Where does the time go?

Time is flying by me at warp speed these days and it does not make me happy.  My Thanksgiving break was a whirlwind of getting ready for Thursday dinner, I cooked, and taking care of the kids since they were not in daycare.  Hello insane amount of money we saved, goodbye to it all on dinner.  (I don't really think I spent close to $400 on dinner, but it felt like it.)  I really didn't get to spend too much time with my family on Thanksgiving because I was so busy with cooking.  Jerry was running around trying to clean up the miscellaneous things that needed to be put away and the kids were running around like maniacs.  I had to finally walk them down to my mom's house so they could have a nap and I could concentrate on cooking.  My mom did come down after giving the kids a bath and a nap to help out and I am so thankful for that because I was a little behind on some sides thanks to Jerry not prepping his stuff before assembly.  After dinner I fell asleep on the floor while everyone watched football so there wasn't a whole lot of conversation and socializing going on with me.  (It did not help that my siblings got their new phones the night before and were literally glued to them and barely spoke two words all night.)

Dinner was fantastic if I do say so myself.  The turkey came out amazing, although I totally smothered it with my homemade cranberry sauce.  I didn't really get any leftovers because my mom packed them for my brother and sister to take back to school with them.  My mom took the bones so she could make some dumplings, and I am so ready for them even though the weather is not cooperating.  (It's 85 degrees here.)

All in all it was a great and much needed break!

Only 3 weeks until winter break!  Let the countdown begin!

Thanksgiving Break

One of the BEST things about being a teacher are the breaks.  We don't get as many as most people think, but it's more than the average worker gets so I guess that's why they think we get so much time off.  A lot of teachers will still work of course because there are always papers to grade, parents to call, lessons to be planned, etc., but it is a time where we can slow down and procrastinate a little and not stress out that we didn't grade those projects before the grading period ends.

I will be spending this entire break with my kids.  I'm pulling them out of daycare for a week and we are going to have FUN!  Since the weather is nice I plan on spending a lot of time at the park and outside.  There is a new park down the street from our house and I want to check it out with my kiddos.  I can't wait to spend some real time with them.

I'm also hosting Thanksgiving for my family for the first time ever.  I'm not nervous like most first timers are because I can cook a damn fine turkey and it's only my parents and brother and sister.  There is no pressure to be fancy at all because my family likes the traditional, plain Jane Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm really looking forward to cooking this year and taking that burden off my mom who has to work on Wednesday.

I'm so looking forward to the start of my break!  I may have to cut out early ;)

Did She Really Just Say That?

So because a few of my friends and family members are having some fertility issues, I have come to read some blogs of women who are also having the same issues.  I'm trying to learn more of what it's like to be on the outside looking in.  I am blessed with two very beautiful children that I adore and love more than anything in the world.  I now understand that I could never imagine not having them, which is why it pains me to see people hurting over not being able to conceive.  I want to be more understanding to the infertile ladies (or gentlemen in one case) in my life.  I want to know what to say, how to say and most importantly, what NOT to say.  (Relax seems to be a BIG no, no when talking to an infertile.)  I tend to have A LOT of open mouth, insert foot moments because I have diarrhea of the mouth and am VERY opinionated.  I want to understand all the ins and outs of really trying to conceive a child and give support where I can, and shut up and really listen for a change.

Anyway, I was reading a blog about a woman who has been trying to conceive for around two years now and something in her post really pissed me off.  She said something like women who get pregnant easily or by accident don't truly appreciate the miracle of conception.  (Not a direct quote, but it was definitely along those lines.)  Someone else also commented that they would appreciate every minute of morning sickness and every ache and pain if when they get pregnant.  (Yeah, we'll hold you to that mkay.)  WTF does that mean anyway?  I almost feel like she was saying that (I) didn't/don't appreciate my children.  Just because I didn't have to chart, or take my temperature every morning or POS or wait for AF to arrive doesn't mean I don't appreciate what a miracle it is to conceive a child.  Obviously I know that the timing has to be perfect.  Hell, we didn't use any type of contraception for over ten years before we had Kaitlyn.  I reveled in my pregnancy and wanted to learn every little stinking thing there was to know about it.  I read "What to Expect" cover to cover.  I subscribed to BabyCenter.com to get those weekly development updates to read how my little bean was progressing.  I scoured the Internet looking for any information about fetal development making sure I didn't eat or drink the wrong thing to cause my baby to be unhealthy.  I watched my belly like a hawk to see any kind of movement I could of my children.  I did enjoy being pregnant, knowing that I was growing a little human inside of me and the wonder of it all.  I don't think that you have to suffer to appreciate things in life.

I'm just really put off by infertiles when they say things like this particular woman did.  I can empathize with them because I know the joy my children bring to me.  I can't even imaging what I would have done if I found out that I couldn't get pregnant.  Not having children was definitely a deal breaker in any of my relationships.  I knew I would never marry a man that didn't want kids.  (Now if only I could change his mind about how many, we would live in a perfect world.)  But just because I have children and it was, fairly, easy for me to get pregnant, does in no way mean that I don't appreciate the miracle of conception, pregnancy and birth. 

I won't tell you to relax and not think about it so please don't tell me I didn't appreciate my pregnancy.

P.S. To the infertile who said she would savor every pain and bouts with morning sickness, watch out when you do get pregnant because Karma she is a bitter bitch.

Happy Birthday!

To me!  Just had to put it out there.

Also, thank you to all the service men and women who sacrifice all that they are and have to protect the wonderful country we live in.  I am proud to live in the USA and enjoy the freedom I have because there are stellar people out there who put their lives on the line everyday.

If you can read this, thank a teacher.  If you can read it in English, thank a vet!

Diez!

This is just a few days late.  I didn't realize that Tyler turned 10 months old over the weekend.

Tyler is 10 months old today!  I am so close to having a toddler in the house again.  This time, I think I got my payback for the torture I put my mother through, although I still don't have it as bad as my mom did.  Tyler is into EVERYTHING.  He is constantly on the go.  I can't even change his diaper without him flipping around trying to crawl towards the next thing he shouldn't be playing with.  Man is this kid strong too. 

He's not really doing anything new this month.  He's still crawling like a maniac all through the house and really prefers this method travel to cruising.  He pulls himself up with ease, but would rather plop down on his butt and crawl than cruise to an object that he wants.  He is tall enough though that we have to be very careful of where we put things.  He will pull things off the dining room table that are less than two inches from the edge of the table.  He knocks over drinking glasses trying to reach them much to the delight of Peanut who is always looking for human food and drink.  He has slimmed down a lot since he's really started to crawl, so I think he will be walking about the same time Kaitlyn did.

He's not too big on the paci anymore, which is not a huge shock because he never was crazy about it in the first place.  He did use it to go to sleep or to nap, but now he doesn't even really use it for that.  He likes to chew on it and then pull it out of his mouth and then use it as a projectile.

He still only has 6 teeth.  Four on the top and two on the bottom.  He knows how to use them too.  I'm afraid he's going to be a biter when he gets to the toddler room at daycare.

He pretty much eats anything I put in front of him.  He'll eat any kind of vegetable or fruit, so I'm trying lots of different things now that I'm making his food.  He's also starting to really take to finger foods and feeding himself.  It's so cute to watch him with his little pincer grasp putting things in his mouth.  Right now he's feeding himself cheese, cheerios, puffs, raisins and those Gerber veggie snacks.  I'll start to add cooked veggies and cut up fruit to the mix soon.

He still babbles the same words, da da, ba ba, and the common baby gibberish that doesn't mean anything.  He knows what things are and understands what I am saying, but he absolutely refuses to communicate.  I'm going to have to intensify my verbal communication with him and really start to do more signing with him, which means I'm going to have to learn more signs. 

His favorite thing to do right now is put smaller objects into larger ones.  He'll spend hours putting blocks in his sorter.  I leave the top off of it so he doesn't get frustrated with trying to fit a circle into a square hole.  I just love the fact that he's learning that smaller objects will fit in big ones.  He's even really good with the nesting cups which is something Kaitlyn wasn't even interested in with until she was much older. 

He's also into this new, really gross thing now as well.  He'll crawl toward Peanut with his mouth open wide and sit down practically on top of him and let Peanut lick the inside of his mouth.  He thinks it's the funniest thing in the world, but it grosses me out and gets Peanut in a lot of trouble.  It makes me ill thinking that Peanut might have just licked his butt then stuck his tongue down my son's throat.  *shivers, gags*

Memory Lane Monday

Memory Lane Monday is a way for me to reminisce about memories from my childhood even if I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning.

This MLM will be a scattered post dedicated to all the moving I endured in my life.  I was only a military child until I was 4, but we still seemed to hope around from house to house.  This is how I remember not really having roots growing up.

I was born in Seoul, South Korea on November 11, 1977.  We lived there until my grandmother died the following year.  I was around 18 months old when we left for the US.  (I know technically I don't remember this move, but I thought I'd throw it in there since it was my first move.)

We lived in North Vernon, IN.  I still remember the location even though I was very young when we lived there.  I'm guessing my mother chose to live here because her oldest sister lived there.  (She still lives in the same town, in the same house that her husband grew up in.)  We lived in a neighborhood down the street from the high school.  We stayed till I was around 3.

We lived in Fort Knox, KY.  My father was stationed here.  We lived in the military apartment complex so there were lots of children running around and there was a huge playground to play on.  There were also plenty of Korean women on this base, so my mom felt right at home.  My aunt Tina also lived with us for a little while, though I don't remember her living with us.  We stayed till I was about 4.

We lived in St. Cloud, FL.  We lived in an apartment complex.  I don't think that my dad lived with us at this point, but my Korean grandfather did.  I think my mom picked this place to live because she was a single mom and her sister's in laws lived right down the road from us and would watch me all the time while my mom was at work.  I have a lot of great memories with them.  We lived there till I was in 2nd grade.

We lived in Kissimmee, FL.  We lived in a yellowish-beige house that had arches in front.  I would say it was a Spanish style type house.  Not with the tiled roof or anything, just in the outside architectural design.  There were a few kids in the neighborhood to play with and it was really close to school so I walked.  (The elementary school was right across the street.)  I have many memories of this place.  The friends I made, the adventures we had, the family who came and went.  This is the house where I said goodbye to my sperm donor biological father and hello to my step-dad.  We welcomed my baby sister to the family in this house.  I also learned how betrayal felt in this house.  We stayed here till I was in 6th grade.

We lived in Deltona, FL.  This was a hard move for me.  We lived in a rental house, me, my aunt Angie, my dad, my sister and on the weekends, my mother.  My father got a new job with a different company and my mother was still working her old job in Kissimmee, so she would be gone for the week, and come live with us on the weekend.  It was a really hard transition for me, the move and to a new school, let alone middle school.  I skipped a lot of school in this house, which I had NEVER done before.  I also got the chicken pox in this house.  We stayed here for a few months.

We still are in Deltona, FL but are in a house my parents bought.  I was still in 6th grade.  I like this house a lot.  My mother was finally with us for good.  We added another aunt to the household and also welcomed my brother to the family in this house.  I have many memories, good and bad in this house.  I entered high school and went through many growing pains in this house.  I knew what it felt to be violated in this house when some teenagers decided to break in our house while we were asleep and steel a few pieces of jewelery and my mother's purse.  (Later, they came back for the car that sat outside our garage.)  I lost one best-friend(s) and gained another.  We stayed here until I was half way through my junior year in high school.

We lived in North Vernon, IN.  Oh how I hated this house.  I despised living here, in this house and all it represented.  I hated the high school I went to.  I hated that I had to spend my senior year with strangers and not fully appreciate the culmination of all my hard work in school.  I experienced racism directed at me for the very first time in this house.  I counted down the days until I would be out of this house.

That was the last move I made with my family.  I lived in Muncie, IN where I attended Ball State University.  I would occasionally go back to that house and live with my parents during the summer, but that house was not my home anymore.  My family moved back to Florida my junior year of college so they could be closer to my dying grandmother.  After college I lived with Jerry and we began a new chapter of not having roots and moving from place to place.  But that journey will be saved for another day.

Halloween 2010

Kaitlyn had a blast this past Halloween.  She liked trick or treating of course because people kept giving her extra candy for being cute, but she liked passing out candy at more even more.  The big kids were so patient with her when she took forever to make sure she was dropping the candy directly into their bags.

Tyler really wasn't phased by anything at all.  He was having tons of fun ripping the head off of his costume.  He would let me leave it on for a millisecond, then he would, fast as lighting, rip that sucker off and throw it to the ground.  I got plenty of cute pictures though.

Seconds before he ripped the head off.

Posing with her pumpkin

Complacent with his costume for now

Ready to go!

Get me out of this thing!