Introducing James Gregory: Birth Story

He is here!  James Gregory was born on December 9th, 2011 at 9:04 pm!  He weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces (and just a little bit more) and is 21 inches long.  He is completely beautiful and like most of our other children, perfectly content NOT crying and just staring around the room.  His little pinkies are perfectly straight-completely UNlike our other kids!  Everyone is saying he looks like JD, though I see nothing but Lautenschlager in him:  olive tones skin, almond shaped eyes, and a perfectly round head.  James started nursing right away, so nice when they are born with a fantastic latch!  He's a perfect little snuggle bug, and we are already so grateful for him!  I am doing fine-birth went great, though we weren't expecting to be in the hospital quite yet!  As with Sara, I already feel like I am recovering very quickly and enjoying spending these first few days in bed with my newest little bundle.  I'll post the much more detailed birth story below as well as a TRUE photobomb of James' first few hours of life.  Welcome James-we LOVE you!!!!!

James' Birth Story

We were originally anticipating going to the hospital for an induction on December 14th.  With my normally speedy deliveries and the fact that I had been dilated to a 4 for 2 weeks, I wasn't concerned at all about the induction going poorly!  Jared and I had decided to make December 8th my last day of work so we could spend those last 5 days preparing for James' arrival.  On Thursday evening, we took the kids to the Fiesta Mall as a mini-celebration:  I was done with work, for who knows how long!  We had already decided for me to resign my position with MPS as soon as things solidified with Jared's new job, so I was really sayng goodbye to traditional teaching for a while.  It was at the Fiesta Mall that I noticed my feet were incredibly swollen.  I joked with Jared that was my end of work present:  swollen ankles to the song of elephantitis!  I have never gotten swollen feet like that before, but in the moment, it just seemed comical.  I was sure after sleeping, the swelling would go down.

On the morning of 12/9, as I prepared to go to an 8 hour district required training, I noticed my ankles were still swollen.  I put on a pair of comfortable shoes and promised myself I would keep my feet up all day to help it go away.  This I did while sitting in my training, but at lunch time, I noticed the swelling had climbed up my calves. In addition, I was getting pains shooting up my legs when I walked....I couldn't flex my ankles at all without feeling like I was going to get an instant charlie horse. 

Knowing I could be seeing a symptom of pre-eclampsya, I pulled into a nearby CVS and used the blood pressure machine back by the pharmacy.  Now, I know those things probably aren't completely accurate.  However, when the 1st and 2nd tries came up as 156/93, I got worried, especially since I am super regular at 110/70ish at nearly every OB appointment.  It was then that I decided to call my doctor.  They requested I come in right away, so I opted out of my training, drove home to get my hospital bag (assuming I knew what I was seeing), and drove to my OBs office.  Sure enough, they verified my blood pressure was 152/96.  I had also gained 4 pounds in 3 days and there was protein in my urine.  I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsya, and given how close my induction date was anyway, my doctor requested I head straight to the hospital for an induction. 

I called Jared on my way to the hospital so he could meet me there and got all checked in fairly quickly.  Jared made it in record time and before we knew it, I was getting hooked up to the monitors and an IV bag full of pitocin.  The time at this point was about 5:00 and contractions had started pretty quickly with the onset of pitocin.  My wonderful nurse let me know I could get my epidural whenever I wanted and I knew at this point that things were going to go quick.  I went ahead and requested my epidural and after a few adjustments, I was resting comfortably.  My doctor came in to check me, broke my water and told me she was going to head home to get some rest.  At this point, it was about 7:00.  Jared played around with the TV while I dozed in and out.  Around 8:30 I woke up because I was feeling my contractions a lot stronger.  I told Jared it felt like I might need an adjustment in my epidural...but 5 minute later, I changed my tune and told Jared I was pretty sure I was at a 10 and baby was ready to come.  Sure enough, when the nurse came to check me I was a full 10.  The nurse had already called in the anesthesiologist to adjust my epidural, which he came and did while I was doing all I could to not push.  I was thankful for the epidural adjustment because it took affect quickly and helped decrease the overwhelming desire to push.  However, it was a big push of meds into my body and I unfortuneately lost most feeling in my lower body very quickly.  Regardless, James was on his way, and all I could do was hope my doctor would get there in time!

Dr. Schlecht got there right around 8:55.  We apologized that she did not get to rest much before having to come back to the hospital.  While Dr. Schlecht changed at lightning speed, Jared held my hand and the nurse wrapped several blankets around my upper body since I was shivering drastically (this is my normal reaction to an epidural).  As soon as Dr. Schlecht was in place, I started pushing as best as I could with no feeling.  Thankfully, I tend to handle that pretty well using a lot of visualization!  I knew James had been ready to be born, and sure enough, it only took a few pushes for James' head to deliver and then the rest of his body.  He literaly came out staring around the room and only deigned to give a few squeals before continuing his assessment of the hospital room.  He was beautiful, covered in a ton of vernix with a head full of dark hair.  His head was perfectly round and he looked super long to me!  I got to hold him right away on my chest, which I loved!  Dr. Schlecht stitched up a small 1st/2nd degree tear and I started feeding James shortly thereafter-he latched right away and it was a great feeling to finally have him in my arms.  It took a few hours for the epidural to wear off, and we got moved to a post partum room shortly thereafter. 

A few details of note.  After I delivered the placenta, the doctor told me there was a true knot in the umbilical cord-that's rare! Sure enough, the cord was in a serious knot, and I can only wonder what would have happened if James had opted to stay in utero a week longer.  In addition, although my blood pressure had skyrocketed before I went to the hospital, it stayed completely normal during my entire labor and delivery.  I can't help but think that was James' way of saying, "Hey, I'm ready to come out now".  He made my blood pressure jump, and since I responded to his sign, he didn't feel the need to keep it that high anymore.  Silly guy!  Jared and I have spent the last few weeks talking about the name James, not really sure if we completely loved it.  However, the second James was born, I knew it was right-he's James, and he's been waiting for a long time to see us....so have we! 

We will be in the hospital for 2 days, enjoying hospital food, some sleep, and some much desired bonding time.  Overall, we are happy, healthy, and so grateful for James, the newest blessing in our lives.  Welcome to the family James!

Christmas Songs

Today we were at church and I was super excited to see we were starting to sing Christmas songs.  I am going to miss church for the second half of the month, and I will really miss singing the Christmas songs.  Anyhow, I was so excited that I leaned over to JD to share the news.  I told him, "We are singing Christmas songs today!"  JD reacted just as excited as me!  His comment was, "Yea!  You mean like the Grinch song?"  He was disappointed when I told him that was not really appropriate at church.  However, JD was determined to get his innapropriate-Christmas-song in during the church block.  During the last testimony of the meeting, my ears pricked up to hear the following ditty being sung by my sneaky 5 year old:

Jingle bells, Batman smells!
Robin laid an egg!
Batmobile lost a wheel
And Joker got away-hey!

Seriously, the people behind us must think we are sooooooooo entertaining.

Speaking of which, the gentleman sitting right behind me and Sara made the monumental mistake of handing Sara a mint lifesaver, unbeknownst to me.  Sigh.  To all elderly people who are just trying to be kind-please don't.  As soon as Sara had it in her hand, I had two choices:  let her eat it and make a hugely sticky mess, or take it from her and deal with a fit.  I opted for the former because my belly already makes it hard to wrestle her during sacrament sans the fit.  So 20 minutes later, she had it dissolved enough to chew.  Remember that hugely sticky mess I mentioned?  Yeah.  That. 

End of the day though, Karianna sang all the Christmas hymns from memory (we have listened to Christmas music for a while now), JD colored a fantastic picture and wrote Scoobey and Shagey on the top of his paper, and Jared managed to keep Jordan in one place for the entire meeting.  Oh and Sara looked adorable.  Overall, not too bad of a sacrament meeting.

We Go to the Ward Christmas Party

Our ward had the annual Christmas party on Friday.  It was a packed day for us since our little car was at the mechanic all day and we had to pick it up, as well as Jared, before getting over to the party.  We got there maybe 20 minutes late, but still managed to sit at a table as a family, in the front of all places, and there was still plenty of food left to satiate the kids' bellies.  I was a little bit disappointed at the festivities that actually followed dinner.  Our ward decided not to do a Santa, which made my kids sad.  We sang a few songs and Bishop shared a brief message (albeit a good one) and that was about it.  I think the funnest part of the evening for the kids was during clean up when they got to go run around the empty half of the gym playing tag and wall ball.  :)  I'm glad we got to go and support the ward though, and I am more than willing to do any Christmas festivity with the kids since I might be out of commission later.   I had a great idea AFTER the party in terms of combining Santa and the true meaning of Christmas, since that seemed to be the issue with having Santa attend the party....I'll have to share it for next year though, and we'll have to find a Santa to take pictures with somewhere!  For now, I took a few pics at the party, athough I don't think they are that great....the kids did get to decorate cookies for desert and one of the songs I mentioned above was sung by the primary children (at least the ones that were there-our primary is so small!).

Playing Doctor Detective

WE started off the month of December by taking JD to the doctor.  He has had terrible indigestional pain (aka, sicky poop) for 2 weeks now.  That's a long time to deal with indigestional pain (aka, sicky poop).  We tried him on a BRAT diet of sorts for a while, which seemed to help a bit, but the contents of the toilet were still watery, light green/white, and stinky.  JD came home from school today just looking awful again and holding his bloated, distended tummy as if it was going to explode.  It pretty much did when I got him to a toilet, but that was kind of the final straw-I made an after hours appointment for him at the doctor.  Something is just not right with JD....his tummy has always been a bit bigger, but I always attributed that to his large rib cage, which both the boys get from Jared.  But seeing his stomach so bloated, especially compared to his stick thin legs has been a warning flag for these last two weeks, as has been his depleted energy, apathy, and pasty skin tone. 

The doctor who saw JD is being very preventetive, which I really appreciate-I know something is wrong, and I would like to know what it is.  He managed to pee in a cup for the first time ever.  He really didn't want me to tell anyone, but then consented to telling Jared as long as Karianna or Jordan never found out.  :)  No UTI, which I wasn't concerned about anyway.  The big things he will need to do will have to be done at a lab next week and it will involve drawing blood, which I am nervous about for his sake.  They are going to test for lactose intolerance, celiac disease, parasites, and any other food allergies (just doing a full allergy panel).  For the time being, we are switching him to soy milk-oh wait, scratch that, JD hates soy milk.  It is almond milk and vanilla flavored at that.  JD knows it as silk milk, which is super cool because it rhymes.  So far, he loves it, which I am so glad for since I knew he already didn't care for soy milk.  If we discover JD has celiac, it is going to mean a big switch for our family to go gluten free-it will take a lot of research honestly because other than the cereal boxes that say "gluten free", I have no idea how to do that type of a diet. 

Overall, I am hopeful we will get some answers.  It is always super sad for me to see JD super sad....its just not like him.  His Thanksgiving was spent in a lethargic stupor because he was on a limited BRAT diet and was running to the restroom every few hours to relieve his cramping stomach.  I really hope taking this aggressive of a stand will get those answers. 

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!

Bus Proof

I don't think I have taken any other pictures of the kids to memoralize their time on the bus.  So although these pictures are bad, it proves it:  the kids rode the bus.  :) I think JD still liked the bus at this point too....

Temple Lights Premier

Usually our family has a tradition of going to the temple lights on the first night they flip on-for the first second they flip on.  It is always such a cool sight to see the temple suddenly bathes in twinkle lights. However, this year was a bit different!  The church website said the lights would be turning on Thanksgiving day, which would have been hard to do with our schedule.  Thus, we decided not to push it and figured we'd just head to the temple on Sunday evening to take a leisurely stroll through the lights-it might even be nicer than the yearly fight to the center of the grounds, just to see the lights flip on and then pretty much leave because of the drastic crowds.  I think our plan worked out great honestly-it was much less crowded than normal, and the kids loved seeing the lights, especially Sara who is very enthralled with anything Christmas related this year.  Here's some great pictures we took while there!

Bruised

Out of 5 pregnancies, I don't think I have ever had this before!  I am fairly certain James has bruised my ribs. I don't know if there's any breaks or fractures-I'll have to address it with my OB on Tuesday.  But given the pain I am feeling on my right side right by my floating ribs, I think I have it pinpointed.  James has always been at this weird angle where he is head down, and his bum is right under my left rib cage, and his feet are heading diagnolly back under my right rib cage.  In essence, all of his kicks go way off to my side near my floating ribs.  He has really been beating me up, so to speak, this weekend, particularly a few times while I was Black Friday shopping....apparently he doesn't care for the crowds.  I started feeling the pain/achiness in my ribs that day, and it gets worse anytime James moves his feet or anytime I breathe/move quickly.  The only thing I can really do is apply pressure to that spot whenever I feel him start to move around....not too crazy about taking tylenol everytime it hurts, becasue i would be taking it all day!

I'm just hoping nothing is actually fractures or anything like that....that would be weird.  Be gentle James!

Are you in there?

JD has gotten very interested in pregnancy, labor, delivery, and all things baby.  During one of our many conversations, he was asking me why I had long scratches on my belly.  I explained they were stretch marks because James was stretching my skin out.  JD looked very worried until I assured him it didn't hurt-it just made me look like a tiger.  He thought that was great!  He very gently traced one with his finger and stopped near my belly button.  He leaned in very close so his eye was about 6 inches away, stared straight into my belly button, and softy whispered, "Are you in there?"  I couldn't help laughing because it was so innocent-JD wasn't saying that for anyone's benefit-he really wondered! 

Thanksgiving 2011

Football on Thanksgiving?

Anyone who knows me knows I really don't care about football.  Its unfortuneate that I work at a school where everyone LOVES football.  :)  Regardless, Sara seems to enjoy the feel of football, at least on Thanksgiving.  Now, I realize this is actually a batting helmet, however there was a football game playing in the background, so I can't help but think she was channeling (insert some famous football player's name here).  She's cuter than whoever I could have inserted in that parenthesis. 

A Bit of Progress

Well, I had my first real check up today with my OB to see if I am progressing towards labor at all.  I am 1 day shy of 36 weeks, so I was hoping I would be a 1 or a 2...I was just hoping to NOT hear "fingertip dilated", because that's just a huge tease.  I figured all the fake contractions I have been dealing with over the last few months had to have been doing something!  Well, the good doctor says that I am 3-4 cm dilated and at a -2 station.....she could feel the baby's head.  I am 50% effaced as well.  I usually start progressing early, but I gotta say, I have never been this far already at 36 weeks.  Kind of scary when I consider in all past pregnancies, once I hit a 4ish, I move towards delivery really fast. 

So what this means is I need to do some prepping.  :) I already have my bag started, but I'll probably finish it up and keep it in my trunk just in case I go into labor at school.  We have a lot of family help right now with our childcare situation anyway, but we'll probably try to nail down when exactly everyone is available this weekend.  I need to get my bedroom clean.  :)  I have no idea how our room gets the messiest, hands down.  I also need to finalize lesson plans for the rest of the semester, including holiday activities, and probably copy them off so they are ready to go.  I have everything ready for long term sub stuff, but I guess I should be ready if I need to hand the reins over sooner than I am anticipating.  Everything at home-all set and ready to go, hospital registration is ready, doctor is on call so to speak.....just a few last minute ends to tie up and the point is:  I am at the last minute apparently.

Of course, I could very well spend the next 3 weeks at a 3-4, with baby hanging out way down low...I'm just not sure if that is very plausible since I am still working!  As such, we'll just be prepared and pray James and I are healthy through the whole process.  Right now my goal is to keep him in my belly for the next week-I would like to get to 37 weeks so he is full term.  I do have an induction date of Dec. 15th set up if I get there-my doctor just does not think I will hit that.  But, if I do, that will be the day we plan to go in to get the ball rolling. 

All in all, the end is in sight!  I'm glad I have been preparing, and our family (nuclear and extended) has been preparing.  I feel comforted to know everything will be as it should be, and the aftermath will help our famly grow as I get to come home with the kids.  We'll see what the next week brings-next appointment is Tuesday!

JD's Thanksgiving Turkey!

JD came home with a family project for Thanksgiving:  Decorating a cardstock turkey however we wanted!

 Our family got together tonite and feathered that fowl up!  We cut up a bunch of tissue paper and used pencils to scrunch and glue it to the turkey as feathers.  As the kids worked on that part, I puff-painted a beak and an eye for the turkey.  The final piece was to drizzle glue all over the turkey and then cover it with gold glitter-that part we did outside :)    Overall, the turkey turned out great and JD was super excited to bring it in to share with the class!

Field Trip

I took my 3rd graders on our first field trip of the year today.  We went to the dinosaur museum here in Mesa-a perfect field trip as it is only a few miles away from Guerrero and we have been studying dinosaurs for weeks now!  The kids were super excited to see the real life replicas of the dinosaures they have researched and written reports about.  Overall, the entire trip went fantastic-no one got lost, no one broke anything, and even having less parent volunteers worked just fine because I have so few discipline problems this year. :)  I had a blast myself-the kids in my group were very interested in standing at each exhibit and actually learning about it, which really was not the case last year.  I have to admit, I am going to miss taking this group of kids to the Science Center in the spring!  Here's a class photo-maybe the only one I will get!

Just a Sampling

I always mean to take pictures of my bulletin boards, but then I forget and it just doesn't happen.  I love to make bulletin boards, it takes FOREVER, but it is a creative outlet for me and I personally think bulletin boards in the hallway should look amazing and inviting. They should show off student work and the creativity that happens in the classroom-all from the kids-because I am sure it happens, even for the most bland of teachers!  I have to admit, sometimes it annoys me to see bulletin boards that have nothing on them, or just a half hearted attempt, or half the stuff is falling off all the time.  I actually took on an extra bulletin board this year just because I didn't want to see it empty all year!  Just fun stuff, and I have figured out some things to make bulletin boarding a little easier.  So just for fun, here's some pictures-I can't get a picture of the whole bulletin board from the angle that was available so you'll have to piece it together!

This one I've had up all year-started off with just the frogs, student names, and the heading "Make a splash in 3rd grade".  Now we've got pics of all the kids and two assignments they've done in computer lab-a name poem and a list of things they are grateful for (its so fun teaching kids how to use Word!).  The kids LOVE to read the things on this board.   The pumpkin patch was added of course around Halloween, and the grateful turkey around Thanksgiving.

 This one is one of my favorites, and I really wish I could capture the whole thing!  We read Little Grunt and the Big Egg, and at the end, the mom dinosaur has 5 eggs.  I always challenge the kids to persuade me to let them take over care of one of those eggs.  The persuasive letters they write are always fantastic, and one of my favorite assignments all year.  I got a little crazy with this board and made the mom dinosaur out of butcher paper.

 This one is in my classroom, the kids had to design their own island after we read a nonfiction piece about the Galapagos Islands.  They have to pretend they are being interviewed by a magazine and the finished piece in orange is a magazine article.  Its a fun one in terms of creativity and science.

Chilly Weather and Fires

I love when the chilly nighttime air finally settles around our home...it means we can start using the fireplace! 

With the temperatures finally dropping this past week, we have done a few fires.  The kids grab their blankies, their favorite movies, pillows, and we all snuggle on the couches with the firelight dancing on the walls.  This night, however, the kids didn't want a movie.  Instead, Jared started telling them scary stories.  I thought, uh oh, this is going to backfire.  But being the awesome story teller that he is, Jared made the "scary stories" not so scary....it was just the ambiance of his voice and the aura of the firelight that made it seem scarier than it ever was.  The kids all took turns telling stories, I loved to hear the transition words in JDs stories, and Karianna cracked me up when she started her story with, "Now, I'm not sure if I remember this story all the way, my brain is a little fuzzy on the details...."  It was such a sweet moment, just because they were all...bonding.  Made me smile!

Another one in a Big Bed!

Given that Sara sleeps in a big girl bed while at her childcare houses, I knew it was just time to put her into a big girl bed at home too.  We've had this bed set up in her room since August, but I've also had some storage boxes in her room for months and months that were full of things 2 year olds should not play with.  I have been saying for a while, as soon as I get those boxes gutted and out of her room, we'll put her in the big girl bed!  But then school started, I got more and more pregnant, and it got put on the back burner. 

Well, last weekend I just bit the dust and gutted those boxes out.  We rearranged Sara's room a bit and when 7:30 came around, it was big girl bedtime!  That first night, Sara didn't get out of bed at all-she was always in the same position that I left her in.  The second night, Sara still didn't get out of bed at all, but we could hear her singing to herself.  Same thing for the third and fourth nights....and basically, ever since.  I did go in to check on her one night before going to bed myself and she was passed out on the floor, but otherwise, she hasn't destroyed her bookcase, emptied her toy box, or massacred her changing table (which really is only used to hold diapers and wipes.  I'll take that as a good transition!

Overall, Sara seems to love it in her big bed.  When I wake her up in the morning, she is usually sitting up with her sippy and a few dolls in her lap.  When I wake her up from nap at my mom's house, she is sitting up reading books.  Nothing around the room ever seems out of place!  Just great progress, and a nice big check that I can add to my to-do list! 

She must have thought the corner was more comfortable than the pillow-this was taken around midnight the first night.

 Just waking up after the first night, hee hee!

 Um, you can ignore the naked baby doll.  Clifford is kind of like her bumper in case she starts rolling (she's not a huge move in bed anyway).

 She always sleeps with her hands up and over her head!

 Sleeping Beauty!

Not Sure What it Is...

There's something about both Jared and I working, doing childcare during the day, riding the bus, or whatever other changes we've made in the last week and a half, that has changed the kids.  Duh, obvious statement right?  But its a cool, interesting change:  in the face of this adversity, the kids have totally bonded together with eachother.  When I get them home and they finish chores/homework/snack, they have been playing together much more ardently than usual.  Karianna and JD are best friends right now-they do everything together.  JD just asked Karianna to read him a story, even though she was obviously otherwise occupied and she said, "Sure, just hang on a second....no, I'll finish this later, lets read it now".  I was pretty shocked, she's usually not that accomodating!  They go outside with Jordan and Sara and play some made up game every single day-for a looooong time!  Jordan and Sara apparently have been best buds at childcare houses-playing so much together and I see that at home as well.  Its been wonderful to see them so engaged together-this has been a lifesaver so I can lay down and rest every now and then!

This inreased commradery has lead to a lot more screaming and yelling (in play), so I've had to learn to relax a bit about the noise levels-I have to remind myself, this is them bonding.  Its a cool thing to see really!

Changes in the Family

This has been the beginning of major changes in our family.  Sunday was a frantic day getting ready for these changes (and for Halloween the next day!)  but everything has gone so smoothly this week...makes me think these changes will work, at least for the 6 week time period they need to work.  Both Jared and I got to the end of this week, looked at each other, and said, "That wasn't too bad".  Then we both realized it was weird to think we'd have to do it again the following week, and we were both suddenly exhausted.  :)  Here's some of the changes we've had, for big or small:

1. JD and Karianna started riding the bus!!!!  They only ride the bus home from school-Jared still takes them to Bush before heading to work, but they do the bus on the way home.  On the very first day, Karianna and JD had to answer question after question about where they lived, who was picking them up, where they would be dropped off, etc.  Thank heavens for Karianna, that girl patiently answered every question (and yes, they had all this info in the office, not sure why they flipped out so much).  I beat the bus home every day and met them at their bus stop, so that made the transition easier.  They love riding the bus, it is full of lots of friends from church,s o again, that made it easier.
2. Um, Jared works.  During the day.  :)  He is training for these first few weeks and then he'll get to start working directly with his students.  So far, he has nothing but good things to say about Walden, which is a plus!  He particularly likes his co-workers and management-just a lot more personable and professional than he experienced at past jobs.  Not everything is about numbers and sales here, it actually goes to the heart a bit.  That has always been important for Jared.
3. Jordan and Sara started childcare!  I think their schedule is the craziest honestly: Mondays and Tuesdays they go to the Koch's house, Wednesdays and Thursdays they go to my Mom's house, and Fridays they stay home with Aubrey.  Sis. Koch and Aubrey have to walk Jordan to my Mom's house for preschool bus pick up/drop off on the correct days, which is kind of irksome in my opinion, but that doesn't seem like it has been a big deal. So far, this transition has been great-easier than I anticipated and we feel so grateful for the people helping out in this realm.
4. Sara started sleeping in a big girl bed for naps!  Sis. Koch and my mom have been putting her down for naps in a normal twin bed and she is doing great!  Sounds like she has only cried a few times at actual naptime, but she also calms herself down and hasn't destroyed a room yet!
5. The kids now have me home sooner!  Since I need to beat the bus home, I have to leave right after school-by 3:05.  This has been a good thing for me really-it forces me to stop working, get home, enjoy the kids and rest.  It does mean I need to be super prepped in the mornings, but I can do that.  I have missed the bus a few times-in those cases, the kids have learned to simply walk to my Mom's house and sit on her bench until I get there.  I don't think they've ever actually made it to the bench before I pull up, but its nice to know they are following that direction. 
6. I have had to become very active for every minute of every day.  I need to have 6 lunches ready every morning, backpacks packed and waiting by the door, the house cleaned up and bathrooms, in particular clean for sitters, my own lesson plans prepped, copied, and ready, and an edible dinner on the table by the time Jared gets home....one that can double as his lunch for the next day.  With my part time job becoming more demanding right now, I also have to use any free time to stay on top of that.  Spending time each day with each kid-also paramount so they acclimate to these changes more easily.  Overall, I can't let one minute go by without it being productive.  Just necessary right now.
7. In retrospect, I don't think #6 represents an actual change for me.
8. With hospital/Christmas bills looming, we are on a big "use our money wisely" kick.  We have really taken an inventory of our pantry/small food storage and are resolved to use what we have.  Thus the kids have learned an important lesson lately:  you eat what we make for dinner and we don't waste food by throwing away what we dont like.  You eat it.  And if you don't, tough beans.  We have also really started to monitor our grocery bills, our thermostat, our electricity usage, and things we can do without (like paper plates, plastic spoons, oh it was a sad day when we decided to try to go without!).  We have altered how we do our shopping-ie, 1 trip during the week, not multiple trips which ultimately leads to more gas mileage and higher bills.  The kids have totally noticed this change, especially Karianna.  She keeps telling us, "If you need money, I have 30 dollars, you can totally use that".  We tell her, that's not your job sweetie-and we are just fine with money, we just feel it is important to use it more wisely.  Karianna is such a good example in this instance.  She has been saving up her money for months now when a younger Karianna would have scrounged around for a dollar of coins and immediately asked to spend it on something stupid.  She tells us now she is saving to buy Christmas presents for the entire family (at the dollar store) and then she wants to buy her own MP3.  She wants to listen to books on tape.  We have really commended her lately for saving up her money for something she has carefully planned for.  Good lesson for everyone.

I am sure there are more things I could list in the change department, but we'll end it for now.  I completely feel transition mode starting-everything we are doing is prepping for December, a new baby, and even more changes in our family as I potentialy get to just come home for good.  The things that make you grow stronger as a family-happening right now!