BEFORE I TYPE THE REAL POST--If you've commented recently and I've totally ignored you I apologize...I just noticed that my comments are being diverted to my Spam folder. I don't know why, but it's kind of annoying. UGH. Sorry!
On Memorial Day, we decided to go to a nearby park/lake and walk around. Shelley Lake is about 15 minutes from our house and although it is located on a busy road, it is nicely hidden....in fact, from the road you would never even know it was there! I don't think we started out with anything more ambitious than a plan to walk around a bit, look at the ducks, etc....but somehow it turned into a brisk two-mile hike around the lake. It was a little warm but felt great to get out! I took a bunch of pictures with my new camera (and threw in a few of Ava at home as well) so enjoy... :o) Other than that, not much is happening....I am just about going crazy waiting for summer break! Some of these students are making me insane, and the getting up at 5am to start the day? It's getting old. Very old. At least when I'm on break if Ava wakes up that early, I don't have to get dressed and she'll most likely go back to bed. Four more school days...
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Brothers and Sisters
Our brother-in-law's younger brother passed away this weekend so if you are the praying type, please say a prayer for his family as they are just beginning what is going to be a very difficult time. I have been fortunate to have not lost many family members, and especially fortunate to have not lost someone close like a sibling or a parent. If you have siblings, just take a moment to be grateful to have them in your life....I'm especially thankful today for my brothers and the fact that I still have both of them....I don't know how a family survives the loss of one of its younger members like that. :-(
Monday, May 26, 2008
Happy Memorial Day!
Like I tell the students, today's day off of work "isn't for our health!" Happy Memorial Day to everyone, especially the people serving our country and their families.
Ava decided to go into Bad Baby mode last night and fussed every few hours...bad enough at 3am that I had to go get her and feed her. I thought maybe, after a 3am feeding, she'd sleep in but no....up again by 7:00. Oh well, no work today so it isn't that big of a deal. (I'm kind of wondering how I got early morning baby duty AND middle of the night baby duty....Craig is upstairs, sound asleep.) Ava and I sat out on the front porch for awhile and enjoyed the gorgeous weather, now she's playing/dozing on her mat while I have an English muffin and some morning coffee. Funny how a baby can change you in the most random ways: I used to only drink coffee as a snack/with dessert....NEVER in the morning. Now I rarely miss my morning cup. I'm not hardcore like some people, it's just one big mug in the morning and it's got to be loaded with cream and sugar, but it does give me an extra little kick in the rear. (I don't have a major addiction, I can skip it without getting a headache and usually don't bother on the weekends.) I should probably go back to herbal tea with honey, but that'll have to wait until I get more sleep on a regular basis.
ANYHOW--I hope everyone is having a safe and fun holiday, either alone or with your family and friends. Our family is far away and our friends all have family around here, so the little Haynor clan will just be hanging out with each other again. :o)
Ava decided to go into Bad Baby mode last night and fussed every few hours...bad enough at 3am that I had to go get her and feed her. I thought maybe, after a 3am feeding, she'd sleep in but no....up again by 7:00. Oh well, no work today so it isn't that big of a deal. (I'm kind of wondering how I got early morning baby duty AND middle of the night baby duty....Craig is upstairs, sound asleep.) Ava and I sat out on the front porch for awhile and enjoyed the gorgeous weather, now she's playing/dozing on her mat while I have an English muffin and some morning coffee. Funny how a baby can change you in the most random ways: I used to only drink coffee as a snack/with dessert....NEVER in the morning. Now I rarely miss my morning cup. I'm not hardcore like some people, it's just one big mug in the morning and it's got to be loaded with cream and sugar, but it does give me an extra little kick in the rear. (I don't have a major addiction, I can skip it without getting a headache and usually don't bother on the weekends.) I should probably go back to herbal tea with honey, but that'll have to wait until I get more sleep on a regular basis.
ANYHOW--I hope everyone is having a safe and fun holiday, either alone or with your family and friends. Our family is far away and our friends all have family around here, so the little Haynor clan will just be hanging out with each other again. :o)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
the dreaded swimsuit shopping trip
Okay, so the purpose of shopping today wasn't entirely for a new swimsuit (it was actually so I could get Craig a father's day gift), but that kind of happened anyhow. MJ and I went to Loft so I could check out their really awesome summer clothing, and she could check out their ever-growing maternity section (no pun intended...and where the heck was this when I was pregnant?!) Anyhow, I saw a really cute swimsuit in there last time I went shopping: a navy blue tankini with little white polka-dots. I tried it on again, and besides the fact that it was about $65, it really didn't fit that well. Not the swimsuit's fault....I just happen to have a mushy post-baby stomach. Which, honestly, is fine...I don't care. I had a baby four months ago for heaven's sake, nobody should really expect me to have Abs of Steel at this point. Eventually I will break down and do some exercises to tighten things up but between working full-time and baby wrangling, I haven't really had the desire to spend my precious few free moments each day doing crunches.
So, it was really time for me to admit that, okay, I no longer have a teenager's body so cute little bikinis might not be an option anymore. Nothing is scarier than an adult woman, especially someone's mom, who tries to dress like she's in middle school. (I do have one really cute bikini I bought two years ago--also at Loft--that's actually pretty flattering and is made for women, not teenagers, but I'll still probably save that for when I just want to lay out in the backyard or whatever.) ANYHOW...to get to the point...I did something I can't remember doing since childhood: I tried on a one-piece. Very pretty, extremely flattering....and it doesn't look "old." Actually, it almost reminds me of those suits they used to wear back in the 1940s, and I really like that. Here is a picture of the suit, but the model is all slouchy; it looks much better in person. Oh yeah...and it was less than half the price of the other suit! ;o)
Anyways....I'm very much enjoying the fact that tomorrow there is no school....woohoo!!! We have no plans...probably just sticking around the house and relaxing. And that makes me happy.
So, it was really time for me to admit that, okay, I no longer have a teenager's body so cute little bikinis might not be an option anymore. Nothing is scarier than an adult woman, especially someone's mom, who tries to dress like she's in middle school. (I do have one really cute bikini I bought two years ago--also at Loft--that's actually pretty flattering and is made for women, not teenagers, but I'll still probably save that for when I just want to lay out in the backyard or whatever.) ANYHOW...to get to the point...I did something I can't remember doing since childhood: I tried on a one-piece. Very pretty, extremely flattering....and it doesn't look "old." Actually, it almost reminds me of those suits they used to wear back in the 1940s, and I really like that. Here is a picture of the suit, but the model is all slouchy; it looks much better in person. Oh yeah...and it was less than half the price of the other suit! ;o)
Anyways....I'm very much enjoying the fact that tomorrow there is no school....woohoo!!! We have no plans...probably just sticking around the house and relaxing. And that makes me happy.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
3-day weekend
After a week of end-of-grades testing, I am so ready for the weekend! The testing itself isn't horrible because the kids have to be quiet the whole time and I really enjoy the silence. ;o) But, it gets to be pretty tedious so a few days is enough...on the upside, the kids said that the review I did with them prior to the testing was VERY helpful, and also harder than the test itself! So that's a relief.
Anyhow, it appears that today is going to be overcast, rainy, and cool; so we're going to be relaxing and cleaning the house--we didn't do it last weekend (we always clean on weekends) and the house is awful. I'm exhausted but put myself on baby duty this morning so that Craig can sleep in....Ava woke up at 5am and I fed her, she went back down for about 1 1/2 hours, I brought her back to bed and fed her again (don't know if she needed it but I was too tired to do anything else) and she slept for about an hour in our bed before deciding she'd had enough and wanted entertainment. So, we came downstairs and played, I put her in the swing for awhile hoping she'd fall asleep (no luck) and now the play mat....started cleaning while she played and now she's napping! I'll get a little bit more done while I can.
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Okay....I just spent so much time on the photo album that Ava is now awake. ARGH!!! But she's playing quietly with her toys so maybe I can still get some cleaning taken care of.... ;o)
Anyhow, it appears that today is going to be overcast, rainy, and cool; so we're going to be relaxing and cleaning the house--we didn't do it last weekend (we always clean on weekends) and the house is awful. I'm exhausted but put myself on baby duty this morning so that Craig can sleep in....Ava woke up at 5am and I fed her, she went back down for about 1 1/2 hours, I brought her back to bed and fed her again (don't know if she needed it but I was too tired to do anything else) and she slept for about an hour in our bed before deciding she'd had enough and wanted entertainment. So, we came downstairs and played, I put her in the swing for awhile hoping she'd fall asleep (no luck) and now the play mat....started cleaning while she played and now she's napping! I'll get a little bit more done while I can.
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Okay....I just spent so much time on the photo album that Ava is now awake. ARGH!!! But she's playing quietly with her toys so maybe I can still get some cleaning taken care of.... ;o)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Get caught reading!
One of my team members at school--our 7th grade Language Arts teacher--is doing a "Get Caught Reading!" thing and has asked everyone to give her a picture of themselves reading. This is the one I'm using:
A lot of people with new babies are using similar pictures so the aforementioned Language Arts teacher is using a picture of herself reading with her son sitting on her lap...funny thing is, he's a junior in high school! It was really cute. :o)
Anyhow, that's about it! I AM looking forward to the days when I can read to Ava and she'll actually pay attention to the story and not just try to eat the book. (Her preferred chew toy these days seems to be my face....she usually reaches up and grabs my cheek or my bottom lip and then yanks my face towards her mouth. It's funny but would probably be much funnier if she didn't have sharp little nails and a kung-fu grip!)
A lot of people with new babies are using similar pictures so the aforementioned Language Arts teacher is using a picture of herself reading with her son sitting on her lap...funny thing is, he's a junior in high school! It was really cute. :o)
Anyhow, that's about it! I AM looking forward to the days when I can read to Ava and she'll actually pay attention to the story and not just try to eat the book. (Her preferred chew toy these days seems to be my face....she usually reaches up and grabs my cheek or my bottom lip and then yanks my face towards her mouth. It's funny but would probably be much funnier if she didn't have sharp little nails and a kung-fu grip!)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
need some mom advice....
Any tips on weaning the baby? Because breasts are not teething rings. A bite here or there was bad....the actual gnawing of the boob that happened an hour ago? NOT SO MUCH. Between Ava doing more playing than nursing and then chomping on me with her evil little raptor teeth, I think it's time to stop. How do I do this in a way that's good for her (I think the greatest benefit of nursing at this point is more the comfort factor than anything else) and in a way that will also cause me minimal pain? Advice is welcome! :o)
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