I'm sure I've mentioned before just how much I love being home with Leah, but recently I thought of yet another perk: the ease of travel. Now, I'm not saying traveling with a baby is easy (I've certainly learned that), but scheduling our trips (now that I'm a SAHM) IS. After all, now we just have to work around Scott's schedule.
Take this weekend, for instance. We're heading up to NY for a wedding. Well, had I been working, I would have had to request personal leave, which probably would have been approved. I also would have stressed about creating lessons that a sub could follow/ teach. That of course would also entail assembling all of the necessary materials on top of compiling rosters and writing out basic procedures. Oh, and did I mention that I'd probably only be allowed to take two days personal leave? That would have REALLY been a headache, especially since we're not coming home until Monday (I suppose we could drive from Massena to VA in one day, but 9 hours is quite the drive).
So... because of my "new" profession, our family can actually travel when we'd like to, not when the school system dictates. Ahhhh, just one more perk.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
So, several months ago I joined FB. What an interesting way of "socializing". It has certainly allowed me to reconnect with some "old" friends, especially those from high school. Because of the wonders of this site, I can now glimpse into the lives of friends, family, and acquaintances alike. Hmmm, that's quite the concept.
Like most people, I'm curious about the lives of others, but how much information is too much? The range of comments that people post is much greater than I had anticipated (which doesn't say much since I wasn't exactly sure WHAT to expect). Some are rather mundane, while others stir up controversy. And others are just gibberish... really. I think the type of comment reveals more about the individual than the comment itself. For instance, those who post regularly/ daily about what's going on in their lives tend to be more social. Why else would they share as often as they do? Those who use it to advocate a political position are, well, "deeply committed to the American democratic process" (is that PC enough?).
And then there are those like me. I rarely post updates. What does that reveal? Well, I'm a private person who simply doesn't feel like sharing what's going on. That, and there's not always a lot to share (except for photos of Leah, but even then, I prefer posting them here). Plus, when I do want to share something (hence this entry), I'd rather share it via my writing. This is a much more natural forum for me to speak. I guess little snippets here and there about my day just aren't my style.
One of the benefits of FB is staying connected... supposedly. For those who check it frequently, I agree. For me, though, not so much. By the time I check it, there have been so many posts and updates that I inevitably miss quite a bit. After all, I don't want to spend the time looking through ALL of the posts that I have missed, especially since they span several days' worth (and who has time to read through all of those?). Thus, even if someone's posted big news on FB, there's a good chance that I haven't seen it... and won't.
Now don't think that this is my farewell to FB. I'll keep checking in and posting pictures (and the occasional update) now and then because that does allow me to stay connected. Still, don't expect my overall FB use to change; after all, I am who I am, and FB can't change that.
Like most people, I'm curious about the lives of others, but how much information is too much? The range of comments that people post is much greater than I had anticipated (which doesn't say much since I wasn't exactly sure WHAT to expect). Some are rather mundane, while others stir up controversy. And others are just gibberish... really. I think the type of comment reveals more about the individual than the comment itself. For instance, those who post regularly/ daily about what's going on in their lives tend to be more social. Why else would they share as often as they do? Those who use it to advocate a political position are, well, "deeply committed to the American democratic process" (is that PC enough?).
And then there are those like me. I rarely post updates. What does that reveal? Well, I'm a private person who simply doesn't feel like sharing what's going on. That, and there's not always a lot to share (except for photos of Leah, but even then, I prefer posting them here). Plus, when I do want to share something (hence this entry), I'd rather share it via my writing. This is a much more natural forum for me to speak. I guess little snippets here and there about my day just aren't my style.
One of the benefits of FB is staying connected... supposedly. For those who check it frequently, I agree. For me, though, not so much. By the time I check it, there have been so many posts and updates that I inevitably miss quite a bit. After all, I don't want to spend the time looking through ALL of the posts that I have missed, especially since they span several days' worth (and who has time to read through all of those?). Thus, even if someone's posted big news on FB, there's a good chance that I haven't seen it... and won't.
Now don't think that this is my farewell to FB. I'll keep checking in and posting pictures (and the occasional update) now and then because that does allow me to stay connected. Still, don't expect my overall FB use to change; after all, I am who I am, and FB can't change that.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Why yes, I DO workout.
Okay, okay. I confess. Leah's so strong because she's been working out from a young age. The proof is in the video.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Emerald Isle, Aug. 2009
At the end of August, we had the opportunity to vacation with friends for a week in Emerald Isle, NC. Though the drive there (and back), was rather long, it was still worth it. We had the chance to hang out with friends all while enjoying the laid-back beach atmosphere.
We didn't hit the beach every day (it was about 30 minutes from where we were staying, and the kiddos-- Leah and Connor-- could only handle so much surf and sun), so we mixed it up by hitting some of the other local sites, too. We took in Fort Macon one day and the aquarium another. Leah didn't seem to mind either of those; actually, maybe she preferred them since then she wasn't subjected to the ocean water. (We dipped her toes in each day, but she was never in for very long.)
The Girls-- Me, Leah, & Amelia
Leah breaks out of the Fort
Safe in Daddy's arms
Testing out the water.
Beach Babe(y)
Yes, Connor's EATING sand.
Leah & Connor playing in the beach house.
Surprisingly, Connor could fit in the Bumbo.
Jason, Connor, & Amelia watch the shark tank.
Not the carseat again!
Watching the sharks with Daddy.
Outside the aquarium. How come we didn't think to take more family photos?
We didn't hit the beach every day (it was about 30 minutes from where we were staying, and the kiddos-- Leah and Connor-- could only handle so much surf and sun), so we mixed it up by hitting some of the other local sites, too. We took in Fort Macon one day and the aquarium another. Leah didn't seem to mind either of those; actually, maybe she preferred them since then she wasn't subjected to the ocean water. (We dipped her toes in each day, but she was never in for very long.)
I would've included some video (from the camcorder) here, but I didn't realize until today (translation: didn't read the owner's manual) that in order to do so, I had to record it to a memory card instead of a cassette. Go figure. Anyway, the pictures still capture the story.
Fort Macon
Fort Macon
The Girls-- Me, Leah, & Amelia
Leah breaks out of the Fort
Safe in Daddy's arms
Testing out the water.
Beach Babe(y)
Yes, Connor's EATING sand.
Leah & Connor playing in the beach house.
Surprisingly, Connor could fit in the Bumbo. 
Jason, Connor, & Amelia watch the shark tank.
Not the carseat again!
Watching the sharks with Daddy.
Outside the aquarium. How come we didn't think to take more family photos?Pictures... in no particular order
Leah's almost messier with a bottle than with solids.
Mmmmmm, squash.
"I can do this myself, Daddy."
Caught in the act! Leah was wrestling with one of her crib mates.
Six months old!
Playing with Daddy. Need I say more?
Drinking water from a glass. Well, trying to, at least.
Catching up on some reading.
Five months old.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The "Official" Six Month Update
Leah turned six months old this past Thursday. Oh my! Unlike other doctor's appointments, which have been after her "birthday", this latest one was actually ON her "birthday". Despite receiving three shots (two standard vaccinations and a flu vaccine), she did really well. She didn't even cry for the first shot (was it shock?).
Our little one is definitely that... little. She's 24 1/4" long (8%) and 14 lb .03 oz (20%). Thankfully, there's nothing to be concerned about, even though she's dropped several percentiles since her four month check-up. The nurse practitioner agreed that Leah might be smaller because she's so active for her age. (Of course, it could also just be her genes.) Plus, looking at Leah, the NP could see that Leah's certainly not "failing to thrive"; she's got the typical baby rolls! (Yes, I know it'd be easier to show this in a photo, but no, the computer issue STILL isn't resolved. I talked to a DELL tech Thursday, though, and she's sending out some CDs/DVDs so that we can re-load Windows. But I digress....)
Leah's also moving on to new culinary experiences, namely squash. I picked some up yesterday at Wegman's, and cooked it up last night. She LOVES it! I don't think we'll go back to rice cereal (which I'm sure she's grateful for). Leah doesn't eat much rice cereal (I'd fix a teaspoon and even that was too much), but she gobbled down the squash. Today for lunch I could hardly feed it to her fast enough! (By the way, making the baby food was super easy, and in the long run, it'll definitely save us some money.) Once she's had time to adjust to the squash, we'll move on to pears and sweet potatoes. After that, who knows? Green beans? Peas? Carrots? The possibilities are endless!
Our little one is definitely that... little. She's 24 1/4" long (8%) and 14 lb .03 oz (20%). Thankfully, there's nothing to be concerned about, even though she's dropped several percentiles since her four month check-up. The nurse practitioner agreed that Leah might be smaller because she's so active for her age. (Of course, it could also just be her genes.) Plus, looking at Leah, the NP could see that Leah's certainly not "failing to thrive"; she's got the typical baby rolls! (Yes, I know it'd be easier to show this in a photo, but no, the computer issue STILL isn't resolved. I talked to a DELL tech Thursday, though, and she's sending out some CDs/DVDs so that we can re-load Windows. But I digress....)
Leah's also moving on to new culinary experiences, namely squash. I picked some up yesterday at Wegman's, and cooked it up last night. She LOVES it! I don't think we'll go back to rice cereal (which I'm sure she's grateful for). Leah doesn't eat much rice cereal (I'd fix a teaspoon and even that was too much), but she gobbled down the squash. Today for lunch I could hardly feed it to her fast enough! (By the way, making the baby food was super easy, and in the long run, it'll definitely save us some money.) Once she's had time to adjust to the squash, we'll move on to pears and sweet potatoes. After that, who knows? Green beans? Peas? Carrots? The possibilities are endless!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Five Almost Six Months
Since I have a moment (and feel like writing), I might as well update everyone on Leah's growth. The pictures will have to come later since she's not officially six months yet (not too much longer though) and well, if you read the previous post, you know why.
Scott and I have finally admitted that Leah is indeed crawling. As a friend pointed out yesterday, Leah's actually been crawling for the past month or so, but Scott and I have refused to call it that. After all, it looks like she's just scootching about.... even if she's gotten rather fast. (We now have to train ourselves to keep the doors to the basement and laundry room closed. And of course we also have to work on baby-proofing.) Plus, it doesn't really even look like the true military crawl; she primarily uses her arms. What opened our eyes to the truth? Leah's now starting to use her knees (and did I mention she's getting really fast?). We've only witnessed her doing this here and there, but we know it's only a matter of time before she really starts using them. She's quite adept at crawling to what she wants, whether it's a toy or a hug (when she wants us to pick her up, she'll crawl over to where we're sitting).
She's also become quite the chatterbox when the mood strikes her. There were a couple mornings when we were on vacation that Leah wouldn't stop talking from the time she finished breakfast until the time she took her first nap! Now that we're home, she's not as chatty, but she does have her moments. Interestingly enough, she tends to be more talkative once Scott gets home from work. Guess she just wants to tell her dad about her day!
Like most babies, she doesn't limit her conversations to us. I'll regularly hear her talking to her crib friends (Harley bear, momma bear, Lambchop, and seahorse), and then, when I pick her up from her nap, I see that she's also rearranged her friends. This evening, for instance, she talked with her animals for the longest time before settling down for a nap. When I went in to get her later, I discovered that three of the four animals (she never messes with her seahorse) were in the middle of the crib rather than in the corners. (Other times Scott and I have peeked in on her to see that she's flung Harley bear from his corner so that she can nestle in his spot.)
Hmmmm, other new adventures in this journey? Well, we recently started rice cereal. She's not eating much of it just yet, but I can't say I don't blame her. After all, have you seen it? It certainly doesn't LOOK appetizing. Hopefully next week we'll start her on some other foods, too. (Crazy me, I'm actually going to make her food. We'll see how that goes. Perhaps it'll be good fodder for a future blog.)
Keep checking back for pictures. I'm hoping our computer issue will be resolved within the next week so that I can finally clear out the camera (and camcorder).
Scott and I have finally admitted that Leah is indeed crawling. As a friend pointed out yesterday, Leah's actually been crawling for the past month or so, but Scott and I have refused to call it that. After all, it looks like she's just scootching about.... even if she's gotten rather fast. (We now have to train ourselves to keep the doors to the basement and laundry room closed. And of course we also have to work on baby-proofing.) Plus, it doesn't really even look like the true military crawl; she primarily uses her arms. What opened our eyes to the truth? Leah's now starting to use her knees (and did I mention she's getting really fast?). We've only witnessed her doing this here and there, but we know it's only a matter of time before she really starts using them. She's quite adept at crawling to what she wants, whether it's a toy or a hug (when she wants us to pick her up, she'll crawl over to where we're sitting).
She's also become quite the chatterbox when the mood strikes her. There were a couple mornings when we were on vacation that Leah wouldn't stop talking from the time she finished breakfast until the time she took her first nap! Now that we're home, she's not as chatty, but she does have her moments. Interestingly enough, she tends to be more talkative once Scott gets home from work. Guess she just wants to tell her dad about her day!
Like most babies, she doesn't limit her conversations to us. I'll regularly hear her talking to her crib friends (Harley bear, momma bear, Lambchop, and seahorse), and then, when I pick her up from her nap, I see that she's also rearranged her friends. This evening, for instance, she talked with her animals for the longest time before settling down for a nap. When I went in to get her later, I discovered that three of the four animals (she never messes with her seahorse) were in the middle of the crib rather than in the corners. (Other times Scott and I have peeked in on her to see that she's flung Harley bear from his corner so that she can nestle in his spot.)
Hmmmm, other new adventures in this journey? Well, we recently started rice cereal. She's not eating much of it just yet, but I can't say I don't blame her. After all, have you seen it? It certainly doesn't LOOK appetizing. Hopefully next week we'll start her on some other foods, too. (Crazy me, I'm actually going to make her food. We'll see how that goes. Perhaps it'll be good fodder for a future blog.)
Keep checking back for pictures. I'm hoping our computer issue will be resolved within the next week so that I can finally clear out the camera (and camcorder).
Let's See If My Fingers Still Work...
or maybe I should re-title this "Let's See If My BRAIN Still Works". I can't believe I haven't posted in so long. Well, scratch that. I can believe it (though there is a bit of incredulity on my part). Having not written in so long, I do wonder if this post will even make sense.
I didn't purposely neglect my writing. Actually, I'd think about it regularly during August, but always came up with an excuse not to.
The primary excuse? Computer issues. Long story short, we ordered a new computer and then had to re-load Windows. Unfortunately, in the process, the necessary drivers weren't loaded. Despite contacting Dell (and speaking with a rep at least four times), the issue still hasn't been resolved... and we've had the computer about a month now. So what has this to do with blogging, especially since I'm obviously using the computer/ Internet now? Well, I had intended on updating everyone when Leah turned five months. That updated included photos. Well, since I'm waiting to upload our camera software, I haven't been able to upload any photos (which is really frustrating). I never expected the issue to continue for so long, but now it looks like it won't be until at least next week when I might hear from someone. And that means at least another week before I can upload and/ or share any photos. (FYI... Leah will be six months old next week. Looks like I'll be posting her five and six month photos together.)
I didn't purposely neglect my writing. Actually, I'd think about it regularly during August, but always came up with an excuse not to.
The primary excuse? Computer issues. Long story short, we ordered a new computer and then had to re-load Windows. Unfortunately, in the process, the necessary drivers weren't loaded. Despite contacting Dell (and speaking with a rep at least four times), the issue still hasn't been resolved... and we've had the computer about a month now. So what has this to do with blogging, especially since I'm obviously using the computer/ Internet now? Well, I had intended on updating everyone when Leah turned five months. That updated included photos. Well, since I'm waiting to upload our camera software, I haven't been able to upload any photos (which is really frustrating). I never expected the issue to continue for so long, but now it looks like it won't be until at least next week when I might hear from someone. And that means at least another week before I can upload and/ or share any photos. (FYI... Leah will be six months old next week. Looks like I'll be posting her five and six month photos together.)
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