UPdaaate!

Before I tell you what's been going on with Caroline, let's talk about me. I was born first. Be patient. I am currently student teaching under a great teacher at a great school, but man, this job is tiring. I have been working on this computer for almost 7 hours straight trying to finish my portfolio which is due Friday. This Friday. I'm just throwing all kinds of things in there, probably in the wrong places, but I don't care. I got observed Wednesday and the lady (not the teacher I'm under) said I didn't ask questions correctly. I asked the class, "Who remembers which organelle is the site for photosynthesis?" The lady said the correct answer to my question would be "I do." But the class knew what I was talking about and said, "chloroplasts." Even if a kid had said "I remember," I would have asked him to elaborate, I wouldn't have thought he was being smart-alecky. Well, I promised I would work on my questioning skills for her next visit.

Caroline is perfect. Yes, I said perfect. What? You didn't think that existed? Well, it does, and its name is Caroline. I'm adding a new video to the left, but it will take several hours to show up (google pre-screens it). She has been jabbering to her sitter and rolling everywhere she wants to go. Today, I tried to get a cute video of her, but she stops doing what I want when I start recording. She used to use a soothie pacifier that you could stick your finger into. Now she won't take it unless she gives it to herself, but she sticks her thumb in it and sucks her thumb that way. She was so cute. Chris had to come get me off the computer to see it. Oh, and she sits in the buggy when we shop now! Okay, so maybe she falls to the side a little so I have to stick my purse beside her. She swings her little feet out of the holes.

Chris is still lovin' Westridge...

Is that cleavage?

So much for getting gas

I'm mainly writing this post to preserve a memory for myself. After picking Caroline up from Mrs. Linda's the other day I stopped at Jmart to get gas (I wouldn't leave Chris with an empty tank in the morning, would I?). Caroline was crying like crazy because she was ready to eat and she was strapped into her car seat. As I start pumping gas I press my face against the window to check on my girl, which I shouldn't have done because she sees me looking in and thinks I ought to be getting her out. So she cries as hard as she can...then looks at me. Then she cries as hard as she can...then looks at me. She does this a few times until I decide to look at her through the back glass. (It tears at my very heart muscle to just stand in her view doing nothing when she wants me to get her out so badly) She catches on fast and finds me in the back glass, too. I couldn't stand it. I stopped the pumping at ten dollars and rushed home where I promised Caroline she could nurse as long as she wanted to.

Then we went to the West Ridge vs. Calhoun Middle football game, of course! Caroline wore her "My Daddy is a Patriots Coach" shirt, and people loved it. I spent a little time on the CMS side, too, since I'm student teaching there. All the girls went crazy over Mrs. Cavin's baby! Now you can go crazy over this baby bootie:

And in her pretty pink polka dot dress!

Do it for Daisy

This morning we made a family trip to the local animal shelter and found Daisy, our new Beagle mix. Mally had been asking for a little sister for a while now...well, not in so many words. She was so sweet from the minute we walked in. She beat the competition in bark-lessness (a trait we were looking for since we live in a neighborhood), size, demeanor, and just plum sweetness. Chris went back to get her after hitting an ATM and she rode with her head resting on his arm and her tail wagging all the way home. She looks at him with the most love I've seen in a poopy-dogg's eyes in a while. She and Mally sort of hit it off. If hitting it off means not snarling and barking at one another. It took Daisy a minute to come out of her shell while Mally kept running around her trying to play. I think Mally understood this new puppy wasn't just here for a playdate, also. Well, as for the title of this entry, I urge everyone to never pay for a pedigree dog again. There are SO many perfect pooches in the pound that need-and deserve-a good home. Our hearts were breaking as we explained to all of the other dogs that we couldn't fit ALL of them into our backyards. Did you know there were over 1300 dogs dropped off at the shelter in June alone? We were the first to adopt one this morning and already there had been 20 dogs surrendered to them. It really ticks me off that someone would have a dog or cat and have it TAKEN AWAY from them because they refuse to take care of it. People know better. These animals don't. They take the crap that their owners dish out because they don't have an option. (Excuse my language on thispreviously G-rated blog) Every one of these animals deserves to be treated better than that. So please consider giving a donation to or adopting your next pet from your local pet shelter.


Other things we're up to: Caroline is doing really well at Mrs. Linda's. She had one bad day when she refused to eat out of her Avent bottle and wouldn't take a nap. Another mom brought a Dr. Brown's bottle the next day for her to try and she guzzled it down in no time! Now she's eating and napping like a pro---at Mrs. Linda's. She's growing up way too fast.


Calhoun Middle is great. I was worried about losing my milk supply, so I went to ask Mr. Aswell, the principal, if I could pump at school. He said yes before I got the question out. I taught Friday and the lesson went really well. However, what I had planned was completely changed by seventh period. I had to reteach Atoms to these kids, and that's not one of my GLEs! Oh well. Thank the Lord I remembered the basics about atoms. Although CMS is good, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all the assignments I have. I have to turn in a case study and my whole Portfolio in a couple of weeks and I haven't started on either one. I'm also taking another class and, after reading the syllabus, my stomach started hurting. There are so many assignments with so many components. Let's just say I might not see or talk to any of you very often in the next couple of months.


Chris is having a ball at Westridge. It's a great school and a great parish to work in. Their football team is winning games, and his classes are pretty good. They LOVE seeing pictures of Caroline. Speaking of people loving to see pictures of Caroline, I've included some for you. I think they all begin with her daddy getting her ready for church and end with her and Abby in the rocking chair.

Oh no she didn't...

Yes, she did. Caroline (you know, MY daughter) took a TWO HOUR nap for Mrs. Linda today. Last week, she wouldn't leave my arms to nap for twenty minutes. That shows the power of the boob. They're like magnets. She is so distracted by the other kids at Mrs. Linda's that she forgets to fuss, too.

Anyway, my first day at Calhoun Middle...yes, Calhoun Middle, not West Monroe High was good. I really like the principal and my teacher. They originally placed me at Westridge with Chris against their own rules. When I informed them of his employment we had to scramble to find another placement and luckily, CMS took me on. They couldn't (or rather wouldn't) put me at WMHS because there were no other Tech students there. Oh well, I'm excited because I get to teach reproduction to junior high kids...

Carolines crying, gotta go!