7 months old

I can't believe he's 7 months old... where is the time going?! It seems like Ty is such a big boy these days!!!

At 7 months he is...

-sitting up by himself for long periods of time
-has 2 bottom teeth
-wearing size 3 diapers
-wearing (just about outgrowing) size 9 month clothing
-barely fits into any shoes because his tootsies are too chubby
-eats stage 2 solids 2x a day
-LOVES fruits, especially pears, pineapple, strawberry and apples
-Dislikes peas and most green veggies (just like his mama!)
-started supplementing with formula 1-2x a day
-has the best little belly laughs when we play peek-a-boo and make big smiley faces at him
-has taken interest in the dogs; loves to stick his hand out and let Kella lick his hand
-enjoys playing "Go Fetch" game... where he throws his toys off the bumbo tray and we go fetch them for him.
-still enjoys time in his jumperoo and walker; can scoot on the carpet now by himself
-not sleeping through the night thanks to Mr. Teething Monster
-takes 2-3 naps a day
-enjoys chewing on anything and everything he can get his hands onto
-on the verge of outgrowing his Graco snugride carseat... time for his big boy car seat and stroller!!!

Ty, you are such a blessing and we love you so much!!!

7 months old - what a charmer!

<3!!!

So.Dang.Tired

It was great to have a long weekend, but I did go into work on my day off to try and get some stuff done. It seems like my To-Do list is never ending and I feel like I get nearly nothing accomplished after 4-hours of being in my classroom!

It's only  Tuesday, and the title says it all. I AM SO TIRED! It doesn't help I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night. Ty decided to wake up at 4:15am, and not go back to sleep until it was 5:10... really... 5 minutes before my alarm is set to go off. ::yawn::

My morning consisted of battling my way through insane Okinawan traffic driving to work, running a bazillion copies, skimming reading my gazillion e-mails on Outlook (I sure hope I didn't miss anything important), getting the board set-up, passing out Morning Work to all the tables, take a second to inhale a muffin, quick potty break... and before I know it, the bell is ringing and I need to go outside to greet my 19 smiling 1st graders.

The day was another blur.  I taught them how to do rotating centers, we had another a fire-drill, computer lab training, library training, lunch, specials, and somewhere in there we managed to clean the room and pack-up for the day. Exhausting.

It's a short week... Friday is a half day for kiddos since we have an afternoon of training {joy}. I know the rest of the week will go by quickly, but then it just means another week I need to prepare for. We already are scheduled for a full-day training next week... which means I have got to get my Sub Binder and sub plans ready asap!

Ok, the clock is reading 8:18... I'm impatiently awaiting for Ty's laundry to finish so I can crawl go to bed in hopes to get more than 5 hours of sleep tonight. Puh-lease sleep in a little longer tonight, Ty!!! :)

Alright, this post was random and was more just ranting about my cah-razy day, but it killed some time while I waited for the laundry. I'm 12 kinds of tired and I'm peacing out! :P

Sitting up!

Ty is becoming such a big boy these days. He's mastering sitting up by himself (okay, he still needs someone to watch him or he might bobble around and fall). He's discovering he can play with his feet when he's sitting (he still doesn't bring them up to his mouth... I think his adorable little belly gets in the way). I can't believe he's almost 7 months old. Where has the time gone?!

Loves his little piggies!

What a big boy! 

PS-I know it's still blazing hot here in Oki (heat index in the 90's+) but I just had to see if these adorable GAP jeans fit him! They make him look like such a little man! LOVE.IT!

12 kinds of busy!

Ok, so I failed big time at posting regularly for a bit there. Sorry if I kept you on the edge. I got a job offer and ended up taking it. Needless to say I've been cah-razy busy since then! I packed up my classroom and then Monday afternoon got the call offering me a position teaching 1st grade at a different school.  I had to think about it since there were lots of things to consider.

Pro's-

-It was a 1st grade position - I really like the primary grades!

-It was a newer school right by the ocean!

-It would be a great experience to teach a new grade, get to know a whole new staff, and see what it had to offer.

-I'd still have a teaching job.

Con's-

-The school is on the other side of town.

-Potentially less time with Ty.

-Unfamiliar territory teaching a new grade with only a week to prepare.

-I could potentially not like the school, staff, or 1st grade - big gamble!

Joe, Ty and I did a test drive that evening during rush-hour traffic. I figure I'd time the commute during the worst time of the day and it took about 40 minutes. The school is big and newer than my old school, and it's literally right next to the ocean. Unfortunately, my classroom does not have an ocean view.

I decided to accept the position and the next day was introduced to the staff and I went and moved all my stuff to my new room. It was CRUNCH time. It was now Tuesday afternoon and I finally had my things moved to my new room.  The Meet & Greet (where I meet my kiddos and their parents - and they get to scope out their new classroom) was on Friday. 3 days to prep! I was 12 kinds of frazzled and worked my booty off to get things somewhat presentable. Thankfully, I was able to recruit a few good friends to help me out. I couldn't have done it without them!

The first week of school was a whirlwind.  I survived.  I'm still not fully set-up. As in, I don't have a functioning classroom printer (my co-workers so generously share theirs with me), no type of projector set-up, no student computers, no full set of textbooks for the kids in any subject (a few borrowed teacher manuals from other teachers), and boxes shoved in closets and corners that I wasn't able to get to. One day I'll get organized and not feel like I'm drowning in chaos!

So far, I'm really enjoying things. My co-workers are super sweet, the drive isn't too terrible, and my kiddos are pretty darn cute. There is a BIG difference between 1st and 2nd graders, but I'm thinking it's going to be a really fun year!

Loving all the bright colors I added this year!

We will be bucket fillers this year and doing lots of reading!

Tables instead of desks this year!

Classroom library area.

Amazing bulletin board my two girlfriends put together for me while I frantically ran around trying to make my room presentable for the Meet & Greet! It looks a-amazing! I have the best friends a girl could ask for!

Hurry up and wait...

This is a motto heard a lot in the military.  Growing up as a military brat, I feel like I do a pretty good job at being flexible and just "going with the flow" and tackling whatever comes my way.  I've heard this saying my entire life and I knew that becoming a military spouse wouldn't be easy but was willing to accept the role.

Well, I guess working for a school on a military base falls into this same trap. A week before I'm supposed to report back to work, I find out I'm no longer employed at my current school due to low enrollment, but they are going to place me somewhere else. I was supposed to find out today, but when I went into work, they didn't know.

So here I am waiting.  My room is packed up and boxes are sitting waiting to know their fate.  Will it be a new classroom I need to rush to set-up, or will I be looking for a temporary storage unit for the next year {because sadly our house is filled to the BRIM and have no space for all my junk educational materials}?!

Frustrated and annoyed is an understatement.  I decided to just leave and go home. They'll call me when they get things figured out, and if not, well I guess off to storage it all goes! I've pretty much made up my mind I'm not working this upcoming year and am feeling fabulous about that idea! More time with my little man and I will have time to do things I've been wanting/meaning to do!

Anyway, hurry up and wait is getting old! Time to stop waiting for people to make up their minds and to just do my own thing! :)

Packing-Up

STOP.THE.WORLD! I can't take the chaos!

Well, today my boys and I (Joe and Ty) went in to start packing up my classroom. It's amazing how much crap educational resources I accumulated in ONE year!  This photo doesn't serve the current state of my room justice. It's cah-razy! The OCD in me wants to have a nervous breakdown.  

We packed up the 1,000+ children's books, took down all my posters & bulletin boards, packed my desk and closets, and all the other odds and ends.  The room is so bare and non-child friendly as it used to be.

I'm going in tomorrow to meet with my principal to see what school/grade they came up with for me (hoping they even found something) and I'll decide if I want to accept it or not.  Either way, everything is getting packed up and either transported to a new classroom, or going into storage. I'll keep y'all posted!

Welp...

I got the phone call I was waiting from.  My principal called and informed me there were no volunteers to move to a different school {not surprised... who would WANT to move to a different school 1 week before school starts?} and I would be transferred to a different school on island. Clincher... she doesn't know which school or what grade.  Hmmm, great. More waiting. I do know one thing, I need to pack out my classroom, ASAP. Like, meaning today is Friday evening, and I probably need it packed out no later than Monday.

So I need to see if I get a job offer to a school I'm willing to drive to (one of the schools is pretty far away, like nearly an hour. Meaning, I wouldn't be home until at LEAST 4pm most days, if not later), and a grade I'm interested/prepared to teach in a weeks worth of notice...

I'm content with the idea of being a SAHM. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Ty and staying home with him. It's great and these precious months of his first year are amazing and I thoroughly enjoy watching him discover the world around him.  I mainly wanted to teach one more year because I had the opportunity to {at least I thought}.  Teaching jobs are becoming harder and harder to get in the states.  It would have been nice to save up the extra money.  When we go back to the states next year, we'll be having a big pay-cut since we won't be getting COLA anymore {shucks} and we have big expenses like another car to buy, and possibly a house (depending where we get stationed), new desired furniture, and just the extra expense of living back in America, where Target is a girl's best friend! :)  We also requested a 6 month extension so I could finish out the school year.  If I don't end up teaching, I will be kicking myself in the boo-tay for making Joe request it.  I like Okinawa, but I am more than ready to head out for a new adventure and be back on American soil. I love the irony in it all...

So, I shall play more of the "Hurry Up and Wait" game over the weekend until I hear the offer {if any; who knows, maybe they won't have anything available after all} and see what I want to do.  With Joe being gone, Ty not sleeping through the night, having to wrangle both dogs at the vet's office for over an hour {while nearly getting eaten alive harassed by the 195 dogs all waiting in the entirely.too.small waiting room}, the stress of all this teacher business, having to train a new nanny {I guess now "just in case"... but maybe I won't even need her anymore}, the house always being a mess, there being bottles to always clean (where do these 951 bottles come from? I BF for goodness sake!), the endless piles of laundry to be cleaned and put away, the pile of teacher crap I started to work on but ever since I heard the latest news and pushed it in a big pile and refused to touch since, and all the other gazillion and one things that need to be tended to but I just.don't.have.one.ounce.of.energy.left.in.my.body.

Okay, time to attempt to sit down for a minute, and rest.  It's a rarity these days.