I am officially HUGE! This weekend is the beginning of my 8th month and everyone seems to think that I will be delivering early. I am not sure what the doctor thinks yet, as I see her later this week. Shorty has also decided that propping her feet in my ribs is fun. I found a great way to get her to move them though, freezing cold wash cloths. She doesn't like cold feet.
Here's a brief little rundown of what has been happening lately.
- I am back at work and doing fine. The kids like to talk to the baby now more than me. She seems to get more hellos in the hallway. I also had a student ask if I will still care about them after the baby is born. A few of them seem to have older sibling issues with the new baby coming into their worlds. I was very touched.
- The nursery is coming along fabulously. We have the dresser/changing table now and the baby's first bookcase. All we need now is the glider and ottoman and some of the wall decorations. We found a place in Brooklyn that sells wallpaper animals. We are looking to pick up a couple of those for the walls and maybe some of the blik decals. Not sure yet.
- Chris is working like mad. He has become indispensable to the company that he works for and they know it.
- The finishing touches are being put in place in the apartment as well. We bought a series of glass-doored bookcases at Ikea for the living room. The only problem is that I am too big to help with putting them into place. We also have a ton of artwork to hang still.
- We took a childcare and feeding class at the hospital a couple of weeks ago. Things we learned:
1. How to properly swaddle
2. How to change a diaper
3. How many layers the baby should wear based on the weather
4. Crib bumbers are dangerous, even though they are cute. It all relates to SIDS
5. Pacifiers are good things, but only when the baby is sleeping. SIDS prevention tool. And never use the same type of pacifier two times in a row, so that the baby will not become addicted to it.
6. How to breastfeed. Chris didn't know where to look when she was covering this piece of information.
7. Infant CPR - This freaked us both more than just a little bit.
- Next weekend we are heading down to VA. Chris is taking care of some business elements with my Dad and I get to hang out with my Mom. We are also bringing back our dining room set, which we had when we were living together in Chicago.
We went to the fair this summer when it was in Brooklyn and it was AWESOME! I highly, highly recommend it. I wish that we were able to go.
It is the beginning of the new school year. The students whom I have taught for the past three years are in their final year as high school students. Their eyes were nearly popping out of their heads when they saw how big I have become. Some people have actually expressed shock that I am not due until November. Shorty is handling being at work pretty well. She waits until we are home or until I am sitting in a meeting to begin her tap dancing routines. The kids have also been very kind with their offers of help and their cooperation. It is so interesting to see how this group of 63 students has matured over the course of their adolescence. I have also had multiple offers for free babysitting and every girl wants me to name her after them. I will be returning to school after the birth to finish the school year. I really want to be there to make sure that my kids graduate. After that though, Chris and I are still deciding how we will handle it. There have been discussions about my returning to school for my PhD. in Education or going back to teaching part time. We'll see what happens and figure out what is best for our family then.
My parents came to visit over Labor Day weekend and were a huge help. They helped with putting Shorty's crib together. Now the nursery is starting to look like a nursery. The cats are also loving the crib. We have caught all three of them (not at the same time) in the crib. I'd much rather they get over their fascination with it before Shorty arrives. We still expect to find at least one of them in the crib with Shorty at some point.
My parents also helped out with my flower box in the guest room. My mom has had a green thumb forever and beautiful gardens no matter where she lived. I have more of a brown thumb. She helped with picking out the plants and showing me how to prune them, etc. Now the plants are thriving and growing like mad.
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