Five Favorites

Joining Hallie to share five of my favoritest things this week.

-1-

The St. Louis Cardinals. Oh yes they are. I know not everyone loves the Cardinals as much as I do, but then again, I don't think the Rockies made into the playoffs now did they? If you wanna watch baseball in October, then you gotta be a Cardinals fan.

-2-

If you wanna watch baseball in October, you also have to have cable. We're way too cheap for cable but not too cheap for a date night with free babysitting from friends! So Ted and I actually get to watch game five of the National League Division Series. Together. In a bar. Without children. And with alcohol.

It hasn't happened yet. But Wednesday night's date is already my favorite night of the week.

(And I'm just going to pretend like they are never, ever going to leave us.)

-3-

I started doing some actual speech therapy with Hannah this week. My goal is 20-30 minute sessions twice a week. I've known for a while she needed it but was hoping that my indirect approach would take off. It didn't. So now we're doing it the old fashioned way. It's been a lot of fun to see her rise to the challenge. She asks for it every time Paul goes down for a nap and (so far) has sat attentively for the entire time. I'm excited for her intelligibility to improve and for her to become more confident talking with her friends and other adults.

Don't mind the grease on the wall from the previous renters' popcorn machine. Who does that??

 I'm also incredibly grateful that I have two degrees and five years of experience in the exact area of help my daughter needs. Literally saving us thousands of dollars. That's a favorite.

She hung these up herself. So I think it's safe to say speech is a favorite of hers too.

But my favoritist favorite part of this "favorite" is hearing her say "speech" like "peets."

"We do peets now mommy?" Love it.

-4-

This outtake from our seven month photo shoot with Paul is my favorite. Gosh, I just love him. I could type that a thousand times and it wouldn't even come close to describing how much I love this little boy. He is just the best. An absolute joy.

He's been crawling and kneeling and pulling up for a few weeks now. It's adorable. But making my life a whole lot harder than it was before. A whole, whole lot. Not a favorite.

-5-

This is my new favorite spot of our house. I just moved the recliner about two feet to the right and turned some wasted space into a "reading corner". It actually makes our tiny living room feel quite a bit bigger. The mat on the floor spells out READ but you wouldn't know that because Crawl Joseph has taken it upon himself to continually rip all the books off the cute little spice rack bookshelf. Whatever. He loves it back there. Probably because he eats the floor mat, but who cares. And Hannah actually gets her books out more often because they're not scattered in with all of her toys. Wins all around. It's everybody's favorite.

Loving the Language

Isn't language development just the coolest dang thing? I know I'm a speech therapist, so I probably care about it a leeeetle more than the average joe. But come on, kids learning how to TALK is amazing. I devoted many years of my life studying language development and then some more years doing language therapy but NOTHING could be as cool to this language nerd as watching my own kid's language take off. To see her wake up in the morning and say ten new words before breakfast. To ask her, "Hannah, what's in those clouds?" knowing she has no earthly idea what the answer is. Until I hear her say matter-of-factly, Wain." And then follow it up with, "Falls down on my head! Gets me wet!"

Mind blown.

Toddlers are fascinating. Yes, they're exasperating and challenging and a whole lot of work. But fascinating. Watching her language expand and grow has got to be one of my favorite parenting highlights so far. As Ted said today, "Oh to be a fly on the inside of her brain."


While making a smoothie with me:
This smoothie is for us. Not for the animals. (Dis moonie is dor us. Not dor animos.)

A conversation after she hit Paul on the head when she was overly excited:
Me: Hannah, I know you are excited but you never, NEVER hit Paul. Instead of hitting Paul, next time you get excited ---
Hannah: Hit mommy!

While on the toilet:
Hannah: Look (yut), my poop made bubbles!

During breakfast:
Me: Here you go. You can have my strawberry.
Hannah: Big strawberry! Really big! Really big like Daddy! (Bid stawbewy. Weawy bid. Bid yite Daddy.)

In reference to the bottle opener that is nailed to the cabinet next to our dishwasher (it was here when we moved in, but man, what a good idea!)
Dis where beer tums out. (holding up her empty playdough jar). Tum out beer!

And during an attempt to get out of bed by telling me she had to poop.
Me: Hannah, do you remember how you told me that you had to poop last night?
Hannah: Yes.
Me: And remember how you pushed and pushed but there wasn't any poop?
Hannah: Yes.
Me: So tonight-
Hannah (leaning in and nodding her head): Push harder!

Tomorrow Morning

Well, I guess diving it is.

Right now my lunch is packed, my outfit is laid out, the coffee is all set for the morning and I'm about to take a shower even though my last shower was only two days ago. Tomorrow morning is my first day of work at my new part-time job.

If you're keeping track, this will be my third job. I'm adding this in with the one kiddo I see for therapy twice a week and the work-at-home nursery coordination I do for our parish. This is is more legit though. It's an actual job job. I have to leave the house and I can't bring my kids with me. I'll be working ten hours a week doing assessments on 9-24 month olds for Autism Spectrum Disorders. It's at a research clinic associated with the university in town. The test I'll be giving is actually the same one I studied for my thesis years ago all the way back in Missouri. The professor is a professional idol (too strong of word? well, someone I admired in grad school then) and I just can't believe the "small worldishness" of me actually ending up in her town and getting hired to work for her clinic.

Seriously, I feel like I was made for this job.

When we moved to Florida a year and a half ago I left a great job in Mississippi that I loved. And although it was hard to leave, I was beyond excited to get to stay home with Hannah. When people asked if I was going to look for a new job in Florida I always replied, "Not right away. If God wants me to work He'll put something in my lap."

This job could not have fallen more directly into my lap.

So I'm excited. Excited to get back into the world of speech therapy. Excited to have colleagues again and adults to talk to and a reason to put makeup on. Excited to have a little external pressure built into my schedule in the hopes that'll it help me better manage my time. But I'm scared. Scared that my kids will be unhappy without me. Scared that it'll be too much too fast and that I'll buckle under the pressure.

But a lot more excited than scared. It feels right. And, at least for the time being, we have a sweet college student coming to watch the kiddos who is equal parts Catholic and speech therapist in training. She's me...about seven years ago. It'll be the first time we ever pay anyone to watch our kids. And it's weird. It's really weird. I feel like I am a college student taking care of other people's kids. Not the person with the two kids paying the college student. Life happens so fast.

After my initial weeks of training, I'll be able to do about half the hours from home. Which will be great, but definitely a test in self discipline. And I have no previous experience having passed that test. So that'll be interesting. But for now, I'm about to venture outside the walls of this house without my kids for ten hours a week. I will miss them. They'll most likely be fine. And I hope we'll all be the better for it. I hope we'll have a little breathing room in our budget. And I hope that I'll be an asset to families just finding out that their children have Autism and be able to get them the help they need.

It's going to be a big adjustment. I've done working mom and I've done stay-at-home mom. But I've never tried to marry the two. I'll probably lay awake in bed far too late tonight with that first-day-of-school mix of nerves and excitement. I'll probably be completely exhausted at this time tomorrow.

So if you could spare a prayer for me tomorrow, I wouldn't decline your generosity. Pray for Bonnie too, while you're at it. And I have two special intentions that would greatly appreciate your prayers as well.

Here goes nothin'!

Hannah Speaks

This is one of those posts that only the grandmas really care about. You'll just have to deal with my detailed doting on my little girl for today.

A few of my favorite Hannah phrases:

"move please" (moo peas)-spoken at least a hundred times a day, said when she actually wants me to move out of her way, said to an inanimate object that is blocking her path before she removes it, said to me if I enter the room while her and Ted are playing together (girl loves her daddy!), spoken to me if I so much as speak to Ted from the other room while they are having their special time together!

"very careful" (wear-wee tear-toh)-spoken as I hand her yet another cup of water while she's playing her favorite game "Fill up all the cups of water in my play house on the back porch". I told her to be "very careful" with the water so many times that I think she thinks this is actually the name of the game

"oh no" (she can actually say this one!) she's never been an "uh-oh" kid. I like "oh no" even better. Spoken when anything in her organized little world is out of whack-something falls, something is on the wrong shelf, something is broken, something is missing

"dirty, clean" (dur-dee, neen)-obsessively repeated during diaper changes to reassure herself that the diaper being taken off is, in fact, dirty and the diaper being put on is, in fact, clean.

"mommy daddy poo poo"-spoken during diaper changes to remind herself that only mommy and daddy wipe her poo poo. Not Hannah. Ever ever ever ever ever. Eew.

"be happy" -sweetly and happily exclaimed to anyone who appears the least bit sad

"Barney Sun/EIEI/I Love You" (bah-nee un/EIEI/ah wu doo)-interchangeably used to request youtube videos of Barney singing her favorite songs

"daddy home"-repeated to reassure herself that life will be more fun when daddy gets home. "Hannah-I can't make you fly right now but Daddy will when he gets home"

"2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9" (too, tee, tour, tah, ti, neh-nen, ate, nine)-she hates 1 apparently. 2 and 8 are her favorites

"2, 3, GO!" (too, tee, doh)-this is one of my favorites because it sounds like she's saying "tootie go"

"no YEAH!" -a knee jerk refusual-cause that's what toddlers do-before realizing that she actually wants to do what I suggested. "Hannah-can I read you a book? Wanna go outside? We're going to the zoo!" "no-wait, that actually sounds good-YEAH!"

"green means GO!" (nee mee doh)-stoplights, they're fascinating

"snuggle me" (nuh-no me)-my personal favorite :)

There are more, but I better stop or even the grandmas might stop reading. And to any speechie friends reading this-yes it does pain me not to use phonological symbols to explain her pronunciations-but I'm just that nice to my readers to spare them the confusion. And yes-she does exhibit every single phonological process known to man. We're working on it. Pray for me.

A Few Questions

I don't normally do these things, but Bonnie asked me to. And I like Bonnie. And she writes for Virtuou Pla.net now so I better do what she says.

What is your occupation right now?  I'm a speech-language pathologist. I work for the local school district testing 2-5 year olds for speech and developmental delays. I also have a small caseload of preschoolers that I serve. I get to travel around to local pre schools and day cares on a daily basis. My office is in a pre school and I love stopping by the baby room to peak at the kids who are a month older than Hannah to see what she'll be doing soon.

What are you listening to right now?  Nothing. We never have the tv on and rarely play music.

What was the last thing that you ate? Guacamole and chips for dinner.

 How old are you today? 26

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Cardinals baseball!

What is your favorite drink?  A margarita on the rocks with salt.

What is your new favorite song?  "Empire State of Mind" by Jay Z. Yes, I have a weakness for rap...

What is the last movie you watched?  I couldn't even tell you. We rarely watch movies.

Favorite day of the year? Any Friday in the fall. Especially if there's a home football game that weekend. That probably goes back to my high school cheerleader days. I just love the energy and the crispness in the air.

What was your favorite toy as a child? The video camera. We made music videos, commercials, movies...

What is your favorite season? Fall-Missouri's not Mississippi's

Cherries or Blueberries? Fresh-blueberries. Canned-cherries

When was the last time you cried? Tuesday at the doctor's office when Hannah has to be catheterized. It is so, so hard to watch your baby cry. (she's ok now by the way)

What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes, purses, and a box of spare sheets.

Who is the friend you have had the longest? My cousin Jamie-friends since birth!

What did you do last night? Drove back from a conference on Apraxia in Jackson.

What are you most afraid of? Nah-no need to dwell on that one.

How many states have you lived in? Two-Missouri and Mississippi!

What is your favorite kind of flower? Tulips. Hands down. Remember when I got these? (Beware-that was the post about the dead bunny.)

Quick Takes (25)

-1-

I know it's not Friday, but it feels like Friday so I'm doing a quick takes. Why does it feel like Friday you ask? Because today was my last day of work for the year! School's out for summer! Although I would probably love working for Early Intervention or a hospital, I just don't know if I could ever give up my summers.

-2-

Hannah has decided that sleep is for losers. I guess that makes me pretty cool because I'm not getting any sleep either :)

-3-

I have a wedding to attend one month from today. I need a dress. It must be modest, summer-y, pretty fancy but not over the top, not too expensive, AND I must be able to nurse in it. Does such a dress exist? Please say it does. And then find it for me. Thanks!

-4-

I went to a ladies' night earlier in the evening. I was hesitant because Hannah has been having such rough nights-but she usually does best in the first couple hours. She gave Ted such a hard time the entire time I was gone that I had to come home after an hour. When I got home he was swinging her to sleep in her car seat (just one of the many exciting ways we help her get to sleep). That was at 9:20. It's 10:30 and she's still sleeping. Figures.

-5-

I only have one friend that lives in Joplin and she wasn't in the town when the tornado hit. Ted and I went to school in Springfield-just an hour from Joplin. It's so horrible. Please continue to pray for these families.

-6-

Our priest started an adult catechism class on Sundays after Mass for the summer. Last week was the first week and it. was. awesome. He asked us what topics we wanted to learn about and just went from there. We discussed Church history, authority, councils, and teaching on creation. He didn't prepare a single thing-but explained everything effortlessly. Such a gift.

-7-

Now that it's summer I really want to take Hannah to the pool. She has an adorable suit, a first rate floatie, and baby sunscreen. The only problem is she hates it. Loves her bath. Hates the pool.

Hopefully she'll come around. Give it another week or so and the pool water will probably feel like bath water. That's Mississippi for ya.

Have a great Wednesday!

Kids Say...

Preschoolers are a pretty funny bunch of kids in general. Throw in a big pregnant belly and things really get interesting!

Here are just a few of my favorite comments from my preschoolers during my pregnancy:

Kid 1: Are you gonna have a baby??
Me: Yes! How did you know?
Kid 1: Ummmm (turning bright red and too embarrassed to answer)
Kid 2: Cause your belly so big!

Kid: How did the baby get in there?
Me: All babies start growing in their mamas tummies. (ok, so I didn't actually answer his question....)

Kid: How is the baby gonna come out?
Me: Um, well...
Kid: Oh I know-you go to the doctor.
Me: Yes-that is exactly right. (Whew!)

Kid: Can the baby hear me?
Me: She sure can!
Kid: Arf Arf! She just heard me bark!

Me: My baby is in my tummy just like you were in your mommy's tummy.
Kid: No-I grew up in my daddy's tummy.
Me: Hmm, I don't know about that.
Kid: I did! He told me!

While playing a matching game, one kid got a picture of a watermelon. He looked at the watermelon....and looked at my belly....looked at the watermelon....and looked at my belly. Ha!

Kid: What's your baby's name?
Me: We don't know yet. What do you think we should name it?
Kid: Carter David Miller! (Which was, of course, his name! Obviously not his real name though-no HIPPA violation for me!)

Kid: I can hear your baby. He's crying. I think he wants to come out.

Every Kid: Is it a boy or a girl?
Me: I don't know yet! What do you think it is?
Every single boy: A boy!
Every single girl: A girl!

Kid: When you have your baby will you bring him to school and show me?
Me: No, I can't bring the baby, but I'll bring you a picture!
Kid: Can I keep the picture for myself!? (So sweet!)

Just a day in the life of a pregnant speech pathologist!

Quick Takes (17)

-1-

We have new neighbors two doors down. I came home today to cigarette butts on our welcome matt. If this keeps up, they will be getting a friendly visit from a very tired pregnant lady.

-2-

First week back to work after the Christmas break! It went smoothly, but I'm definitely moving pretty slow. It's good to come back to a job you really like.

-3-

We will have a doctor's appointment every Wednesday from now until the baby is born. And I'll be "full term" (37 weeks) in just five days. And both of those just blow my mind.

-4-

Here's a picture of the "bump". 

-5-

With the exception of a spare house key, we are completely packed for the birth! Thanks to the anal obsessive compulsive smart preparations of Thankful-we have an Excel spreadsheet of everything we need divided into nice categories. With little stars by things we need to grab on our way out the door. Overboard perhaps? My mom shared a good quote with me today: "Over-prepare then go with the flow." I obviously don't think being over-prepared is a bad thing! Just praying I can "go with the flow". I'm not really the "flow" type.

And while I'm on the subject-what was one (or two or three...) things that you were glad you brought to the hospital? Or wish you had?  I've got quite a list, but I'm sure it's not exhaustive.

-6-

I need to do an entire post on the hilarious things my preschoolers are saying about my belly. For now, I'll just share my favorite one from this week:

Four year old girl (staring at my belly): You got a baby in there?

Me: I sure do. And he's gonna come out pretty soon!

Girl: You better get some Pampers-he gonna pee all over himself!

-7-

Ted and I got the best baby gift of them all tonight! His dad made us a handmade baby cradle and it's absolutely perfect. Unfortunately, his dad wasn't able to make it down for Christmas to bring it to us. I was worried we wouldn't have a way to get it down from Missouri before the baby came. Some amazing logistics proved otherwise. Ted's dad drove it to my sister in St. Louis, who took it down to my parents, who kept it for a week until Ted's major professor happened to be driving through from Iowa. Ted drove out to his house and picked it up tonight and it is now sitting right next to our bed!

It's so beautiful. I've been giddy all night just thinking about my baby getting to sleep in it.

Have a great weekend!

Quick Takes (12)

-1-

These are actually going to be quick this time. That's the only way I'll get a post up today.

-2-

I love my job! I don't have the internet....or a phone.....a copier.....or even a computer. And I do have wasps. But I seriously, seriously love it.

-3-

Ted has NO out-of-town plans in the foreseeable future! That makes me so happy!

-4-

Ted and I have been arguing about a new building going up down the road from us. He says it's a Waffle House. I say it's too small to be a Waffle House.

The sign went up today......Waffle House. Dangit.

-5-

Grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner tonight. I'm actually kind of excited about it.

-6-

I've managed to use my Magnificat for morning and evening prayers for about two weeks now!

-7-

I literally felt my stomach growing today. And it felt weird.

Bump Picture, New Job, and Butterfinger Blast

Bumpity Bump Bump

Due to popular demand, I present to you........

My 14 week belly!

I got a comment about it today from a woman who may or may not know I'm pregnant. I'm going with "didn't know" so I can pretend I'm already showing to people who don't know! Even though I've said it in previous pictures, I am NOT arching my back! Every time we take these pictures it looks like I'm sticking it out-but I assure you that my butt is just that big and my back is just that curved.

Survival!!

I survived my first week at my new job! It was crazy, exciting, stressful, encouraging, and overall pretty good. I'm doing mostly the same thing I did in my previous job-which is to drive around to day cares and preschools to give 3-5 year olds speech and language therapy.  I'm also doing a lot of testing to qualify new kids for speech-language services. Most people complain about having to drive around so much and having to drag all their therapy supplies with them-but I love it! I love the flexibility. I love the change in scenery. And I love the time spent in my car decompressing. But I also love......the weekend!

Sonic-a-holic

Tonight, as we were finishing dinner (that Ted made by the way!), I turned to Ted and said, "I could really use some ice cream after this long week of work...." all but giving him the wink. "You think everything deserves Sonic!" he said. "What about my first week of work?" (which will start in a few weeks). "We'll go again for your first week!" I said.

And enlightening Ted on the ways of the world, I then said, "There are lots of good reasons to have a Butterfinger Blast Ted," and proceeded to ramble off said reasons.

He laughed and said that was good material for a blog post. He THEN said we could go to Sonic tonight IF I wrote a blog post that contained the reasons I told him, at least 9 more reasons, and made him laugh.  So, the following are situations that justify splurging on a delicious ice cream treat from Sonic:

You just finished your first week of a work at a new job! Yay!

You just finished your first week of a work back at an old job! Woo Hoo!

You're pregnant and Butterfinger is the only thing that won't make you sick. Necessary!

You're pregnant but finally over your 9 weeks of nausea! Yes!

Your husband just made you a nice dinner! Thanks!

Your husband made you a nice dinner that only consisted of ingredients you already had in the house, thus keeping you on budget for the month! Wow!

You had a BAD day. Boo!

You had a GREAT day! Alright!

You found five dollars in the wash. Awesome!

Sonic shakes are two-for-one! Perfect!

You're hot because the AC in your truck doesn't work. Whew!

You have three friends on facebook with birthdays today! Happy Birthday!

You got up early and made it to Mass before work! Good job!

You can actually go to Mass in the mornings because you no longer have a 35 minute commute! Praise God!

You just found out your sister is coming to visit you in a few weeks! Fun!

Your two year anniversary is only three days away! Praise God again!

You adjusted your online budget last week to automatically put Sonic in "entertainment" instead of the ridiculously high and out of control "groceries" category. Smart!

and...

You have a husband that loves you and laughs at your attempt to be funny!.......so do I get to go to Sonic now??

Quick Takes (7)

-1-

I cried in the aisle at Walmart picking out Father's Day cards. I just spent the last hour watching brides-to-be pick out ridiculously expensive wedding dresses on Say Yes to the Dress and cried every time they found "the one". I think the pregnancy tears are setting in. What fun!

And-I think I have a bump. But only at night. Does that count? Last night I just swore I had a bump. My silhouette NEVER looked like that before. But this morning-it was gone. Maybe I'm just bloated...

-2-

I'm almost positive that I have a new job! I resigned from my position with the school district I've worked for for the past year and am waiting for a contract from a new school district. I was traveling 35 minutes to a nearby town all year and it really weighed on me. This new district is in our town and it will take me about 5 minutes to get to work in the mornings. I just couldn't imagine continuing to drive over an hour a day with nausea, a huge belly, and eventually a little baby. The special education director in town called me and offered me a job the day after we found out we were pregnant!! I didn't even apply! Talk about great timing!

I'm very excited to start my new job in town. It will still be working as a speech-language pathologist traveling to different preschool and day care sites. I'll only have to find someplace for the baby for less than two months before summer will be here. (and we'll figure out the next year when it gets closer-Lord please give Ted a JOB!!). The biggest perk will be the extra hour in my day that will be spent cuddling with my little one rather than driving in my car!

-3-

Speaking of speech-language pathology....I just received my national certification in the mail! To become a full fledged SLP you have to complete a nine month "clinical fellowship". I finished mine in May and got my certification soon after! I will now put the letters MS, CCC-SLP behind my name when signing oh-so-important documents. It stands for Master of Science, Certificate of Clinical Competence-Speech Language Pathology. You know you're jealous of my awesome letters!

-4-

I've already gained 5 pounds. Seriously. How many of you are checking my side-bar ticker to remind yourself how far along I am right now?? Yes-you're reading that correctly. Seven weeks. Five pounds. The baby is technically only 5 weeks old-so I'm already averaging a pound a week! It makes me blissfully happy to know that my body is responding to this little one inside of me. Last night I saw a number on the scale that I have NEVER seen before. I kept stepping off and back on to make sure it was real. Cheesy grin and running into the kitchen to tell Ted ensued. I was slightly underweight before I got pregnant, so maybe I'm actually caught up now (or close to it).

-5-

Remember the neighbors I met thanks to the bunny incident (see #2)? Well we're actually developing a funny little friendship. Last week the mom came down to ask me for some advice on what to do about her ex-husband. We ended up sitting outside and talking for over an hour. I have yet to start working with her little boy because of constant schedule conflicts (or my getting sick) but it is definitely still the plan. My favorite part of the whole friendship is that she sends her two sweet little girls (3 and 6) down the stairs to knock on my door and relay messages to me (it's hard for her to get the little boy out-it's easier for me to come up to her). Last night the girls came down and asked me to come up with them to talk to their mom. The little three year old made it all the way down the steps and across the hot concrete barefoot with no problems. But as soon as we started walking back up she started pouting and asked me to hold her. So cute! I couldn't resist.

The last month has been filled with greetings as we come and go, the sharing of "sugar strawberries" with me by the oldest girl (which are just strawberries covered in sugar!), a gift of sidewalk chalk from me to the girls, and now coming home to homemade hopscotches and Thank You notes written in chalk at our front door. I find it fascinating that we have almost NOTHING in common and yet are starting to call each other "friend". She's a divorced, single mother of three-I'm a married pregnant lady. We don't share the same faith, job, race, or interests. And despite all of that-a unique friendship is blossoming.

-6-

I'm super excited to join Lauren in reading The Reed of God! She's been blogging for some time now, but I only recently discovered her and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite sites to check in on. Her faith is so beautiful and evident in her writings. I know that I am going to learn much from her.

If you're interested in joining her check out this post. I just ordered the book off Amazon for 8 bucks-including shipping! I'm pretty picky when it comes to Catholic books and authors. I'm not one to see the term "Catholic" and assume that it's solid. However, Scott Hahn gave a rave review of the book. That's good enough for me!

-7-

Say some prayers for a potential housing situation that is presenting itself to us. It could potentially mean saving TONS of money and having way more space. It would also give Ted two ponds for fishing and woods for exploring. A dream come true. Hopefully more details to come soon.

Have a great weekend!! Happy Father's Day!

Quick Takes (4)

-1-

Last week, I discovered a baby bunny living in our bushes outside our apartment. It was precious! I stopped to see it on my way in and out and we fed it some lettuce and carrots. It lived in a little hole in the brick wall. One time, I was sitting in the office and I thought I heard it crying. Scared that a dog had gotten to it, I sprang out of my chair and tore through the house to check on it. Ted cracked up at how quickly I jumped into "mommy mode". Instincts I guess.

-2-

The bunny actually helped us meet our upstairs neighbors, who I've been wanting to meet for a while. She is a single mom with three kids and I've been suspicious that the middle one has Autism. The mom saw us looking in the bushes and we struck up a conversation about the bunny. Later that afternoon, the oldest girl (Kindergarten age) banged furiously on our door. When we answered it she excitedly told us that the bunny was out and motioned for us to go see it. So cute! It turns out that the little boy does have Autism and mom was hoping to find a speech therapist to work with him over the summer. Isn't that cool? I'm going to start working with him next week-it'll be an awesome way to help out our neighbors!

-3-

In completely opposite and miserable news: the bunny is dead. A cat got it. Our neighbor saw the whole thing. Poor bunny.

-4-

Ted and I are spending the weekend in Missouri for my sister's high school graduation. I've mentioned this before, but don't mind repeating that she is Valedictorian! I'm so excited to listen to her speech. I already cried just from reading it (but that could very well have been hormones).

-5-

I'm also going to try on the bridesmaid dress I mentioned in a previous post. Although I will be sad about the fact that the dress will actually fit and won't need to be altered because of my bulging baby bump, I am beyond excited to take part in this wedding. Doesn't a good Catholic wedding between two amazing Catholic people make it seem that all is right with the world? Praise God for marriage!

-6-

This coming Tuesday is my last day of work for the semester!! I only have a week and half off before I begin summer school but I will still be rejoicing Tuesday afternoon. I've survived my first year as a speech-language pathologist. My first year at a real job. A post with all my reflections on this coming soon...

-7-

To congratulate me for working so hard, Ted sent me these:

He sent them to my office on Monday so that I could enjoy them at work for the entire week. So thoughtful! He realizes and completely understands how hard this job has been for me. He knows how difficult it is for me to find the time to call insurance companies, follow up with my doctor, and get to lab and ultrasound appointments without missing work. He really appreciates it. And that gives me the strength to keep going.

I looked up the meaning of purple tulips. I knew yellow tulips meant "friendship" and red meant "passion", but I didn't know about purple. I secretly hoped I would find out that they mean "fertile womb" or "finally pregnant after months of Clomid" or possibly "twins" and was only somewhat disappointed when I found out that they mean "royalty". I guess (get ready for the cheese) that just  means I'm Ted's "queen". But come on-wouldn't getting flowers symbolizing motherhood just days/weeks before finding out we're pregnant have been the COOLEST STORY EVER?? I guess I need to do some research and find out what flower DOES mean "motherhood" and make them my new favorite flower...

Happy Friday!

Quick Takes (3)

-1-

We bought the car! We drove all the way to Slidell, LA and came home with a new car! I admit, I relished in the heated back and forth of bargaining. I had so much fun. I'm weird. But we got a great deal and now have a car with ROOM and AIR CONDITIONER!

-2-

We're going to Louisianna again tomorrow morning. We're going to spend the weekend in New Orleans and I'm so excited. It will be so good for us to spend some time away alone together (too bad it's not white baby time yet :). We have no plans other than to enjoy the weekend and do whatever we feel like doing.

-3-

I take that back, we have two plans. One is to eat breakfast at Cafe DuMonde. The other is to attend a Latin Mass at St. Patrick's. I borrowed a mantilla (chapel veil) from a friend of mine and am nervous excited to try it out!

-4-

The Dress Dare is going well. Six days in and no pants! I seriously considered wearing capris today because a child I see in the afternoon had a really hard time with my skirt on Tuesday. He has Autism and was constantly trying to lift it up and put his feet in my crotch. I was nervous about wearing one again but decided to give it one more try. Turns out-he was fascinated by the polka dots in the skirt I wore today and it actually helped him keep calm during our session. Amazing! What great confirmaiton that I should keep going (and that I should wear this skirt on every Tuesday and Thursday!)

-5-

I talked to a blogger! In real life! Wheelbarrow Rider was sweet enough to let me pick her brain for over an hour Thursday night (maybe even more like two). It was sooo great to talk her. We talked just like we were old friends. She gave me some great advice on thyroid issues, clotting, hCG, and more. Talking to her made the entire blog world feel more "real", more tangible. I'm so grateful for my new blog friends. That may sound weird to some of my real-life friend reading this, I realize. But I can't express the amount of comfort that is gained from knowing there are people like you out there in the world. Incredibly Catholic AND infertile-we're a pretty small percentage. Thanks Wheelbarrow Rider. You made my lonely night (Ted was in Arkansas) so enjoyable!

-6-

I'm all set with my ultrasounds for next week. The ultrasound girl in town contacted the ones in TN and figured out everything she's supposed to be doing. I love having ultrasounds done. I always think "if I get pregnant this month I'll be able to tell my kid that I saw them (or at least their follicle) before they even existed! With only half of their DNA." Wouldn't that be cool!

-7-

This week was packed full of cute kid quotes. Here are a couple:

Kid 1: Ms. Kaitlin, you can come spend the night at my house tonight.
Me: That would be so fun!
Kid 1: And I have a tent! If you're not too fat I'll let you come in!

Kid 2: (trying to tell me how to get to his house so I can spend the night at HIS house) Well, how about I make a sign with my name on it and put it in the window. Then you drive by and stop when you see the sign?

Kid 3: (after seeing a picture of Ted on my cell phone) Is that your husband?
Me: Yep! He's really tall, like a basketball player.
Kid 3: Really? He's not real small like you?

Ah! I love em so much!

Kids Say...

the funniest things! One of the best (ok-probably the best) aspects of my job as a speech-language pathologist is getting to hear all the random and hillarious things that my preschoolers say. I'm not from the south and have litterally only known about five black people before moving to Mississippi from Missouri. So with the combination of the southern way of life and black culture-my kids say some pretty funny stuff to this outsider.

These are just from today:
When asked "what would you do if a stranger asked you to go for a ride?" (as part of a stupid language screening) one of my five year olds said (with the cutest accent). "I tell that foo' to back it up. Back up, monster! Back up!" It wasn't the "go get my mom" or "tell him no" that the test manual was looking for-but I gave him credit.

When I was doing the same test on a four year old boy he was getting frustrated because he knew he was getting a lot wrong. He was finally able to do one of the tasks and after he sorted the pictures into the right stacks he raised his arms in the air and shouted, "I know things!" Precious!

Another little cutie told me that I could go on his vacation to Orange Beach this summer. And just in case I thought about saying no, he added, "I'll even bring some candy!"

And lastly, about 50-60 kids a day yell out "take me, take me!" when I walk through the halls of Head Start to get one of their classmates. Most of them know my name but some of them just say "hey speech". I wish I could take them all to therapy with me-not because they need help with speech or language, but because they need someone to listen to them in a one on one setting. They need someone to tell them how beautiful and smart they are. I really would "take them" home with me if I could.

Unfortunately not every kiddo said something funny today. I got some pretty sad and distrubing answers to the question "what would you do if you saw smoke and fire". I'm developing a pretty thick skin to these kinds of comments-but they still amaze me every time. Sew-I wish you lived closer and could take some of my kiddos in with you. Before ya'll exit out of this window-will you please say a prayer for "my kids". They've got the odds stacked against them-very poor, single parent families, awful living conditions-please pray that they stay safe, healthy, and somehow learn that Jesus loves them

Good Things

Good things that happened today despite the epic meltdown that occurred last night (after I wrote the post for the day):

1. Work wasn't awful. It wasn't great-but it wasn't awful.

2. Ted surprised me by sticking a bag of chocolate chips in my lunch box. He often writes notes on my napkin for me to read at lunch time, but this was an extra surprise! I bragged to all the ladies in my office about how wonderful he is. Part of his note today said "I'm madly in love with you." I'm so blessed.

3. This has been one of the most PAINLESS periods of my life. Dr. G. does good work. I required only a couple of doses of Tyl.enol and Ibeup.rofen. Let's hope that's here to stay! (Actually, let's hope this is the last one for a long, long while! I'll go out on a good note!)

4. I got to see one of my favorite kids (ok-definitely the favorite) at work today. I only work with him on Fridays and I look forward to it all week. He's three years old, has Down's Syndrome, and is Hispanic. His family speaks very little English and I love getting to practice my Spanish skills ("Punta la pelota. Sienta te. No boca! Esta bien!"). He shot me this look today that melted my heart. To the core. His smile makes my entire job worth while.

5. I got to talk to my sister on the phone and got the great news that she passed her major nursing test! Not only that, but she scored in the 96th percentile! She is going to be such an amazing nurse when she graduates in May. She's so convicted to practice in a way that is in line with the Church and already has a job at a Catholic hospital! It's been a huge blessing to be able to call her and ask her all sorts of questions with my surgery and all its complications. I've been secretly praying that she'll soon discover the wonderful world of NaPro...

6. This didn't happen today-but I want to give a shout out to my other sister, who recently interviewed for a FULL RIDE scholarship at the college that I went to! She won't find out if she got it for a few weeks, but she did great in the interview regardless.

7. The weather is beautiful. Finally reached 60 degrees and is just gorgeous out. We're going to a bonfire tonight with some of Ted's fellow "fish squeezers". I love being a Mississippi hick!

So yes, I woke up this morning and put yesterday behind me. That's all I can do. It will get better tomorrow and the day after that.

What's In a Name

Well-I have a blog! It's something I've been considering for a while now-something to satisfy that urge inside of me to get my thoughts out and make them more concrete. I think that comes from being such an extrovert-I don't actually 'think' it unless I 'say' (or type) it.

I suppose there's an obligatory "About Me" that comes with starting a blog. Here are the cold, hard facts: I was born Kaitlin Nicole and now proudly carry the name Kaitlin Nicole Rose thanks to the great Sacrament of Confirmation. I'm 24 and have been married to Ted since August 9th, 2008. We're coming up on a year and a half of marriage!

I've got two younger sisters, a mom and a dad, two sister-in-laws, one brother-in-law, a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, and a stepfather-in-law.

I'm originally from Missouri and now live in Mississippi while Ted gets his master's in Fisheries Science. I have my bachelor's and master's in Speech-Language Pathology from Missouri State University and work as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) for a local school district. I work with about 50 preschool aged children that have everything from a "simple" speech-sound disorder to a severe language and developmental delay. Some of my kids have Autism, others have Down's Syndrome, most of them talk, some of them don't, all of them are beautiful and loved.
........
Now that that's out of the way...What's in a name. The main thing holding me back from starting a blog (apart from the fear that no one will want to read it, that I'll sound stupid, and that I'll expose my thoughts and beliefs to people who may hold them against me) was coming up with a title. Nothing was coming to mind. I thought about titling it after certain issues that are heavily pressing on me at the moment-but I want this to be long term and those issues are hopefully NOT long term (more on this later). I wanted the title to represent my life as a whole-not just one aspect of it. And for reasons of pride and self-esteem, I wanted the title to be "cool" and "catchy"-of which I am neither. And although I even googled "How to Title a Blog", the decided upon title really just popped into my head (although I do suspect the workings of my guardian angel).


Upon reading the title one might assume that I have a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but one would be wrong. I WANT a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And these are two very different things. I guess my hope is that in trying to keep my blog along the lines of conforming my life to Mary's example I will actually be ABLE to conform my life to Mary's example! Don't get me wrong-I love Our Lady. I've been blessed to have been raised Catholic my entire life and am honored and privileged to be a part of the Church that upholds Our Lady and teaches fundamental truths about her life and her role in our lives. I just haven't gotten to the point in my life when I can truly call her a friend. I'm working on it-and this blog is my biggest step yet!


My original thought was to title it "More Like Mary~Less Like Me" meaning that I wanted to rid myself of the vices and sinful tendencies I possess and take on the virtues and good nature of the Blessed Virgin. I realize, however, that becoming LESS like myself isn't necessarily a honorable goal. In His infinite wisdom (or great sense of humor), God made me the way I am and there is little I can do to change that. I can, however, become MORE "me" and improve myself to make a better "me".


I realize that many of my friends/readers may not be Catholic and possess the same love for Mary as we Catholics do. And that's ok-just know that the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my life as I strive to become a better person, to model my life after an amazing, historical woman (and mother) who made all the right decisions while she walked on this earth. No matter your faith background, I think that's a goal that everyone can relate to.


And now, let the journey....begin!