Liam - 6 months!

Ocean city and camping

So we went on our first family vacation this summer. We camped about 45 minutes away from Ocean City MD. On the way down we stopped to visit some relatives, went through an awful storm outside of DC, and spent the afternoon at the beach on Thursday, relaxed at the campground and spent time at the beach Friday, and went to Busch Gardens in VA on Saturday. Sunday we came home! Eric's mom came with us and it was great to have her, and also another adult with two children. Liam was so good, he loved being outside and is quite the camper. I was surprised at how well Genni did sleeping outside too. She can't wait to go camping again. We made it through the first night sleeping on foam.....then we bought air mattresses for all of us. I can't seem to post pics right now, but wait till you see how big the waves were!

Food....and Stress

Usually a title like this would mean that I was eating a lot because I was stressed out - not really. Actually sometimes I spend so much time making food that Genni can eat that I forget to make anything for myself. Eric usually does a lot of the cooking and he has been away a lot because of London, so this entry is definitely not about me eating.

About a month ago we noticed that Genni was having reactions that she usually has if she eats something she shouldn't (used to be milk and soy). We thought that first week that something was just contaminated...then the next week I tried to cut wheat out because I thought it happened when she ate bread and wraps and such. Then the next week I cut eggs out because there had been mayo on the wrap too that we noticed her breaking out directly after. Then the next week I cut BOTH of the out. By last Saturday her face was very much improved - actually normal again. Her eczema was clearing up and I was so happy we had found the solution. EXCEPT - that night she had rice noodles and pasta sauce from our garden....that morning her eyes where red again. Did Eric thicken the sauce with some flour? Could be...OK so no more sauce from the garden. Her face still isn't normal a week later. I don't know if it's because it takes awhile to wear off or if something else was contaminated along the way this week. I'm going to eliminate the salami from her diet (although she loves it) till I can figure out if it has any fillers. At this point all the food we make for her is totally allergen free (of the top 8 allergens that make up 90% of the allergies people have). The Dr. refered us to an allergist, but she can't get in with them till the end of December. ADD to that the fact that she has become incredibly picky and doesn't eat much at all during the day....all this equals one worried mama. I just keep applying lotion, looking up recipes, and cleaning the many dishes that are the result of all this baking. Some of the recipes are really good actually - I made pancakes that taste great, red velvet cake tasted great too - going to need to make some kind of pizza for her today because she is going to a birthday party. The flour tortilla's didn't work out that great but I might try them again because she loves wraps. The mayo is OK - bread is still a learning experience. Eric and I both say we don't mind adjusting....we just want to know what it is. Not to mention the fact that her behaviour is worse when she is having a reaction and she itches like she is going through withdrawl!

Well my next project today after I put on some laundry is to make a list of all the things I need to bring from the pantry with us to NH for Thanksgiving...we will tackle eating out and cooking in someone else's house for her. I'm thinking about making up cards for when we go out to eat that list her allergies so that the waitress doesn't have to write it down. Something like : my daughter is 4 and allergic to wheat, egg, milk and soy. Please do not use vegetable oil or butter to cook her meat in - canola oil and olive oil are fine. All my reading indicates that she had a 20% chance of having food allergies because Eric's mom has them - lets hope that Liam falls in to the 80% instead :). As I'm typing this Liam is trying really hard to crawl forward...he moves so fast rolling all over and crab walking on his head and heels while on his back.

Well I caught up on one issue...tomorrow I'll try to get some pictures up from Ocean City/camping and Busch Gardens...Till then!

Anxiety - Performance and Seperation

I know I have a lot of catching up to do - my son is 5 1/2 months old now and the last entry was from when he was born....but for now I'm going to talk about something current:)

This struck me as a good title because it seems both of my children are going through a certain type of anxiety. Liam is at that age where he wants mommy, and only mommy, all the time. In some cases another mommy will suffice, but a boy (daddy, grandpa, or any other guy, especially with facial hair) will result in either a frown and a simpering cry - or an all out scream fest. The cure to the scream fest? Mommy need only walk over and pick him up for immediate smiles. Unfortunately, mommy likes to do things like shower. At least this time around I expect it so it's not as frustrating. And we know he'll grow out of it someday. In the meantime I'll just enjoy being his favorite thing....because eventually they grow up and get other favorite things.

Now Genni's anxiety is performance anxiety. They are doing Thanksgiving stories in preschool and everyone has a line. Of course my child knows hers, she is excellent at memorizing just like her mommy, but she refuses to say it in front of everyone. What do you do? Part of you is a little embarrased that your child is the one who won't cooperate (sorry Genni, just a little, I still love you though). And the rest of you is trying to figure out how to encourage them without pushing and not say the one thing they will always remember that will negatively effect thier ability to say things in front of a group for the rest of their lives. It's a lot of responsibility! Whatever happened to just making sure they were fed and changed and slept! This parenting thing gets harder every year. That and going from being the teacher to being the parent....that is tough.

Well - there is a lot to catch up on, camping trips, Busch Gardens and Ocean City, the marching band season, Eric's trip to London, my gallbladder surgery, Liam's escape from the hospital and first 5 months, school and new classes, Genni starting preschool and turning 4, Halloween etc. But I will try to do that in various posts instead of one huge one. So till next time.....

My First Born is 4

Genni,

My sweet girl, my first child, it's your long awaited 4th birthday. Your Birthday presents where mostly clothes (pink), hair things (pink), books (still pink!) and art supplies and they so fit you. You are such a cute little girly girl. You love dancing, dressing pretty, drawing and painting and writing letters. You just started preschool this year and you love it, I can't wait till open house so I can see what you do at school. You are so tired that you always fall asleep in the car on the way home on school days.

Genni you are such a sweet, sensitive, caring child.

Liam on the mend

So Monday morning comes and we went to see Liam about 6:00 because we know we will be kicked out from 7-9 for shift change - he's sleeping peacefully and so we just watch him for awhile and go back to the room for breakfast and a shower (well at least for me :)) before we go back at 9. So they have just had a shift change and a new admit and the nurse hasn't had a chance to really look at Liam's chart yet. We talk about how I'm anxious to nurse and I get the same old "we'll probably put what you pumped through the IV first to see how he takes it, and you won't be able to nurse till the Sipap comes off" well I said something about how they were talking about taking it off soon and putting the other thing on and she looks at the chart and says "oh! they did change that". So she gets everything ready for the change, takes him off the Sipap to breathe on his own for awhile (this is all about 9:30/10:00) and the dr. comes over for rounds. He says to her "do you think we really need that? He's been doing fine on his own for the last half hour" then he says something about food and the nurse tells him I want to start nursing and he just says "Ok lets do that" YES! I'm so glad we were there or it may have gone differently, but I was so excited that not only would we get to hold him but I could start nursing! So I stayed in the NICU till about noon and he ate on and off for the first hour and a half (making up for lost time), came back to my room for lunch and an hour of sleep before they called me back that he was hungry and he's been nursing every few hours ever since. Even all night...now I am tired but very happy. We will be doing a lot more asking today about when he can go home because I'm going to be discharged sometime today, and we are hopeful for a positive response because he's been fine for so long and he was full term. It really just depends on who the doctor is and what his opinion is I've learned, so we will definitely be there at 9:00 so that we can influence any decision that is made. Hopefully my next post is from home!

Baby Liam

June 6, 2010 Liam Eric Griffin was born at 2:44 AM, weighting in at 6lbs 10.4 oz and measuring 9 3/4 inches he is VERY close to his older sisters measurements when she was born and just as gorgeous. Genni and Liam look a lot alike, both absolutely beautiful children. I will post pictures later, but there aren't too many yet...I'll explain why but I'm going to start at the beginning of the story....

It was a wonderful free weekend in June, usually this is Dairy Festival Parade weekend, but this year the band wasn't doing that parade. Saturday morning Genni woke up all wheezy (she'd had a cough and runny nose for a few days) and Eric wanted to call the Dr, so we brought her into Southern Tier Peds over in Elmira. She had some pneumonia crackles in her lungs so they gave us a nebulizer and antibiotics and she was doing much better by evening. She really was happy all day though. We went to Wegmans to eat lunch and wait for her prescriptions and Genni had mango sorbet that she LOVED. Then mom and dad came over for dinner. When they left they joked about mom having to come back later if I went into labor. Who knew?

So about 10:40 my contractions kicked in immediately at 5 minutes apart - by 11:40 I called the Dr (so happy that Dr. Surosky was on!) and Eric had already called mom to come over. By 12:45 we were at the hospital and the contractions were still 5 minutes apart, and getting very strong. After monitoring me for a little bit they got me all ready to go (IV in the arm and such) I was 4 cm and when the Dr. came in they broke my water (not sure exactly what time that was) I do know that the contractions get A LOT stronger and after about 4 or 5 of them I did wuss out (don't argue with the terminology, I had planned to do it without and didn't make it as far as I wanted to) but no epidural, just some IV drugs, one dose of stadohl? at about 2:15 and then everything happened very quickly. The contractions still hurt a lot but I think the edge was off them, I was like half asleep in between them though from the pain meds - I made myself wake up a bit when some other nurses came into the room to set stuff up for delivery and I was like - really? so soon? I knew once they broke my water they said his head was right there and I just needed to get dialated enough, but I had no idea my contractions where dialating me so quickly. So 4 or 5 contractions was probably about 20 minutes (mabe 1:50 or so) then at 2:15 I got pain meds, at 2:40 the Dr came in the room and I started pushing (screaming every time, it still seriously hurt even with the pain meds! I really didn't think he would fit....) Then 3 pushes later at 2:44 Liam was born! I can't take much credit for that, he was just really ready to come out. No tearing, and not as sore as I was last time around. The nurses are all surprised that I'm walking around like normal already - the nurse came to take me to the bathroom in the AM and couldn't believe I just got up and walked in to the bathroom like normal....I'm not trying to be a hero or anything, I just don't feel that badly. I did take one mortin about 4PM because the cramping was getting painful and I wanted to sleep some. So I'm doing fine, I'll get a good nights sleep tonight and by the time they let me go on Tuesday I'm sure I'll be pretty great. Now on to the important part.

Right after Liam was born we spent a good half hour together in the delivery room and he was nursing very well, they took him to do the normal tests and stuff while Eric and I got settled in the Maternity room. We where waiting for him to get back and dozing off and about 5:30 a nurse and dr. come into the room and tell us that they are taking Liam to the NICU for monitoring (huh?!) OK, they said it didn't seem to serious but that he had stopped breathing a few times and his blood oxygen level went down so they wanted to put him on a monitor and they couldn't do that without him being in the NICU. So they told us to go to sleep and they would tell us when he was settled and we could go see him. We weren't able to see him till 9AM because of the shift change, but he was doing OK when we got there. The whole CT scan and we might get discharged before him thing really freaked me out, but I figured since I just gave birth less than 12 hours before I could cry a little. The CT scan came back fine though, which meant there are no defects which is exactly what we want to hear.

So all day Sunday Liam was hooked up to the Sipap and they monitored his breathing and gave him IV antibiotics - the worst was with the Sipap in I couldn't nurse or even hold him most of the day. My mom and dad came up to see us and him and Eric's parents came with Genni so we had a busy afternoon and everyone got to at least see Liam and hold his hand a bit. Gary came to see us too which was wonderful, I really appreciate that he came to see us and Liam and that we all got to pray as a big family before everyone took off. (they could all see I was getting tired and left so I could sleep some.) Eric went to the NICU to spend some time with Liam while I was sleeping. They offered to let him hold him while he got his antibiotics and my wonderful husband came back and woke me up because he knew I wanted to hold him. It took awhile to get him out with all the tubes and wires but it made us both feel better that one of us had held him. They started talking then about taking him off the Sipap cause he was doing so well and putting in a nasal (can't ever remember this word, but it's what you're used to seeing for other people getting oxygen). Just talk so far but encouraging. Sunday night was the last semi full night of sleep I can expect to get......more later - this post is very long already!!

Looking back so soon? and the night I almost had the baby....

So remember in my last post when I said I wanted to "look back" on how I was feeling when the whole job crisis hit? Well I am very blessed that it has been a relatively short period of time since I wrote that and I already have good news. This Tuesday, less than a week after I found out about the whole job and preK thing, the board voted to reinstate all the jobs they had put to half time back to full time for next year! They had enough money left over in this years budget to buy all of our supplies for next year, so next year's supply budget and whatever was budgeted for people to attend conferences (no conferences next year) will be used to make up the other half of the 3 teacher's pay that would have been cut in half. Thank God, we will still have tight finances due to two kids in daycare, but at least there is now a chance of making it work. This was an unexpected development and I can't believe things turned around so quickly!

Speaking of turning around, I did make a trip to the hospital on Wednesdy night and we thought the baby was definately coming....but we were sent home because I didn't dialate enough. This is the part where I'm going to explain about my labor pains throughout the day, so if you are a guy who rolls his eyes every time women start to talk about labor and delivery, you might want to skip over it. I'm just saying.


Tuesday night I started feeling nauseaus and by Wednesday morning I had emptied most food out of my system and when I went to the dr. that morning I told them how I felt and how I had no appetite to eat anything. They said nothing about that being connected in any way to labor. Later I read from multiple sources how sometimes your body is getting you ready for labor and that is very common before women go into labor....maybe my dr. should read more? Anyway - I left the dr. office, went to school and dragged myself around all day. Felt like I was back in my first trimester again, haven't felt like that at all since then.

So about 1:00 or so I start getting some seriously intenes Braxton Hicks like contractions (the BH has been going on for weeks) except they are accompanied with pain this time and they happened constantly. I was uncertain as to whether it was anything I should worry about but I basically ignored them and went about my day.

4ish - stayed at school a little late to get everything set in case I didn't come back in, I just had a feeling something might happen. Pain becoming more often, but I wasn't sure it was anything to worry about. Eric gets home and asks if we are going to CT this weekend, I say no - I feel like something is going to happen before then, who knows it could be tonight. So Eric starts cleaning out the van, getting the car seat ready, packing stuff, vacuuming, doing dishes....I think he was nesting ;)

5:30 - took Genni to tumbling, lady at the desk asked when my due date was and says "wow you are so low, do you think you'll make it to the 9th??" I said no.....I really didn't think so.

7:30 Home and hanging out, things progressing - more contractions, more painful, now my lower back is involved in each one and it really feels like it starts in the front of my stomach and travels back and then down to my legs. I realize they are really starting to feel like the cotractions I had with Genni before they broke my water....time isn't right though so I'm ready to wait out the night and figure by morning we'll be heading over.

10:00ish definately feeling more intense measureable contractions - once I reach 7 contractions in a row at 6 minutes apart and lasting over a minute I call the dr and ask what to do....the main thing I remember from that conversation was "well I don't have a crystal ball" very helpful. So we called mom and she came over and then left for the hospital. We arrived there about midnight - everything still going strong.

We were at the hospital till about 3:15AM, they monitored me and at first the contractions were 5 minutes apart, but I was only 2 cm dialated. So after about an hour the nurse said that the dr said (why the dr can't just come tell me I don't know, thought I paid for that but whatever) I can try walking around for a bit and see if I get any more dialation or I can go home. Home? Seriously? I'm mentally prepared for being here and having a baby and you're talking about sending me home? You mean I have to go through this whole process again? How often? Well we walked for about 45 minutes, no change in dialtion, so we went home - disappointed, very tired, and for my part embasrrased that I had been so sure and now I was on my way home.

We got home from the hospital about 4AM, crashed in the living room since mom was in our bed and caught up on sleep. I didn't go into school, I started out the day depressed and embarrased to talk to anyone who knew we had gone to the hospital the night before and was wondering if we'd had the baby yet. I'm in a better place now, willing to wait, but still anxious to see my little boy. After reading alot about so called "false labor" and how people can go into "real labor" and just not have the hormone levels to sustain it I feel like we belong in the second category, since my contractions do not sound like how they describe false labor. I also saw plenty of message boards containing many people who have goe through the same thing, so I don't feel as bad now. I do know that this time I'm not going to the hospital till my water breaks or the pain is too much to bear....I don't want to get sent home again. Don't tell Eric though, he doesn't like that attitude and thinks we should go before that (says he doesn't want to deliver the baby on the side of the road). I'll just wait and see what happens these next few weeks. Right now Liam is literally kicking my butt, so I'm going to go walk around and see if I can get him to stop:). I'll keep you updated!

Jobs....beware I whine in this one

Preface - two teachers have one child and one more on the way, pay a mortgage each month on a modest house and two car payments, student loans for both, car insurance etc. Finally seem to be getting money under control and loans down to a manageable level, our year of paying out the nose for the student loans is over and finances look optimistic. Maybe we can even go on a vacation in the summer of 2011 since we've never even had a honeymoon....hey you never know....should have known something would go wrong.

So back in March, maybe the end of February my superintendent approached me with the "possibility" that my job may be cut because of budget problems (less state aid). A few days later a faculty meeting was called reprimanding us for starting rumors....they then changed their tune from cutting my job to cutting my job in half (oh you must have misunderstood us, yeah right). Not just mine, the art job and one of the english jobs where going to be half time and one of the special ed jobs was still totally cut. This I have to say really made me angry - to think I could do all I do with half the time! They kept saying that enrollment was going down in the school.....the enrollment in my program will only go up next year because I have NO seniors this year...the numbers published in the newsletter recently about the budget show a 5 person decrease for next year (since that was printed we actually had 5 people enroll at school). There is no enrollment issue, they tell the public that there will be no sacrifice in program but they are wrong because not everyone will get lessons and there will be no trips, no solo fest, no all county, no nothing. I can't fathom what their reasoning is - but that is just one issue.

So in April they approached me with an offer, JT would like to share me for a year to replace a sabbatical - was I interested....not my ideal but at least I have a full time option....lets do it. We rearrange the schedule and off we go. A few weeks later they ask me if I would be OK if they did it through BOCES, it would cost everyone less. I ask lots of questions about tenure and step (they are still saying they want to hire me back full time the year after, I'll believe that when it happens) and they go off to ask BOCES, get me good answers and we set up a meeting at JT so I can see the place and find out what I'm teaching. It's all in the bag, we are all set, this is what's happening for next year.

So now it's May, we go to JT and they don't seem to think it's at all in the bag, but since they are all principals and the superintendents are missing we leave angry and frustrated with no information - my principal is angry too, this was a lot of work for her and the schedule is all switched up just for me. 3 more days go by - today I actually get an answer....well JT found out that they can hire a 1st year teacher at .75 for less than they'd pay for me half time since their starting salary is lower (who knew someone payed less than Bradford).

On another subject I've been being bounced all around with whether Genni can go to PreK or not, I had hope this week until today, got a no answer on that one as well. (We had always planned on sending Genni to PreK at Bradford since I'd be there already and it was full day and teachers kids where always allowed to attend as long as they weren't taking resident's spots. One kid in daycare at a time was the goal...two kids in daycare would break the bank)

So speaking of breaking the bank - If we had been able to put Genni in PreK we might have had a glimmer of hope of living with me on halftime - now we don't have any options. Well, my principal said I could stay every other day instead of half days and sub on the off days - but at $90 a day, once you take taxes and day care out what do I get? $20-30? I don't know.

So staying home, that's what everyone says...stay home and I still have at least a $2200 gap between what we need to pay and what we make on one salary, even with me still doing choir at the church. How do I make that work? Online positions are rarely legitimate, so making extra money that way is probably not feasible.

Hhuh, well I know not everyone who reads my blog is really interested in hearing my griping about job loss - I know I'm not the only one going through this so I don't expect special attention or pity or anything, I just want to make sure I get everything out now so that I can look back in a few months and remember how hopeless everything felt. Someday (soon?) when I find an answer to this conundrum I want to be able to read where I started.

The only thing I've ever wanted to do was teach high school band, and I'm very good at it. I'm so good at this thing that I love but I never get to prove it, I never get to show it because I've been stuck here unable to break in to the political game here - now I can't even remotely do what I love because I'm going to have to just take whatever will make me the right amount of money to pay the bills. I will look back on this period of my life someday...and hopefully I will come to the conclusion that I handled it the right way and provided for my family.

So here I go - teaching job, non-teaching job - who knows what's in store. Guess my goal now is to have the baby and then spend June, July and August seeing if anyone will hire me for a relatively high paying job that will make me at least as much as I was making full time at Bradford...stay tuned for the resolution to this part of the Griffin story.

My Genni

My Genni, getting so big - so many questions and answers, such an attitude sometimes and yet such personality. She's learning to much and getting so big so quickly that sometimes I just look at her and wonder how on earth such a big girl could have once been as little as the baby inside me right now. I wonder what she is going to be when she grows up but I don't even want to think about her being that big. I see myself in a lot of the things she does - she pretends to write lists like mommy, she likes to organize her jelly beans into color groups before she eats them so she likes to be organized too, but just like mommy even though she likes things organized she is often OK with leaving things a mess if there are other things to do. She will be short like me the dr thinks, she is barely 30 pounds at 3 1/2 and I'm hoping she has inherited her fathers metabolism (she'll be happy for it in the future!) but she has my blue eyes. Somehow she has developed a very kinesthetic sense of movement, always dancing and she loves tumbling class, we think she might be a dancer when she grows up, I have no clue what side of the family she got that from. She loves to sing and will often break into song and sing verses I never knew she could to songs....it's always impressive to me. Her memory of places and things she has done boggles my mind. She knows exactly where we are in the car and what places are near it if we have ever been there before, remembers things from last spring and summer and even before that, it's uncanny. When we were in Philly in February we went to a museum - she talks about walking through the heart - we watched a video on Benjamin Franklin - she can still tell me about it - I had no idea she was even paying that close of attention to it. I love that she seems to have a natural love of learning (though I suppose all kids could be like this, but I like to think she is special) She has daddy's quick temper and is easily frustrated when things don't work out - it's funny sometimes and I have to try not to laugh in front of her.

Recently she has taken to dressing up in her Halloween costume every chance she gets, it's too small on her now and is becoming a bit tattered but she thinks it will last forever....at least she hasn't asked to wear it out yet..strike that she did want to wear one of her dress-up dresses to the store the other day, and despite parenting magazines that tell us not to fight with our kids about clothes and to let them have their own identity....I told her no and she went to her room to change without much argument. It's going to take a lot to convince me that I should let her wear her halloween costume out in the spring....Guess I'll be accused someday of squashing her creativity and her identity, but I'm not going to allow it if I can help it!

Recently Genni has become addicted to TV - I have always limited how much she watches but now she has become totally engrossed so that I can't get her attention during a show and she spends more time than she used to trying to negotiate more TV time. At least she is still good about shutting it off if I give her enough notice, but she likes it a little too much for me. This summer we will have to be very careful, I'm thinking of instituting a weekends only TV rule....now if I could just get Eric to stick to it too! That is funny!

Although we have kept a pretty good picture and video record of Genni's life it amazes me how far we have come and how quickly it seems to go, I want to make sure that I remember the things that she does that make her special and keep track of how her personality and interests change as she gets older. She is such a loving child and I think as parents we always think about and dread what they might be like as teenagers and as they get older....I want her to stay my cuddly little girl forever, but I want her to grow up and be a confident strong woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. I want her to make a difference if that is what interests her, but I never want to lose those little girl snuggles and kisses and the spontaneous I love you's. I want her to grow up and be successful, but I don't want to let go of having control of her life so that she doesn't get hurt. I'm so nervous about sending her to school and letting other people in on forming her into the person she is meant to be, but I'm a public school teacher and I do believe in the system. I'm afraid our lives our going to change so much when Liam is born in a few weeks, but I can't wait to hold our new little baby in my arms. I know everyone says that we will make the adjustment just fine, but even as much as I already love this baby I'm anxious for the change....I already have so much love for my little girl, I don't want to lose any of that, yet how can I love them both this much? I know my fears and anxiety are the same thing everyone goes through - but now I can look back on this post in a few months and answer my former self on how it's possible to have this much love for two people, and write how my daughter adjusts to it and watch us all grow as a family. Till next time!

Review....

I have so many ideas about what my next blog post should be, but I feel an obligation to at least catch you up on why this has been my worst inactivity since I started this blog. This year has gone by so quickly and was so filled with stuff, it's amazing! Looks like my last post was when I was about 20 weeks pregnant, had the ultrasound where we found out I was carrying our boy, and lost our doggy companian Wallace to a car. That means I have about 15 weeks to catch you up on, and I'll give you the shorthand of what went on between January and today.

End of January - Eric and I both brought our students to the Solo Fest in Prattsburgh, and I was very happy not to be in charge for once!!

February - Super Bowl Party at the Simon's - great times and great food! Genni was so captivated by Michelle's little baby that she was right by her side every time she would nurse or change the baby. Genni is so excited about having a little brother I think she was researching what little babies do :).
Prism Concert - Very well done, West High had a great night for music!
Winter Recess - Would have been nice to get everything done we wanted too but Eric and I where both so sick that we actually had his mom come over and watch Genni, it's the first time we have both been out of commisson at the same time. I had so many plans for that week, but we ended up spending most of it in bed with the stomach flu, I don't recall ever feeling worse than that, ever. I would go through labor again before having the stomach flu.....wait it looks like I will be! Haha
Throughout this month Eric was also hard at work building the set for Peter Pan and I was hard at work with rehearsals - singing and dancing....yes the pregnant chic choreographed and taught a dance, which I have to say looked pretty darn good in the end!

March - Music Teacher Hell.....

Ok, here we go, in the month of March Eric's dad had surgery on his nose, we had 2 All-County Festivals, we went on the band trip with West to Philadelphia, we did 5 performances of Peter Pan, and we worked full tilt every day to finish the set and make sure the kids where ready for production week. And when we weren't doing all that we were teaching or I was trying to finish the mammoth of a schedule that is bringing 5 counties, 850 students, 20 adjudicators, and 25 adjudicator trainees to Bradford for the 2 day NYSSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival. I HATED the schedule aspect, but at least now I'm good at it. The show went well, we were happy to do it but also happy when it was done so we could have a life again. Such a small paragraph for such an enormous month!

April -

Well we start April with Easter, Genni had a blast with my parents up for the weekend and Easter Egg Hunts and candy and church and dying eggs, she was very happy! The next weekend Eric and I went to the East Musical Pippin, and I had the NYSSMA Festival which was a remarkable success I think, but a lot of walking and a ton of work. I was glad when that was over too, but I think it was worth it. Then we just had the normal meetings and drumline rehearsals before Spring Break. We did get a ton done during Spring Break including but not limited too - tons of laundry, sealing the driveway, installing carpet in Genni's room, painting Liam's room, cleaning up most of the house, weeding, tilling the garden, planting things....at the end we needed a vacation from our vacation! The next week I had my concert and we took my kids on their band trip to DC and VA. LOTS of walking and not a lot of sleep, but everything went well and now that is another thing on the list of "done". As an aside, my daughter now pretends to write lists just like mommy, and now that she has put on her list for mommy to have her baby brother it is OK for him to be born it seems.....I told him he must wait till after Memorial Day weekend though!

Well that is a really short recap, I'm going to add pictures soon, and hopefully now I'll be more on track with my posts!!

The Month of January, the end of a chapter

A lot of things happened in January - some made us angry, some happy, and some incredibly sad. I'm going to start with the most recent sad thing and progress backwards to catch you up on everything.

Well last night Wallace ran through his fence and in front of a car. We got a knock on the door about 9:45 PM from a very upset gentlemen who said he thought he had hit our dog. Eric went out and discovered that Wallace was already dead. We can be thankful that he wasn't in pain or suffering while we took him to a vet or anything, but it has been difficult nonetheless. Eric dug a deep hole in the frozen ground last night next to the shed where the flowers are and we buried him, but we still can't believe that he's gone. Genni kind of gets it, she cried when we told her she wouldn't see him again, but it hasn't really sunk in for her either. She said twice this morning "but we we need another doggie to pet" and then wondered if God would make Wallace again. I didn't even want to go in the basement this morning and face the empty crate. Wallace got his fair share of whcks on the nose and yelling for all his puppy and stubborn ways, but he was full of energy and love and had just started to calm down and hang out with the family. I think he would have turned into a very good dog and I can't believe he won't get the chance.

Other things that happened earlier this month was a "free" weekend where our septic backed up and we had to call them to pump the tank on a Saturday....it seems at some point in the previous weeks our daughter flushed a washcloth down the toilet which eventually plugged everything up way down at the tank outside. $350 later, at least we know the septic should be OK for the next few years if we can keep foriegn objects out! That same weekend, Sunday morning the van battery died...another $100 later at least the van works again. What a weekend!

We are now deep into rehearsals for Peter Pan after some marathon auditions at the beginning of the month. My husband is a building machine and there is so much set built already.

Genni is in the evening tumbling class now, because there weren't any people signed up for the day one. Last night was her first evening class and I got to watch :) but Eric will probably be doing tumbling duty in the future because that is usually a rehearsal evening for me.

I've also had a few concessions to work and the West High Fruit came in (fresh squeezed orange juice, yummm!!!) as well as the normal meetings....but the three day weekend helped a lot.

And now the happy news - the baby is doing great, incredibely active and 13 oz - we will be having a boy! In June we will welcome Liam Eric Griffin.... :)

It's hard to mourn Wallace and be happy about the baby at the same time....but I know eventually we'll push past this and life will go on. For now our little friend deserves some thoughts and remembering of his too short life, he was really a good dog with a lot of character and we will miss him dearly.

Christmas Time's the Only Time

Well this fall/winter season has been quite a whirlwind. September was starting school, Genni's Birthday, Scrooge auditions, Scrooge rehearsals, football games and drumline rehearsals. October was more football games, Scrooge and drumline rehearsals as well as Parades and Dr. appointments and a trip to the Pumpkin patch. November marked the Fall show Love Rides the Rails as well as a continuation of Scrooge and drumline rehearsals, Area All State and Thanksgiving. So far December has been Scrooge performances, NYSSMA conference, basketball games, concerts and Christmas parties. Not to mention all of the Band Aides and London meetings my husband has been to. Through it all I have been going through my first trimester of pregnancy. Anyone else tired yet!

Recently we did finish all of the Scrooge performances, and it went very well, as well as Eric's and my concert last night - both successful. After these next two days of school the only thing left in December is vacation - oh I am so happy we made it this far!

I'm about 16 weeks pregnant now - almost half way there. None of my normal clothes except long shirts fit me now - I'm wondering how on earth I will find enough maternity black dress clothes for the Spring show?!? I'll certainly be waddling by then and need a stool to sit on! Nasuea is mostly gone, it recurs occasionally at the most inopportune moments, but in general my appetite is back and if I didn't have so much going on I would certainly have more energy at this point too. Daily Genni asks when the baby is coming and if she is a big sister yet. She is SO excited about the baby and I really hope that it lasts after the baby is born too! I am looking forward to not having to go through all of the end of the year stuff in June, though I will have to be diligent so that everything is ready for when I come back in September.

Recently Genni was in the Children's Christmas program at church - we do have pictures that I will post just as soon as I remember to bring the camera with me! She was an angel - the littlest angel to be specific - it was so cute to watch the bigger girls help her and lead her around. I was very surprised when I left her that morning with the kids to practice and then didn't see her till their part in the service that she didn't put up any fight and just went with them. Annie was there of course, and she knows her well, but still - usually she isn't quite that eager to let go of mommy and I have to admit though I was proud of her it stung a little that she didn't need me....they grow up too fast. Anyway, the kids where all waiting in the lobby for their part, which was right after the pastoral prayer, and they had been waiting there for about half an hour so I'm sure the kids where restless. Well Gary gets to the part of the prayer where we are all praying silently and all of a sudden we all hear giggles from the lobby - and then the person next to me leans over with a smile and says "I think that's yours" hehe - yup my daughter was giggling up a storm, but at least she wasn't crying so I was happy. She looked super cute in her costume and stood very well with the rest of the angels during the program. This is the first year that we didn't just push her up there at the last minute with an animal costume on so that she could get her picture taken. Such a big girl!

Well Thursday is Eric's birthday and the family is coming over after church for lasagna dinner and such, which means that I need to clean the house - wouldn't it be nice if I could just keep the house clean every time I did it...why is it that I can't seem to do that? I also have an enormous pile of laundry that I'm going to have to take to a laundry mat to get caught up since our dryer is still broken. At least I'll get all of that stuff out of the way this week so next week we can just RELAX! I really can't wait! Pictures coming soon.....

NYSSMA

I can't believe I haven't written in so long! There is no excuse....

So we went to the NYSSMA conference last week, and it was really a great time. It was good to see other teachers in NY that I haven't seen in awhile, get myself inspired to teach again, and spend some time with my family. Eric and Genni both came too - since both our school's sent us she tagged a long too. This is actually Genni's 3rd NYSSMA conference, we only missed last years. It was funny, some people would just smile and say how cute she was and say how well she was behaveng (sometimes true, sometimes not, believe me!). But I did get a few looks that were like "What were you thinking?" and someone actually said to us "I did that one year and I'll never do it again, you'll never get to sit through anything!" Well, we attended, together, every single workshop we were interested in and Genni sat next to us watching her favorite movie (UP) on the laptop with headphones and everything worked out just fine. She definately had her moments over the course of a few days. Once we were in the exhibit hall and Genni didn't want to have anything to do with walking around and was throwing a fit, but we were all hungry so I'm sure that was part of it.

Two side notes on Genni - one, she has learned to pout. When we reprimand her for something (especially if daddy yells at her!) she will sometimes walk off and pout and sulk for awhile and will not talk to us till she's done (which can take awhile) or we tickle it out of her. two - her skin was doing so well we decided to try some milk with her, and then since we were at the conference and Breakfast and Dinner where a buffet included in the room price (I felt bad asking for special food for her since technically we weren't paying for her meal) she definately had milk and some soy, well between the two things we discovered that she is definately still allergic to both, and her skin is all itchy again :(. Poor girl! Back on the diet we go....

Anyway, we did have a nice, relaxing, informative trip, but it's good to be home! Now we prepare for two weeks of musical chaos!

Pregnant!

Well for those of you who haven't heard yet, we are indeed expecting a baby about June 9th, 2010! It's too early to tell if it's a boy or girl (everyone's first question) at this point I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow and we have to wait till 20 to tell that, and yes I will find out. We have a girls name we like (Isabelle) but don't have a clue for boys names so suggestions are welcome! Just don't be mad if we don't take your suggestion:).

Genni has two questions about the baby - "when is the baby coming out of your belly?" and "How is the baby going to get out of your belly?" I'm sure there is a book for that one! Since her understanding of the passage of time is not good yet I've already gotten the when question a lot. I figure she will stop asking eventually....

People are always asking me how I feel....I remember getting that a lot last time too. I was pretty sick the first few weeks but I'm starting to feel better now and most of the bad times are at the end of the day when I can just sit and do nothing. My 8th graders think I have been cranky....I want to tell them how whiney and moody they are this year and their only excuse is hormones:).

This past Friday was the first ultrasound and when we saw and heard the heartbeat we both breathed a huge sigh of relief and felt safe making the pregnancy known. So we have two little pictures and a DVD of the ultrasound...at this point the baby has a huge head but at least has no tail anymore:). Last week he/she was olive sized and this week we are supposed to reach an inch and a half I think. Crazy to think of something so tiny that actually has a beating heart inside me while I just go about my day. I think the fact that it took so long was so frustrating this time around makes us really think about everything in a different light. Even though I'm tired and feel sick a lot I'm much less stressed now that I know that I'm pregnant and that everything is going swimmingly (well at least one of us is swimming all the time right! haha)

November Days

Hello! Yes I am still alive, and we are all healthy - lately my schedule has not been conducive to writing but I hope to catch you up! October was full of football games, musical and play rehearsals and drumline practice, parades, homecoming at both schools, going to the pumpkin patch and meeting up with some long lost cousins, London Meetings, Band Aide meetings and Dr appointments. Suffice it to say, we have hoarded our at home time and with Festivals and trips to plan and advisor duties and I don't find much time at school to write notes. So anyway, back to November. This months big activities are the Fall Show, the Campbell Show Eric is helping with, Area All State, Thanksgiving, Tip off tournaments and the Festival of Lights Parade.

Now on to stories of my daughter, who says the cutest things...I am so thankful that she sleeps through the night most nights and that she hasn't been up at 5:30 AM since the time change. I love when she wakes up in a good mood, but every once in awhile she wakes up a huge crank and just wants mommy to hold her and do all manner of things for her....I want to go downstairs, get milk, cereal, etc. etc. etc.....when mommy really needs to get ready for school. It's so hard not being able to just stay there and cuddle with her when she needs it....on the other hand I'm not sure if she would be happy even if I did, on days like that everything makes her cry till she wakes up a little more. Anyway, lately she has also been in a "but I don't want to......" mood...seriously sometimes it's ridiculous, "I don't want it to get dark!" "I don't want the sun to come up!" "I don't want it to be cold!" "I don't want...." Geesh child I can't control the elements!

On a good note Genni had tumbling at the YMCA on Tuesday and Laurelyn told me the teacher said Genni has a lot of natural ability and that if she is still interested in a few years she wants to pull her up to the pre-team group! Especially with her being petite she thinks she might have a future in gymnastics. I'm certainly not going to push her if she loses interest, but I'm so proud that she is doing well at it and that she has talent in something even at 3! I don't think I can quite explain to anyone that does not have a child how it feels to be proud of your child when they are good at something. It's totally different from getting compliments on their behaviour or their looks....and it's just wonderful. It totally made my day when I heard that. No matter what she decides to do later on, I will always remember that at 3 she excelled in tumbling class:). Someday my daughter will roll her eyes at me when I say that.

Cute Girl

Although there is plenty to catch you up on, I'm going to focus on some super cute things my daughter has been doing lately...here are some snapshots.....

Eric and Genni were carving pumpkins and Eric took the top off, Eric told her "now we have to scoop out the inside" my daughter looks at the pumpkin and says to her father "Daddy, little girls do not scoop out pumpkins with their hands, my hands will get dirty" "do you want to use a spoon?" "yeah...(disgusted look on her face)"....hahahaha can you you believe it!

We were at dinner with Eric's parents the other night and Genni was trying unsucessfully to get grandma's attention...."Grandma keep your eyes on me!"

She loves driving her little tractor around - but as soon as we get her turning the wheel one way she just leaves it there instead of going back to the middle so she usually ends of driving in a circle.

She has become afraid of bugs! It has been warm out so when the outside light is on at night and we let the dogs in or out bugs fly around the kitchen till they get caught in the lights - she freaked out the other night! I finally convinced her that the bug was not going to hurt her and that it would eventually just sit somewhere. But it reminded me of the day we were on her tractor and she made us come inside because she didn't like the bugs flying around her. What a girly girl!

Another time recently Eric took the sweeper around and got a whole bunch of leaves raked into a pile in the backyard. It was about as tall as me when we were done and we threw Genni into the pile over and over - she would giggle and roll down the mound, we'd rake it back up and do it again. It was a great day, and she never got tired of being thrown into that leaf pile. She was however very upset with daddy when he burnt the leaves. (Which I just discovered is now illegal in NY?!?! Jeesh!)

Yesterday morning I mentioned something to Eric about remembering to take the oboes out of the car for Ken when he got to school....when Eric picked Genni up she says "Daddy, did you take mommies elbows out of the car for Ken or did you forget?" hahaha - now he can never escape!

Every night before we go to bed we say prayers, Genni has a whole list of stuff that I've tried to cut down to "just people hunny" "Oh ok, how about my fan?" "no, people" "my door? my humidifier? my curtains?" The funny thing is she knows exactly what I mean, she's just saying it to be difficult. She also says every single night, "and two mommies and two daddies" "you only have one mommy and daddy hunny" "I have a mommy and Graham has a mommy and I have a daddy and Graham has a daddy and that's two mommies and two daddies" Well I guess I can't argue with her math.

When I go downstairs at church to get her from Sunday School after the service she is sooooo excited to show me all of the crafts and coloring and glueing she has done, literally jumping up and down, it's so cute.

She is aways saying "when I get bigger and bigger I will....."

I was so impressed last night, after doing her little wooden puzzles together a few times she told me to close my eyes and not look so she could do it herself (the only danger was that I would fall asleep) and she did all four of them without any help from anyone....she is getting so big!

Eric got her this little leap frog thing that is a screen with a magnetic drawing pad on top so it will tell her how to make a letter and she can trace it with the pen and then erase it and do another. I'm so impressed that she can hold the pen correctly without having ever been told and is really doing well at tracing the letters....how can she have grown this much!

She can basically get dressed on her own now if I lay the clothes out the right way...bedtime is lots easier. Now if she could just do her own lotion....:)

At her dr. appointment the other week she had an eye test where she had to say the shapes and she did each one perfectly (I was so proud) and then she did the hearing test and followed the nurses directions so well that the nurse was impressed and said "she is a very smart three year old, I always have to repeat those directions, noone ever gets it on the first try!" (proud mama) the Dr. also didn't bat an eye about her food allergies other than to ask if the rice milk is fortified and to say she'll probably grow out of them eventually. He also sggested she take a vitamin but he says that to everyone when they get this age. She has been taking some the last few days but I'm not convinced she isn't having a reaction to them (they have Vitamin E which is generally derived from soy, but we said we would try them and see) but what vitamin doesn't have E?


Well I guess that is enough for now.....more cute things to come

Emergency Room....

Well, for some of you whom I haven't talked to this past week, I don't want you to get nervous in the middle of the post so I will say up front that Eric is doing fine at the moment:)

Tuesday night 10:30-11:30

I went upstairs about 10:30 or so, tired and ready for bed, however I ended up reading for awhile - kind of waiting for Eric to come to bed too- and didn't actually fall asleep till about 11:30 (normal for me, I can't seem to get to bed any earlier most of the time!).

Wednesday morning 12:40 AM

I hear Eric screaming for me downstairs and jump out of bed and run downstairs wondering what on earth he's waking me up for this late. He's doubled over in pain from his stomach and seriously scared because he doesn't know what is going on. He's saying "what do I do! what's going on! and I'm like....uhhhhh...did you try going to the bathroom?" It's the first thing I could think of for stomach cramps. Well that didn't work obviously and he's now on the bathroom floor doubled over yelling "call an ambulance!" "to which I reply - "really? an ambulance? get in the car I can have you to the hospital in 15 minutes, let's go!" he is adamant about the ambulance and to his credit he's not really able to straighten up enough to get into the car, so I don't know if I would have gotten him into a seat let alone the hospital. Besides we had no idea what it could be and didn't know if he needed immediate attention. So anyway, for the first time in my life I called 911, talked to the operator and got an ambulance on the way to the house. I always though they stayed on the line with you till the ambulance was there, not true, she said to call back if we had any other trouble....

30 seconds pass and my husband wants to know why they aren't there yet, I'm pacing, and then he says - "I was on the computer with Mike before this happened, get on and tell him what's going on, and there was something on the desktop I need to send him for tomorrow (they were working on the London meeting at 12:40 in the morning)" my reply is "I think that can wait at the moment, but I'll tell Mike what's going on." Poor Mike didn't get much more sleep than us after that, imagine talking to your friend online and all of a sudden his wife is telling you an ambulance is coming to the house.

Wednesday morning @12:55 AM - EMT's arrive at the house and find Eric still on the bathroom floor, the first attack has passed enough so that he can explain to them what is going on, they take vitals and such but can't offer much more till the ambulance arrives. A few minutes after they arrive he has another attack so at least we know we were right to call them, but I don't think they really knew what was going on either. The ambulance arrives soon after and I have to rearrange the kitchen furniture so that they can get the bed rolled in to the house. They told me to take my time getting to the hospital (I still hadn't gotten Genni up, figuring she didn't need to see all that, can't believe she slept through it though)

Wednesday morning 1:30 AM - I got to Corning hospital - strangely there is no one at the desk in the ER so I wait a few minutes before casting some significant looks through the "no admittance" doors to the nurses station. After I find Eric I learn he had another attack in the ambulance on the way but has been fine since they got to the hospital. Both of us are hoping for good answers to all this and after blood tests they discover an elevated enzyme in his pancreas leading to what the doctor called "pancreatitis". Well since he already had bronchitis after being at the doctors on Monday - this is just great. So they talk about the possibility of gall stones, say he should have an ultrasound (unfortunately they can't do that till the morning), and we wait a little longer to see if the pain comes back before leaving the ER.

Wednesday morning 4 AM - We arrive back home knowing we need to be back at the hospital at 6:45AM for his ultrasound. I call in sick for Wednesday and we catch a few hours of sleep before the alarm goes off at 6AM. (By the way Genni was awake the entire time we were at the hospital, but was in a very good mood, so it wasn't bad)

Wednesday morning 6:45 AM - back at the hospital for the ultrasound and listening to the technicians gripe about having to do it before 8AM because "well we don't usually have anything scheduled before 8AM" Well, I pulled my daughter back out of bed with only 2 hours sleep so do the ultrasound! By about 8AM we were on our way out and told to call Eric's regular doctor because he would read the results. Luckily Laurelyn took Genni for the day (who despite lack of sleep was reportedly in a very good mood!) and Eric and I slept for much of the day. After two calls to the doctor we still had no answers because they hadn't even read the tests yet. But the next day they called to say that it wasn't gall stones (according to the ultrasound) but he should see a GI specialist. When they called back with the appointment they said "there was something funny about his ultrasound and blood work, but it's not a big deal so the doctor will tell him about it when he sees him." Now why did he have to go and say that? Was that really necessary? I know something you don't know and I won't tell you.....

Anyway, Eric's appointment is next Friday at 10:30 and we are hoping for answer then. He is relatively fine, although he does get some twinges there sometimes. They said if he has an attack of the magnitude again they'll admit him - and I'll know that the ambulance isn't going to be able to do much for him either than drive fast and I'll just take him there myself.

On a side note, I wouldn't let Eric drive home from the hospital or to the hospital in the morning, for obvious reasons, but he is the WORST backseat driver! He drives my nuts when he can't drive! haha

So all is well that ends well, we are all back to the routine, hoping to enjoy a lazy day tomorrow after church. Other stuff happened this week but I'll have to write about them in another post because I am going to bed!

London here we come!

Yesterday my husband's band was extended their official invitation to go to London in 2011 for the New Year's Day Parade, the Lord Lt. to Her Majesty the Honorable Lord Bramble flew to Corning for the ceremony and a performance by the band. Woohoo!
http://www.the-leader.com/news/x1073706944/Parade-organizers-visit-West-High


http://www.wetmtv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx click on West High School Receives Royal Visit to see my husband on TV!

Super excited about going to London - must update my passport!

In other news, Open House for Eric tonight, drumline and choir for me on Thursday, Performance at the stadium Saturday night....isn't life interesting. I was in bed by 9 last night and sleeping by 10 and I still didn't want to get up this morning at 6:15. I'm usually a night owl but I was so exhausted last night!

Genni news - how can I get my previously potty trained now 3 year old daughter to stop having accidents every day? every single day - we have hit a new low. I thought it was the apple juice but she hasn't had any in weeks. Last night she almost made it but it's always a rush to get her pants down and half the time it's just not in time....what now? I've been angry, I've been disappointed, I've threatened, I've time-outted, I'm really not sure what to do next other than hope this is just another phase I have to wait out. They never tell you there are so many phases a child goes though...I thought I had till the teenage years for that....hmmmm.

Life just keeps getting more interesting! :)

3rd Birthday Party

So this Saturday we had a birthday party for my girl Genni, Laurie showed up with face paints for the kids and they all seemed to have a great time, the adults relaxed and visited. It was as always hectic to get everything cleaned up and made on time, but it all came together in the end. My parents were a big help cutting up food for salads and my friend Deb came over early to help clean. Eric's parents stayed late and helped us clean up so now it's Sunday afternoon and I'm not going to clean a thing today! Here are some pictures of Genni at the party, I know Eric's dad and Mike both got photos and video of the cake and singing and presents so I'm hoping to get some more pictures up soon.

Then today we wore one of our new outfits to church and painted this afternoon. I put a little bit of each color on the paper plate and Genni thought it would be great fun to just mix them all up into one big color....and who am I to stifle such creativity? Haha, so here are the pictures she did today, one has stickers on it too.