Anna - 2 1/4

Anna, Anna, Anna....

You've been keeping me on my toes lately, little one! I know a lot of people don't like the age two, but so far I'm really enjoying it...most days.

• You're a negotiator! Everything that we say, either you say the opposite, or some different version to try to get your way. If I say that we can read two books before bed, you'll say we can read three. If I say, first we read, then we go to bed - then you'll throw an extra step in there like "read, THEN snack, then bed" or anything to add your little twist onto it...
• Going along with the above trend - you don't like going to bed! Naps on the weekends are usually fights, and you're getting excellent at coming up with stalling tactics at night. For a while you'd scream that you had to poop. So, I'd bring you to the bathroom where you'd strike up a conversation with me while sitting on the toilet. When I'd tell you it was time to go back to bed, you'd say, "No I pooping." When I'd remind you that we've sat there for five minutes and nothing's come out, you probably don't have to go, you'd try to force yourself while saying, "It too hard! Help me, Mommy!" I hope those days are over, because they sure were frustrating!
• Along with some challenges though, you sure have some adorable qualities about yourself! You love to be silly! You even said one day in the car, unprovoked, "Hahaha, I so funny!" You really are!
• You're learning how to play pretend which is so fun. You're getting more interactive and actually playing with your toys the way they're intended to be used. You make play food, have a picnic with your babies, change their diapers, pretend that they're crying or hungry, you "make" things out of your blocks, make a zoo with your animals, etc. It's so fun listening to you play and the things you come up with. Just last night you put a blanket across your shoulders and started running saying "I a superhero! I super Anna!" 
• Potty training is going....some days you have no accidents at all, and other days you'll have up to three. One day at Grandma's you told Daddy, "I not poop in my undies anymore!" and I don't think you have. Your problem is not wanting to stop what you're doing to go pee...which I'm sure is common for this age. Or you have to take everything off before you go, and you can't hold it that long. You also had a week when you wet the bed 3-4 times, so that was a bit frustrating. We're trying to reward you with your Halloween candy and remind you more often, eventually you'll get it.
• You're so smart :) I know every mom probably thinks their child is so smart, but I really am impressed with how quickly you absorb things. You love the show Super Why and I'm totally okay with you watching it because you're learning your letters faster from it than me! I think you're up to about ten capital letters and it makes me so proud :)
• We have preschool orientation in January to get you on the list for school in the fall. I'm so excited for you to go to school because I think you'll do wonderful and I'm excited to see how much you grow up!
• You're becoming a better eater, you love to be outside, you like to read, you still want me to do everything for you instead of Daddy, you love to color, and of course, be silly! :-)

End of First Quarter

Well, it's the end of the first quarter of school, and I'm beginning my second round of antibiotics this school year. I've felt much worse before starting antis in the past, but with my upcoming doctor's appointment, include a full PFT work up, I figured I'd nip whatever's brewing in there, even if it's just a small infection. It's going around our house right now - all three of us are having chest issues, sinus issues or a combination of both, so better safe than sorry. Nothing a little Cipro and Cayston can't beat.

In other news, I am loving my job this year!! Not that I haven't before, but last year's class was rough (and 5). This year I'm in a different grade level with a bunch of fun kids I've known for a few years, so it's made things very enjoyable despite all of the curriculum changes from the district. I'm very glad to be 'stuck' in this grade level now. :-)

And of course, a little blurb about our crazy little toddler. Yes, you read that correctly, she's practically a full-blown toddler now from talking, to tantrums, to getting into everything, and being so, so silly! I really can't complain when I say tantrums I just mean a five second whine/cry (with the occasional stomping) until she's distracted by something else. Anna's so busy these days trying to figure out how everything works and trying to climb on any surface impossible. We've been so busy and have been too much fun to update the blog. :)

Back to School

I'm sure many of you parents are so excited to get your children back into school whether its for the routine, structure, or just to get them out of the house. ;) What I don't think parents realize is how much work teachers put in before school even begins and especially during the first month. I LOVE my job and I am so happy to say that I am loving my class this year! This is my fourth year of teaching and my first year in third grade, and so far I'm really enjoying the grade level. We're just finishing up our third week of school and it's going by quick. My students are definitely "pleasers" which is nice and also makes them fairly easy to train. The first month is always focused on rituals, routines and expectations to set the tone for the rest of the school year. Its also filled with assessments galore to evaluate your students' needs and decide who needs what skills the most, where to start teaching, etc. It's overwhelming, it can get stressful and redundant, but it's so critical, important and informative. On top of all this, we started in the middle of August in a school with no air conditioning so it has been HOT.

Anyway, I've been busy to say the least. And I also picked up my first chest infection - pretty sure that's record time! Ugh! But it seems like everyone in the school (staff & students) is either sick, has lice, or a combination of the two, lol. I think I'll take my chest infection over lice! So I'm starting my first oral antibiotics this week in hopes to kick this crap out of my lungs quickly.

Anna is back at Grandma's and loving it! Her and her cousin (he's just over 2) play all day together. By the time her and Tim come home, we typically eat dinner, play for a little bit and then she's heading to bed because she's exhausted. I still have to get her up every morning to eat and get ready - poor, sleepy girl - luckily she's able to fall asleep in the car for the hour drive to Grandma's. I'm sure eventually she'll get used to it again. :-)

Positive Thoughts Thursday: Quotes

I have a board on Pinterest called "Quotes & Cute Things", which is where these all came from. I enjoy going through that board occasionally and reading these happy thoughts, so I wanted to share them with you.

Positive Thoughts Thursday

First of all, I want to apologize for neglecting to post any positive thoughts over the last month. Tim and I have been through some stressful, crappy stuff over the past few weeks - which is when I should have probably been trying to really focus more on the positives - and I've been feeling pretty crabby lately. Thankfully, I feel like I'm coming around out of that slump a little at a time, and I felt it was necessary to get back into my positive thinking ways...

• A few weeks ago I started taking a probiotic and man, do I feel great! I am less bloated and gassy in general and my bathroom trips have been less frequent. I'm also still trying to monitor my calorie intake and blood sugars to try and stay as regular as possible. I'm hoping the combination of all of these things will help me start gaining the weight back I need.
• Although I have learned quickly that the end of the year is almost (if not more) stressful than the beginning of the year as a teacher, my class and I have had a lot of fun days in the past couple weeks. We went bowling (supposed to go to the zoo, but it was rainy and cold); we went to the YMCA where the kids were able to swim and play in the gym; and just yesterday we had Play Day where we travel from station to station outside all afternoon. There was a bounce house, inflatable slide, inflatable obstacle course, a water station, snow cones, tug of war, dodgeball, and sack/relay races. I am so happy that I'm healthy enough to run around with my kids and be able to participate in all of this fun stuff with them! :-)
• Tim and I are house hunting! Since I have found a job that I love and Tim's now in a stable job, and we're closer to Tim's family, we're looking to buy a house! This is a huge goal of mine (to be a homeowner) and is one of the things that I wasn't sharing about a month ago when I mentioned I was working towards one of my goals. We are currently under contract on a house and are waiting to close (this has been the stress of my life for the past few weeks because it is NOT going according to plan, but I'm keeping this post positive!). I'm hoping soon that I'll be able to post that we're officially homeowners. 
• Last Saturday was my second Great Strides of the season and it was so much fun. We had family on both sides show up to walk on the chilly, windy but sunny day. After the walk, Tim's sister Katrina,
  Tim and I played on the playground with our nephew, Isaac for a while -it was so fun!! I can't believe how big he's getting! See the adorable pictures below. :)
• Kitten update: The kittens are 4 weeks old today! We were able to see them while we were in town for Great Strides last weekend. They are hilarious. Their eyes are open and they're learning to walk, but they stumble all over the place. They are also learning how to play together which is hysterical! I think we sat there for about 2 hours just watching them. 
• Oh, how could I forget?? I'm an aunt to a third nephew!! Tim's other sister, Elise, had her second son, Liam, on Monday, May 6th! He's soooo cute and I cannot wait to go see him in June to celebrate his big brother's third birthday! :-)
• I've started running again and boy did I miss it! A couple days ago I ran 2.4 of my 3.5 mile route! :) Tim and I signed up for a 5K in June (the same one I did for my first 5K last year) so I'm prepping for that. I'm so happy that my body hasn't lost a lot of the endurance I had in the fall since I took the winter off. 

3 1/2 week old kittens

This is our little guy - still haven't agreed on a name yet for him

My favorite picture from Great Strides! Aunt Colleen & Isaac! :)

Running around the park with Isaac

Tim and I just hanging out on the dinosaur!

Weeeee!

He loved peeking through that thing

Haha...that slide was painful on our hips...I think we were a little too big!

CF Awareness Month Blog #12 - Cracking Point

**Happy 200th Post**

Having Cystic Fibrosis isn't easy to deal with everyday. There are times when I really want to skip my treatments. There are times where I think, "Why me?" There are times I get scared about the future. But thankfully, for me, those times are getting to be fewer and farther between.
As I've mentioned in previous blog posts this month, I really struggled with accepting my CF in middle school and high school. There were times when I would just cry in my room because I was so scared about what the future held for me, or because I was so frustrated that I had to work so hard to keep myself healthy each day. But I'm very happy to say that with the support of my friends, then meeting Tim in college, and the encouragement of my CF doctor, I was able to work through those tough emotions and see that I'm much happier thinking positively about my life. CF has kept me on my toes the past few years (as I think it always will), throwing some challenges my way lately, but I know that I can get through it. Keeping a positive attitude and taking things day by day definitely keep me from cracking!

Positive Thoughts Thursday

Sometimes I feel like I use this blog to vent/complain about things going on in my life, and I don't want to continue with all of that negativity. So each week I'm compiling a list of positive, happy, lucky, fortunate things that are going on in my life or anywhere around the world.

• This week the weather has been progressively getting warmer! I am not a fan of the cold or the hot, but warm is right up my alley! I'm loving the warm sunshine and that it's staying light much later. 
• There are only 37 school days left this year! I cannot believe it!! This school year has FLOWN by so quickly and it's been so much fun. This is the first year I don't really have any concrete summer plans, and I'm actually looking forward to being able to pretty much do whatever I want all summer.
• Next weekend is my first Great Strides event of the year and I'm really looking forward to it! So far my team has raised $195!
• I'm happy to have such great communication with my husband. I love how open and honest we are with each other. I feel like we are very good at compromising and working together at everything. I cannot imagine it being any other way. He makes me so happy. :-)

Kind of off topic, but please read my previous blog post and comment, comment, comment. I saw a great question from CysticLife and I think it'll spark some great blogging ideas for me (especially this summer!).