Ok, I am back...

Yes, I know, it has been a LONG time since I have posted. I got busy with work and school, but I guess that will soon be changing...

I am currently on bedrest from this past weekend's medical event. I guess I should start at the beginning...

On November 4th, we found out we were pregnant (for those of you that haven't heard from me in a while)... We were very excited, and had a good first few weeks of pregnancy. Then, we had a few episodes of complications. Actually, this happened until I was 14 weeks pregnant.

We got a good 6 weeks of happy, healthy pregnancy, when I started having contractions. Last Thursday, we went to Labor & Delivery for the contractions, and I was monitored for a while, then sent home and put on bedrest. We ended up back at the doctor on Friday, because the contractions had gotten worse. They admitted me to the hospital, because the doctor was suspecting appendicitis. They gave me IV fluids and watched me til Sunday, when they determined that this was indeed contractions. The doctor on call said that the contractions weren't big enough to start labor, but were big enough to cause a heck of a lot of pain and pressure. So, the order of bedrest still stands until I get reevaluated next week. The surgeon said that as long as I am having these pains, I don't need to be working. So far I have been on bedrest for 2 more days, and still get the pains... I am thinking I won't be returning to work...

Yes, this will cause difficulties, because I was the primary breadwinner in the house. Chris just started a new preaching job for a church in a small town in Mississippi. He really enjoys it, but we both know that won't be enough to pay the bills. He is also going to school full-time, so that cuts into time that he could be working. I feel a little guilty, because I know he needs to do well in school, and doesn't need the stress of my being off work. But, things happen, and I know we will make it through.

I have spent the past few days doing some school work, watching movies, and wishing I could get up and do things!!! I wanted to get started on the baby room, but I can't really do that now. Guess I will have to wait until my parents come to town- I can point and tell where things go!

We haven't bought the crib yet. With the recent change in employment, I think that is being put on hold for now. We found the one that we love at Babies 'R Us, but we know the baby shouldn't be here for quite a while longer, so we have time. I still want to be ready just in case, since the doctor said there's no guarantee that next time it won't be actual labor (great thought, I know)...

We are currently in the 21st week of pregnancy! The baby is due June 28th, and I am hoping he holds out til at least Memorial Day weekend. They said that at that point, the baby can do well on his own, without much intervention. A baby that stays til closer to due date would be even better, but we will take what we can get!

Chris has been so supportive through all of this. He deserves the Husband/Dad of the Year award... It's funny, because I told him this last night, then threatened to revoke the title if he didn't go to Sonic at 10:30pm and get me a hot dog! This is particularly funny, because I really don't like hot dogs, and he has only seen me eat one once during the whole time we have known each other! LOL After a while of fighting me on it, he gave in and headed out in the torrential downpours to retrieve my bit of processed-meat goodness... I love that man!

Well, that's all for now... I will be writing again soon, since I have nothing else to do... :-)

Michelle

Ick...

It's been a while since I last posted... Life has gotten pretty busy here, and I have not had a lot of time to breathe, let alone sit down to write a post... I apologize...

I am finally finding time because I am home for the rest of the week. On Monday, I came home from work early because I had a migraine and began vomiting. Chris took me to the doctor, where they found that I not only had a mingraine, but a pretty bad ear infection as well. I was given a shot of pain medication for the head, and medications for the nausea and ear infection, and sent on my way.

I went back to work Tuesday, but decided that wasn't a good idea. I made it through the day, but when I got home at around 3pm, I promptly fell asleep. I did not wake up until 6am this morning!!!

I got to work today and lined up a sub for tomorrow. Seems like nothing has been getting better, and my vision in my right eye is getting blurry. I made it through all of 25 minutes at work before needing to go home. I went to the doctor again today, letting him know my concern over the increased pressure in my head, the blurry vision, and the big blood spot on my eyeball. He took some sinus x-rays (which came back fine), scheduled an appt. with a specialist, and got me an appt. for a CAT scan. Sounds like tons of fun... He also said on top of all that, I have conjunctivitis (pink eye), and I got more prescriptions for that. I had to write down a medication schedule to keep everything straight. Oh, yeah, and more pain medication for the head pressure and all the infections...

So, I am home til Monday, where I have inservice and Parent-Teacher conferences. I also have class that night, so I guess I will be going to class late. I have a hunch that none of my parents will show up on Monday, but I have to be there anyway.

I have one exam next Thursday, so I will be attending at least part of class tomorrow night. I will see how long I make it through the class... I am betting 1 hour, but I might surprise myself...

I am headed to bed now... Rest has to help, though it doesn't always feel like it.

~M

Finally, a BREAK!!!

Well, we are back home now... We finally got a weekend where we were able to relax!!! Sure, it was busy, but compared to the past few weeks- I felt like I was finally allowed to slow down and enjoy myself!

Backtracking: We had a meeting with the social worker on Friday at 3pm... We have to schedule one more meeting, because we need to go over a few more papers. We also have some reference letters that have not been turned in yet, so we are waiting on those. Once all of that is sent in, it will be about 2 weeks, then we will receive the official copy of the home study.

Saturday we received our letter requesting a fingerprinting appointment. We were told this letter would come about 2-4 weeks after sending our application. Ours took 6 days... Hmmmm... So, I am getting anxious about completing the home study, because then we can wait about 45 days to get CIS approval.... Then, the REAL waiting begins!

So, this weekend we got into town and visited with Granny & Jack for a while. That was nice to get to talk to them. I just wish we were more rested- I think I might have fallen asleep while talking! Later, we went to the Fish Fry to say some hellos. We didn't stay too late, since Chris was preaching in the morning.

On Sunday, Chris gave the sermon at the Clarksville Church. He did a VERY good job- I was proud of him!!! We went to Cracker Barrel after church with Granny, Jack, Tim, Regina, and Meagan... It was nice to get to see everyone and visit for a while. After all that, we headed on to Nashville...

We met a friend of mine from elementary school at Opry Mills... We had dinner and did some shopping... Then, we relaxed for the rest of the evening. It's always nice to get to see her- we look forward to a possible visit from her and the boyfriend sometime soon.

So, tomorrow starts another work week... Ugh. The upside is that there are only 4 days in the work week. The downside is that there are still 4 days in the work week. Ok, I am kidding, but it just takes me a while to get adjusted to a routine- this weekend threw me off...

~M

Two weeks down, 34 more to go! LOL

Seriously, this week went really well... We had some changes in the classroom, trying to get kids moved around and stuff. The room is coming along, but I still have some more rearranging and decorating to go. I figure it will all be set by Christmas. LOL

We had a meeting with the social worker last night. It got to the point where I changed into my pajamas when she interviewed Chris, because it was getting so late... Long time and a lot of talking... Well, we have one more meeting on next Friday, then she finishes the home study. We have to track down the reference letters- seems there are still a few floating around out there. We didn't expect the home study to go this quickly, but most people had moved quickly to send their letters in. So, after that's complete, we should have the home study done.

Got a package from Immigration today and I panicked. They returned our application because we miscalculated the fees for filing paperwork and fingerprinting... So, after being on hold with Customer Service for 30 minutes, we find out that it was their error and I did have the right amount... So, I guess we will try again. I ran to the post office to mail it one more time... Hopefully everything works well getting it through this time!

So, with the major paperwork coming to a close, it looks like we can start talking nursery and preparing the house for baby... I kinda held off putting too much thought into that because I didn't want to jinx us... Once everything else is done, we play the waiting game, so we can focus on the nursery... Looks like we will have to get creative with our space... We are thinking just a crib and glider rocker. He already has a dresser and bookshelves, and a changing table isn't really a necessity... We found a crib we liked at Babies 'R Us when we went there for a seminar. I like going there to browse- it feels like the only permanent focus in the adoption. It's not like we have a giant belly to stare at, so we go there to look around and ponder our upcoming parenthood... :-)

Well, that's about all for tonight. Chris is working tonight, so I am relaxing from a hard week's work... I am so tired, and classes begin Monday. I wonder how that's going to go.... I have training for about 1 day a week for a few weeks, so that will make 3 days a week where my afternoon/evenings are tied up... Then it gets more relaxed after that.

~M

One week down, 35 to go!

I made it through the first week!! It actually went by pretty quickly, because of all the changes in the class. I showed up to class the first day with 11 students on my roster, and wasn't quite sure what I was even teaching. Since there had never been a class like this before, they weren't sure what to tell me to teach. The first day, only 3 students showed up... So, we did some activities that day, but it was pretty much unproductive. Tuesday, we were going through the day (just the 4 of us), and had several people come by to see how everything was going with the class. We checked the system for the other students on my roster, and none of them had enrolled anywhere in Memphis City Schools. So, our group stayed pretty small for the day.

Wednesday I got to sit down with the other special education teachers and the guidance counselor, and come up with a plan for the students. One of them wasn't even supposed to be in my class (we found this out once we finally got the paperwork on him), and the others are supposed to have electives outside of my class. I was told to be patient- there were tons of kids in the school without schedules, so we had to wait til that was done. I didn't want to say that my kids had been enrolled all along, and should have had a schedule before these kids that just showed up to register. My kids need the structure of classes, and being with me from 7:30 to 2:15 was becoming a behavior problem. They are very well behaved, but as the week went on the problems escalated.

So, finally, on Friday, I gave a list of classes to the guidance counselor, so that no student is in my class for more than 4 periods a day. We are trying to get them in class at the same time too, so I have a planning period to meet with other teachers and such.

I don't know what next week will bring. I have spent many nights getting plans together and reviewing paperwork. I have become quite knowledgeable about a lot of stuff I thought would be difficult to learn. I guess it just takes jumping in to learn it well...

We have a meeting with the social worker in our home Thursday night. We had been wanting to paint the living room, but with everything else going on, it has been a struggle to get together at the same time and do anything other than sleep... So, I thought we would paint it before Thursday so it would be done, but it looks like that won't happen. It's only 5 days from now, and I really want to relax for the rest of the weekend. Once the week begins, I have stuff going on every day:

Monday- Meeting with Guidance
Tuesday- Parent Meeting
Wednesday- Meetings (yes, plural... I hope to get home before midnight... LOL)
Thursday- Meeting with Social Worker

So, as you can see, there's not much time to paint the living room, and I don't want to have us start painting and then have to clean up.... That would leave the walls looking pretty bad... I figure we can hang the pictures and such, then just take them down at a later time and paint...

~M

Another wedding!!!

My brother just got engaged!!! Yep, I called the house to ask my mother a question, and got to talk to them... I guess it just happened! I am so excited!!! :-) Goodness, my parents have barely recovered from one wedding! LOL

So, it looks like he and Allison will be tying the knot sometime soon. They don't know any specifics yet, which is to be expected since they JUST GOT ENGAGED... I know we did it backwards and had the wedding practically planned before we got engaged... To each his own! :-) I heard my brother did a very good job with the planning- very romantic! :-)

So, now we welcome a sister to the family. I called Chris, since he is on his way to Clarksville right now. He was psyched as well! We were hoping to get the baby home next summer, and I don't know when the wedding will take place (this year or next)... We were doing our best to get a ringbearer, but we didn't know there would be an engagement so soon (which is funny, because they have been dating since high school)... Anyway, I am very excited for another party!!! :-)


~M

One week down...

Well, I am through my first week of inservice, and my room is looking much better. It seems that the teacher that had my room was fired, and he decided not to take any of his trash with him... I found a bag of McDonald's leftovers from who knows when... I am surprised I didn't have some critters in the classroom to welcome me!

There were meetings galore on the first week. I had called the week before to find out the schedule for the inservice week, and all that anyone could tell me was to show up Monday at 8am... Well, that doesn't help me...

So, Monday came and I showed up and sat through meetings. I don't think I left work that day til 4pm... I found out that even though Tuesday wasn't a work day, we were required to work for 8 hours that day... So, I got to work at 6:30am. Wednesday was the District Assembly at the Fedex Forum... We were supposed to be done for the day, but then they had us stay for a meeting. So, that's another long day... Thursday was meetings galore, and Friday- guess what??? More meetings.... Yeah, I didn't think I would make it out of that school alive! We went to the school this morning to finish up my classroom, and I am going to take tomorrow off before the school year begins (Monday)... I need to clean the house anyway, since I have been gone all this week. Chris is leaving tomorrow afternoon for Clarksville- he has a meeting in Nashville on Monday morning. That's convenient, since I will be doing all the cleaning tomorrow! LOL I am hoping he is home Monday afternoon to relax with me after my first day of work...

So, I have about 11 kids in my class, and hopefully won't receive anymore. No one had sent for their IEP's, so I have to do that on Monday. It's going to take a few days for those, so I am going to go ahead and assess them starting Monday....

I have learned more in the past week of work than I have in all my classes so far. I am not saying that my classes were bad- they were great! It's just that sometimes you never know what to do til you are in the classroom!

I am going to relax and finish watching a movie... I need a break!

~M