She hasn't just been sick this month!!

So, I mentioned in a recent post that Kamryn has had a cold for the past month... BUT...

We were at my parents' house last weekend and my sister, Krista, was sharing her ice cream with Kamryn, and letting Kamryn suck on her finger.

Suddenly we heard Krista -- "Ouch!"

We all turned to her and said, "What?!!"

"She bit me!!"

Sure enough, we looked in Kamryn's mouth and there was a little tooth poking out of her bottom gum! her bottom left tooth is already showing and sharp!! How we didn't notice that in her mouth until now...I don't know!! :) But I'm glad to know that the recent cold symptoms may be partly because she has been (and is) teething! :)

The only problem is that I can't get a picture yet because she won't let us open her mouth long enough! I'll keep trying! :)

Oh...and PS... I got Marley and Me today! Yay! :) (Now the trick will be finding time to watch it!)

One more thing to look forward to!

I know I know! Lots of posts tonight! (Hey, it's my free night...this is what I do!!) :)

Anyway, I'm SO excited for this Tuesday!

Marley and Me is on DVD!

I LOVED this movie! Ryan and I first saw it in Ohio with his Aunt. I had heard the book was good so I was expecting it to be good, but I didn't know I'd LOVE it so much! :) I've wanted to see it again ever since Christmastime but haven't because of time and a baby and I'm cheap! So I cannot wait!

I don't know why exactly I loved it...maybe I just could connect with it a lot. I thought it was a realistic appearance of what life can really be like sometimes. It didn't glorify hardships or make something like love look like a fantasy. It showed that life is fun sometimes and having a family is fun, but sometimes it is hard too and it'll all work out. I think I also LOVED it because I am a definite "dog person". Not necessarily a BIG dog like Marley, but I'm a dog person for sure! :)

So...anyway...if anyone needs something to look forward to this week...go try it! :) I loved it and can't wait!! :)

Here Comes Kindergarten!

I spent half of today in Kindergarten just observing and getting my "feet wet" in their classroom before I have to start teaching some small lessons on Tuesday! (I know...it's quick...but I'm only there for a month so...what do you do?!)

Anyway, with just a half day I already feel more .... "at home". What I mean is that I think younger kids are my niche. Well...I liked the KIDS in 2nd grade...but I don't know if I'm the best at teaching them. I think I'm more comfortable and would prefer to be more animated which I can do with younger kids! So...I'm excited!

I think I also may connect with this teacher better BECAUSE it is Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I loved my 2nd grade head teacher! She had so many good ideas and was so organized and the kids were SO well behaved...but she did mention to me that she would like to teach 4th, 5th or 6th grade more than 2nd probably. And I just think that's CRAZY!! I think 2nd is as old as I would go! :) And that's okay! We need teachers for every grade! So...if I didn't connect as well with her, that's okay. (At first I was freaking out about it a little bit...but now I'm good with it!) And I'm looking forward and excited for Kindergarten. I think we'll understand eachother better because of our early childhood backgrounds and the love we have for it! We'll see though. It'll be interesting!

Only one month of school left! Yipee!

A House of Sickies!!

So, this week started out rough as you saw on Monday and I think I just knew that the rest was going to be the same. I could just feel it!

Turns out I ended up being up all night coughing and congested on Monday night and was too sick and exhausted to go teach on Tuesday.

Then Wednesday I knew I had my final 2nd grade teacher evaluation and my University Supervisor was coming in to do HER final observation in 2nd grade so I found some energy, took Sudafed and went to school. Well...my teacher finished her observations but my supervisor didn't show up (which is weird for her!) I talked to her after school and she just got her days mixed up and thought we had said Thursday, not Wednesday. Anyway, I was a little annoyed just because I didn't feel good all day. That night was similar to Monday and Kamryn had a tough night (who, I will add, has had a "cold" for the last month or so....the doctor says nothing else is wrong with her -- no ear infection, nothing in her lungs, just a stuffy nose and a cough. I keep hoping it is going away because in the day time she is great! Nothing! Then at night she struggles... sigh...)

Anyway, Thursday, after a horrible night again, I called in sick one more time and told my supervisor not to come that day. I woke up without a voice I was so congested and dry! It was good to rest and live on OJ and Guava juice (Ryan felt bad and spoiled me a little!) :) because this morning I felt a little better. But after going to school for half a day, I decided to come home and rest again. No energy and I'm sure I'm not doing any favors coughing around all the kids and teachers at the school!

So...this weekend we are going to be trying to just take it easy and get rid of these dumb germs causing havoc in our home! Hopefully Ryan doesn't get it. (i'm thinking he's going to be fine since he hasn't gotten ANY of the symptoms yet!) :)

BUT ... I want to say also, thank you thank you thank you to those of you that have been lifesavers for our family this week.
Our babysitters (friends, sisters and moms) and my VT's who made dinner for us a couple times this week! It wasn't absolutely necessary but it was a wonderful luxury this week! We really really appreciate it AND both meals were absolutely fantastic! Really! So thank you to all who have helped us in our time of need this semester and especially this week! We love you!

It's Only Monday

So, it's only Monday evening and I already wish it was the end of the week! I don't know why exactly... my body just feels like it's already ready for another weekend!
Today wasn't a bad day at school...in fact it went really well. But just tiring.

And then I got home and Ryan had run into a few annoyances during his day as well...and...well we just need a break!

Thank goodness Spring Break is coming for me in less than 3 weeks now and Ryan will be done with school (YAY!!!!!) and we get to go to DISNEYLAND!!! Yipee! I love love love love Disneyland...and even if it will be crowded, it will be sunny and warm and away from school! Wahoo!

19 Days and Counting!!
(That doesn't sound so far away! Yay!)

FEAST OR FAMINE!

Last week I blogged and meant "Feast or Famine blogger" not "Fast or famine"! My dad was checking my blog TONIGHT and pointed it out! I didn't even notice!! Such a blonde moment!

(But I wonder how many of YOU were also "blonde"! ha!) jk

Kamryn the Inchworm!

Just thought I'd share our most exciting event right now!

We're going to have a little crawler soon!

How many days do you think we have left before we are chasing her everywhere and stopping her from getting into EVERYTHING?!?!

New Hair!

For the longest time I have been wanting to change my hair! I just got to "that point" where you are just sick of everything with your hair!! ya know?! So, last Saturday I finally did this!!


Old Me:











New Me:
















I went to Capellis (a hair school in Pleasant Grove) to get it done. I was a little wary at first, but I decided it would be okay to spend less than $20 on it! And I LOVE it!! This is kinda a yucky picture (however) because it is right after it got done, which means that it isn't clean! (For those of you who have never gotten a perm, you aren't supposed to wash it for 48 hours after you get it done! It didn't sound too bad to me at first because I only wash my hair every other day anyway, but a perm STINKS!!! It gave me a headache multiple times in those 2 days.) Anyway, now it looks lots better...I'll have to post another picture soon! (I don't have one right now...) :(

I love having a perm for many reasons. One is I LOVE curly hair! always have! But ultimately I love it because it is EASY!!! I can shower and scrunch and GO every morning!! It's so so quick and easy!! And right now with student teaching, I treasure every extra minute I have!! :)

Preschool Vs. 2nd grade

So, my preschool placement for student teaching ended last Thursday...so this last Tuesday thru Friday I have been teaching 2nd grade. I was a little nervous for 2nd grade because I have had so much experience in preschool and kindergarten and even YOUNGER than preschool...how was I supposed to know what to do with kids who can actually talk to me or are almost as TALL as me! :) (haha)

But it hasn't been all that bad and in fact...there are definite pros and cons to both ages.

Differences between preschool and 2nd grade:

CONTENT
Preschoolers are only learning shapes, letters, numbers, colors---stuff I automatically know already! :)
2nd graders are learning about clouds, weather, 5 animal groups, etc. Stuff I have to do more prep for! :)

PAPERWORK
Preschool (special education in my case) has SO SO SO much paperwork outside of class.
2nd grade--I don't even have to collect all their work and grade it. I can "grade" through other ways during class. Not as much paperwork for sure! (Partly because it isn't Special Education too!)

CLASSTIME
Preschool you have to be on top of them constantly. They are not very independent. A lot of one-on-one time.
2nd graders can do SO much independently! Especially my classroom I'm in. My teacher has done an excellent job of setting up the standards and expectations in the classroom that these kids are EXCELLENT! So well-behaved! :)

CLASS SIZE
Preschool--we had 3 classes of 10-12 kids in each class. Not all that big...but seemed larger because we needed to work one on one with a bunch of them.
2nd grade--we have a surprisingly small class of 24. Not too bad and like I said, my teacher has done a GREAT job with their behaviors at the beginning of the year, that now the kids are perfect! (or close to!)

Overall....I miss preschool and that age. So fun! So entertaining!

BUT 2nd grade is TONS easier! And even though they are older, they are still easy going enough to just let you know when you make mistakes but then be easily forgiving still!
I don't know...suddenly I'm seeing the side that Special Ed. preschool isn't the only way to go! :) We'll see what happens when I teach. (hopefully not necessarily any time soon, however!) :)

Fast or Famine Blogger

So, I realized yesterday as I was making a list of all the things I wanted to blog about that I am really good at blogging tons and then not blogging for a while right now. Life is just proving to be providing only THAT much time to blog! So...make sure you read like the last 5 posts if you want to know what's going on in our lives!! :)

Happy Reading!! :)

Puppies!

Kamryn used to be so nervous around dogs, but she's really starting to like them!

This is Ryan's Aunt's dog, Gizmo! (I LOVE this dog! I want one someday! He's just so friendly and gorgeous!)

BUT ... the dog she watches ALL of the time now and will now have the courage to reach out and touch is my parents' dog, Zach. HOWEVER, I cannot find ANY pictures is all the thousands and thousands of pictures of her, I can't find ANY of her and Zach! I can't believe it! SO...my family...if you have any...email them to me! :) (Then I'll post them!) :)

And the other day at the portrait studio, they were playing 101 Dalmations on the TV in the waiting room. Kamryn kept watching and watching and watching! It surprised me because I haven't seen her watch an animated movie much longer than 5 seconds. This was different! So...I guess I need to get a hold of a copy of 101 Dalmations sometime soon! :)

Babywise

So, the last couple of weeks Ryan and I have been a little frustrated with Kamryn's sleeping patterns lately (getting up like 3 or 4 times between 2 and 5 every morning...) SO I remembered one of my friends posting about this book a couple of months ago and I asked if we could borrow it.
We read it that night and of course it talks about letting them cry and learn how to get out of the habit of waking up, but in a one-bedroom...that's just not going to happen right now. (Especially since I have to be at school at 7:30 every morning now for Student teaching!) BUT there was something else that caught my eye. It was the idea that if the baby is on a strict schedule for feeding and sleeping during the day, then they will automatically stick to a better routine at night as well. I thought, Hey! I'll try anything I can! It took a little convincing for Ryan (because I'm not really the one home during the day who could apply the routine) but he read the book that night and decided to try it! And I'm telling you...it's been less than a week and she's already had better nights! Not consistent yet, but it's getting better! We love it! :) I have high hopes it'll continue to get better and better! (And then in May we can really "enforce" the "rules" when I'm not teaching anymore and Kamryn has her own room!!) :)

Look what our little girl can do!

Kamryn is now 7 months old and already working on her talents! :)

Helping Mom Fold Laundry

Playing the Piano!

Getting into stuff!


Oops...I'm caught!

I can't get out!!

Now what am I supposed to do?!!


Eating everything!




Looking cute! (We took portraits at JC penny's last Saturday. This is one of the outfits she ended up wearing but I took a picture at home first cuz it was just so so cute! My favorite is the flower! And Grandma Seamons just let us know that she found more for Kamryn too! yay!) :)

New Highchair

About a month ago (probably more) we finally got a chair for Kamryn to eat in. Because we don't have a lot of room in our little one-bedroom apartment, we went with this....

Jungle Booster seat high chair!

She loves it....eats crackers on her own and she now eats solids (baby cereal and food) about twice a day!

AND the other day I was at the grocery store looking at baby food and saw that they have one called "Guava Dessert"!! I was SO excited! So yesterday I gave her some with her cereal and she LOVED it! :) (I did too! ha! yes...I tasted it!) :) I was afraid she wouldn't like it becuase of the texture...but no chance! She really IS our little Hawaiian baby! :)

(I should mention also though that she has not refused ANY food yet that we've offered! This would include peas, carrots, squash, turkey and rice, chicken noodle, bananas, peaches, etc.!! No wonder you weigh almost 20 lbs. now Kamryn!) :)

Last Week of Preschool

Last week was my last week in preschool...onto my next placement for student teaching! But before I move on...I just wanted to post about preshool and how wonderful it was! (Tough and energy-consuming...but preschool is just so much fun!) :)

Some of my preschoolers and me. (There are 3 different classes with about 10-13 kids in each so this is just our oldest class (4 and 5 year olds).)

Singing songs with the kids! They love Willaby Wallaby...the Elephant (puppet) goes around and sits on their heads! Kinda silly...but that's what preschool is all about!! :)

Funny Story:
During my last week I killed my leg... look!

I was moving the small preschool-sized chairs around the snack table--getting ready before all the kids came over...and I just twisted my leg the wrong way and then hit it with the chair in my hand! OUCH!! That day it was a major goose-egg! Almost looked like another knee. This picture is what it looks like now...a week later!
And funny thing was that right after I did that I shut my finger in a cupboard and then squished my hand between a chair and table later that day!! Man...preschool is brutal! :) Guess it was time to get out of there!
My last day my preschoolers gave me this card with all of their hands traced and little notes in each hand. And a bag of chocolate hugs and kisses. It was very cute!

I love you kids! I'll miss you! Thank you for teaching me and letting me try to teach you! :)