Trading Up

Alyssa is growing like a weed. She's eating like crazy and growing a pound a day, it seems. The bassinet we've had her in keeps getting smaller and smaller, and harder and harder to get her out of. So this week we traded up to more rooms sleeping quarters for her. We set up the playpen, which has a crib attachment. Now it makes her look really small. But that's probably a good thing - she looks like a Buddha baby when she's sitting up.

This is one active baby. Here she is practicing her "walking." It's just standing, really. She only naps an hour or two a day, but she sleeps like a rock at night. She's usually up twice each night to suck down another bottle, so Mike and I trade off to preserve our precious sleep. This morning, she decided it was time to get up at 4:30. She sucked down a bottle and was back in bed by 5:00. Since my alarm was set for 5:30, I figured I should just stay up - it'll be harder to wake up if I go back to bed for a half hour. I have a meeting with some other teachers after school, so it's gonna be a long day. Here's to going to bed early on a Friday night! Man, I really am becoming a boring old married person.

After all that hard work walking, standing, sitting up, kicking, and batting at the bouncer elephants, it's time to relax. Daddy loves to cuddle, so in the evening he sits on his "man island" (aka the lazy boy) and cuddles with two of his ladies (the dog is a girl too), while his main squeeze is usually working on the couch writing a lesson plan. Lesson planning NEVER ends. EVER. Ok, maybe in June, but we have a whole bunch of weeks to get through before that comes. Hooray for only 80 more days of school after today!!!

Diaper Ratings and Nature (Not Nurture)

When they say a diaper only holds 12 pounds, it only holds 12 pounds and no more. Of poo, that is.

Alyssa's growing like a weed, so she's starting to eat a lot more at each feeding. Several weeks ago, she was only eating 2-3 oz at a throw, but now it's more like 6-7 oz. We should be buying stock in the formula company - that stuff goes fast!

Because she's eating more, guess what else she's doing more. Yessir, she's pooping more. A LOT more. She used to poop like a lady (even though she's never farted like one), but now it's becoming ridiculous. I didn't really know what parents were talking about when they said a "diaper blowout," but I am now intimately aware of what that means. Alyssa had one last night AND this morning. I'm gonna start putting extra clothes on her and keeping multiple extra outfits in the diaper bag. Holy mackerel!

In non-poopy news, Alyssa has discovered the elephants and lion that hang in front of her when she's in her bouncer. She's figured out that if she kicks and moves around, she slides down closer to them, and then can punch and bat at them with her hand. She will do this for hours, faithfully batting at the smiling blue elephant, possibly taking after her biological father, who is a professional fighter (like a punching bag?). We definitely didn't teach her to do that. So far, nature's winning and nurture's trying to catch up.

We are currently enjoying a 4-day weekend. Yesterday, the ladies in the family, as well as David (who's 3), went for a drive and went out to lunch at Marie Callendar's. It was fun to have a girls day out with all of us. We haven't hung out together without our menfolk in quite some time. Today, Mike, Alyssa, and I are going on a surprise early Valentine's outing. Mike won't tell me what it is, and Alyssa can't talk yet (I'm sure Mike's told her), so I'm the only one in the dark. All I know is it's a picnic. It's a lovely day outside, so it should be great. I'm looking forward to it.

Is This Normal?

Do you see a problem here?

This is where I had my IV for my surgery a week ago.

This is my other hand.

The bruise is getting more impressive every day. At least it doesn't hurt. Much.

Stupid Teenagers (Warning: Angry Rant)

I'm going to my classroom today and tomorrow after school (on my own time while I'm supposed to be recovering from surgery!!!) to help my students get their make-up work together and do make-up labs. I want to give my students every chance possible to pass the class (partly because I don't want to teach them again next year, but mainly because I want them to be successful). I debated about doing this, but my caring side won over and I decided to go.

Some of my students have been emailing me this week to work out issues with their missing work and I'm more than willing to work with them. I love when my students come to me for help - it shows a sense of responsibility and maturity that I really appreciate and try to foster in them.

I just got a threatening email from one of my students, saying the gradebook says he's still missing work he's turned in (I'm not done grading yet) and stating that "he will be offended and personally lose some respect for" me if I don't come in during lunch to help him, since he can't come after school. He also wants me to not hold him accountable for the labs he missed since he can't make them up. Bull! He had all the chances in the world to come talk to me before I had surgery, but he waited until 3 days before the end of the semester when I'm not there to start worrying about his grade. Stupid teenagers. They make me mad.

I'm gonna wait to email him back until I calm down, because I'm pretty pissed off. I'm putting my recovery in jeopardy by going in and working for a few hours, and my kids pull this crap?!?! No way. I'm so glad I'm getting new students on Monday.

OK, stepping down from my angry soap box now...

Successful Surgery

This was a very eventful week. I'm glad it's winding down.

Saturday afternoon I had a gallstone attack and Mike and I spent Saturday night in the ER. They did an ultrasound and found a whole bunch of gallstones. (I'd had two gallstone attacks in late 2008, but they never found any more gallstones, so they never wanted to take it out. This time, it was time to take it out.) The doctor wanted to put me into surgery Saturday night, but I needed some more time to plan my exit from the classroom a little more gracefully.

Monday morning, I got a hold of the surgeon's office and got an appointment for that afternoon. After talking with him, we scheduled my surgery for Friday morning. He said we could do it anytime this week, and would need to do it sooner if I had any more symptoms.

Tuesday, I had another attack at lunch and got to teach fourth period on narcotics - NO fun, whatsoever. So I called the surgeon's office and he moved my surgery up to Wednesday. I spent Tuesday night writing a week and a half's worth of lesson plans, getting ready for my subs.

Wednesday, I had my surgery. It went just as expected and I went home soon after I woke up. I spent the evening on Percocet sleeping. I was up every hour that night to turn over, which was no fun. Mike's mom flew down from Utah Wednesday evening to help with Mike the baby (Mike still has pneumonia).

Thursday, I downgraded to Vicodin and was much happier and aware of what was going on around me. I took the day pretty easy and napped a couple of times.

Today, I feel a little better. I slept for six hours straight last night, so I got a lot done this morning. I wore pants that were too tight around my tummy today, so it's pretty sore. I only got one nap today, so I'm a little pooped. I hope to sleep well tonight.

Recovery from this surgery has been super easy compared to recovery from my gastric bypass. I was expecting a lot worse, so I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up from surgery and it was so easy to move around. I'm hoping it stays easy from here on out.

I'm not planning to go back to work for another week, until the 8th. I need some time to rest and get my energy back before I jump back into the fire. That, and I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the new students I'll get on the 8th. Mike's mom will be here until next Wednesday and is insisting on keeping the baby at night so we can get some sleep - she's a saint!

Baby's First Steps (Sort Of)

Alyssa took her first steps this week!!! Ok, so they were assisted by holding her up. She's started standing when held up and is often only happy when doing so.

Sick Sucks

I started writing this post a couple of days ago when we were less sick, and it's only gotten worse. So I'd better finish this before it gets even more worse...

Being sick sucks. Especially when life doesn't stop and you still have to be a parent and work.

Here's Mike's story... Just over two weeks ago he went to our regular doctor's office and was diagnosed with bronchitis. A week later, he went to urgent care because the meds they'd put him on hadn't done anything and he'd gotten worse. The urgent care doctor said our regular doctor had put him on the wrong meds, changed them, and said if he didn't get better in five days he would need to be hospitalized. So five days later he wasn't better, went to the hospital, and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia (but wasn't admitted). He had to go to urgent care again a few days after that to have a couple of breathing treatments, but he's finally starting to feel better.

Somewhere in those two weeks, Mike took our bathroom shower apart and found a whole bunch of mold, thanks to the idiot contractors who built it a few years back (they didn't seal it properly). No wonder we have recurring bronchitis/pneumonia every few months.

Here's my story... Just over two weeks ago I got the H1N1 nasal spray vaccine. It gave me a runny nose for a couple of days, which always gets into my lungs and festers into bronchitis. So about a week after that I went to our regular doctor and got some antibiotics to clear up the green chunks I was coughing up (sorry, TMI, I know). Then, yesterday, I was sitting on my couch minding my own business, grading papers, when I got hit with intense stomach pain. It felt exactly like it had in September '08 when I spent a week in the ER with gallstones. So to the ER we went. They did an ultrasound and, sure enough, I have gallstones. So I get to have semi-emergency surgery in the next couple of weeks to remove my gallbladder. My lifestyle is about to change again - no more good-tasting foods for me (no fatty foods after this, and I already can't eat much sugar because of my gastric bypass surgery). But at least my bronchitis is clearing up.

When it rains, it pours. So we're going to hunker down and try to get better. At least Alyssa isn't sick. And my family are saints for watching her at the last minute so much over the last couple of weeks. Thanks guys!