Motherly Advice?

Hi Moms out there...I've began to hit the "Yikes, I'm halfway there and need to start getting some stuff..." mode, and am seeking some advice from those that have done this motherhood thing as I am clearly new to this!

*Bottles....Avent? Dr. Brown's? Others?

*Car seats...been looking at Consumer Reports, as safety is of course the the top priority...also heard that the padding is better on nicer ones (as in, the same brand from wal-mart is different from the same brand at a higher end baby specialty store...)

*Diapers...heard Pampers (or is it Luvs?) Swaddlers are best at first, then Costco is best for the money....?

*Pumps...any suggestions? I think I'll need a good one since I'll need to head back to work.

*I can't decide if I should register....feedback?

OK...apparently my "nesting" is setting in early! My classroom got a serious deep clean last week, we got some painting at home done, and am now consumed with baby stuff for this little guy!

Suggestions, advice, opinions please!

Baby Fun

On Tuesday at school (before the BIG ultrasound), Susan (the secretary) came in with this cute teddy bear and balloons. The card was from my parents and said, "Can't wait to hear!" They are so cute! Susan nonchalantly said, "So...do your parents have any grandkids yet?" Haha...no...can you tell!? Love them!







After the ultrasound, we went to dinner to celebrate at Chili's. And...of course we couldn't resist a little baby clothes buying! My child (boy or girl) will be in overalls A LOT! I think they are the cutest ever...so I picked those, and RJ picked that cute onesie with lobsters and blow fish all over it!

It's a....

BOY!!!!


Isn't that spine cool?!


He stuck his pinkie up for us!

I think this leg looks cool!
We have TONS of pictures-- it was SO cool! The best pics are the 3D ones, but I need to scan those in. More to come! We're SO excited...we even already bought some boy clothes to celebrate!

TOMORROW!

Boy or Girl?

Kid Funnies

It seems that my students get extra funny as the summer nears. I think it's because we all get a little crazy...myself definitely included.

*My class went to the 5th grade State Fair this week....the kids work so hard on these awesome reports about a state. Then, classes like mine go around and see the presentations. Very cool. As I sat in the "Wyoming" presentation....

Kid: "So...that's it, do you have any questions?"
Me: "Yes...does Wyoming have a state song?"
Kid: "No, they just play Garth Brooks songs."

*Later, my class was in the hallway. A woman walked by and a kid in my class talked to her for a minute. He's new, so I haven't met his parents.

Me: "Is that your mom?"
Him: "No, that's my fake mom."

* Later, we went to the cute First Grade Program. It was fabulous, and each student stood proudly on the stage...EVERY student had a paper hat on...all 80ish of them.

Me to girl in my class: "So, which one is your brother?"
Girl: "The one with the hat."

Only 4 more days...can't believe it....

Classics in the Class Concerns

So today I got ambitious and thought cleaning out my desk at work seemed like a good way to keep me at work until 7 P.M., reminisce, and fill up a garbage can all at the same time. It was.

Two years ago, we had a "Class Concerns" jar that was actively used. The idea was this: students can write about any problem in class to let me know what's going on. No names are involved...of the accused, or the author. Once a week, we gathered at the rug in a sort of roundtable fashion and discussed said concerns. Only the one holding the ball is the one allowed to speak, again no names mentioned, and all are calm and polite. For some reason (can't remember), I don't do this system in my class anymore.

But...don't worry, I have kept the gems of the first year....which I found in an envelope tucked away in the very back of a very messy drawer (messy as in there were 6 boxes of staples people...that equals 30,000 staples. I just ordered more boxes in my supply order last week. It appears I've hit the staple jackpot. Lucky me.)

Some classics that gave a chuckle...no editing involved:

• "we should have more recess" (agreed)
• "I think we ned naps" (agreed)
• "sumwun kald me faaat!!! :( "
• "evrybody bosses pepol around." (welcome to life)
• "sumewun kalld me old lade" (better than faaat, I'd say...)
• "peaple ask others to stop doing stuf but they won't" (again, welcome to life)
  
• "win I be nice he beese mene to me" (sad...)
• "poeple are looking at me!" (um...sorry?)
• "ther is some books on the floor" (time spent writing the class concern = could have picked books up)
• "people are making people talk" (don't you hate it when someone moves your lips and forces words out?!)
• "people are wasting tape by taking like 40 long strips and putting it on their mouths" (where was the teacher?! uh oh...and how big are their mouths?!)
• "people are doing something wrong" (right....we'll need more details about this 'concern' of yours...)
• "peple are doing things when there not sposte to" (getting closer to the details...)
• "are class is rille smart" (I can tell!)
• "pepole are yelling out not riasing there hand!" (the funny part is the girl that wrote this signed her name, even though they're not supposed to...and she's by far the child that just says anything without EVER raising her hand! Hello pot, hello kettle)

And among my personal favorite finds from the bottom of the drawer....a note that I got on my desk one afternoon from a child who had apparently come back to school to tell me he got the incorrect math sheet and needed the correct one:

"Dear Mrs. Cox I'm on x9 math facts (homework paper), not on x9c...so I got a big shit of that."
Took me a few minutes to figure out that "shit" = "sheet"

Love these kids!

We're well trained.

Today someone was commenting to me how RJ cleaned the lunchroom at school for an assembly to start on time, and commented that I "have trained him so well"....it kinda made me chuckle. Because the guy does way more than I do at home.

For instance, he has always done his own laundry, he just does. He does the dinner dishes every night, feeds the pets, cleans the cat litter boxes (yes, there are two), does all the vacuuming, empties all the garbages, takes Dizzy out most of the time...so if anything, I'd say he's trained me!

Plus, I had forgotten that I left my clothes in the dryer the day. If I were him, I definitely would have just put them in a ball on the bed (I know I'd do that, because it's what I do if he ever happens to leave his in the dryer)...I came home to this:

All my clothes perfectly spread out! Because everyone knows if a clump of freshly dried clothes is left in a clump, they're a wrinkled mess...and I'd be much more likely to rewash them to dewrinkle them rather than iron, because who irons?!