Ramblings of A Long Island Wife

Two more classes!

Kim B. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Until Thanksgiving break! There's a part of me that feels so guilty about wanting the week off this badly (especially after taking yesterday off...), but I'm really looking forward to the time with my family and away from my students!

Grades are due, however, right when we get back, so I've been working on reports today during my time off. I sat down and got a section of Kindergarten knocked out in about 15/20 minutes so I'm feeling pretty good about getting them done before leaving for PA! The only thing I want to bring with me other than the typical luggage is my cross-stitching and the book I'm currently reading. In fact, if I don't have to even look at a computer while I'm gone, I'll be pretty happy .

Alrighty, back to the reports!

I'm loving this body! (PIP)

Kim B. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:50:00 GMT

As someone who was already a bit chubby, I thought for sure I would have at least a few reservations about my changing body. I love it, though! At 24 weeks, my belly is round and hard and I seriously feel better about the way I look now than pre-pregnancy! Hey, at least I have a belly for a reason now, right?

I took a sick day today to get away from all my germy, H1N1 exposed students. Two of the kids have been confirmed to have the flu and this momma is staying away! So I got some extra sleep this morning and I've spent the rest of my day off doing some straightening up around the apartment and just resting. I'm hoping that with rest and taking care of myself, I'll help my crappy immune system keep me healthy!

Tomorrow, I'll head back to work for the rest of the week and there's only three classes to teach standing between me and Thanksgiving break! I'm so excited to see my family and spend some time with them!

Happy Wednesday, ladies!

I should be at home...

Kim B. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:10:00 GMT

Cuddled up on my couch with a blanket, book, and mug of hot chocolate! It's raining, windy, and cold...Perfect lazy weather!

Instead, though, I'm at work, writing up student reports and working on curriculum writing. In my opinion there are only two downsides to working at a private school: No tenure, no set curriculum. And really, not having a set curriculum allows for a great deal of creativity of making my own, which is pretty nice. Until, that is, the founder of the school gets all of us teachers together this past Wednesday and tells us that she's working on starting various other schools and needs each of us to hand in a written format of all the units we teach, the skills taught within each unit, the essential questions within each unit, and all the lessons within each unit so that essentially, she can sell our work and make a whole lot of money...And this written work is due in early January. It really wouldn't be all that horrible, except this past August during our professional development, a lot of the units changed so I haven't even taught them yet! ::shrugs:: Oh well, I'm such a nerd, I'm actually having fun with it. I just hope I can actually get it all done in time, since it's a pretty tedious process...

In baby news, I had an OB appointment yesterday and the little lady is doing just fine. When I asked my doctor, though, how much weight I have gained up to this point, I was kind of shocked it was 18 lbs...She wasn't concerned about it at all, even though I did start off this whole crazy journey with some added fluff already, so I guess I'm still good. I definitely learned my lesson, though, and made the mental note to never again ask about my weight unless the doctor is the one to bring it up

Well, it's back to work! Happy Friday!

There's no doubt this kid is a girl...

Kim B. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:48:00 GMT

Because no self-respecting boy would ever cause this much drama

So I woke up around 2 am to go for my typical middle of the night pee. My arm was completely numb but I figured it was just from me sleeping on it (Except it was my right arm that was numb and I was sleeping on my left...Of course, it was 2 am and I didn't quite think of that until much later) I woke up at 6:30 to get ready for work, drove to work, and I was rinsing out my mug that I keep on my desk when I realized "Hmm...my fingertips are numb...". It was just my right hand, not the left. Strangest thing.

I did some googling, saw that it can be a possible sign of preeclampsia, so I walked over to the main building to see the school nurse. She happily took my blood pressure (a perfectly acceptable 100/70), looked at and touched both of my hands (color was good, temperature was good, reactivity of my nails was good), and told me that I probably have pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. She pointed out where my wrist was swollen and explained that the reason why all the fingers on my right hand were numb expect the tip of my pinky and the sides of my ring finger is because those two fingers are attached to different nerves than the rest.

I have a doctor's appointment Thursday afternoon anyway so I'll let the OB know then, but it looks like I'm stuck with typing one letter at a time until this little lady decides to make her grand entrance and takes the drama with her

A well-used weekend :)

Kim B. — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:32:00 GMT

The apartment is cleaned. I'm in the process of getting my lesson book all caught up. I've even done some reading, which I haven't done in months.

It's been a good weekend

I just wasn't feeling the scrapbooking, but as soon as I finish getting my lesson book up-to-date, I'm going to work on a cross-stitch that I started forever ago and hopefully get the thread sorted for the birth keepsake for Pip!

And I'm 23 weeks today! I'm going to take a pic at some point this week, so I'll make sure to post it here as well as facebook. The past two days, she's been moving around all day like crazy. Tyler's not all that interested in feeling her move, much to my well-vocalized chagrin, but I felt her from the outside for the first time yesterday and she kicked me so hard last night that I actually saw my belly move! I thought it would really gross me out when I saw my stomach move because of something growing inside of me, but it was just a little odd. And I'm beyond happy that's she's gotten big enough that she can cause that kind of motion now! My little girl is growing nice and strong!

I've been horrible at making sure I'm drinking enough, though. I was never one to drink a lot in the first place, so making sure that I'm getting enough fluids has been one of the biggest struggles so far. And I obviously don't want to cause something horrible like preterm labor happen just because I'm not getting drinking enough! Well, I was given the suggestion of using a straw with all my drinks to make them go down quicker. Seemed like a simple fix so even though I was a bit wary of whether it would actually work, I bought straws today while grocery shopping. And I'll admit, it works! I downed two glasses of water without making myself feel so full! I have no idea why it worked (probably totally mental ) but, hey, I'll take it!

Alrighty, enough rambling! Happy Sunday, ya'll!

I love lazy weekends :)

Kim B. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:51:00 GMT

My favorite weekends are the ones when nothing is planned

I'm going to go home, make some yummy beef enchiladas for dinner, and then just spend the rest of the evening cleaning up our living room/kitchen and bedroom. I have the energy to do it now, so I'm hoping that stays true after dinner . Work hasn't been all that bad today, so I think I'll be okay. Tyler is headed out to a Long Island Reef Association Meeting tonight with his brother, so I'll have the place to myself to get the cleaning done!

Tomorrow, I'm going to get up, shower, clean the bathroom, and then maybe do some shopping. They're are some things that I want to get for our home (A hanging rack for our mugs, etc.) so I'll probably hit up K-Mart and TJ Maxx at some point. Other than that, I have absolutely nothing that I want to do other than lounge on our bed and get crafty with all my new scrapbooking stuff!

It's probably horrible, because I do have a relatively easy job and most of the time I don't mind the lesson planning/prepping/teaching, but I am so looking forward to my Thanksgiving break! Just two more weeks to go! I love how quickly this school year seems to be going!

My morning and to-do lists

Kim B. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:10:00 GMT

I woke up like usual, took a shower, dressed, put on my make-up and then went to blow-dry my hair. I turn my hair dryer on, all the lights go out. Great. I guess we had too much stuff going at once because the power of my teeny hair dryer blew a fuse. Tyler fixed it (after he finished showering in the dark, poor guy...) but I decided that I could live with crap hair for a day and decided to have breakfast with my sweetie instead! All in all, a pretty good start to my day, even though I did look a bit like a drowned rat this morning as I walked into work.

Speaking of work, on Thursdays I always have a to-do list of items that I want/need done around my classroom. I only have one class in the mornings and besides an all-school assembly and recess duty, the rest of the day is open for planning and getting items checked off of that to-do list. It's just too bad I'm always a bit too ambitious in writing and have never actually finished a full list I have a list today, though, that isn't too long and I'm hoping that I can remain focused long enough to actually get it all done!

And I'm leaving straight from work to babysit my nephews for an hour or two and the rest of the evening is wide open. I just ordered an Inspiration Book from Creative Memories so my fingers are really itching to do some scrapbooking! I also have a birth keepsake cross-stitch for our little one that I want to get started on! I don't know why, but the cooler months are always my most craftiest...

Alrighty, I better head out to make it to the assembly on time. I hope you ladies are having a great Thursday!

I looked, I shopped, I conquered! (Plus questions for the moms!)

Kim B. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:59:00 GMT

Tyler and I are buying the furniture for our little one since we only want one registry and didn't see a single crib or dresser that suited our needs at BabiesRUs. So I started looking online Friday night and quickly found the crib that I want. It's a Target mini crib in white and is the perfect size for our little apartment! (Not to mention it's flippin' adorable! ) I also found a great mini crib mattress that will fit perfectly, is good quality, but doesn't cost a huge amount.

That's where the online shopping luck ran out, though...I was getting so frustrated that I couldn't find any bedding sets or extra sheets or ANYTHING for a mini crib! Thankfully, my oldest SIL is the diva of online shopping and after a quick call to her Saturday morning, I had six different websites emailed to me with bedding that would perfectly fit the dimensions of the crib and mattress we're getting! I found the cutest ivory and brown polka dot/line bumper and crib skirt with 2 sets each of ivory and brown jersey sheets! I'm hoping that the ivory against the white crib wont drive me crazy, but I just fell in love with the look of them!

Which brings us to the question portion of today's post!

What are your thoughts on crib bumpers? Necessary? Safe? The website says that it meets all regulaion standards, but it doesn't say anything about being breathable or anything like that...

And is $500 a good price for a crib, mattress, mattress pad, bumper, crib skirt, and four sheets? It seems pretty reasonable, but I've obviously never bought baby furniture before and just want to make sure that I'm not going crazy with the spending.

TIA, ladies!