A Little More...

James is officially full term!  Yea!  He can now come whenever he wants, though I really would prefer if he would stay in until the 15th....more time to bake, no worries about taking extra time off of work, and my preferred style of delivery.  We'll see if that happens!  My appointment earlier today revealed I am now a solid 4 if not a little more and about 60% effaced.  Station didn't move enough to denote a full station change, but he is still definitely down low (though not low enough to continue beating up my ribs).  I am now measuring about a week and a half behind, but that's the be expected when baby is lower.  Overall, I'm glad I am officially full term and haven't spontaneously gone into labor while at work.  I get to take Thursday and Friday off this week, just to rest up-I am so glad I decided to go that route, it makes it so much easier to persevere to the end.  Next week will be a little bit longer with a 4 day work week and then I have Friday off, but I will have to spend it in a professional development meeting from 8-4.  I don't see the point of this meeting, but I will go since it is required, and it gives me a day off from teaching kids.  The week after that will be the final week:  I will teach Mon-Wed and then I will hand off the reins to my long term sub.  Still seems so far away (which is silly), but I am sure it will pass quicker than I expect.

JD is super excited that he only has to endure the bus for a few more weeks.  He has come to not like the bus very much at all.  He is being brave though and enduring just like I am. Karianna has been a big help, making sure to sit with JD and help him feel better about the bus in whatever way she can.  JD and Karianna are so fun to listen to these days, JD is completely blossuming in the area of spelling and reading, and he is picking up Karianna's habit of spelling words out loud more easily.  I'll eavesdrop on them in the back of the car as Karianna spells words for JD and JD tries to guess them, and vice versa. Its just really cute. 

Jordan continues to love preschool.  I was able to conference with his main preschool teacher this week and she had so many great things to say about Jordan.  He is the oldest in his group, so it doesn't surprise me that his teachers reports he is such a good helper and cleans up right away etc.  She said when he gets off the bus and walks into the classroom, the other kids all point to him and start saying his name-that gave me a cute mental picture!  I think Jordan likes being the center of attention in that manner-I see him trying to be that more often at home, which doesn't always work the same way.  I see Jordan also being much more aware of his speech since starting preschool.  He obviously tries to form certain sounds that he's been working on, and the length of his sentences is growing, as is his ability to put multiple clauses together.  I think it will still take quite some time to master the areas of difficulty but I think preschool has been a fantastic thing thus far for him.

Sara has changed a bit in the last few weeks-she is more joyful.  She has this little giggle she has started to use whenever anything is remotely funny and it just makes me smile. She is so independent, it astonishes me the things she just does on her own.  I swear, if I wasn't this pregnant I would be more than willing to potty train because I think she would like the increased independence.  Her independence still leads to fits, but they are manageable as long as you don't lose your cool.  That doesn't count baths.  :)  She is talking so much more these days, tons of 3-5 word sentences and inquiries-I love this explosion as well! 

I didn't anticipate giving this much of an update, but I guess it was necessary!  Jared is now a month into his job and feeling somewhat overwhelmed as he has taken on pretty much all the responsibilities his job requires.  He loves working with the students, but he does wish his training had been different so he coulde feel as if he could handle the workload a bit better.  Management seems to believe easing a new employee into their job is not appropriate.  :)  Thankfully Jared is a quick study and is doing great-we are looking forward to the next few months passing so he can feel more at ease managing multiple system and students simultaneously. 

So there's  a great update that might have to last for a while.  I can definitely feel myself starting to hit the point of not necessarily wanting to provide updates all the time....I am getting antsy for the baby to get here, and I can feel that nagging annoyance that comes with every day that he is NOT here.  :)  Doesn't seem to matter how many kids you have, it still happens!  I even have to bite my tongue a bit when Kariana asks me how many days until James gets here!  Just answer Rachel, no reason to be frustrated at Karianna!  At this point though, it is nice to know there is an end in sight:  if December 15th rolls around and James is still in my belly, we are evicting for a much nicer arrangement-in my arms.  Yea for only 15 more days!