The kids and I were on our way to a playdate when Aiden discovered something. He announced that he saw a snow angel made out of the blue clouds and that the sun was shining through it. This kid is just too much, how can one not smile when he is around?
Crissy June 23rd, 2009 Add comment
Aiden did something that he has never done before and we were so thrilled. Chris and I woke up before the kids, which is an amazing feat in and of itself. We were chatting and heard a noise. I was sure it was Aiden getting out of bed, but he didn’t make an appearance into our room as he does every morning. Minutes went by and we were convinced that maybe he went to the bathroom or something fell in his room. Then we heard it on the monitor and couldn’t believe our ears…
Aiden had woke up and went right into Alina’s room. She had been awake, but playing in her crib and he must have heard her chattering away to her animals. He went in and started talking to her. It was adorable! “It’s ok little girl.” “I’m here little girl.” We heard laughing and giggling and almost went in to try and sneak a peek. We didn’t make our way in until Alina realized that while Aiden was really funny he couldn’t get her out of the crib and called for, rather cried, for us.
I hope this means that they will be friends as they grow older. Aiden makes Alina laugh the hardest out of all of us. She wants everything he has and he is learning how to share with her. He wants to hold her all the time and always makes sure she is comfortable. They were super cute while in DC and can only hope that this means we will have lots of fun vacations together.
Crissy June 16th, 2009 Add comment
Well, we are back in DC with two kids now and it was worth coming yet again. The trip down was ok. We were supposed to leave in the morning, but Chris had to work a half day so I had to get everything ready with the kids. I didn’t have Alina nap in the morning hoping she would sleep most of the way down, she only napped about an hour in the car. We caught some traffic on the beltway and our GPS rerouted us through local streets, which was not too bad since it was during rush hour. Once we arrived at the hotel I unpacked and took care of Alina while Chris and Aiden went down to the pool.
Day 2 started out on a tired note as Alina was up most of the night teething. That meant we were all up most of the night except Aiden who can miraculously sleep through anything. It was amazing we got up and out by 10 am. We took the Metro into DC and headed over to the Air and Space Museum. I was a little cranky and tried to get myself in check so the trip would be fun for all. On our way over we strolled through the gardens at the Smithsonian Institute. It was warm and humid out so I suggested we make our way over to the museum and have lunch. Aiden and Chris took tons of pictures and Alina was perfectly content on Chris’s back in the backpack. The trainride back was nice and we had dinner at Olive Garden. We thought there was an ice cream place nearby, but the area had changed quite a bit since we had last been there. After driving around for a bit we stopped at a CVS and purchased ice cream and milk. I took Aiden to the pool afterwards and before long we were asleep.
Day 3 started on a much better note as Alina didn’t wake up too many times. We decided to head back to DC and explore the Museum of Natural History. We thought Aiden would like the dinosaur exhibit, but he much preferred the ocean exhibit. He could name almost every fish in the place. There was also a cool butterfly/bug exhibit he enjoyed. The highlight was when he got to hold a caterpillar. Alina’s big excitement was when she was released from the backpack to explore the discovery room the museum offered. She played with instruments and puppets. They both had a really great time and we were all enjoying the day. That is until later inthe afternoon when we left the museum and found another garden to explore. Aiden was upset when we let a stranger take a picture of all of us with “his” camera. He was not happy and was not very well behaved. He even started crying. It was getting late and after he dipped his feet in a huge fountain we felt a little better na dwe headed back to have some dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. No pool as that was one of the privileges he lost during the unpleasant part of the afternoon. Early to bed for all of us and a much better night’s sleep once again.
Last day and we were heading home. We originally planned on staying until Tuesday, but decided against it. After packing up the hotel room, we went to pick up some lunch and worked our way over to Great Falls Park. We ate, took pictures of the falls and then headed home. Not much traffic and we were finally back at the homestead. Successful trip and good for us to get away and reconnect with each other. The upside is that Chris has off one more day to make it even better!
Crissy June 15th, 2009 Add comment
What happens when the very thing that you are supposed to be best suited for is the very last thing you want to do anymore?
I am a teacher. I have always been a teacher. From the time I was young, I had no problem instructing my brothers what to do and how to do it. I have taught children and adults. I have taught them most anything. It doesn’t matter what the subject as long as I have a little knowledge in it. I try to be creative but more importantly give them a chance to succeed or fail on their own. Sounds like I have my career cut out for me, right?
I have been teaching steadily for about 12 years. I have substituted for elementary school, taught 3rd grade, instructed teachers and adults on the internet and web site design. I still teach at a community college teaching web design. I teach my children, ages 4 and 11 months, throughout the day on various subjects. I try to make every possible opportunity a teachable moment. Sounds like I’m happy with what I do, right?
The sad part about all this is that I’m not happy with what I do. I’m not as patient as I used to be with my students, the administration is providing their fair share of obstacles and I am just plain bored with the subject matter. I love coding web pages with html and css. Yes I’m a bit of a geek, but I do enjoy it. What I am not enjoying is passing this information on to the next generation.
What I need is a kick in the pants. What I need is change. But what do I change? Do I change location? Do I change subject matters? Do I stop teaching all together and find something else to do? Hmmm.
I love being home with my kids, but as any stay at home mom will tell you, if she doesn’t get at least some time to do what she wants to do the quality of her work will suffer. I desperately want to get my passion back, but I am finding it hard to figure out what is the best thing to do. I have some time before the next semester starts. I’ll let you know what I decide. Until then, I will imerse myself in my children and learning the piano. Maybe being the student for a change will open my eyes to something I was missing.
Crissy June 9th, 2009 3 comments
My baby girl is 11 months old today. She has been going through so many changes over the last month. She crawls, cruises and has been signing like crazy. Her sense of humor is too funny as she teases her brother, in a nice way. She has 5 teeth and counting. I am really starting to feel like she a person and not a screaming, eating, pooping machine. Don’t get me wrong, she can scream and cry with the best of them, but she is really starting to show signs of understanding what we are saying and being able to communicate with us. It’s pretty incredible.
I do remember what happened exactly a year ago today with regard to baby girl. I was pregnant and just starting to calm down (as I was a wreck most of the pregnancy) and be ready for labor. I was actually looking forward to delivering my little bundle and find out who this person would be. I felt so close to my son from the moment he was born and was hoping, yet scared to death, for a girl. I had just had an appointment with a midwife in my doctor’s practice and she assured me that the baby was in position. It was the very next day that the event that changed my pregnancy for what I thought was the worst happened.
I was sitting in bed watching a movie. I’m not sure which movie it was because I was so distracted by the unbelievable uncomfortable feeling I was having. It felt nothing like labor, which was good because it was over a month until my due date. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I wanted to wait it out to see it it would continue or go away. I had an ultrasound shceduled on Monday and being that this was happening on a Saturday evening while Chris was still working in the basement, I was concerned but not panicked. It was the weirdest most bizarre feeling I have ever felt. I thought maybe I ate something that didn’t agree with me. Apparently, I found out that it was something that didn’t agree with Alina.
Alina, my cute and adorable little girl, had decided that she was not really in position. She had decided that head down was not her forte. She had decided that standing was much better than being on her head. My baby had turned breech! When I found this out at the ultrasound on Monday, I was shocked. I mean, the midwife had just told me on Friday that she was in position. One more thing for me to cry about, like I hadn’t been crying almost everyday as it was. This was such a different experience than I had when pregnant with Aiden, but they say that every pregnancy is different. She is definitely different and I am looking forward to seeing how different she is as she grows into a beautiful young woman. Here’s to my baby girl!
Crissy June 2nd, 2009 Add comment