It's a Girl!

Sorry it took so long to post this. I've been swamped at work with three IEP's, Progress Reports and Report Cards. But all I'm doing today is relaxing.

Almost two weeks ago we went to the Doc for our "sex" test! We had no idea what to expect. But we were both pleasantly surprised with the knowledge of our sonogram expert. She went slow and explained all the parts of our little darling to us. I'm attaching a few pic's (sorry they didn't come out as well as hoped!)

I tried to load the one from FB that shows our pumpkin, but Joe has it saved in a way that I can't flip it, so I'll load that one later.

My favorite is the last one, where she looks like she is sucking her thumb!

So you know you are a _________.

One of my friends just posted this, who works in the "social work" area. So what I do is basically like a social worker. Every single one of these ring true!

Pay close attention to these numbers! The are SO very true!

#8, 16, 21, 23, 24, 25

You know you're in social work when....

1. You think $40,000 a year is "really making it".

2. You don't really know what it's like to work with men.

3. You know all the latest lingo for drugs, where to get them, and how much they cost.

4. You've started a sentence with 'So what I hear you saying is...'

5. You've had 2 or more jobs at one time just to pay the bills.

6. You tell people what you do and they say "that's so noble".

7. You have had to explain to people that not all social workers take away kids.

8. You use the words 'validate,' 'appropriate' and 'intervention' daily.

9. You spend more than half your day documenting and doing paperwork.

10. You think nothing of discussing child abuse over dinner.

11. People have said to you "I don't know how you do what you do".

12. You've never been on a business trip or had an expense account.

13. You know a lot of other social workers who have left the profession for another.

14. You've very familiar with the concept of entitlement.

15. Staying at a job for 2 years is 'a long time'.

16. Your phone number is unlisted for good reason.

17. Your professional newsletters always have articles about raising salaries...but you still haven't seen it.

18. You've very familiar with the term 'budget cut'.

19. You can't imagine working at a bank or crunching numbers all day.

20. You've had clients who liked you just a little too much.

21. Having lunch is a luxury many days.

22. You've been cursed at or threatened...and it doesn't bother you.

23. Your job orientation has included self defense.

24. You have the best stories at any cocktail party.

25. Your parents don't know half of the stuff that you've dealt with.

Few things...

1) Glee is F-ing hilarious :) I finally watched the first episode and why haven't I watched this yet!!! I mean really...if you haven't watched yet, DO IT! Then we can talk about it!

2) Tomorrow is the big day! (or should I say one of the big days). We have our 18-20 week ultrasound in the morning. Everyone always ask what we think we are having. I honestly don't know. Based on my characteristics, I would guess boy! But I have never been preggers before, so how do I know!!!!

3) First Thunderstorm of the season :) And hail.....We live in the NW where there are NEVER thunderstorms, so I get super excited when we have one. Especially one that comes out of nowhere!

4) I'm hoping to post some of my Fall crafts soon! So stay tuned!!!

Mud Mud's Talent (and Mine)

Our Mud Mud loves to sing! Even more if we have the harmonica out :)

Out the Window

I went 4 days without being sick...this has to be a good sign right? Last night I started feeling queasy on my way home from boxing. I made it home, had a bowl of granola and then just played around on the computer. I had to pick Joe up from work around 10. When we got home, I was having trouble sleeping and just not feeling well at all.

I finally got to sleep around 11:30, but me being an early bird I was up by 6. I should add that I use the restroom about every two hours during the night (Just God's way of preparing me for when the baby comes!) Anyways I woke up and felt pretty crappy while taking a shower. I got dressed and as I was putting on my jeans, BAM there is was. I quickly rushed to the sink and dry heaved for a good five minutes. Of course this woke Joe up (He is so good to me, runs to me, grabs my kleenex and water and rubs my back). I finally made it out of the house but about ten minutes later on HWY 30 I start heaving again. Let's just say it wasn't pretty! I had to pull over to the side and spent a good ten minutes just me and my cup of puke.

To top it all off, another rough day at work....I'm finally standing up for myself.....I'm so emotional with what I think is right, sometimes I just have to leave meetings. Maybe it's that red head thing, but when I get mad I GET mad :)

Oh well, tomorrow is always a new day and here's hoping for the best!

On a side note, Joe and I are headed to Rockaway Beach this weekend and for a hike on Saddle Mountain....I'm ready to get out of town (even if it is for only 1 night!)

"Hold Your Head Up"

Hold Your Head Up by Agent

And if it's bad
Don't let it get you down, you can take it
And if it hurts
Don't let them see you cry, you can take it

Hold your head up, hold your head up
Hold your head up, hold your head high

And if they stare
Just let them burn their eyes on you moving
And if they shout
Don't let them change a thing what you're doing

Hold your head up, hold your head up
Hold your head up, hold your head high

So this year I've decided to stand up for myself a bit more. I'm normally the type of person that will say yes to anything work related. I'm a push-over. I'll serve on more committees, I'll take the extra student, Sure I'll take the student no one else wants. Well I'm finally going to try and actually stand up for myself.

It's going to be hard. Especially in my school setting. For those of you that don't really know where I work, here's a short synopsis.

I work on a residential treatment facility for kids K-12 that have emotional, mental and psychological problems. These used to be the kids that were sent away to hospitals, facilities and even jail. Most of our kids have severe aggression issues. We are trained yearly on proper hold techniques. If you work in schools, think about the Behavior Classroom. Now times that by 20. That's what I work with on a daily basis. I really do love my job. It's stressful and I often break down (granted this is at home and not where my kids can see me!) I'm verbally and physically assulted often. But I know what I'm doing will make a difference. These kids don't have stable families, they don't come to school with name brand shoes. It's normally clothes from the Center's attic, with their initials black inked on. Not many people will stand up for these kids and actually think they can make it in everyday society. I think every teacher should spend a day in a setting like this, so that they can appreciate what they have so much more and start to make a difference in their student's lives.

I should also mention that my classroom is the one where the "bad" kids are placed. I tend to get the more difficult kids, and I welcome that challenge with open arms. I learn something daily from this and am very thankful that I can.

So now that you have an idea of my school, I'll let you know about our staff. We only have 6 classrooms, which means 6 teachers. A very small setting. And it is amazing that all of our teachers want what is best for their kids. However we have some that are so stubborn in their ways that they always get what they want. This is where I get put into a really awkward position. Again, 6 teachers, we all have a cap of 10 students. 4 male teachers and 2 women (Different I know, but I think it coincides with our setting. You will never see a preppy, prissy teacher here!)So I'm already at 9 kids. The two classes with younger kids are holding steady at 5 and 6. The upper middle school class has 6 kids and the H.S. class has 3. Yes, you heard me, 3. So based on that, do the numbers look right? I'll start by saying that we do try and keep kids together based on grade levels. However in the past two years, I have had a range of 4th through 12th graders in my class at 1 time. Now that is the deal with Special Ed. You differentiate, you scaffold. You learn to teach everyone. But right now I feel as if we have certain teachers that could care less about what is fair and right. They think they should get to pick and choose what kids are in their classroom. I'm tired of it. When one of my 9 kids because aggressive int he classroom, throwing things, cussing, hitting, it sets off all 8 of my other kids. I want what's best for my students and cramming them all into one room isn't working (Oh, it might be a good idea to mention that I have the smallest classroom on campus!) I want other teachers to start standing up as well and saying "something doesn't look right here."

I know this is turning into more of rant than an explanation of my feelings. I apologize for that. But Hell isn't that what Blogs are for?

Okay I'm done for now. I'm not even going to read over what I've written. So if you find a mistake, well done! :)

Update on Updates!

We are now at 14 weeks :) Woohooo!

This is a recap from our 12 week appt with the Doc.

On the 8 week appt, we met our nurse practitioner. She was incredibly nice.(and I'm assuming we will see more of her) This time we met our doc. He was awesome, so informative and funny.

Everything looks good. Apparently my blood type is O- which only 15% of the population are. Thought that was interesting. So near the due date, I'll have a shot that insures that my body won't fight off other blood types. Apparently the little beano will be a positive (Either O or B like Joe) and sometimes the kids blood can get in my blood, so they need to tell my body to not fight it if it does. He said that the first birth normally doesn't cause problems. But this shot will help the second birth even more.

He also explained that I am not immune to Rubella, and right after the birth I will need the vaccine for that. He was surprised that I didn't get it again b/c I work with kids. I have never heard that, so that's interesting!!!

He tried to listen to the heartbeat, but didn't have much luck. The baby is still tilted towards the back and all he could hear was movement. So we got to have a quick ultrasound. It was pretty cool. The little guy was sitting up and had these hiccup like movements. We saw his left hand stretched out and you could see all the bones! He was definitely waving at us :)

We are scheduled for another ultrasound and blood draw next week for some additional tests. Hopefully those will go well!