the night without dreaming about something going on in my class. It is usually the kind of dream I wake up to then re-dream it a little differently the next few times. Things like setting up materials and the process of handing them out.

I am of course still loving my job but like many other jobs it is a roller coaster ride. I have days where I am on a high and feeling really great about how everything is going. I also have days where I just can't seem to catch up and feel like I am set up to fail. Luckily for me I have wonderful kids and staff members to help me through the uphill days.

Blogging

Gotta.Get.Better.At.Blogging

I couldn't tell you how many times I have thought of a good idea to blog about then never found the time to do it. Same story I have been saying over and over lately, I know.

Work has been super crazy and we got audited this week. It was an internal audit requested by our superintendent. Lots of mad shuffling and rushing to the copier since we weren't even given 24 hours to come up with our stuff. I guess she didn't want anyone to "create" things they weren't already use. Very sneaky!

Halloween was AWESOME! When I get a moment or two I will upload the pictures from my parent's spook house. Everyone hung out and helped with trick or treaters in one way or another. I must say I was very impressed by the detail, time and effort it takes to put that together.

Baby Boy is still kicking away like crazy and I have no signs to date that anything is going on with the hemorrhage. I also have belly shots to share but again, they are on my camera.

We are busy this weekend with Curious George LIVE and making room in our garage so we can finish up Caiden's room and start thinking about the baby room. I am only 24 weeks so we have time but living with rooms in limbo is killing me! I just want them done so I can relax! Is anyone else like that? I don't feel comfortable living here when every room is a disaster area with furniture everywhere.

Well gotta go! The man with the yellow shirt (Jay) is telling me it is time for George!