October: 1 Month of Fun

October just flew by. This makes me sad... October is my favorite month and I feel like I didn't get to do most of the things that we normally do that make October awesome. But, this was a very special October, so it made up for what we missed.

Roland

Oh My God... Roland is a month old already. What the heck happened?! I just want him to stay this tiny (and cuddly) forever. Maybe without the eating every two hours and waking up at night. But, I love him tiny and I just want him today that way. If Charlie taught me one thing it was that they grow too fast and quickly become uncuddly.
Well, Roland, a month of life. I'd say he's had a good month. At his two week check up he had already gained a whole pound, and I'd say he's gained at least half a pound more since then.
Roland likes to be held. It's hard to get anything done with this sweet little guy crying every time he gets out down. He seems to have a grumpy time each day: 7:30-10:00. He's a bear. A grumpy, grumpy bear. Oh well, hopefully he'll grow out of that quickly. As far as nights go: He usually wakes up once a night. Anytime between 2:30 and 4:30. Still, it could be much much worse.
He just had an ultrasound on his kidneys, remember the fluid during gestation? His kidneys look normal now. :)

Charlie
"Mom, can we leave baby home with the dogs." I believe this statement sums up how Charlie is doing quite nicely. Another one, every time baby starts crying I hear, "Ugh, I'm sick of this." Poor guy. These make me smile, though. We're trying to make him feel special every once in a while, but it's tough. Jay and I really need to work on making him feel good. He's feeling rather displaced.
But... This kid is excited for Halloween! He's been talking about it since August and it's finally almost here. Tomorrow I will have a little Bumblebee transformer wandering around. I promise to take pictures.
Charlie had a dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago. His teeth are perfect, according to his dentist. And he was such a brave little boy for the dentist. I'm so proud of him. I love this little boy more than I can possibly express. I had an awful dream the other night. He died, I don't even remember how. But I was so devastated. I woke up crying and it took every bit of my will-power to not go in and check on him. I cuddled close to Jay... I don't know what I'd do with myself if something happened to my Charlie....

School

So, I've been back at school. I'm very happy to be back to work. It's hard, though. I just keep thinking about how much I'm missing at home. Still, I know I can't sit at home without being a nervous wreck, so it's better this way. I love my job, anyway.
That said, I was pretty overwhelmed the first few days back, playing catch-up. And, my poor AP classes are like a whole month and a half behind... I really am not sure how to handle this. I'm going to have to skim over some stuff. But it's hard to say what I can leave out. It's all so important!
It made me feel special when students walked into class and I'd hear, "Yes! She's back!" I love that I'm loved.

Brooke

Brooke is tired, like 24/7. Still, I'm happy. Life is good. I'm not planning on having any more children at the moment though. ;) two is tough. My headaches have increased in frequency lately, but I think the reasons are pretty obvious. I have an appointment next week where I'll hopefully get a new, more permanent prescription for them. I'm thinking that later I'll also go in to get my thyroid checked. Might as well, since I've met my out of pocket for my insurance...

Family

I've got to spend a lot of time with my family this month. It's made me grateful to have such a loving group of people that I belong to. I love them all. It's been fun. We went to Olive Garden for Steven's birthday and the Melting Pot for Jayde's. We had our yearly Halloween Party at Aunt Pam's. I love that so much, I look forward to that every year. There's been Trunk or Treating with my Mom and a Pumpkin Patch with just my little family. It's been nice.
Still, there's this big, aching gap where my sister belongs. It's hurt lately. A lot. I wish she could be here now. I feel all the worse because I haven't been able to get in touch with her much since Roland was born. In fact, we haven't even face-timed together at all since he was born. Not until yesterday when Carrie was face-timing her and I butted in. Sigh. Brandy, I still cry some nights. I miss you lots right now, Sis. I can't wait to see you for Christmas.

Ok, I  know I promised pictures on my last blog post. I haven't had time to upload Anyang from my camera since. This weekend. I'll make a special post just for pictures. Sorry. Busy busy Brooke. Love you all, stay happy. I think I'll end this post with a howl. Aaaaaoooooooo

Meet the New Pack-Member

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I realize it's been a long while since I've posted on here. But, I've had a very very good excuse this time. Introducing: Roland!

Meet Roland Dean Funk. He was born October 2nd 2014 at 12:36 pm. He was 5 lbs 13 ounces and he was 19 inches long. Yup, he finally came. Actually, he decided to come 2 weeks early. And, you know what, that was fine with me. He's small, but healthy. 

Labor

If you don't want to hear the details of labor, please skip to the next section. Some people are curious about labor (I call them strange) and I want to make sure I record it somewhere.

Well, about 4 in the morning on the 2nd I felt very wet and leaky. Very confused, I ran to the bathroom, dripping all the way. To be honest, I wasn't sure if this was my water breaking or some other strange thing that comes with pregnancy. When you're pregnant lots of strange stuff happens to your body. So, we called the on call place with my doctor's office and they said they'd have the doctor call back within half an hour and if hasn't called back to give them another call. Well, we decided to take a shower (a wise move in my opinion). During the shower I had pretty much decided nothing had happened and that I'd go to school and see what happened. I didn't have any contractions or anything. I felt perfectly fine. Still, when the doctor had not called back, we called again and got in touch with a very very sleepy doctor. He said we had to go into the hospital, so, we were on our way. We left Charlie with Aunt Hastings and we drove to the Riverton IHC.

I was still feeling great as we followed the cute little pink and blue baby footprints to the labor and delivery part of the hospital. 

We got put in a room while they ran tests on the fluid leaking out of me. And we waited forever in that room. Seriously, school started while we were in there. I was glad I had called my sub and told her to be there that morning. The first test came back negative, meaning they didn't think it was amniotic fluid, but while we were waiting I started having contractions. They were about 5 minutes apart and they were pretty darn mean. So, yeah, we were sure we were having this baby that day.

They ran a 2nd test on my leakage and that one came back positive. We actually saw that on my monitor before they came and told us. It said they had pages doctor Empey (awesome doctor, just awesome) and we were to be admitted and I was to be given the evil oxytocin in my iv. Oxytocin is my enemy...

And we were moved to the very nice delivery room. Where we did some more waiting. Painful, evil, awful waiting. 

Pretty much as soon as we got in there my contractions were unbearable. I came in there with the idea that I would ride them out as long as possible because for some reason a natural birth appeals to me. Unfortunately I am a wimp. They hurt so bad that I started crying (which should say something because I am usually superb at hiding my tears) . I had no idea how long I'd have up work through the pain, so I decided to get the epidural. Seriously, if there was a timer or something that said that you'll be in labor this long, I think I'd be able to work through it. But, there's not and I couldn't stand the thought of being in that much pain without knowing when it would end. These contractions were worse than any of the ones I had had with Charlie. I was grateful Jay was there when they were that bad. I wish I would have tried getting up and walking, but I wasn't sure if I was leaking still and didn't want to make a mess.

So, in came the anesthesiologist. And, that was painful, very painful. It surprised me that it hurt that badly, because I don't remember it hurting at all with Charlie. Just lots of pressure. No, this hurt. And it hurt a lot. And that place on my back was super sore for the next few days. At least the guy was really nice???

I had Jay turn on the news, because just sitting there is very boring.

While we were sitting I started to get pretty darn dizzy and I kept falling asleep and my arms were falling asleep. Once I told my nurse she got me sat up correctly, I guess the epidural was just going the wrong way. It works by gravity, you know.

And then I I got put on oxygen, again. Like Charlie, Roland's heart rate started dropping with every contraction. I also started feeling a lot of pressure down below. My nurse called my doc and told him to hurry on down, this baby wasn't waiting long. 

He definitely wasn't. My nurse had me do a practice push, but it got him so low that we only did the one and we had to wait...which is hard when all you want to do is push.

Finally Doctor Empey got there, once avian, awesome man. I've decided that the best way to make it through labor and pushing is to laugh your way through. It makes it much more fun. He also let me touch the top of Roland's head. 

Well, 4 pushes later, seriously 4, and that baby came out screaming. I only had contractions for about 6 hours. It was a nice easy, labor, I guess. 

  He had the cord wrapped around him funny, but other than that he was great. 

I got to hold him a lot longer than Charlie, Charlie wouldn't cry and they took him away to work on him. But, Roland and I cuddles a good long time. It seems like we sat in the labor room a long time. 

Finally, they came and moved us and it was over. We now had another member of the family. And he's a sweety.

Sweet Hello's

As you can imagine, I wanted Charlie to meet Roland as soon as possible. He came that night and met Roland. It was really sweet. Charlie started out by giggling when he saw Roland. Sadly, it's not a moment we captured. I was holding Roland and Jay was trying to get his phone working. Oh well. It was sweet and that's all that matters. Charlie even held Roland, but not for long. He was really scared. We had a lot of visitors that night. Each one was excited to see the little guy.

Then, it was 2 days of hospital boredom. We almost got out of there a day early, but the pediatrician thought Roland was too tiny and wanted to keep measuring his blood sugar over he next day. It turned out for the best anyway, he wasn't peeing correctly and we needed to get set up with a feeding supplement anyway.

Home

Ever since we've been home. Roland is a good baby. Usually he gives us a good stretch of sleep. 5-6 hrs. Some nights aren't that nice, but I don't think I could fairly ask for much better. I mean, that's a long stretch of time. He really doesn't cry very often, he's a mellow mellow baby. 

My biggest problem has been myself. I cannot sit still, I just cannot.

School hasn't really helped a whole lot. I still have to do all of the planning and all of the grading. Plus I have to put attendance in. And, now this is not required, but I've also been in twice to help students make up some tests. I'm too nice. But, it's really my problem. Being home is so hard. I've loved the time with the boys, but I really want to go back to work. So, I'll be going back on Tuesday. That'll give me nearly 3 weeks, I've used 10 sick days. It's not what everyone else considers ideal, but I'm not everyone else. I stress more at home than I would at work. As Brandy said, Roland has a loving place to go while I'm working and I'll feel better being busy.

Fall Fun

We went up to the Unitas last weekend with our 1 week old and our 3 year old. Jay has a project for Geology that requires a pretty involved study of the geology of a nearby place. So, we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and go look at the pretty leaves changing colors and study the geology of the Uintas. The leaves were pretty, but I wanted to get some family photos while we were there. I love fall photos. Sadly, it was way too cold to get Roland out of the car. So, we mostly stayed in the car. The geology thing was fascinating. I could really have some fun with that kind of thing. I really could. Still, I'm glad I don't have to write a report about it. 

Once we got up to a certain elevation it started snowing. And hard. We were driving through at least 2-3 inches of snow at one point. Fascinating. And mirror lake was just a blanket of snow. I was very glad to get back to the non-snowy valley. Snow is always more beautiful when you know home is still nice and warm.

I promise I will get some pictures of Uintas up ASAP. I just haven't gone through my camera yet.

Well, this post has been long enough, I believe. I'll probably have more to say about stuff later. Adios.

Fall is Here!

Late

I realized I was two days late writing. What's sad is that I even had Friday off of work. Friday ended up bein rather busy, though. So I never wrote. It was the good kind of busy though. I actually felt like a Mamma, going to the grocery store mid-day without Jay and a Charlie in tow. Charlie was a really good boy for me, though. I am excited to spend my other days off with him this year and make them special days with my (soon to be) boy(s). 

Charlie

I guess this is a good place to just make a Charlie section. 

So on Friday I got to spend all day with him and I really really enjoyed it. I started out stressed, but know we started running errands we got to talk, just us two, and I just loved it. At the end, we went to Chic fil et, which is his favorite right now because of the chicken/slide combination. He's gotten so brave. He'll go slide all by himself now! We're going to take him to the lagoon next week because now we know he's brave enough to ride the rides. :) I can't wait!

He's so excited for his little brother. I can't wait to see how he does and to let him hold and kiss Roland. That's what I'm most excited to see. I can't wait for Charlie to meet his brother. It probably won't be the perfect moment I envision, but I know Charlie will be a good big brother.

Oktoberfest

I convinced Jay to take us up the canyon to Oktoberfest this last weekend to see the leaves. We don't drink beer, but we enjoy the food and we enjoy the mountain. We decided to invite my Mom this time and I'm glad we did. We took a very refreshing walk around Snowbird. It misted on us most of the walk. Combine that with the smells of Autumn and the leaves beginning to change and you have the perfect afternoon that only a canyon can offer. I was grateful we went. Jay and I decided that we're going to go on a drive up to the Uintah's in a few weeks to see more pretty leaves. It sounds like Jay needs to observe a rock for his Geology class while we're there, too. I remember that assignment... It was fun! Yay outdoors!

Shower

So my sweet Mother, my awesome cousin Misty, and my always caring Grandma hosted a baby shower for me and little Roland yesterday.

I'll admit, at first I felt that maybe I didn't need a shower, since this is my second boy, but I am VERY grateful that they gave me one anyway. It runs out that there is so much that I do need that we don't have. I also needed some support this week. I'm starting to get to nervous about having another kid, but now I know I have a large number of people that I can call on for love and guidance and support. I appreciate everyone who came and helped me spoil this new little guy. Thanks so much guys.

School

I think school is going a little better. My honors and core classes are doing a little bit better. My AP classes seem like they really want to try harder. So I'm hopeful, but pessimistic. We'll see how they do. :)

We had parent teacher conferences this week, which was exhausting. I had a few good talks. I talked with some of the parents from my AP classes, but not really the ones I needed to. There were two that I wanted to talk to and we talked about whether or not AP was a good choice. Interestingly enough, both students decided they wanted to stay in AP, that it was something they wanted to pursue. I still don't quite understand, but I'm willing to make the effort if they are.

I had my first evaluation this week, too. Doin good, doin good.

Anxious Feelings

It's getting awfully close to baby time, and I'll admit that I'm getting a bit stressed out about the whole thing. I'm trying to figure out what all needs to be cleaned and everything, but it's tough when you come home absolutely exhausted all of the time. Since it's dark week this week, I am planning on doing a room a night and really getting it cleaned well. We also need to get a crib ready and find all of the bottles and such found. I need to get some clothes ready, clean my jeep (OH MY I need to clean my jeep!). We should set some kind of baby station up in our room. I'd also feel a whole lot more comfortable if I had a plan once I do go into labor. Sounds like a good week to get started! :D

Then, there's the whole, "Can I handle two children question?" But, that's really in the back of my mind. Charlie's still alive, so I count myself as a successful mother. ;)

Roland Name and All

Well, if you haven't heard, the new baby's name is going to be Roland Dean Funk. Yes, this baby is named after a  few characters in Stephen King's Dark Tower Series. No, I really do not wish that Roland is anything like any of the characters in the book. yes, I mostly admire Roland in the books but I am also disgusted with him at times. So, no, really Roland isn't named "after" the Roland in the books. I really like the name Roland and that's pretty much all there is to it. Because, who would really want their child to have the same fate as Roland Deschain of Gilead? Jay and I have both read the Dark Tower series and we both like the name and we both think it sounds right. So don't give me any crap about naming my child after a Stephen King novel. Some people just look horrified when I tell them where I got the name. Oh Utah. :D There, that is all the defending of Roland's name that I am going to do because I honestly don't think I should have to defend it in the first place.

Jay and Class

I hate it when Jay goes to school. I hate it. I miss him and even when he is home he's constantly working on homework. Still, I support his decision to better himself through higher education and will continue to do so until he is done, whenever that may be. Proud of you sweety. I just miss you. Summer will come again!

Home

 Home is home is home. I enjoy having Carrie and Jayde staying with us. I hope they are more than ready for a newborn. Im gunna need a lot of help.

Well, I think I'm done for now. Maybe the next blog post there will be a baby? Let's hope not, he'd still be early.

Feeling Better

Hi everyone, I am sorry about the last few negative posts. I believe that this pregnancy has been kind of hard on me. Working and being pregnant is really much much harder than going to school and being pregnant. At least for me anyway.
Anyhow, I actually am feeling pretty positive today. I've had quite a few good interactions today, it helps when you have a good day at school. So, YAY, expect a mostly positive blog post today.

School

So, school is still pretty stressful. You know how at most jobs people actually get 10 minute breaks here and there? Well, I don't. Except for lunch, when I actually do go socialize with some friends, I am constantly working. It's exhausting. On the bright side, I don't do very much work at home. I make it a rule to only grade one assignment at home per night. I need to hang out with my little boy too much to work any more. Eventually I'm going to run out of stuff that I planned for my AP classes over the summer, though. Then I will probably have to work from home bit to make sure I actually have lessons for them. But, I am trying to get SOME stuff planned for AP.

Speaking of my AP classes, I still can't seem to get them to do their work. They took their first test today and I have already graded the multiple choice sections. The scores have so far reflected their performance on their homework. I'm planning on having a heart to heart with them about doing homework and learning from their homework when I see them next. I'm also planning on making a deal with them that will hopefully encourage them to stop playing catch-up on what they haven't handed in and focus on the homework that we are currently doing. I'm tired of them being behind and I want them to kind of start fresh with this new unit. I'm hoping this test score will give them a big enough slap in the face that they'll listen to me! I did have 3 students come in and get some help after school, so that's encouraging. Sadly, they weren't the kids that were failing. 

So yesterday during 1st period I was getting class started and I noticed that the principal was sitting in the back of the room with this lady. I was surprised, so of course my heart started racing. But, I mean, we get observed so much that it really wasn't a big deal. It was a pretty good lesson, too, and the students were mostly engaged. It was odd, though, because they stayed through about half of the class. Usually my observations have been 15-20 minutes max. Also, the principal and this lady were being rather loud. Just as they were leaving, the lady comes up to me and thanks me. Apparently they were "training the boss," as she put it. But, she thought my class was great. I was confused, but pretty much went back to teaching without thinking much about it again. Later, I got two emails, one from her and one from him. They both looked like some online form that had been filled out and forwarded to me. There really wasn't any explanation. All both of them said was, "Good proximity." As near as I can tell, she was training the principal to fill out this form during observations. Why they did that in my class, I had no idea. Personally, I was a little bit peeved that they spent that long in my class without giving me more feedback than, "Good proximity."

Well, today, I was walking out the doors on my way to get some crickets when I was stopped by the principal. He said that he was very impressed with what he saw and he wanted to just count that as my formal evaluation for this semester (as a provisional teacher I have to have 2 formal evaluations per year). I couldn't help it, I cheered right in front of him. Those are so stressful because if I do poorly on those my job is on the line. I'm very happy that I now have one less evaluation to worry about! I even did a little happy dance after I turned the corner. Teachers do happy dances, too.

I need to get the grades up in my other classes. I'm planning on taking some time to work on standards with my biology classes next week. It's been hard, though, because the other teachers in my department have been pushing a pretty tight schedule. 

Anyway, grades are still low, but I am trying to optimistic that I can the students to get their act together.

Charlie and the Fair

Aunt Hastings treated us with a trip to the fair this last weekend. It was quite fun. The last few times we've been to the fair we have completely ignored the rides and carnival stuff. It's just too expensive. This year Grandma Overby bought Charlie a wrist band and we got to watch him ride on some rides. I was pretty certain she wouldn't get him to ride most things and definitely wouldn't be able to get him to ride on any rides by himself. I was surprised on both accounts. My little guy must have grown some bravery over the last year because he went on a lot of rides and many of them were by himself. He looked unsure at times, but he braved it out and ended each ride with a smile. :)

We're still working on potty training. In fact, I'm pretty sure we've lost some ground. Speaking of... I'm gunna go make a little guy go upstairs really quick.

Charlie is really excited to have a little brother. This morning, the first thing he said to me was, "Is the baby coming today?" It's so cute. Little he knows... little he knows.

Baby

Baby seems to be doing about the same. Last night I had a latte and a coke AND my caffeine-filled headache pill. By bedtime that little boy was rolling around so much I thought I'd never get to sleep. Silly little guy. 

I'm starting to get excited to meet the little fella. One thing is for sure, I hope he either comes early or on time and not more than two days later. Then I get to spend UEA weekend with him and can save a few days off! ;) It would be perfect! Cross your fingers for me! And I'll make sure I have a trampoline ready. (Kidding)

Brooke

Brooke is okay. Like I said, I'm feeling better and optimistic. Things are going to work out. Everyone at school seems to be impressed with me as a teacher, so I know my job will still be there when I get back and I'm not jeopardizing anything by leaving for a while. I'm still really worried about my how my AP classes are going to work. But, I think at this point I have to wait to see what happens. There's only so much I can do to prepare, and I've about finished with that. OH! PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE ME FAX MY FMLA PAPERWORK TO THE DISTRICT ON MONDAY! PLEASE!!!!!

Anyway, have a good week everyone and I will try and stay as positive as I feel today. Jay promised to take me to Black Bear Diner tomorrow and I can't wait!

5 weeks Until My World Flips Again

Yup, another two week break from writing. Oh well. I've been busy, to say the least. Honestly, I don't feel all that much like writing right now, anyway. I'm kind of under the impression that no one really reads this anyway; that it's purely for me. That's ok, I guess, but if I'm doing something purely for my own enjoyment than really is rather play video games or read a book... Or you know, hang out with my child a bit. So, hey, if you do read, maybe you could let me know?

School

Obviously school is what has been keeping me the busiest. I feel pretty good about myself as a teacher most of the time. And I get told quite often that I'm doing a great job. In fact, the superintendent came in and told me I was a superstar teacher... Never met the man before, though. ;) Today, however, my confidence isn't as high as normal due to a variety of things.
1. Grades are low: this group of kids just doesn't turn in their stuff! And I just had them do the first standard, so more than half of certain classes are failing because of that. So, I'm just feeling low. I expected it because no one believes that I make them get a certain score in order to get any points at all... I'm hoping that they'll realize that they should take these seriously soon. And maybe do a make-up day sometime soon for my non-honors classes, because they don't tend to come after school even if I ask them to.
Also, I've made it so that my honors students get 1/2 credit with any late work. I was just so frustrated with them last year and how much late work I got. It was ridiculous and I didn't want to deal with that again. Plus, honors kids shouldn't be turning things in late so often. So, it's been hurting their grades. I'm hoping they'll figure it out soon. But I am also hoping that it's not too harsh of penalty.
2. Related, maybe. I had my first parent of the year come in and ask why her daughter was failing. This girl is in my honors class, but she's one of those who really probably doesn't belong there. So far she's turned in every assignment in late and incomplete. She also did poorly on her test, did not hand in her unit paper, and did not pass her standard. Well, it's obvious to me. The student did make up her standard during lunch today, before her mom came after school. So, that brought her up to a D+.
Her mom didn't seem very happy about me requiring 100% on standards, but since her daughter had made it up she didn't really push that subject. What made me really upset was her obvious discontentment at the sight of my pregnant belly. She even asked about how long I was planning on being gone and her tone with each reply blatantly implied that she didn't approve of me leaving to have a baby. 1. I have gotten a capable sub, so your daughter should be in capable hands. 2. You don't have the right to judge me for having a family, since you have one. I have every right to have a child. Sorry mine didn't come at a convenient time for you. 3. Your child should be responsible for her own learning on an honors class and I shouldn't have to be there to her hand every step of the way. 4. She seemed upset that she might not be able to come in and get in my face (yes, that is her phrasing... She said she liked to get into her child's teacher's faces). You have a disclosure with my email right at the top. Oh, you also signed it. Which means you can't be upset about the standard thing either because if you had read it you would know about the standards already. 5. We ended that conversation with her saying, "Okay..." With the tone that implied she didn't quite believe that I was able to go on maternity leave and that her daughter would still be able to learn. Look, if you don't trust me or like this circumstance then please, by all means, transfer your darling into a different class. Grrrr
3. My AP students have very low grades and do not get their homework done on time either. I'm wondering if I am assigning too much. I mean, about half of them aren't doing what they need to do. I'm not sure what to do. We're so behind already if I want to get through all of the units. Some students have even said my homework isn't bad compared to other AP classes they've had. So, should I tell these students who are struggling to maybe start where we are and work backwards to get caught up when they can? Just unsure of how to proceed here.

Charlie

Charlie is getting bigger. He's going backwards at the moment with the whole potty training thing, though. He refuses to poop in the potty and he's stopped telling me when he needs to pee. I think he's scared of failure. Silly child. He is so excited to have a little brother, but he has no idea of what all is going to change.

Baby

Baby is only 5 weeks away. Needless to say, I'm getting nervous.  Is it too late to say I'm not sure if I want any more kids? :) In excited, though.
Baby had another ultrasound last week and the results show that he's not too tiny. 34th percentile for a tiny mommy isn't a bad thing.

Well, I'm done. I just got done with a birthday party for my doggy-niece Avery and I'm pooped out and grumpy.

The Last Two Weeks: Let the Fun Begin!!!

First, let me explain that I writing this phone, so you'll have to forgive a few typos and autocorrect errors. Sorry, I'm on my way up to one of my favorite places and I didn't have time to stop and write in my blog. ;) Now I'm riding in the jeep, so I have some time to type.

It Starts

I realize I didn't get to post last week. I think I have a really good excuse. With school starting I've had a lot on my mind. 

Let's start with last week. There wasn't actually any school last week, but the district hosted a while week full if meetings and professional development to attend. Why would they want us working in our classrooms the week before school starts, right? That really is one of the more frustrating things. We were promised 3 days for teacher planning. Well, we got half a day for 3 days. Gee, thanks a bunch for the 9 hours to get ready. The other annoying thing about last week was the fact that it was the BIGGEST waste of time that I have had to endure my entire 2 years teaching. It honestly felt like they were just trying to fill the time, my time. I could have spent this time much more productively working on my own.

The Weekend

The weekend was really great because it got to spend a lot of time with my boys. It was a much needed weekend, too.

To start, Friday was Charlie's birthday (the little guy turned 3!) and I couldn't help but throw him a birthday bash. It was a lot of fun, and Charlie had a blast, but it was dang exhausting. It was definitely worth it though, Charlie was so excited to have a night devoted purely to himself.

On Saturday we had a family reunion to go to. It was fun, but the best part was just being able to have another day to hang out with my boys because we didn't go to Hale. It was very nice. 

Sunday was pretty much a normal Sunday. After dinner we went to the Great Salt Lake to collect brine shrimp for my classes. It was actually quite fun. Jayde came with us and I was so proud of Charlie for walking the whole way out there and back. He HATED the mud though. It was pretty funny, who'd of thunk he was such a prissy boy.

School

I'm just going to mention that I am frustrated now because I had finished my post and then somehow deleted everything.

Anyway. The first day of school came and went. Classes on the first day went by without any major hiccups and all of the students were very polite. It was a pretty good day. I, however, was unable to enjoy my successes. I was just too overwhelmed. I just couldn't see doing this 179 more days and have a baby in the middle of it. I'm still quote worried about it, to be honest. After school I hurried off to Hale while Jay went to the first of his classes. Joy.

The second day of school felt much better. It really wasn't any different than the day before. But I felt better. I think i just needed to get back into the swing of things.

The rest of the week passed by rather uneventfully, but indefinitely came home practically dead every day. It's an exhausting thing, teaching.

I had a rather unhappy encounter with a patron last night. It upset me quite a bit, but I right now it's really not even bothering me anymore. I'm just more irritated that it happened than anything else.

Charlie

Charlie has been a champ about Mommy going back to work. I'm so proud of him. My favorite thing right now is when he holds my hand and whispers, "Mommy, you're my best friend." It makes my heart swell every time.

Charlie had his 3 year appointment yesterday. Everything seemed to be normal, but I was flabbergasted when I heard that the doctor told us to watch his weight. Here I was thinking he looked rather skinny every time I see his ribs. Shows what I know.

Baby Red

I had an appointment yesterday as well. Yeah yesterday was a fun day.

Red is still measuring small, so I get to go have another extra ultrasound next week to check on him. It's during school, so yeah, I get to figure that out. I think I've somehow worked it out.

The Joke of the Day

I just have to tell you today's story.

This morning was extremely frustrating. Seriously, Mrs. Funk should have had a giant FAIL stamped onto her forehead.

I was planning on doing a lab with those brine shrimp I talked about earlier. Well, I got to school and all the brine shrimp were dead. Yes, all of them. So, I had to think quickly and decide what to do during first period. 

The lab was meant to sit up a rather long PowerPoint and break things up a bit. I decided that I would go ahead and do the whole PowerPoint and if there was time I was going to do the first half of the lab, the part without the brine shrimp. It turns out I only had time to finish the PowerPoint and those poor students had to sit there and listen to me and take notes for a whole hour. I felt so bad for them, how boring! Needless to say, I was really flustered and unorganized the whole class period trying to figure out how to make things a little bit more upbeat. 

The last few minutes of class I was asking the students some review questions when the principal walked in to observe my class. Great, perfect. He could have come all week, but he decides to come when I can barely think straight. Oy. Well, class ends and I got to go on to 2nd period.

I had another lab planned for 2nd period, but for some reason I panicked and decided that there wasn't enough time to do the lab with the assembly schedule. So, I spent another hour extremely flustered, trying to figure out what I was doing. I just wasn't working like I normally do. I'm usually very composed and organized.

Well, lunch freed me from my hell and I was rather disgusted with myself. I needed the break, though. I managed to find some of my confidence for 3rd period, since if be doing the same thing that I ended up doing 2nd period. So, that class was going a lot better. 

During 3rd, I took a few students down to the main office to help me carry some boxes back to my room. On our way there, the principal saw me and beckoned me over to talk to him. I thought, great, he's going to ask what was going on this morning when he observed my class. Here is what he said. Try and picture my face.

"Brooke, that was the most awesome teaching I have seen all week. It was great. I'd like to have the production team come in and take a video of your class sometime next week. I want to show it to everyone at the next faculty meeting. " He then went on to explain how that would work. My expression must have been pretty clueless because he seemed to be thinking I wasn't understanding him. It probably would have been even better had I kept my mouth shut, but I had to explain the very confused expression on my face. So, I explained to him how my morning really went. He went on to say how he was happy to have a teacher who can teach so well even on the "bomb days."

I walked back to class, laughing the whole way . I nearly forgot my students at the office. 

Oy.

Last Week

Well, this was it, the last week of summer. It's been a pretty good week, I guess. Very relaxed, I think. I'm going to do this a little bit differently to continue the "week" theme and write about each day.

Monday

Not much happened on Monday. I took my brother's dog to and from the vet. That was the plan for the day, anyway.
I also decided that Charlie needed a trip to the park and a slurpee, so we did that. Other than that, it was a pretty boring kind of day. It's dark week, so we didn't even have Hale. It was a good, relaxing, Masterchef kind of night. 

Tuesday

On Tuesday I went to school and made copies of my 1st unit of AP Bio. I thought it was going to take me all afternoon, but I had the copier all to myself and it only jammed once, so I got all of the copying done in about an hour. Then I went to my classroom and started unpacking my room. I had everything all put away because I didn't want it out for the summer school students to destroy.
I also talked to the secretary about subs. This has been a subject that has been scarring me all summer long. I have to find a sub that is willing to kind of clear their schedule for when Red comes. I've been putting it off a bit. More on this later.
Then I went home and I finally, after two years of wanting to do it, vacuumed out Charlie's playhouse. I've known it was dirty and I've never really felt comfortable letting him play in there. I feel much better about it now, especially since Jay sprayed it for spiders.
I thought it was going to be a lame, watch tv all night kind of night again, but Jay convinced me to take a walk. As soon as we got outside it started pouring rain. It was lovely. We were all drenched and I LOVED it. More walk in the rain, please.

Wednesday

I went back into school on Wednesday to finish putting my classroom back together. Way too much crawling and climbing around for a pregnant woman. Needless to say I was EXHAUSTED when I got home.
We still managed to go for a walk that evening, though.

Thursday

Yesterday I stayed home with the kid all day. I love him, but he really can drive me up the wall sometimes.
I decided to sleep in as long as I possibly could and was woken from a fairly fitful sleep with the door slamming open and "HI MOM!" :) It made me smile. The best part? It was 9:00, a pretty good time to sleep in to.
I went out and played in a certain playhouse for far too long and was kind of grumpy and restless most of the morning, though. I wanted to go shopping for Charlie's birthday and for his playhouse so badly. But, we're kind of poor at the moment, so I had to restrain myself, which made me a little grumpy.
When I got the kid down for a nap (ha ha as if he was actually sleeping) I finally got up the nerve to start calling substitutes for October (ish). Well, lucky me, the first person I called was a gold mine. She has a teaching license for California and has a biology background. WIN! She's also pretty darn flexible, emails and texts. TRIPLE WIN! She seems very willing to work with me. So, yay, job done. Kind of. We can only have a sub for a maximum of 4 days a week, so I need to figure out a Monday sub. But, honestly, I'm thinking of just calling in a random sub for Mondays and giving them a very simple lesson. I don't know, but now that I found a main sub I need to talk to the secretary and ask how to report it. That'll be where I start anyway. Then I can think about Mondays. Yes, I'm proud of myself.
I had a doctor appointment yesterday afternoon. Things are looking ok... there's some extra fluid on Red's kidneys and we've done an extra ultrasound scan to keep an eye on it. Things have pretty much stayed the same, there wasn't an increase in fluids, but not really a decrease either. There isn't enough fluid there that the doctor is super worried, he's just made a note to tell the pediatrician when the baby is born, and they might do an ultrasound on him when he's born. So, I'm a little bit worried, but, at this point there's not much to do about it.
The doctor also isn't too happy about my weight gain. Yeah, I gained one pound in two weeks. So, I'm a little small. I'm a little worried about that, too. I just wish I had more of an appetite. Oh well, I might start gaining once school starts and I'm less stressed (I know that statement might not have made sense to most of you. Just go with it). Charlie was measuring small for a little bit of my last pregnancy, too, so it might be nothing to worry about it.
Last night I got to go hang out with my friends. I got to see Setar! I haven't seen Setar for a very long time. She's been in California (darn California). I was so happy to see her again. She better not be away so long again.
Then, Jay was really craving Olive Garden, so we went there after hanging out with my buddies. We were out really late and pretty much went straight to bed when we got home.

Friday

Today is a lazy day. I got the stuffed bell peppers in the crock pot and haven't done anything but watch Frozen with my cutie-pie and write in this blog.
I don't know that we have any plans for later, either. I know we need to watch Big Brother (he he), but there's not much else. I think I'm going to make us go shopping for Charlie and maybe clean up the porch as well.
  

Saturday?

No real plans for tomorrow. I was thinking we could go to Antelope Island or something (YAY Darkweek) because I need to collect some brine shrimp for school anyway. It'll depend on how late we sleep in.

Sunday?

Probably church... that is all.

Well, that's it. I didn't really like the format of this post, so it probably won't happen like this again. I'll talk at you next week. ;) Hopefully I'll have more to say after school and district meetings.