The Mixed Up Chameleon

I have been trying at least 2 times a week to pick a book and do an activity tied to the book.  Celia read The Mixed Up Chameleon to me and I had previously read the story to Audrey.  While Celia was reading the story to me, Audrey was too busy with her morning Smorgasbord.

Lately she has slowed down and she does not eat it all.

There was a time in which everything would have been eaten.

She demands the variety in the morning.  

It is chex cereal (eaten dry), Rice crispies (with milk), yogurt with honey and craisins, 

and in the cup is her newest love, Green Machine smoothie.

The medicine syringe is for her reflux meds.

Anywhooo.....  On to Mr. Chameleon

 So we read him

Then I traced over him with thin paper, making sure to outline

each color section.

I then cut out the different colors from the template I just made.

We realized later that we forgot the tongue- no biggy.

Believe me I am sure this project is not unique, I know!

Audrey drew her legs on.  

For this activity, I was just into letting her do the 

gluing and the putting on herself. I thought she did great!!

 Celia made hers perfectly.

She made him asleep, with his legs curled under 

she said.

 Here is Celia's up close

 Here is Audrey's up close.   The legs were great.

Her name is at the top.  If you look closely she scribbled over the U.

Almost every time I can get her to do the U, not bad.

Miss. Ultra creative decided it was in general a mixed up chameleon day.

Typically she fights me on picking out her own clothes but she got all excited and appeared with this outfit and announced that she was in deed a Mixed Up Chameleon. There was a wardrobe change later and she returned in equally mixed up clothes.

She dressed her sister too.

It would have been a great outfit, had it not been 90 degrees...

Celia was a little put off when I told her that we would have to change the

pants when we went outside.  

Pregnant

As most of you know from my Mother's day post I am pregnant!  So here is the background, it is a bit wordy.

I am sort of still in disbelief over this situation.  We were not trying, we were done.  I was planning on taking an educational sabbatical and/or changing careers by going back to school.  In my head I was planning on the special things we could do with just having one child.  At the same point, I was also wondering how we surround our little girl with relationships that would match a sibling. 

I suppose I should back up a bit.  We did want another child, we really did.  But this has been a rough year, well starting in July.  We had 2 losses and clinically I shouldn't have been able to get pregnant easily again.   It has been an emotional rollercoaster but at least for me, I felt like I was getting my head out of the clouds for once and was happy.  I was happy with our little family of three and then I started getting exhausted...  I took a pregnancy test, had some symptoms that led me to believe this was just leading to another loss and then had an ultrasound.  I had an ultrasound in which I saw a little heartbeat.  We were cautious but luckily followed by my amazing Reproductive Endicrinologist and graduated from him at 10 weeks. 

I went to my birthcenter at 11 weeks and saw the wonderful lactation consultant/nurse who helped with Celia's birth and led the breastfeeding group that I attended sitting in the office.  She said congratulations and then said "you don't look all together happy".  I guess, I was still in disbelief of the situation and relayed my fears.  It felt good to be back at the birthcenter.  I love that place.  I met with the midwife for probably an hour (honestly, tell me how many OB/GYN's meet with you for that long!!).  I heard the heartbeat on doppler, it took all of one second to find it.  I was suddenly at ease.  You know there is a but... coming here.   5 days later I started bleeding.  Pete and I headed to the birthcenter to meet the midwife on call who could not find the heartbeat on doppler.  You know the heartbeat that we had heard so clearly 5 days before.  She tried with two dopplers.  With my history, the bleding, and difficulty finding the heartbeat things were not looking good.  The midwife honestly would not give us any indication but she did tend to agree that no if you put all these things together, it wasn't looking good.  So we went back to our Endicrinologist's office for an ultrasound to confirm what we thought was my 3rd loss and guess what 162 beats per minute is what we saw!!! Oh and a stupid subchorionic hematoma.
A subchorionic hematoma, not as big as the one that I had with Celia, but the same stupid complication.  So I was put on bedrest for a few days and then told to just take it easy- no lifting, no exercise, rest when I can.  Yesterday I had a follow up ultrasound and I was nervous.  But again, 160 beats per minute and all is well.  Oh but the little complication is still there, but things appear to have stabilized.  So still on restrictions though I am finding it very difficult to follow!!  At least now I feel that I can share the pregnancy with most people.  I was so afraid of having to untell but at 14 weeks, things are looking good.

So that is our dramatic history of this pregnancy.  Celia's was perhaps just as dramatic so neither kid can argue about that!  With Celia I had 3 episodes of hemmorhaging and go to deal with an OB office that had a horrible bedside manner- I am talking everyone there. 

So that is where we are now.  Celia knows and I am letting her lead the questions for the most part.  She wants to name the baby "girl" (according to her), Patsy Doggy.  Hmmm... I am thinking no.  She is very insightful.  I told her yesterday that I had pictures of the baby and she looked at me like I was insane.  "But mommy, isn't it too dark inside your belly to take pictures?"  Huh???  Explaining ultrasounds to a 2 1/2 yearold is beyond my capability but she liked the pictures.

This is what I like

Showing my shadow my beautiful belly

Making the wind chase me

Playing with friends

And shedding crayons of their clothes

And sitting on Mommy's lap while I help yet another crayon listening to "I can only imagine".

Bagels, school is done, and the plague

On Wednesday I leaned my head against the doorway of my classroom and I took it all in. The walls were bare, circle time had no calendar or weather frog, the puzzles were gone, and boxes were packed. I took sometime to think about the year. I pictured the group of kids that frightened my assistant and I at the beginning of the year. I pictured that group that made me tell Pete that I didn't think I was going to last the year, it just was too exhausting. Then I pictured the group that made me want to stay the whole year. I pictured the group that made me love coming into the classroom everyday. I pictured the group that frustrated everyone but made us feel so important and so special. They are not the same group of students, they really aren't. The group of kiddos that we started with did not exist, they didn't exist after November. Don't get me wrong, they were still a handful, but they matured and grew so very much this year. I watched little J learn to defend herself among kids a foot taller and I heard her say her first words. I saw N become calmer and learn, oh did she learn this year. I won't lie, there are a couple of students that I enjoyed the year teaching, but I am okay with not having them next year.
So I didn't stand at that doorway for too long, it just was too painful. I am not sure that my students are going off to better places. Little J will be fine going back to the district, she is smart, sweet, and compliant. I am not sure that I am going off to a better place. I haven't put in my letter of transfer yet but I think that I am. My supervisor asked me again if I knew what I was doing and I told him my plans, then he changed my mind a little. There is a classroom at our Autistic Support school that has some students with behavior problems. I am good with students with behavior problems, but honestly I am tired of that a little. I love the challenge though.
This week has been complicated by the fact that I have the plague. Okay perhaps not "the Plague" but some horrible virus/infection. It started with fever, body aches, and the worst sore throat I have had in years. I popped Tylenol and Ibropfren like candy Mon and Tues to get through work. Wednesday I went to the dr and they didn't know, I was told to fill an antibiotic prescription on Thursday if I didn't feel better. So I woke up Thursday thinking maybe the sore throat was know more like 10 knives then a dozen. I didn't fill the prescription until later that day when things got worse. So today I think maybe I am filling better, but not sure as my throat is still killing me.
Celia is home for the summer with me, today is the official day. She didn't take her morning nap because she took off her sleep sack, nap diaper (undies when awake), and shirt. I heard her from downstairs saying "I nakey, Celia nakey". That never leads to anything good. So I got her up and we played outside for a bit then came in to make bagels. I found a recipe for it and thought it sounded worthwhile to try, the dough is rising right now and I am deflating. I think I need to also take a nap. She really loves to bake, but she thinks that everything we make is muffins. I told her bagels and showed her the pictures. She then asked if I was cooking the muffins!