Today has been wonderful! I had so many things I wanted to do during my break, and I got to do a lot today. We started off by braving the mall. It really wasn't bad. I bought a coat (will probably return it), some shirts and socks for Carter, and wall flowers and soap from Bath and Body Works. While Carter napped this afternoon, I actually pulled out the sewing machine and decorated a few of his burp cloths. Just don't look too closely at the sewing. I went to Hobby Lobby on Wednesday to get a thing to put snaps on and happened to wander through the fabric. I am not a good sewer, but I love fabric for some reason. I have had the green and blue fabric for a very long time, but bought the other two this week. I figured it would sit in a closet and never get used, but it only took me 2 days to get to it!


After Carter went to bed, I completed two pages of his scrapbook. Kevin always gets really nervous when I get in a "creative mood." I love to do crafty things, but I am not good at them. Amazingly, I didn't curse once!

Oh, I totally forgot to post about my fun experience from last week. Student Council was planning a dance, and decided it would be fun to have a teacher dance-off. The way this worked was the teacher of the 3 homerooms who donated the most money had to particpate in a dance contest at the school dance. My students said, "Oh, Mrs. House!" as soon as it was announced. I started with the bribery.....brownies, chik-fil-A for for breakfast, whatever I could think of, and they agreed not to give money for me. Well, at their lockers, I overheard a student say, "Let her bring the chick-fil-a, and then, we'll give the money." My deal was off.

When any student would come to my room to collect money, I would kick them out immediately. My kids found some way to donate the money, so I had to participate. I could have donated enough money to another teacher, but I decided to have fun with it. I told my students if they donated money, their homework was to bring in a song and a dance for me.

After much discussion, I decided to dance to Get Silly. I studied the youtube video for quite some time and decided I needed to go all out. I planned to borrow a pair of Kevin's jeans and his belt to wear sagging over a pair of boxers. I knew one of my students had a big puffy coat with fur around the hood I could wear. I also decided to make my own bling. A few of my girls were very worried about me, so they skipped part of lunch to make sure I knew what I was doing and to time when I should throw my coat off. So, we get to the dance, and the DJ didn't have my song. I convinced him to download it because I didn't want my preparation to go to waste. My competition was a young guy who did the Soulja Boy and a good friend who decided to shag. The students did scream the loudest when I started. I was even introduced as Mrs. Hizzle. I looked out into the crowd of students and realized most of them were holding a cell phone to video and/or take pictures of me. I had my two girls be back up dancers, but they quit on me part of the way through. It was my understanding we would have to dance for a very short period. After an agonizing 20 minutes (ok, it felt like it), I turned around and pleaded with anyone I could find to stop the music. My students said, "Just freestyle." Huh??? In the end, the young guy won. I was rather disappointed, but I did have a blast. The next day, my students were more than willing to show me their new wallpaper on their cell phones.......me dancing! I know one of the teachers got a video of the whole thing. I haven't been brave enough to locate it.



(the green on my bling is a money sign....that was one of my student's assignments for the day)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am enjoying my break from school. Yesterday, I started the day by going to the gym and showering there. After, I ran a bunch of errands and met Kevin for lunch. I picked up Carter after that, and he ended up taking a long nap when we got home. We are still doing the breathing treatments, but Carter does not enjoy them at all. Most times, he pulls off the mask.


It was cold this week, and I finally bought Carter a coat. Kevin thinks I am ridiculous for putting Carter in heavy coat when it is 30 degrees out. Of course, Kevin rarely wears more than a sweatshirt.

We have had a nice and quiet day. I started preparing food yesterday along with cooking a huge pot of gumbo. Today we had a turkey breast, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a cookies and cream cake. Yep, it was just Kevin and me eating. Now, we will have left overs for a very long time. I told Kevin I was just preparing for us to have lots and lots of kids. If it were up to me, I would have a bunch more. (Kevin thinks we're done.) I even got jealous when I saw pictures of a my coworker with his new baby. I guess I am just lucky Carter is so good.



Carter played in his exersaucer this morning while we ate breakfast, so Tiger decided he would take advantage of the opportunity and steal Carter's seat:
I've added pictures and videos on my flickr page if these weren't enough.

We have had big things going on around here! On Sunday, I started feeding Carter baby food with the meat. He isn't so sure he likes it, and I can't blame him. Yesterday, Carter started saying Momma. We were on our way home from daycare and he was making his grunting noises he makes when he is trying to stay awake. After, he started saying it. Of course, I have no idea if he knows what he is saying, but it does make me feel very special.

Then, last night, I was video taping him because he is trying to crawl, and he just sat up!!!! I couldn't believe it. It was also awesome because I just happened to be recording.

I tried to put the video on my blog, but it just wasn't working. You can see it at my flickr page.


He is growing too quickly!

Ok, no pictures......

I took some today but have not had a chance to upload them.

Carter seems to be doing better. He isn't hoarse anymore, just a little coughing. I think I got his crud with a sore throat and the hoarseness.

Carter and I went to Charleston yesterday to see my friend Nina. We had fun shopping at the outlets and going to a Christmas craft show. It was the longest trip I've ever taken with Carter in the car. He was good and slept while I was driving.

Today we ran errands. Nothing exciting. I finally bought him a winter coat. We had bought a cute hat and gloves Friday night at Babies R Us. I was hoping to find a coat in Charleston but could find none in his size. I was tired of being the bad mom at daycare whose child wasn't wrapped up enough.

That's about all going on around here. I'm looking forward to the short week. I will also try to get some pictures posted.

We have a sick little boy! Carter's cough, hoarseness, and runny nose have not gone away. As long as he didn't have fever, I wasn't worried. When I dropped him off at daycare today, I thought I heard buggers rattling, but I didn't worry. After school today, I changed to go to the gym, and for some reason, I decided to check my cell phone. There was a message from daycare from 6:47 this morning to let me know Carter was wheezing and to call back to verify I had received the message. Ok, 8 hours later, Kevin wasn't notified and no one tried to call me again. I was quite angry at this point. For one, it made me feel like a horrible mom who doesn't care about her child. When I got to daycare I immediately started looking for the director who left the message. She wasn't there, so I discussed it with another. I was told they tried to call "both numbers." Usually, they call on my work phone. I knew that if I hadn't answered my cell phone, I had been in my classroom. When I got home, there was a message here. I have a nice list to give them tomorrow with a list of phone numbers and the order they should be used. I hate to be the rude parent (we all know I deal with enough of those), but if it was so important that I verify I received the message, why did they let it go over 8 hours without trying to notify me again.

Anyway, the doctor worked us in immediately. Carter is using a nebulizer and will be taking antibiotics for an ear infection. Carter weighs 21 lb 10 oz. He officially weighs more than his cousin who is over a year old. At least we don't need to worry about the reflux! He had a rough evening, and wanted to be held. Kevin ended up working until about 9:00 tonight. I don't want to be a single mom. It's not easy!

All ready for the game (If you enlarge this picture, you can see his teeth)

Holding my bottle like a big boy

We were really looking forward to the weekend just so we could rest.

Friday night, Kevin got Carter up to eat before we went to bed, and he was hoarse and coughing. We decided to put him in his bassinet in our room, so we could keep an eye on him. He can pretty much touch all four sides of the bassinet at one time.

He seemed a little better in the morning, but I canceled the babysitting reservations at the gym knowing he needed to stay home. We didn't do much at all yesterday.

Today was another quiet day. Carter is still rather hoarse. He tries to scream and can't. Sometimes, we can't even hear him cry. Poor little boy!!! I did escape to go shopping with a friend. It was nice to be able to aimlessly wander through stores and not justify to anyone why I was going in each one. I amazingly didn't buy too much....some fleur-de-lis wall hangings and a cross ornament at Kirklands and some makeup at Ulta. That's about all the excitement around here. I just hope Carter feels better soon.

This post has no pictures.....Sorry to disappoint you!

Yesterday, when I picked Carter up from daycare, it was almost time for him to eat. Because we were going to the doctor, I decided to feed him. Well, his teacher told me he could hold his own bottle. Low and behold, he could!!! He has been doing this for about 2 weeks. I asked if there were any other tricks I didn't know about, but that was it.

Another big milestone...I started brushing his teeth tonight with a finger brush. I am getting worried that he is going to be a biter. He tried to bite my chin this evening. I'm hoping he is just exploring something new and will become bored with it VERY soon. I sure don't need my child expelled from daycare. Thankfully, he has not bitten me while nursing. I have been very afraid of that.

We went on a field trip today to the Discovery Place in Charlotte. It was great. We started the day with an IMAX about dinosaurs. After, we went to a really cool exhibit about Pompeii. After, we let the kids play with all of the science and math stations they have. I can't wait until Carter is old enough to take there. Our kids were also very well behaved (for the most part). I was proud of them.

It has been a wild week! Although we had Tuesday off to vote, it just seemed to be crazy. I can't even put my finger on why.

We have a had a good weekend. Nothing spectacular. Friday, we went and finalized our wills. I know. It seems totally morbid. After, we went to the mall on the other side of town. I received a Baby Gap gift card when Carter was born, and we have not been to the mall where I thought there was one since then. Surprisingly, the closest Baby Gap is in Charlotte. It looks like I may have to do some online shopping.

Yesterday, I went to USC for ADEPT training. This will qualify me to have a student teacher, but it doesn't guarantee it. After, I met Kevin and Carter for lunch. Then, we came home and had a great nap together on the couch.

Today, it was Kevin and Carter's turn to nap together.
I signed up to make dinner for a coworker who had surgery on Friday, so I spent my afternoon working on that.

See, it wasn't very exciting. I'm hoping this week is less stressful. Hopefully, I won't have any parents accusing me of not sending them information that all the other parents received via email by replying to the email in question. The fun never ends....... Enjoy the pictures. There are more on Flickr.

Bed Head

I won't let the Clemson loss put me in a bad mood!

I'm such a ham:

We are having a great weekend. My parents flew in on Thursday night. They kept Carter home on Friday and took him to have his portraits done. I have a few on here, but all are on flickr.

My dad and I took him to a few neighbors' houses last night. One had even bought him a gift! After, we went out to one of our favorite pizza places and found out it was their last night in business. :-(

We started today by going to Pig on the Ridge, a local barbecue festival. We definitely ate WAY too much, but it was great. After, we went to the parade of homes. We dropped the boys off at home, and mom and I went shopping. It has been a long time since I have been shopping without a baby in tow.

When we got home, we fed Carter. He decided it would be fun to make razz noises. When my mom would jump back, he would crack up laughing. He is SO fun. His bottom right tooth has been coming through for about a week now, and the left tooth started popping through today.

That's about it around here.

For those of you who expect my Sunday night posts, I apologize. I don't know what happened. I'm guessing last week was rather uneventful because not too much sticks out in my mind. Carter did cut a tooth. Just a little piece has come through his gums. It isn't easy to look because he sticks out his tongue when I try. We continue to enjoy Carter every day. He is so much fun. He likes to play peek-a-boo and laughs whenever I make lamb noises. I was reading a book to him and he cracked up laughing when I made the lamb noise, so now I know I can do that just to get him excited.

I've been trying to get him to use a sippy cup or at least hold his own bottle. He can't seem to understand he needs to hold the bottle up. When I try to show him, he just lets me hold it. Instead, he holds it down and sucks on it. Last night, I found a cup with a straw but a nipple-like top. He was able to drink juice out of it tonight!

This picture:
shows why we had to go to Target. My dear cat knocked the sterilizer off the counter and ate the tops of the nipples while we left for 10 minutes to drop my car off for routine maintenance. I'll spare you the picture of when he decided to give the nipple tops back.

A crazy hairdo from this week:

On his way to daycare this morning after dad wrangled him into the car seat:

We have had a crazy week. Tuesday afternoon, I got a call around 1:20 saying Carter had a temperature of 102.7! I tried calling Kevin, but he was not answering his phone. I quickly got my class to join the other 6th grade science class (we were planning to combine classes anyway.) Robin, the teacher, is a saint. She took my kids without flinching. I headed to daycare, got Carter, called the doctor to make an appointment for later that afternoon, dropped Carter off at Kevin's office, called a substitute, and made it back to school before it ended. It was Extended Tuesday, so I really couldn't miss that. He just had a cold. With daycare, Carter couldn't go back until his fever was down for 24 hours. I stayed home with him on Wednesday and Thursday. I was excited Thursday morning when his fever broke, and his temperature was 97.7. It was back over 101 by that evening. Kevin stayed home with him on Friday morning, and brought him to work on Friday afternoon. Carter stayed in a good mood through all of it.

We had a nice quiet weekend. We went to the gym yesterday morning, and I took a nap with Carter yesterday afternoon. I decided Carter needed to nap in his crib today. He cried himself to sleep, but slept for over 2 hours. He doesn't usually nap that long at home and has to be held. I got SO much done during that time. When he woke up, we went to the pumpkin patch. You can check out more pictures on Flickr. One of my students was working there, so he was eager to help us and take pictures of us.

I love this time of year! The weather is gorgeous, and it's cooling off! Hopefully it stays this way.

I only have to teach for 4 days this week. We have an inservice on Friday. Of course we have not been told where or what we will be doing. Friday was a swap day, but someone changed their mind about a month ago, just as I was considering buying tickets to go to Houston. Par for the course! Hopefully, I will get time to write about all of the craziness at work. After Friday, I truly beleived working in a mental ward would be easier.

Guess who lost the green bean battle?


He was hilarious. He wanted to chew on his plastic links while I fed him and became furious when I took them away. I gave him a spoon to hold on to. Then, he ripped off his bib and started swinging it around like a lasso. When we took out the video camera to record this, he would stop. As soon as I put the camera on the counter, he would start again until I pressed record. Little stinker!

Sadly, the weekend is almost over. We are on our way to get flu shots at the pediatrician's office. Well, most of us are. Kevin has elected to get the flu mist. WIMP!

We dressed Carter in his Halloween onesie today hoping to take him to the pumpkin patch. Within an hour of being dressed, he managed to spit up peaches all over himself. We'll go next weekend.

We have had a nice relaxing weekend. Not much going on here at all. Carter has been sleeping in his bed for a week now! He does usually wake up once during the night. Most of the time, he will go back to sleep until time to get up.

I'm dreading this work week. I have a student who has been on a downward spiral, and I think the parents are starting to blame me. The student got in trouble in my class, so being responsible, I informed them. Later that day, the student walked up to me, looked me in the eyes, and called me the devil. Since then, there has been one more extreme incident (not involving me....thank goodness!) Anyway, the parents sent an email to my lead teacher saying they had a major issue with one of the teachers. Considering, I am the only one who has been in contact with them, it would be me. I love my students, but parents can be tough to deal with! For the most part, parents have been very supportive this year. I hope the trend continues.

Time to head to the doctor. Wish us luck.

Oh yeah, check out flickr. I added a bunch of pictures of the cutest little boy in the world.

Carter had his 6 month doctor's appointment today. He weighed in at 20 lbs 1 oz and is 27 inches long. The doctor told me he could start eating foods that would dissolve in his mouth, so he had graham crackers:

Yes, I realize I didn't update over the weekend. Our weekend was SO busy, I almost looked forward to work yesterday (minus getting up at 5:30)

Carter is 6 months old today! I forgot to get a picture of him earlier, so here is one of him passed out on the living room floor.
He is able to sit up for longer and longer periods when we set him in that position. He is also sleeping in his bed!!!! He still isn't back to sleeping through the night. I have to go upstairs to nurse him during the night, but we are making progress. Carter has his 6 month old well visit tomorrow, so that means shots! We are all getting flu shots on Sunday too. Well, my wimpy husband is getting the mist.

I think that is all that is going on here. I'm too tired to think!

I finally got my video camera hooked up to my new computer. I've added new videos to flickr. Some are of Carter enjoying bath time on 9/13. The others are of him sitting! He can sit for a few seconds and gets very excited when he realizes it.

Carter slept through the night on Sunday and Monday, but we were up at 4:00 this morning. He did go back to sleep after I fed him, but I am always exhausted when this happens.

Last week was a pretty good week. How could I beat 2 days without my 6th grade class?

Carter is also just growing up right before our eyes. On Friday, he rolled across the living room. He had yet to roll from his back to his stomach. That only happened once. I'm sure he will do it again. Yesterday morning, when we put him in his swing so we could get dressed, he decided he wanted to sit up.



Yes, it was rather early. You can tell because it was still dark outside. Carter wants us to be exhausted. He'll fall asleep in the car when we can't nap!

For the most part he has been a happy baby, but he did start waking up again early on Friday morning. I think I fed him at 4:20. He woke up early yesterday morning, and last night felt like we had just gotten home from the hospital. He woke up to eat at 2:00, 4:00, and 7:00. After he ate at 7:00, I couldn't get him back to sleep, so I brought him to the the couch. I think we both ended up falling asleep. He woke up, and I put him in his exersaucer. In an attempt to win an award for worst mother of the year, I went back to sleep while he played.

I started exercising again. On Monday, I survived the spinning class. It was humbling to be the first to have to sit back on my bike. I used the elliptical on Wednesday, and had my personal training session on Thursday. I thought I was just going to get set up on weights....no, no, no. I had a fitness test. How many squats can I do in a minute and a half holding a medicine ball, get a drink of water, oh, do it again. The squats weren't too bad. Then, came the push ups. Now, I know why I have always thought girl push ups were easy...my hands weren't in the right spot. I almost died on those. Then! Then, came the sit ups. HA! I used to be the sit up queen when we did our physical fitness tests in elementary school. Not anymore. I would be embarrassed to admit how many I got in a minute. Then, I had to do them again, but that time, he modified them for me. I did enjoy walking around he track doing arm exercises. I also enjoyed running around it and totally beating the time he set for me until I finished, and I immediately had to do sit ups again. This time, I couldn't get 1! Luckily, he modified them for this out of shape mom. Needless to say, I have been rather sore since Thursday. On Saturday, I went back for the trainer to show me how to use the weight machines, and I also signed up for 6 weeks of training sessions. I think I must enjoy the torture or really don't want to buy new pants for the winter.

We had a good weekend. I just hate it's over already. Since I've had Carter, time flies. It's also good because my weeks fly by. Unfortunately, I started morning duty on Friday. I did get the media center which is better than the gym or the cafeteria. I will have duty for the next two weeks. I am looking forward to Thursday and Friday when my 6th graders will be on a field study. woo-hoo!

This past week was ok. Thursday, I had to write up 2 6th graders. It was amazing to see the change in the class's behavior on Friday. I didn't have to correct anyone! Friday was a half day. We had a 7th grade teacher luncheon when the kids left. After, I went to get Carter because many of my coworkers were asking about him. None of my conferences showed up. I really wasn't expecting any to. Carter spent time being held by various coworkers and spitting up on each of them. I did learn how to maintain our magnet program's webpage. My friend and I have been updating it, but the district made their own version of it. We had one we could make changes to, and another (the one everyone looked at) that we couldn't update. It is much more complicated than using Frontpage, but at least we can make changes. I think some people have nothing better to do than sit around and email about webpages not having the information they want on them. Carter and I left school around 2:45, came home, and crashed.

Thursday night, Carter became restless around 4:00 am. He didn't really wake up, but was very noisy. I put him in bed with us, and he kicked me. When I got up, he stretched out and slept very peacefully. Little booger! The 4:00 am grunting recurred Friday night and last night. I'm hoping this isn't going to become a habit. The past two nights, I fed him just to get him back to sleep.

We had awesome weather yesterday. We started the day by going to Target to buy things for the three birthdays we have this week.

After, we went to the Columbia Greek Festival. I had heard wonderful things about it, especially the food. It was ok. We spent almost all the cash I had. (close to $40!) $10 of that was a super cute garden flag.

Kevin isn't a big fan, but I told him that being the only female in the house, I needed something girly! I really wanted this one,

but they were out of H's.

After buying the flag, we wandered around to buy food. We bought a plate of pastries, a gyro each, and a Greek salad to split. We ate outside and did our fair share of people watching.

When we got home, Carter and I went for a walk.


Don't you like the coolness of the foot propped up?

Today was less eventful. After a frustrating trip to Wal-mart, ( I don't know why I punish myself) we came home, and Carter passed out for a good 3 hours. During his nap, I went to the post office to mail packages and cards. When I got home, I decided to make some pacifier holders for him and figure out how to use my snap putter onner. I would share a picture of one, but that isn't possible right now. One is connected to a sleeping Carter, and in typical Natalie fashion, I can't find the other. Anyway, I just used ribbon, two snaps, and a suspender clip. I can change which one is connected to the clip. They aren't fancy. I was considering finding some cute buttons to attach to the clips. We'll see. I've been meaning to make these since early August and just got to it today because the 2 from Target no longer stayed on. Anyway, I woke Carter up banging the snap with a rubber mallet. Kevin swears he was sleeping too, but I thought he was awake. Instead, here is a picture of a burp cloth I made using a cloth diaper when I first had the idea for the pacifier project:

I have more fabric and ribbon. That one is rather messy, but I just don't have long periods of uninterrupted time to work on them.

After Carter woke up, I fed him, and we headed out for our 2nd set of errands. We joined the Jewish Community Center. Yes, I know we aren't Jewish, but they have a great work out facility. A former student actually showed us around. I even signed up for the 3rd level spinning class tomorrow night. Anyone want to volunteer to come scrape me up off the floor after? Kevin's coworker who usually attends the class is at the beach, and I get winded just walking. I am determined to get back into shape. I don't think I have been in this bad of shape since 9th grade! I also want to fit back into my old clothes, so I don't have to keep buying new stuff in larger sizes.

After , we went to Target to buy what Wal-mart didn't have and to Ulta because shampoo was on sale.

We ended the night with Shrimp and Grits. I have started eating milk products again but have to take Lactaid, or I get sick. I have been SO hungry for Shrimp and Grits and enjoyed every bite. For not being from South Carolina, I do make mean Shrimp and Grits!

This is my first blog using my new computer

Of course, it had to be blue. I had bought my desktop for grad school. It did a great job and got me through grad school and my National Boards. I think I exhausted it. It was starting to take hours to open documents. Yes, seriously, hours if it did so at all.

We have had an uneventful week. (those are always good!) It flew by! I sent home the first interims of the year and actually didn't have too many parents to call.

Yesterday, we took Carter to have his first hair cut. I scheduled it at a kids' salon. It went well. I just wanted to trim the sides that curl up and take some off the top where it's really thick. He was really good, but wanted to move around to see everything that was going on.


Today, we took Carter to have pictures taken. I've been trying to take him once a month. We went to Portrait Innovations. I love that place! We started with pictures of Carter in his white outfit I bought for his baptism and his shoes with him name on them. I didn't think I wanted pictures in this outfit, but they turned out SO well!




We quickly changed him into his "big boy" outfit. (This place doesn't charge for multiple outfits!) Carter was such a ham. He was smiling in almost every picture. The photographer couldn't believe how happy he was. I had brought back up outfits due to his history of spitting up, but he made it thought the whole sitting. As soon as we were done, he spit up all over Kevin and got fussy.




They give a cd-rom of all the pictures they took. Our pictures were ready in 20 minutes, so we did a little shopping at at Bath and Body works to buy Wallflowers. We found this great new scent:


After, we went to Yankee Candle Company to buy a new Fall Festival candle since ours from last year is almost gone. When we got home, I noticed we already had an unused one. I love fall and am enjoying all the fun accessories that go with it. I hope I have time to decorate for the fall this year. I really want to get a nice fall wreath to put over the fireplace.

Anyway, we went to get the pictures, and all 180,000 were ready. (Ok, it did feel like that many when I was cutting them.) We went to Bi-Lo to buy the groceries Wal-Mart didn't have. After, I noticed a few of the pictures were messed up, so we went back to Portrait Innovations. They reprinted them immediately, gave me extras, and profusely apologized. That is far better than the experience I had with Olan Mills. I would have gotten the pictures in 3 weeks, they would have been damaged, and I would have had to wait another 3 weeks to get the reorder. After that, they wouldn't have even apologized and would have treated me like dirt for filing a complaint!

Carter did start a new trick tonight. He can suck on his toes! He is starting to play with toys too. He loves the little plastic links. He can hold on to them, chew on them, and shake them.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. There are a few others on flickr. Hopefully this week will fly by as quickly as last week did.