Visit to Virginia Beach

We headed out on Emily's first road trip last Friday to visit my family for the weekend. We haven't been to Virginia Beach since last fall, and the extended family hasn't seen Emily in person since she was a week old. It's also my aunt Jill's birthday, so we came down for the celebration. All 13 of us went to a restaurant at the oceanfront called Thirty-One (very classy and contemporary). The food was fantastic and we had high hopes of being able to run down to the boardwalk for a stroll after lunch, but Mother Nature was against those plans (high winds and rain, not to mention temps hovering just above the freezing mark). So what did we do instead? What we do best--shop! Jill, Steph, Kristen, and I ran over to the local Marshall's for some retail therapy while Tim, Camm, and little Kevin (who is 17 and about as tall as Tim) watched the kids: Alexandria (5), Gavin (2 1/2), Garrett, Caroline, and Emily.

Oh, and if you were wondering about how Emily did in the car for 3 hours each way, here's the breakdown: on the trip down Friday, she slept the entire 3 hours and still slept 11 hours when we got there, and on the trip home today, she slept for half of it and cooed for the rest. It was heaven! Steph and Emily Gavin and Garrett

Caroline and Alexandria

Kristen and the best birth control ever!

Cammy and Garrett

We got back to the house before Cammy and her keys, so the baby and I chilled in the car until she arrived.

Caroline, Cammy, and Emily

Jill is only 6 years old! She looks great for her age :)

Gavin figured out why there is an age limit on the Bumbo seat

Caroline ravaged the yard of all the camelias and tried to put them in people's hair. Since Emily is bald, Caroline just propped the flower next to her head.

Posing for the camera

Emily's Day Off

Emily's doctor gave me the option of going ahead or holding off with her vaccinations yesterday since Emily had been fighting a cold. We both agreed to give it another week and just do them next week. The doctor pointed out that if Emily started to run a fever or get really cranky, we wouldn't know if it was her ears getting worse or the shots. So this is how we spent our day off! Chillin' in the Bumbo
Which toys will I try to grab first?

Naptime. Emily sleeps so well....on Mommy's lap.

We haven't started food yet, but Emily likes to join us for dinner time! This is her first night in the high chair.

Yum, these fingers are delicious!

Emily: Four Months Old

Stats:
Weight: 14 pounds, 0 oz. (75th percentile)

Length: 25 3/4 inches (90th percentile!)

Head circumference: 15 3/4 inches (25th percentile--same as last time)

Sizes: Emily is 3-6 months in clothes (have been for about 6 weeks now) and I'm already buying 6-9 months for summer. She wears size 2 diapers.
Likes: bathtime, chewing on her hand, playing on her ocean play mat, grabbing at toys, looking at people's faces, "chatting" with people who will make silly noises back at her, being admired in public, being held up like a "big girl", being swaddled (we may never get her out of the thing at bedtime--she will be a one year old with a swaddler)
Dislikes: being woken up in the morning, having a onesie pulled over her face, being congested/unable to breathe, having to wait for a feeding, flailing arms right before she goes to sleep

Thumbs Up

Emily has made a new discovery. When she is happy, she grins at us, scrunchies her nose, and makes adorable little screechy sounds. When she's tired or getting cranky, she opens her mouth...and pops her thumb in it. I shouldn't be too surprised if she turns out to be a thumbsucker. Lord know, I was, and Caroline was sucking her thumb from the minute she was born. For Emily, it started with some simple hand-chewing and quickly progressed to a thumb pointed out from the first, buried between the gums. Her coordination is what's so surprising to me; she gets that thumb in there in no time flat. Happy baby!
I might actually dig this Bjorn thing...

Ooooh, an open mouth! Found my target!

Yup, there it is! The thumb!

What, me?! No, I'm not a thumb sucker, I swear! I just had a stressful day at the office...I mean, daycare!

"V" is for Venting

I came to the startling realization today that my career, my profession, has been demoted, at least socially and economically, to a job. What's the difference? Well, a career requires careful preparation and schooling. It demands respect and is hard to obtain, even more difficult to keep, and with those merits comes great reward (well, that's the theory). The pride of choosing a career that is not obtainable to just anyone. The power of knowing that you chose this job just as surely as it chose you. I use to think that teaching felt like a lock to my key. I was made for it. I worked hard to get there. I have left much student debt in my wake to become a teacher. And for what? To watch it become just a job in people's eyes.
I have been in a pay freeze for three years with no end in sight. No, I didn't think I would get rich by teaching, but I should as hell didn't think I would stay just above the poverty line. I earn every dollar I make and every dollar I should be making. In the past six years, I have gone from having 94 students to having over 120. The list of requirements on my job description increase three fold yearly. I am no longer in charge of the 14 Standards of Learning for life science. I am in charge of the other 37 Standards of Learning that don't get taught in elementary school science because there was an assembly to attend or a social studies project that went on longer than expected.
Do the math. I have 120 students x 5 assignments each per week = 600 pieces of paper to grade each week. When? The hour I am given as planning each day? Well, here is more math for you. I am required to spend 10 of those minutes doing hall duty. Take away another 15 minutes to track down absent students and get them their missing work. Another 20 minutes to play phone tag with the parent avoiding my calls about her son who can't sit still and won't shut up. 15 minutes to copy the 120 papers I hand out with every assignment, just to collect and grade those same 120 assignments, and I am left with 5 minutes for a potty break and 1 minute to catch my breath.
I may leave that building at 3 PM every day, but the job never leaves me. I am on "duty" when a student comes to me before class to tell me someone is bullying her; I am out another lunch period to catch up the student who didn't come to school for two weeks because her father thought it was a great time to vacation in Florida. I spend the three minutes between every class reminding students to sit down, get out your notes, get started on the bell ringer, for the last time, get in your seat, no you can't use the bathroom, no I don't take late homework, get in your seat and get started, the bell has rung, no you don't need water right now, just get started on the work.
Every day I remind myself more and more of a babysitter. The trickle down effect means that parents do not respect the job I do and as a result, their children do not respect the job I do for them. I am expected to dish out smiles and compliments when I receive eye rolls, sighs, excuses, complaints, and objections. No, it's not every day nor is it every student. But it's often enough to wear down the highest of morales, and at the end of the day, I don't have much left for my family at home. Except for a mountain of papers to grade.

Exersaucering to the '80s

I had been avoiding the prospect of putting Emily in a bunch of toys that were too "old" for her. This probably comes from a phobia developed from reading a bunch of posts on the Baby Center Message Board, where women were putting their newborns in Bumbos and shoving cereal down their 8 week old babies' throats. But I digress. When I picked Emily up from daycare they had her in the Jumperoo and she was having a ball. So I put her in the Exersaucer when we got home and she was all smiles until it was time for me to eat dinner. Then she insisted on sitting on my lap and enjoying the meal with us. Naked you say? Oh, I just vomited on myself.
Lean close, I have family secrets to tell you...

Soooo-Busy Saturday

Tim started the day by going fishing at 6 AM this morning. He and his dad caught around 260 pounds of rockfish and Tim had dropped them off at the seafood wholesale guy by 10 AM. Good thing, because we had an appointment to get our taxes done at 11 AM in town. We met with my old boss from Minnieland, Karen (who now owns Liberty Tax Service) and to our surprise, we didn't owe this year! In fact, we are going to get a much-needed refund! Thank you to our newest tax deduction, Emily :) After the good news, we headed to Five Guys for some lunch, then off to Kohl's to spend our Kohl's Cash from the weekend before. I ran into Factory Card Outlet to pick up some baby shower supplies for my friend Amber (her shower is in less than 2 weeks) and was bummed to see that half the store was packed up and shelves were bare (they were still open, and there were no signs to explain if they were moving, going out of business, etc). So we ran back to Central Park and went to Target where I not only found very cute plates, cups, silverware, and napkins, but also snagged her shower gifts! And on my way through the kitchen section (I always cruise through that section when I go to Target) I spotted a "Magic Bullet" copycat called the "Bella Cuccina Rocket". It was on clearance ($10 off! Only $20!) and decided to go for it. After seeing how pricey baby food is, I had already decided a month ago that I would make Emily's baby food once she hits 6 months old. Everyone online says that Magic Bullet is perfect for pureeing baby food, so I will give this machine a twirl. I got it out tonight to make Chocolate Mousse (recipe came with machine) and it was dang good! Despite all the running around and exhaustion that goes with dealing with Central Park on a Saturday, a nap eluded Emily for the entire day (from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm, she took one 30 minute nap) so hopefully this means I will be sleeping in tomorrow! New roof. We splurged on 30 year architectural shingles in Pewter Gray. Now I want to paint the shutters black to go with the darker roof. Summer project!
The addition has been closed in. Timmy is running electrical in there right now, then he will be having it inspected. When that's finished, it's time for drywall and flooring. We hope to have it functional by summer break.
Timmy loaded Emily into her carseat, then had to grab some things before we left for our tax appt. She looked at her feet, lifted them straight into the air, and wouldn't put them down! She was concentrating very hard at keeping them up.

Feet still up! It amused her the whole way to Fredericksburg.

My Magic Bullet knockoff, the Rocket. Once I hit the farmer's market this summer, I will be filling the freezer with baby food ice cubes!

Her Little Finger...

that is what Timmy is wrapped around. Emily has that man by the heart, and occasionally, if her aim is good, by the beard. Tim comes home every day eager to see his "girls" which is just precious. I love that he is so in love with her. Tim did the bath duties last night, and from my bedroom I heard their half hour long conversation. Back and forth, she would babble something like "whosjfoiwengfowfwfe" and Timmy would say "Really? Are the other babies at day care as smart as you?" or an equivalent comment. It just melts my heart.

Chunky Monkey!