The baby with no name

So this little Rice girl still has no name. I am being picky and dorky and keep changing my mind. Greg is doing the same thing so we are just stuck! I have actually been telling people that I am open to suggestions. We had some family over for Thanksgiving and had a brainstorming discussion that didn't bring in anything new. I have looked online for everything I can find, and have one long list of 7 names. Here it is: (I'll take votes or opinions on all the names.) We have decided on Hope for a middle name for 99% sure.

Carly
Carissa
Christina
Abby (Abigail but will go straight to calling her Abby)
Allison
Bethany
Julianna

I can't remember if I mentioned this yet, but I got in trouble at the doctor this week. The time before I had gained 4 pounds, but this time I had (allegedly) lost one pound. I only saw the nurse practitioner so she didn't get out the switch and whoop me, but she did tell me, "If you don't gain some weight by your next appointment when you see the doctor you will be in BIIIIIIG trouble." Of course she didn't say it just like that, but that's what she meant. I really need to gain about 10 pounds to catch up with the "normal" range, but as I have said before, I'm am SO not normal.

Halloween Pics

Here's Little Mr. Charlie Brown.. good grief!


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Caleb's language

Please disregard the animal abuse that appears to happen... she probably deserved it anyway. :) (He didn't actually hurt her. She was growling at the open windows and passing cars.)


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In other news, I got my official letter from the real estate commission telling me that my license is on inactive status. Now if we could just get moved and settled in a new place I could start working.. well maybe I'll wait a bit longer, like after baby girl is born.

I passed!

I finally took my real estate license exam this morning and I passed! My deadline was coming soon in November so I had to take the test now or never. After failing two practice exams I wasn't at all confident about how I'd do, but the test was easier than I expected. (And way esier than the practice tests!) I'm glad I did some last minute cramming last night, because a LOT of things I learned last night were on the test today. I guess it was worth not getting much sleep. My next step is to find a broker to sponsor me and activate my license so I can start working. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and jump in here, or wait and see if we get to move to Tyler anytime in the next few months. Then there is also the problem of finding drop-in occasional childcare for Caleb.

You can call me Mrs. Real Estate Mama now! ha

yuck.

So I had a strange/gross thing happen today... I got thrown up on by a toddler... and it wasn't my own child. GROSSSSSSSS. I have never had to deal with kid puke before... so I didn't know what to do! What frustrated me was the other teacher ran into the other room to get away from the smell.. leaving me holding a puking baby and five other kids standing there watching. Oh and there was gagging happening too... Luckily, it was 15 minutes to pickup time so I didn't have puke on my shirt for too long... as soon as I got home I took a shower and felt much better. But GROSSSSSSSSSSS!

Happy Hot October

I can't believe it's October and it's still 90s outside. I guess it's payback for a mild summer.. just dragging it out for a higher average for the year. (In my finance brain that makes sense).

Preschool rocks! Now that we are in cribs, the kids actually sleep! Today, Caleb even slept in his crib in our room. It was simply amazing. It may have helped that he's on drugs for a sinus infection, but he was so pleasant all day (not that he's not lovely all the time) and he didn't have his paci except for sleeping times. A miracle! Starting tomorrow, no more pacis besides to sleep with. Today was a turning point on that. And I got to thinking, if he's not totally off them by the time baby girl gets here, it will be even harder for him to give it up if he sees little sister sucking on one. So that's the new goal. No more pacis by the arrival of little sis. Potty training can wait, and so can a big boy bed, but the paci has to go! Now I need the will power....

Ever lost your child? I have.

I'll start by saying that allergies, exhaustion, and tears make for a nasty headache.

Today at preschool started off alright but went downhill very quickly. By lunchtime we had especially fussy and tired kids, and naptime went the same as usual. I have said it before and I will say 100 more times. Whoever thought 18-month old babies should sleep on the floor on mats was seriously demented. The one boy who always sleeps did sleep so that left six backs to rub and pat and four hands to do it.. which doesn't add up quite right. Caleb, as usual, refused to lay down at all, the twins cried loudly, and another girl kept popping up and escaping to play. (I think there was speed in her lunch or something, because she was seriously hyper.) So an hour into rubbing, patting, crying, and being asked by the adjoining teachers to please hold it down twice, we scrapped naptime altogether and decided to go for a walk outside. (For the record, I didn't think it was a good idea to start with but I'm not experienced enough to say so, so we went anyway) The kids got hot and sweaty and even more tired and cranky so we went back in. On the way in, we passed two older classes and in the confusion, ours just scattered. Seven kids ran in 7 directions. I chose to chase the two who were running toward the treehouse (large indoor McD's type playscape) to rescue them, and by the time I got those two back to the elevator nook, we only had six. The one missing was Caleb. My coteacher tried (unsuccessfully) to corral the remaining 6 while I went to find Caleb. After searching the entire first floor, meeting the director halfway up the stairs, and about 5 minutes later I still couldn't find him and was starting to freak. By then the director, music teacher, receptionist, and librarian were all trying to hang on to our kids and find Caleb. Then the resource lady called down from the second floor saying, "Umm, I have Caleb upstairs." So up we went, with four adults, six kids, and me in tears. (of relief, anger, embarassment, and exhaustion) When we got off the elevator at the THIRD floor there was Caleb with the resource lady. My son climbed two flights of stairs!! I'm still trying to figure out what he was thinking and where he was going. He normally hates those stairs and insists on being carried up them. All the other adults were very surprised that he would strike off on his own since he hardly ever ventures very far from me. I'm atill just baffled.

Soooo, the ending of the day decided that we are moving our class to a room with cribs. Thank Goodness!! So hopefully no more naptime trauma.

And I decree that Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 no longer exists.

This is really about Caleb, but it was a family affair... his first HAIRCUT!!

All-over haircut I mean. We've trimmed the rat tail a few times, and around the ears, but never gone all over shorter. We geard up by putting him in his swing on the back porch, slapped on a #4 guard on the clippers and went to town. Greg held his head still and distracted him while I (gasp gulp) cut his hair. It looks surprisingly good for a VERY amateur job, if I do say so myself. Afterwards I couldn't stop starting at my little big boy. He looks like a little boy now, but he still just a baby. So sad. Here are pics. You can see how long it was before in some of the recent blogs either below or on About the Babe next door.








Just look how long it was!!! (The scissors are just for size comparison. I only used them around his ears, which doesn't look so great)

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Whew

The first day of my second week of being a preshool teacher. I haven't even started having kids yet and all I can say is WHEW am I tired. Today was a planning/work day and I worked like a dog to get all of my lessons planned and bulletin boards hung. Got the month of September totally done, (a good thing since I have to turn them in Thursday) and 2/3s of my bulletine boards finished. Caleb had a great time tearing up the room while I stapled and crinkled paper. Thursday is meet-the-parents day and I am only slightly freaked about that. I think once I get everything organized in my head I'll be okay, but it's all still flying in circles in there. At least I though of an art project, which was the source of much stress this weekend. Fingerprints and paint, should be a blast!

Oh, looky there, it's raining. How bout that.

random good news

I saw an ad in the church bulletin two weeks ago saying the church CDO (children's day out) still had openings. I assumed that it meant for kids, but I still thought to myself, "I should ask if they need teachers." I never did call or talk to anyone at all. Today out of the blue the phone rings and it is the director of the CDO, a nice lady I know of but have never met. She said they were looking for teachers and had two more openings and asked if I was interested. I thought, "Absolutely YES!" but I was a little more business like with my actual answer. She got my name from someone else at church that we know. I am just amazed that she called me so randomly when we really need the money right now. And the best part is Caleb gets to go to the preschool for half price and he'll be right next door to me. It's Tuesday and Thursday 8:30- 2:30. I'll be teaching the kids that are the same age as Caleb (18-2years) and Caleb will go into the higher class since I can't teach him. (policy) I'll only have to work about 8 hours to recoup the cost of having Caleb there and the rest of the month is income. YAY.

Also, Greg asked the church secretary last week if she knew of any part-time work that was needed and today she called with a possiblity for him. It's also at the church doing maintenance/moving type work. Not glamorous, but it's money and we're glad for it.