Friday, August 27, 2010

First week of class.

It has been a hectic week as I adjust to teaching and working. And then there is the issue of trying to find time for class prep and grading. I am working on it. And then things will change when my parents come back from vacation. Sigh. There are times when I cannot win for trying.For example, last weekend my period decided to come back. Apparently the first period after pregnancy is really crazy. And mine certainly was. The first few days were really heavy. Thank goodness for Dep.ends! That is what got me through my nights without it looking like a massacre! Unfortunately, the first day it decided to come back was the one day a week Hubby was letting me sleep in. So much for that. I had to get up and clean myself up. I think it is finally tapering off, so hopefully I will be able to sleep in this weekend. Hopefully.

The class is a good class. The students are all young. In other words, not far out of high school. They are nice kids, and a few of them actually seem interested in learning the info. Of course some of that may be kissing up, but that could be my cynicism at work. Sad that I think they are kids, but I am over a decade older than them and it makes me feel old.

I will leave this random-ish post with a few baby pics, because babies are always cute!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

It figures...

That the weekend before I start teaching, AF decides to show up. I guess she just wanted to be involved. I just needed one more thing...

Friday, August 20, 2010

Nervousness has set in.

Classes start on Monday! I have both Lab and lecture to teach on Monday, and I am really nervous. I know some of this is normal, as I have been nervous before starting classes before. Once I get in the groove, and I know I can keep up with everything, I will probably feel better. But it will take a few weeks until I am there.

I am very excited to start classes. I am nervous about keeping up with lesson planning and testing in a timely fashion. I think I am really nervous because I do not know how the baby will impact things. He is an unknown in my situation. I know he will likely throw my time line off, so I am trying to be well ahead of where I need to be. Unfortunately, I only have a couple week's worth of lecture notes. I do have a draft of a test, but I still want to read it over and make sure I have included everything I wanted. It is a balance to include everything I want to, and not make it too long. There is so much I would love to include on a test, but my class is only 50 minutes long. I do not want to go over 75 questions. We will see what happens.

Baby is going to daycare the first couple of weeks I am teaching. I do not think he will mind so much, though he will not like having his schedule thrown off. He will adapt, but it will probably be rough for the first few weeks. The thing I hate is that my mother comes back from vacation in two weeks, and she will be watching him while I teach. Just when he gets used to one routine, we have to start another. It is really frustrating, but I guess that is life sometimes.

I have also been thinking about the opportunities I have in front of me. I am excited about getting into teaching again, and I think I will do well at it. At least I hope I do well at it. I may get the opportunity to teach other classes, which would be very exciting. But I also love being an OR nurse. I love it, and find it very rewarding. I do not really want to give it up to teach. I think I want to find a way to do both. I am still thinking about this, and it may not be an issue. But it could be. It is definitely fun thinking about the possibilities, at any rate.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Photos!

I am not a photographer, and I am really bad about capturing moments. But here are a few pictures of the Little Dude. He is harder to catch recently as he is constantly on the move!

We have started standing on things. Not sure whether Gertrude likes having her couch invaded. She looks totally unimpressed


The light was a little off for this shot, but I sort of liked it, anyway. It is a pic of Oscar and Little Dude standing at the window. And in case you are wondering: yes, we do have to watch that the baby does not crawl under the dog.

Little Dude with his favorite toy. He loves this thing! I also think he likes looking out the window, too.


Little Dude trying to climb on me as I take his picture. I missed the smile. He had a big grin on his face right before this was taken. Could not get the timing right, though.

Oh the things you learn at Tar.get! This is his first trip in a shopping cart. I was so excited to discover I could do this!


He really likes this rocket ship, even if he is a little young for it. He is standing up on everything these days!

I have also started carrying him on my back, because is he so heavy. He is around 20 pounds! The Er.go is really comfortable for back carries. I cannot put him in a back carry by myself, though.


That is what we have been up to lately. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

No Space!

I suspect we have the beginnings of separation anxiety. (If not full out separation anxiety.) Little Dude looks for things when he drops them, fusses when I leave the room. He is starting to follow me around the house, and he always likes to be able to see me. He will not nap unless I am with him, and wakes up when I move. I have only gotten two half hour naps with him this morning, and I had to lay down with him the whole time in order to get him to sleep that much. Last couple of nights, we would not sleep anywhere other than with me.

It is driving me a little batty.

I did manage to get to the gym this morning, though. So at least I did something for me. But I really wanted to get work done this morning, too. He is currently playing in his crib because I just needed some time to work on the computer. I apparently have no space any more.

Co-sleeping is working again, but Hubby has found that he cannot sleep with us when we co-sleep. Which amounts to Hubby sleeping on the couch. (We do have a bed in another room made up, and I am not sure why Hubby does not sleep there. I am not responsible for where he sleeps.) I miss sleeping with Hubby, and really wish Little Dude would sleep on his own so that we can have our bed back! But I suspect with separation anxiety I will be co-sleeping a while longer.

Sigh. I just feel like I cannot win.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

At least there is a reason...

Little dude has another ear infection. Between the teething and the ear infection, I think we have plenty of reasons for the night waking. He is now on another round of antibiotics, and we got the official green light for ibuprofen. The ibuprofen works magic, though. Last night I actually got 3-4 hours of continuous sleep at a stretch. I am praying for similar results tonight. So far he is still down, but he has only been down for about an hour. I am probably going to finish my wine and then go to bed. Hopefully I will get a little sleep before he wakes again.

In other news, I applied for a job at an ambulatory surgery center. I was trolling the job sites at other hospitals just happened to see a part time position posted. I figure I could apply and if it is not right, I am not really out anything, as I still have my current job. We will see what happens. It would be a nice change of pace, though.

Back to work tomorrow. Hopefully I will have a sleepy baby tonight. Keeping fingers crossed...

Edit: Sigh. Woke up at 9 pm. It is probably going to be another bad night. Damn it.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Sleep! At least for one night!

I actually got five hours of consecutive sleep last night! Hooray! Little Dude slept in his crib last night and everyone slept well. I am so hoping this is not just a one time thing, but it probably is. And then I brought him to bed with me at 3:30 am, and that was the last of my good sleep for the night. I was tossing and turning with him until around 6 AM.

I think I have decided that our co-sleeping days are over. He is moving around way too much to allow everyone to sleep. It sort of makes me sad because it was awesome for nursing at night. I could just roll over and nurse him. Now he is getting up on all fours and rolling around and trying to stand. Not exactly restful. Hopefully we will all adapt quickly. We will see. I have a feeling that it is going to be a rough go. Nothing is ever easy with babies, it seems.

Little Dude is now pulling up on everything! And cruising on everything. Fortunately, he still likes his jump.eroo, and will play in there for quite a while. I have also discovered that I can let him crawl on the floor while I do chores and housework, and he is able to entertain himself. He has discovered the dishwasher, and enjoys "helping" me load and unload the dishwasher. He has also discovered that he can crawl into another room, so I constantly have to check where he is, and what he is into.

One of the hardest things I found is letting him take his bumps. He is not all that coordinated in everything he does, and he will lose his balance, and sometimes he bumps his head or another body part. It is all part of trying to learn. We have bumpers on most really unsafe things, so he is not bumping his head on anything sharp. The bumps he takes are not hard, but they probably do not feel good, so he cries. I usually will give him a cuddle and a kiss and put him down again when he calm. He is learning to stand and move, so he is going to lose his balance and fall from time to time. On the bright side, he is getting better at catching himself when he falls.

Sigh. He is growing up!