Classroom, Milestones, the gift of life and a great husband

Holy Moly..... IT'S FINALLY THE WEEKEND!!! Relaxing, haha NOT. But it does mean that I have a break from the craziness of all the activities and events going on at school this past week. Many of you are aware of the news about the school district I work for and I am not going to go into much detail but I will say that this school year will definitely be one for the books.

My desk and the class library.

Open house was Thursday night and after working a full day in the classroom trying to finish up the details and I am proud to say that it is 95% complete. It won't be 100% complete until the end of the year when the students put "their" touch on it but for now I can relax about that part. I almost for got to share that I have a sweet little girl who shares the same last name as me. I'm sure I will have to explain to the class that yes we both have the same name but that doesn't mean she is my daughter!!! That will be an interesting conversation Monday, I can already picture it.

This was taken after open house, most of the polk-a-dots were taken on the board.

I just checked the most up-to-date class list and it looks like, once again, we are going to have a high number of students in the classrooms. First grade is 27 students per classroom!!! WOW! Did I mention that I only have 24 student desks in my class as of right now. Ugh Oh. Tomorrow I plan on going in and finish up putting away all the copies that I made and somewhere find at least 3 more desk. I still need to do some planning and finalize the first week of school activities.

The flower wall is our sight word wall and I still need to add the phrase "Look Who's Growing in Sight Words." Once the students pass a list, there are six, they will recieve a leaf to place on the flower that reprsents the list that they passed.

It sure is hard doing all of this now that I have a baby, but I will say it is alot easier to walk away from the stress and look into my baby's eyes and watch him smile and laugh. That seems to take away whatever I am worried/stressed about.

The chalk board will be our AR Board studetns will earn ribbons to place on the board when they pass a a test or vocaulary test. The goal is to earn their yellow hat. The tree is for vocabulary and the diver wall is for fluency. Students have a huge part in creating these walls.

MILESTONES:
Bridger has found his fingers and it is so much fun to watch him play with them. He is opening and shuting them and then when we mimic him back he tries to do the same thing. Today when we got home from Costco daddy put him down in his car seat to go back to the car and get the diapers to bring in the house, I was standing next to him and he started pointing his toes and watching them very carefully. I touched them and then he would do it again! It is truly a blessing to watch him discover the life and world through his eyes.

Carpet time and concept wall. Constantly growing.

I have heard about how kids have a comfort touch that they go to and use with their mommy when they need a little assurance and loving. Well I have figured out and watch Bridger over the last few weeks and have noticed that when I am nursing him he will take his right hand and rub it along my jaw line. Sometimes when we are just laying in bed or I am holding him he will do it too. He usually will do this until he falls asleep, but it sure it special and makes me feel so loved.

Closer look

Part of me is sad to write this next part of Bridger's milestones, but the other part of me knows that in order for me to be successful this is the right thing that I need to do. I started weaning Bridger from the breast/pumping for most feeding sessions towards the end of summer. The reason was that it takes so much time and when I return to work on Monday my day is so chopped up that it is nearly impossible to find the time that I need and not feel so stressed out. Part of me feels selfish that I am not continuing with breastfeeding because I DO know that it is the best thing for Bridger, but the other part of me knows that in order for me to not stress so much at work this is one thing I can do. I will still nurse him in the mornings and after I pick him up and in the evening but during the day he is on formula.

Bridger is so close to sitting up on his own, I give it two-three more weeks and he will have figured it out. He is still sleeping in our room and getting up several times a night, partially due to the fact that at daycare the last few days he has been SO distracted that he doesn't eat as much so in the evenings he is trying to catch up and wants to feed all night!!! I know this will eventually pass and I am just enjoying it as much as I can! Did I mention that he grunts LOUD. Why, I don't know, just does.

THE GIFT OF LIFE:
The gift of life was celebrated in a beautiful way yesterday for one of my dear co-workers. She battled cancer for 6 years and last Sunday she went up to heaven and met God. It was a long, hard battle and after celebrating her life yesterday with all of her family and friends I feel so blessed to have worked with her for the short time that I did. Death is one of those things that I am so afraid of and now that I have a family it is even more difficult to understand. Kristi left behind a husband and two young boys and sitting there yesterday in the presence of the lord I felt so moved and touched by Kristi spirit that I couldn't help but hold my little boy tight.

A Great Husband
When Ben asked me what I was blogging about today he said, "and a great husband." Yes dear, and a GREAT HUSBAND. Sometimes I go through life and forget to acknowledge and make mention of how lucky I am to have such a great husband. I just assume that everyone knows that, but what I realized was I need to stop and TELL him just how much I appreciate him. Today (Grandpa Parsons -FYI) he mowed the yard. Now for most people that might not seem like a big deal but around here it was a HUGE deal. I won't post before and after pictures, but let me just say he started around 8:30 am and didn't finish EVERYTHING till 3pm. Thank you hunny!!! IT LOOKS GREAT.

WOW! this sure was a very long post. That's all for now have a great weekend.