Wow, post number 3 for today. (Beat that, Alana! Remember my old blog I never used?) I feel like an important blogger. (I'm going to hurry up. Our electricity just started doing really weird things.) When we were in Louisiana, we had a sitting with a couple of photographers. Alana won the sitting, so we finally got the whole family together for pictures. Here are a few of them Stacy Landry posted on her blog. I can't wait to receive the rest of them.

I'll be the first to admit, I am not perfect. I can never think of words I want to use, I make tons of typos, but I am a grammar snob. This goes back a very long way. At least back to 6th grade. I had Mrs. Ashworth. She taught grammar. She gave us a HUGE grammar test that only 3 of us passed. (Yes, I remember making an A on this.) This was a big test. She had built it up and was shocked when almost everyone failed. We were able to sit outside and read books for a week while she retaught grammar to the rest of our classmates. My classmates even decided I should be the editor of our little class magazine for Louisiana History. (Oh, that was an AWFUL class where Mr. Morris would lean back in his chair and pick his nose.) Ok, that's not the worst of the nerdiness. I don't even know if I should admit what I am about to discuss. Beth laughed her butt off when I finally admitted this many years later....Ok, here goes. I loved diagramming sentences. I really did. We bought our textbooks and could sell them back each year. Well, I decided to keep my grammar book, so I could diagram sentences for fun once I was done with that class. Ok, please stop laughing at me. I guess I like grammar because it is the one part of English I was good at. It is logical and straight forward. There are definite rules. I didn't have to read something and think of wonderful new scholarly ideas to put into writing. It didn't force me to make sense of all the wonderful (ok, not really) British poets. Wordsworth....he just wasn't for me.

Maybe, I shouldn't admit this because I am sure I have made some mistakes in my blog. (If you notice any, please email me, so I can fix them).

I love this website. I guess it's just the nerd in me. Anyway, today an English teacher sent out a mass email stating, "To whom did I give the locker notebook to?" Ok, if you are going to be fancy and use "whom" correctly, at least finish the sentence correctly.

Here are some of the common mistakes that drive me nuts:
lose v. loose It seems most people want to use loose. I have seen it so often that I started second guessing myself on the correct usage.

myself Oh, this is a big one and really gets to me. Please don't ever start a sentence with myself or use it as a subject of your sentence. Please! You don't sound smarter.

Beaucoup: Being from southern Louisiana and having learned French, I understand that "beaucoup" means many. It is not a noun, and it is not pronounced "boocoos."

One that isn't on the website is mines. You know, "that's mines." My social studies colleagues would like to remind you mines blow things up.

I'll admit, it has taken me years to learn the difference between bring and take. I was probably 23 before I even knew there was a difference. I still mess up when speaking, but I am learning to catch myself (did I use it correctly?)

Another one that gets me is where to put the punctuation with parentheses. I like parentheses (in case you didn't notice). If this had to be APA style with parenthetical documentation, I could punctuate like a champ. It's just my little asides that get me.

Ok, I will stop my rant. Hopefully, I didn't make too many errors or make myself (there it is again) sound like too much of an ass.

Thank goodness the week is over. It has been rough!!!!! I started with a bad sore throat on Friday. I gave in and went to the doctor on Monday. She gave me a Z-pack. I lost my voice on Tuesday. It's always fun trying to teach without a voice when your lesson plans were relying on class discussion. By Wednesday, I was able to get a microphone system to use, so the kids could hear me a little better. I woke up yesterday feeling A.W.F.U.L. Apparently, I hadn't eaten enough with my antibiotics on Wednesday. My stomach felt horrible, so I had a wonderfully nutritious breakfast of gingerale and jello. I went to work thinking I could make it, but half way through first period, I thought I was going to die. The wonderful attendance secretary got me a sub in less than an hour! I somehow managed to make it to Publix to buy some soup and more jello before getting home. I laid on the couch and had to force myself to get up. I was sicker than I have been in ages. I even ran a fever. I NEVER have fever. By dinner time, I was able to force myself to eat some soup and started feeling better. I felt like a new person today. I even have half my voice back. It's really useful to make 6th graders understand they should not talk during a quiz. I'm going to get myself in trouble with that 6th grade class. I don't know how to deal with them. They seem to not fear me or take me seriously when I ask them to sit down and listen. I don't know if it is just immaturity or a bad group. I am now down to only 15 of them though. One was moved from my class today because her parents wanted her to have the other science teacher....oh well. One less paper I have to grade.

We don't have any plans for the long weekend. My mom randomly sent me some money as a nice surprise. I think I may use it to invest in some clothes. I'm down to about 6 outfits to wear to work. I was resisting buying too much because I was determined to be back in my old clothes. I will blame the surgery and now feeling bad for not exercising like I planned.

I can't believe how grown up Carter is. He has been such a sweet baby. Today, he came home shrieking just for fun and cooing up a storm. He is trying to sit up and loves to be held so he is standing. Last night, when I fed him, he would talk if to me and pull up on the tray of his high chair if I didn't feed him fast enough. I don't want to forget any of these moments. We have tons of little 30 second videos just to remember the little things.

I am not getting much work done when I get home in the evenings. I want to spend time with Carter and have lots to do for him. I am trying to use my planning periods wisely, so I don't need to take work home. Of course, I haven't had papers I need to grade yet.

I got my pathology report on Friday. I am fine. The doctor said the nodule was benign, but it was weird that I only had one. I'm hoping I don't ever have to have the other side removed.

I have added new pictures and videos on flickr.

Today, Carter started talking with his spit. I bought a new mirror, so I can see him while I am driving. On the way to day care, I could only see the top of his head. I adjusted it, and on the way home, I could only see his feet. We will try again tomorrow. He did like the angle this afternoon. He talked to himself the whole way home.

Last night, Kevin fed Carter. My too clean husband was fussing at the poor baby because, he had food all over the place. I told Kevin he probably did the same thing to his mom. He insisted he had never been messy. (My husband earned a D in auto shop because he refused to get his hands dirty!) At this point, I decided to call his mom and ask her. She did say that he had gotten food all over both of them when he was baby. That was a major victory for me! We joked that we would just start sending his food to daycare, so they could deal with the mess. Well, when I picked him up this afternoon, his teacher asked me if I had been feeding him any food. She wanted me to send some, so she could feed him. Now, I just need to decide if I will feed him again in the evenings. He has only been getting food once a day. I really loaded him up tonight. Carter woke up to eat at 1:00 this morning, so I decided I would fix him. He got green beans mixed with oatmeal, and a 7 oz bottle (one more ounce than usual). I'm hoping this will hold him over until the alarm goes off at 5:30 (or 5:45 if I can convince Kevin to sleep that late.) It will be my last morning of getting to sleep that late. Ok, I know 5:30 isn't late, but I am anticipating needed to get up at 5:00 to get to school on time. I will try that on Thursday and see how much time I have. I'm hoping I can get up a little later and still make it to school to get a little done before the kids get there. School starts at 7:25. In years past, I arrived around 6:30. I hope to get there by 7:00 or a little before. When I have morning duty, I must be there by 7:00. I have worked it out with a friend that she will do a few of my rotations at the beginning of the year until I see how mornings go. I will pay her back at the end of the year. I'm sure I will regret the swap then, but I want to keep my sanity right now.

Going back to work has proven to be overwhelming. The week leading up to the first day of school has always been the most stressful. Now, I am just not extremely interested in going back and having everything done to go back. I used to stay at school and have Kevin bring dinner while I was setting up my classroom. Now, the AC shuts off at 3:00 on the dot. Who wants to stay and suffocate? We also have very little time in our rooms before school starts. Thursday was a swap day, so we didn't have to be at school. The only other time set aside in Wednesday afternoon. I really need to get myself motivated.

As for Carter, he is doing well. We are continuing to feed him baby food every evening. Last night, we started with peas. I was afraid he wasn't going to like them just by their smell, but he didn't mind one bit.

I've learned that I can put him in his Bumbo seat while we eat or if I need to get something done. He has started grabbing things. This makes feeding time especially fun when he grabs his bib and smears against his face. He also likes to suck on his fingers while I am feeding him.

He is continuing to grow like crazy. Many of his 3 month outfits are becoming too small. I even ordered a convertible car seat for my car. He is about to outgrow his infant one. Too bad I wanted the one that could be used up to 30 pounds. I think he will outgrow it by 20.

This is going to be a busy week. School starts on Thursday!

Eating Cereal

Eating Cereal

Carter likes his new glow worm from Gammy

Eating green beans

Carter is growing up too quickly. He seems to have suddenly matured and grown in the past week. When we got home from Louisiana, he seemed bigger and able to do more things. Before we left, I had to show him the toys on his exersaucer, and now, he grabs them. He is starting to hold on to things, burp cloths, necklaces, glasses, and he even tried to hold his bottle. He is also taken and interest in watching TV. Sometimes when I am feeding him, he will flip over and watch TV instead, so I have to turn it off to get him to resume eating.

We bought him a high chair on Friday (when I should have been at home recovering). He had cereal on Friday and a little green beans tonight. He still has his tongue thrusting reflex, so it makes eating hard.

Carter has been rather cranky. I don't know if it is the extra attention he got while my parents were here, or if it is teething. I think it is the latter. I can slightly feel two little bumps on his bottom gum.

My recovery is slowing a bit. I felt great on Thursday and Friday. Yesterday and today have been a little rough. The doctor gave me percocet, but I hate to take it. It gives me nightmares. I would have thought I was crazy, but one of Kevin's coworkers had the same experience. My neck and my throat are very sore, and I feel lightheaded at times. I tried to convince Kevin to let me ride in the shopping cart at Wal-mart today, but he wouldn't go for it. Tomorrow is my last day off. I should take it easy, but I have some craft ideas I want to try out.

We have been busy around here. On Friday, we flew to Louisiana. Carter was SO good on the airplane. After we landed, the lady behind us said she was upset there was going to be a baby in front of her, but he was really good and didn't bother them.

Carter and Kevin on the plane

We flew into New Orleans and ate at Five Happiness, a yummy Chinese restaurant. After, we drove around to show Kevin areas affected by Katrina. It seems that much of it has been cleaned up and restored. We got to Lafayette around 10:00, and my sister's family arrived shortly after.

Saturday, we had an appointment with a photographer to take pictures of the kids. My sister won a session with Stacey Landry. She and her husband work together and were great with the kids. We took pictures at the UL Alumni center. Their grounds are beautiful. We can't wait to see the pictures. Saturday afternoon, we went to get good ol' Louisiana snow cones. I was able to get a yellow cake flavored one. YUM! We had some close family friends for dinner on Saturday and enjoyed seeing them.

Zachary enjoyed being the "big cousin" and was great with Carter.

Carter's christening was on Sunday. We went to mass before and sat in the cry room. What a miserable experience!!! The christening went well even if the deacon seemed to get lost a few times.


After the christening, we had a small gathering of 23 people at my parents house. Many of them had never met Zoe, and none of them had met Carter. It was great to see relatives, former neighbors, and family friends. My sister's family left on Sunday afternoon.

Zach performing

We flew out of New Orleans on Monday. My parents came with us to help out this week. We got home late on Monday.

Carter had his 4 month check up on Tuesday. He got 4 shots! He weighs 17 lbs 7.5 oz. and is 26 inches long. He is in the 95th percentile for weight and 97th for height. The doctor said he perfectly proportioned, but just a big boy. He was rather grumpy for the rest of the day after his shots and needed to be cuddled.

Kevin and I left for the hospital around 5:45 yesterday morning for my surgery. I was more nervous about this surgery than others I have had. They gave me too much information about the anesthesia and the breathing tube. I freaked out when they told me they would wake me up before removing the breathing tube, but they guaranteed I wouldn't remember it. I was miserable when I woke up in the recovery room. I was in pain and burning up. They usually don't let visitors back there, but they let Kevin come sit with me until he nearly passed out for the 2nd time that day. (We almost lost him when they started my IV...seems to be a pattern with him). My mom came and sat with me after that. I finally got to a room around 10:00 or 11:00 and napped for most of the day. Of course, it is hard to get rest in a hospital. Kevin brought Carter to visit me. My mom spent the night with me. The doctor came in around 10:00. He said the nodule looked benign, but I will get the official results at my follow up appointment on the 22nd. I got home around noon today. I feel great. I have a sore throat and my neck is stiff, but it's nothing a little percocet can't help. The doctor didn't give me any restrictions. He told me I could do anything I could tolerate. I am glad that it's all over.

My pretty scar.

My dear sweet boy is sleeping. I'm hoping this will last a while. He had 8 oz in his bottle including some cereal. We've been giving him cereal before bed in the hopes that he will sleep through the night again. Tuesday morning, he woke up at 3:30 to eat. Yesterday morning, he work up at 3:30 again talking and cooing, and I was able to get him to sleep until 4:30 before he insisted on eating. Then, I had to wake him up to get him ready for daycare. This morning, he made it until 5:20. I never thought I would be happy about being woken up at 5:20.

I haven't had too much to do this week, but he has been going to daycare everyday. I want to be consistent. There is a little boy in the infant room who only goes one day a week and cries the whole time he is there. I don't want that to be the case with Carter.

Today, I had my pre-op appointment. They took a few vials of blood, and I had to talk with someone from the anesthesia department. That took almost 2 hours! After, I had lunch with a good friend of mine who had her thyroid removed a few years ago. She convinced me to not ask the doctor to remove the whole thing. She regrets doing that when she only really needed to have one side removed. I just fear having to go back for a 2nd surgery.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for Louisiana. I am nervous about flying with a baby, but we were able to score first class tickets with our frequent flier miles. I'm just concerned about carrying him and all of our stuff. Of course, we need lots of stuff for him when the airlines are charging for a 2nd suitcase. I think we will each check a bag and each have a carry on. My parents are going to fly back with us on Monday, so they can help take care of Carter and me. I am looking forward to going home. Carter will get to meet lots of family members and close family friends. We are going to have a get together after his Baptism on Sunday. He will also get to meet my nephew and brother-in-law for the first time.

Hopefully, I'll lots of fin pictures to post from the weekend.

Not too much going on here this weekend. We are all exhausted, but I'm not sure why. Carter seems to be waking up a little earlier each day. This morning, he woke up to eat at 5:00. The TV repairman called at 7:00 to let us know he was coming today. We ended up going back to sleep until 8:30. I was able to find the time to get on the treadmill today. I really want to get back into my old clothes before school starts in a little less than a month. I really wouldn't mind getting new clothes, but it would be a lot to replace. We don't have any big plans for tomorrow other than grocery shopping.

I attended my math workshop this morning. It was a little more boring than the rest of the week has been. After, I came home and mowed the grass. We were the "bad neighbors" on the block who hadn't mowed their grass in quite some time. I had 5 bags of clippings! Kevin was surprised when he came home. After I mowed, I called daycare to find out when Carter needed to eat again, so I could pick him up before then. I was almost there when I realized I had not put the car seat in my car, so I had to turn around, come home, and go back.

Carter is just growing up so quickly. It's exciting but breaks my heart at the same time. I was holding him this afternoon, and he noticed my watch. He began to touch it. This is the first time I have seen him really try to touch something. He also pulled his pacifier out of his mouth and out it back in sideways. He has to grab it one way and not let go to accomplish this. He has already started wearing some 6 month pajamas. I wish I could keep him little and innocent forever!

All smiles at bed time
Playing in the Exersaucer

I bought Carter an exersaucer today. I had to drive across Columbia to the only Target that had one in stock. I even assembled it myself. Carter enjoyed it when I put him in it. He smiled and cooed.

I have added new pictures and plan to add new videos to Flickr.

Carter survived his first full week at daycare. I think it was harder on me than it was on him. I was teaching a web design class during our technology "Beach Blast" week at work. This will get me 5 swap days during the school year.

Grandma Patsy and Grandpa Buck came on Saturday and spent the night. Carter was in a good mood and enjoyed the company. I was holding him while we were eating on Saturday and he laughed out loud while watching his dad and grandmother. He is really cooing a lot. He is also learning how to shriek when he coos too. I have always enjoyed him, but he is getting to be more and more fun. I just can't get him to talk while I am videotaping. I think he concentrates more on the camera and gets distracted. He also likes to be held in a standing position. We are going to buy him an exersaucer. I tried one out at daycare last week, and he seemed to enjoy being in it.

This week, I am attending a math standards workshop in the mornings. We are learning activities to go with the different strands in the standards. I really enjoyed today, so I hope the rest of the week is as good.

We have started giving Carter a little bit of cereal in a bottle at bedtime. He woke up at 2:00am Sunday morning to be fed. I like my sleep. The doctor had told me I could start whenever I wanted, so we did. This means more pumping time for me, but I am considering switching to formula for one feeding per day. I never decided for how long I would nurse him, and I am afraid my upcoming surgery may complicate things.

I hope I have time to upload pictures soon. They have been requested!

As many of you know, my new past time is reading blogs. I came upon this one today with a giveaway for a free quilt. Check it out:

http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/2008/07/win-this-quilt.html

In Dad's truck ready to go

Off to daycare

Trying out his big boy carseat for Dad's truck

Sitting on Dad

Daycare ended up going very well last week. I randomly stopped in during the day on Friday. Carter was in a swing smiling and cooing for his teacher. I did fuss at him for smiling at another woman. I found it was nice to be able to get stuff done around the house and to run errands. Kevin met me Friday afternoon to pick him up, so I could show him drop off procedures.

I worked today, so Kevin dropped him off this morning. I can't wait to pick him up this afternoon. He was gassy and fussy during the weekend, so I hope he had a better day today.

I realize I haven't uploaded pictures in a long time. Here are a few. There are lots on Flickr.

3 months old!

Smiling and Talking

On the way to daycare

In my previous post, I forgot to mention I took Carter to the pediatrician last Tuesday because he was spitting up a lot more than usual. We are now splitting his prevacid, so he has half in the morning and half at night. He weighed 15 lb 10 oz!

Today was a big day for us. Carter started daycare. I took him yesterday to enroll him. It was not a good experience. The infant room smelled like poop, and they had a number of toddlers in there because a teacher had called in sick. One of the toddlers tried to steal Carter's pacifier. As soon as I got into the parking lot, I started crying. I even stopped by my first choice daycare on the way home. (We are number one on their waiting list.) They said they should have an opening in August. I need to work for the next two weeks, so I would rather him in a consistent daycare than having babysitters here with him. I called to check on him, and he was doing fine. I picked him up around 12:30. He had just had an explosive diaper in one of their swings. I thanked him for not doing that at home. I just got to come home and soak his clothes.

That's about all the excitement here other than the cabinet pulls I finally got after being in the house for 2 1/2 years!

Why am I posting at 7:20 am? I'm waiting for Carter to wake up. We put him to bed at 9:00 last night, and he is still sleeping!!!! I thought he would wake up when Kevin got up at 5:30. I decided to use this time to get some stuff done around the house. (Ok, reading and writing blogs doesn't really count). This will be the 3rd night this week he has slept through the night. The one night I am not counting was when he woke up at 4:30. I just need to learn to sleep longer when he does.

I went to the surgeon on Tuesday. Come to find out, I do have to have the right side of my thyroid removed. I was misled when I spoke to his nurse last week. I was in a bit of shock. My nodule is a follicular lesion, meaning we won't know it is definitely benign until it is removed and sent for more tests. I went ahead and scheduled surgery for August 6th. I wanted to do it before then, but they won't let me fly after. We have a trip planned to Louisiana for August 1st, so my parents will fly back with us to help me take care of Carter after surgery.

We don't have any grand plans for the 4th. Kevin's parents should be coming in either tomorrow or Saturday. We will grill when they are here. That's about it for us.

I realize I haven't posted in over a week. I also haven't uploaded any pictures to add.

I worked last Monday through Wednesday while my parents babysat. My mom and I went to see Sex In the City with a few of my coworkers. I really didn't want to go , but they convinced me to. I haven't been to the movies in about 4 years (last one I saw was Meet the Fockers). It was nice to get out, but being Carter's main food source makes getting out stressful.

We've had our good and bad days with Carter. Last Saturday night, he actually slept through the night. We have had a few other similar occurrences since then. (Last night, he ate at 7:00, fell asleep at 9:00, and didn't wake up until 5:00.) We have also had days where he has wanted to eat every 2 hours too. He is just unpredictable. It was great having my parents here. 4 extra arms really help. On Friday, my aunt and uncle from Florida came for dinner. They had been to Charleston and stopped by on their way home. I was happy to see them. Carter was especially grumpy that evening though.

He is smiling a lot now and cooing. It is the sweetest thing. He is also starting to watch the TV, so I bought him a Baby Einstein DVD yesterday. He seemed happy watching it for about 10 seconds then started screaming. We think his stomach was hurting, but we haven't tried it again since then.

Yesterday was an awful day for me, but Carter had one of his best days ever. He was really sweet, napped, and didn't cry very much. I'm not too thrilled about my teaching assignment for next year. Every time I hear it has changed, it has only been for the worse. I was having a pity party about that yesterday when we had a marinade explosion in the kitchen. We have a vacuum marinader (I think I just invented a noun). You put the meat and marinade in, vacuum the air out, and let it tumble. While it was tumbling, I heard a loud pop. I was feeding Carter, so I couldn't get up and check right away. When I did, the lid had popped off. We had marinade on the wall, Carter's car seat, on the counters, floor, cabinets, etc... Thank goodness Tiger had been locked up all day for getting into the garbage twice. eh would have had a field day with the raw chicken and marinade. I called Kevin and told him he just needed to come home to help me deal with my break down. (It was 30 minutes after he gets off of work) I did call the doctor's office yesterday to find out if they had my biopsy results. The nurse told me it was just lesion and to keep my follow up appointment for next week. I guess that's a good thing. We know it's not cancer, but I was never concerned that it would be.

We took Tiger to the vet today for his annual check up. I was dreading the logistics of having a baby and a cat carrier, but we made it. Carter fell asleep on the way home and has been sleeping for quite some time now. It has been 4 hours since he last ate. I keep waiting for him to wake up. I know he will be starving when he does. He doesn't quite understand that I like to change him before he eats. An overloaded diaper on Momma while she is feeding him doesn't sound very pleasant. I don't want to start anything new or do anything that makes a lot of noise.

He is continuing to grow like crazy. He has already outgrown a few of his 3 month outfits.

Boy was this morning eventful! (If you get grossed out hearing about diaper issues, don't read)

So, it is all my fault. I started eating dairy products again because I really didn't see much difference. I wasn't even extreme...coffee creamer, slice of cheese, granola bar. (Oh yeah, and chocolate blueberries, a lot of chocolate blueberries) Carter had 2 blow out diapers yesterday during the day. There really wasn't much in them, just went right up his back. When I changed him before his 5:30 am feeding, he was rather dirty and decides to pee while changing him...there goes clean diaper #1. So, I start getting the next diaper on him and dirtiness comes flying out on the bed and me....there goes diaper #2. I go wash my hands and leave Kevin to finish. He decides to pee again....there goes diaper #3. As soon as that one is on, he dirties again....there goes diaper #4. We stripped the bed, and I fed Carter. Kevin set up camp in the living room, so we could go back to sleep. Kevin had a nice bed on the floor, Tiger and I had the couch, and Carter slept in his bouncy seat. He woke up around 9:00 sucking his thumb so loudly it woke us all up. Went to change him before feeding him, and he peed on the clean diaper and actually got his clothes dirty this time. Get another clean diaper and hear him dirtying that one. This time, the 3rd diaper worked. He is determined to set a world record for quickly going through a whole pack of diapers. I'm thinking diapers costs may need to come out of his college savings account.

Well, I'm off to try to get the blue soap that stained my neck during my biopsy yesterday. Gammy and Poppa will be here in 6 1/2 hours!