A Year of Gratitude #136 & 137

 

A Year of Gratitude #136: Safe Travels & #137: Visit with Michelle

#136- I'm grateful that Steve was able to fly safely into Canada and arrive at his destination for the week, without any problems. I pray that he enjoys himself and returns safely to us on Friday.

#137- Michelle and June came over today for a visit. I took some three month pictures for Michelle and we sat and talked for several hours. It was nice to spend my afternoon with her and laughing. I'm so thankful to have her here in GA. <3

A Year of Gratitude #115

 

A Year of Gratitude #115: A Clean House

 

So handsome!

Today was interesting. Steve left this morning for NYC and won't be back until very late on Thursday night. I hate when he travels, but I'm thankful that it's not often, and it's usually only for a few days and he's home for the weekend.

Gus got up this morning and we had a bit of time before our cleaning crew arrived. I put his new tie on him that my friend Amie made for him, and took some pictures. I have to say... they are so stinkin' cute. I AM biased... but seriously... he's adorable.

Our cleaning crew came at 8:30 and because it had been so long since they were last here (they were supposed to come last Tuesday, but Dave was here, so we moved it to Friday afternoon, and then she forgot), it took them longer than usual. 

Gus loves when they come. He is so very friendly with them, and they seem to really like him too. Graciela's husband calls Gus, "Batman" each time that he sees him (because Gus was wearing his Batman pjs once when they came). Gus likes to "help" and they're so good about letting him touch their stuff. Gus especially likes their duster... and today he grabbed it on his way downstairs. Graciela told him he could have it until she had to leave. He decided to clean the basement for them...

 

So delighted to have the duster!

After they left, Gus and I headed upstairs for a bit. Michelle and June came over and brought us Panera (YUMMMM) for lunch. I had a great visit with Michelle and at 1:30 I put Gus down for a nap.

 

Cowboy Gus

 

Michelle and June... and Gus spotted her bottle! Thankfully he tried to feed her... and only put it in his mouth once (LOL)

 

Purry was all up on June. Not sure why he was so fascinated with her, but he tried to get as close to her as possible

After Michelle left, Gus got up... it was like 4:00 or so. When I walked into his room... I instantly smelled it... and I knew he had either thrown up or had a major blow-out. I checked the crib and found nothing... and then I picked Gus up to take him to the changing table... and instantly smelled it and saw it.

POOP.

EVERYWHERE.

It was all up his back, and had filled his diaper and more. When I removed his clothes, I saw that where the poop had been touching, caused his skin to turn deep red and almost looked like it was blistering. OUCH.

So I got him undressed and we went to the tub for a bath. I think the water made him feel better because he was happy, and when he got out, the redness was decreased greatly. I put some Cortisone on his tush to help it feel better.

The rest of our evening was uneventful... but I'm so thankful that on top of all the craziness and stress today, I have a clean house. It's one less thing that I have to worry about or take care of.

A Year of Gratitude #88

 

A Year of Gratitude #88: Glimpse of the Future

On Wednesday, Gus and I met Michelle and June at Once Upon A Child for some shopping, and then we headed to The Olive Garden for lunch. Shopping was fun, Gus was ready for lunch so he was being a bit rowdy... after I purchased the shirts that I got for him, I told Michelle that I was taking Gus to the car and for her to just meet me outside.

We decided to head to The Olive Garden for lunch and I was excited because there aren't any Olive Gardens near us. We got seated and ordered drinks and then Michelle decided that she needed to go and pump while June was sleeping. She wanted to have something ready for when June woke up. She said, "It'll take like less than five minutes."

I figured, I can handle Gus and June for less than five minutes. So Michelle left, and just as she did, Gus decided that he did NOT want to sit in his highchair anymore. He started screaming and throwing an epic fit (they are becoming more and more common these days).

As Gus was screaming, he woke June. So Gus is to my left, having a fit and trying to stand up and escape from his highchair (is it just me, or do ALL restaurants have high chairs with lousy buckles to strap them in?!?!?!?)... June is screaming in her car carrier. I tried to rock the car carrier, but she was too upset to cry. So I unbuckled her, and held her. 

It was in that moment, of trying to take care of June, and getting her to calm down, while dealing with a tantrum-throwing toddler that I realized that I am NOT ready for baby number two. No way Jose!!

I'm thankful for the opportunity to see what life could be like if there was another child in my life. Talk about a challenge! I think I'm more determined than ever to wait until Gus is at least 2.5 (November) or even three before we bring a baby into our family.

I have several friends who have multiple children, and family members with kiddos very close in age. I don't know how they do it. I hardly lasted five minutes!!

A Year of Gratitude #48

 

A Year of Gratitude #48: Healthy Michelle and June

So as you all know, I was supposed to take labor and delivery pictures for Michelle yesterday. Things did not go according to plan, and after trying to get the baby out, Michelle's pelvis was too small. The stress caused her blood-pressure to rise, and a C-Section was required to get June out safely. 

Thankfully, both Michelle and June came through the delivery process unharmed and alive. Michelle had to have three (yes, THREE) epidurals because the first wasn't placed right, the second wore off, and the third was to completely numb her for the surgery. Talk about painful!

I stayed up until eleven last night hoping to hear something from her husband Josh, but never did. I checked Facebook thinking that her mom would have posted the "I'm a grandma" post, but she didn't. So I started to think the worst happened.

I checked my phone first thing this morning to see if I had a text... but there was nothing. I checked FB and Josh's sister Sandi had posted a picture of June (I didn't know if she had a boy or girl) and the stats. I finally relaxed a little knowing that both mama and baby were okay.

Around ten tonight, Michelle texted me and asked if she could call me. We talked for about a half-hour and I'm so glad to hear she's okay. What an ordeal. :-/   She was disappointed to not have me there to take pictures, but had I been there, I couldn't have taken pictures anyway. She asked if I'd come to the hospital tomorrow to see her and meet June and Josh. I said I would be delighted and she asked if I would bring my camera to take some pictures of June and them as a family. :-)

She'll be in the hospital until Monday or Tuesday... so I'm glad I'll get to see her while she's close (lol). I'm hoping to go visit her weekly (if I can) because she can't drive for four weeks!!

Anyway, I'm so thankful that she's okay, June is okay, and she's now a mama!!

Nerves!

So Michelle goes to the hospital tomorrow at 6pm to start her induction... she said her doctor told her to plan on a Friday baby. She's supposed to have her mom or husband call me sometime on Friday to let me know it's time to head to the hospital.

I am so nervous about this!! It's like the nerves you get on Christmas Eve... I feel like I have NO IDEA what to expect since I've NEVER been in a delivery room!! I've never seen a baby born and I hope I don't get too focused on that and not focus on the job at hand.

I pray that I take amazing pictures that she treasures and that I do a good job for them. They're not having anyone else in the room with them, so it's an honor to be there. 

I'm going to remain professional and be there to be silent and just take as many incredible pictures as I can... but I'm still really nervous about it!! I've got my battery on the charger, and a back-up memory card just in case. 

I'm just really torn on which lens to use. My 50mm is so great and takes amazing portrait-type pictures, but I can't zoom with it. I love how it focuses on a central object and everything else is somewhat blurry... it's awesome.

But then my 58mm is good and lets me zoom in a bit to make sure I'm capturing an entire picture. So I don't know... I'm not going to have a lot of time to switch out my lens and I don't want to miss anything!! I guess I'll play it by ear and see what happens.

I do know that for the pictures of when Josh tells everyone what they had (they're going to be surprised), I am going to use my 58mm lens because it'll let me get him and the fam in the same shot (the 50mm is more up close).

Wish me luck!!!!

A Year of Gratitude #28

 

A Year of Gratitude #28: Michelle

Michelle and I met in December of 2006... she came to my classroom over at Childs (I was teaching 5th grade) to meet me because she was going to be doing her student teaching in my classroom. Michelle and I have another connection too though... we're both Alpha Gams from Zeta Alpha chapter (EMU). 

I had heard her name before in the alumni newsletters, and Diana (another Alpha Gam that did some pre-student teaching with me) was good friends with Michelle. While I had never met Michelle in person, I knew her name, and when Anne Kloack came to me with Michelle's folder... I thought it'd be weird to have her in my classroom with our sorority connection.

Thankfully, Anne didn't think it'd be a problem, and I ended up having the best semester with Michelle in my room.

As a cooperating teacher (what I was called having a student teacher in my classroom), it's hard to have someone new come into your room and take over. If the personalities don't "gel" it can be a REALLY long 16 weeks together. Not all student teachers make it through their program... in fact, my very first student teacher was asked to leave my classroom after being with me for a mere two weeks. I'm thankful that she is not in a classroom because she was not cut out for teaching. I did the world a favor by removing that one.

I digress... when Michelle came into my classroom, she already had a job (the same one she still has here in GA). I was very hesitant to have her in my room because I was afraid that she wouldn't give much effort or try to learn anything because she already had a job lined up.

I had a lot of fun with Michelle in my room, my kids loved her, and I trusted her early on to take the reins. This was not an easy thing to do. In fact, when you student teach, taking over is the scariest thing because you literally are teaching for the first time in your life. It's not the same as teaching a lesson one time a week to a random class for pre-student teaching. When you student teach, you're there every single day... ALL DAY. So when it's time to take over, you literally take over everything and it's scary.

It's also the biggest rush! For most, when you first take over and realize that you CAN do it... it's like a confirmation that it's what you want to do with the rest of your life. I can't quite explain it. Just know, when I handed over my classroom to Michelle, I trusted that she'd do a great job, and she did.

It helped that I felt really comfortable with her, and I viewed her as a friend. The AGD connection bonded us in a way that was unlike the bond I had with previous student teachers. With Michelle, we saw each other outside of teaching... and our personal lives intertwined.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of me and Michelle while she was student teaching with me:

 

At her graduation party

 

Revolutionary War lesson

 

Detroit Tigers Game with my 5th graders

 

At our overnight field trip at Howell Nature Center

 

At HNC

While we were at HNC, I got the call from Steve that he was offered the job at Burt's Bees. I had not told anyone else about him even interviewing, but I did tell Michelle. I was so excited to leave Michigan and head to North Carolina!

Well... now we're here in Georgia and Michelle lives about 45 minutes away. While it's not as close as I'd like, it's a lot closer than 12 hours!! I'm so thankful to have her close enough where I can see her, and can reconnect with her.

Michelle is a funny person. She literally makes me laugh. I love her attitude about things and while it's so vastly different from mine (I'm the rule follower remember???), I appreciate her for being as laid-back and casual about things as she is. 

She's pregnant... 36 weeks actually. If you ask her about labor and delivery, she'll say she doesn't really care. She just wants a baby. If you ask if she wants a boy or a girl (they aren't finding out until the baby arrives)... she'll say that she doesn't care. She's funny about it.

I was able to take some pictures of her when she came over for dinner last weekend... here are some of my favorites:

Hopefully, the next time I see her will be soon... and it'll be while she's in labor and ready to, as she says, "Pop that baby out." I told her, "You know they don't just pop out right??? There's a lot of pushing involved..." and her reply was, "Yeah... I guess."

I'm so thankful to be closer to her, and to have the chance to reconnect. I'm also thankful that she'll be having her baby soon and then I'll finally be able to meet her husband!! :-)