Finally!

She is able to push herself on the swing. No small feat I suppose, for any child. I can't remember when I was able to do it, I just remember being able to. I have been trying to teach Caitlyn to do it....for at least a couple of years now. And just the other day while Matt and I were sitting on the deck, she was on the swing and swinging. Out of nowhere. Just like that!





Apparently all of that swinging made her quite tired. This is how I found her in bed when I went in to check on her before heading to bed myself. I am almost certain that she will hate me for these when she is older.





Note....if you enlarge the second pic of her, you will have a clear view of Bunny right next to her....He is never far from her when she is sleeping.

I was a little scared that the flash might wake her up. But there was no way that I could pass up the opportunity of this picture. I figured if she did wake up, then I would deal with the wrath, cause these pics are certainly worth it!

Here's the picture I mentioned

The girls wore white caps and gowns. The boys wore blue caps and gowns. Nice and uniform. The only thing different on each girl, besides the obvious of honors sashes, were the shoes that they were wearing. And many girls were wearing some shocking shoes. And I don't mean shocking as though they were outrageous. I mean shocking like the were bright colors. Which was fun to look at as they walked across the stage.

Nice and uniform....until they took off the gowns and I witnessed this little get up



Now, I know that I am by no means a fashionista. Hell, I might even still be rolling the bottoms of my pant legs if people would let me. But we are talking about a child who's parent's have just spent close to $30,000 on an education for her (after books, fees, and uniforms). And this is what she wears to what is supposed to be a respectful event????

She Did It!!!

Tutti finally graduated :) Last night was the ceremony. She graduated from Guerin Prep, formerly Mother Guerin. Same school that I graduated from, so it was nice to ssit through another graduation ceremony there.

Besides it's name, a whole lot has changed at Mother Guerin since I graduated in 1992. For starters, there are the boys from Holy Cross there now. There are no more plaid uniform skirts with neatly collared shirts. The graduating class of both genders was less than the number of girls that I graduated with some 15 (yikes!) years ago. And most importantly, the tuition is much higher, upwards of $4000.00 higher!

There were also River Grove policemen on the scene. And not just in the parking lots to control the unruly graduates or on the street to direct the floods of traffic. They were in the auditorium. Every single time people hooted and hollered a bit too loud for their liking, they were escorted out of the graduation. One parent was a lunatic because she thought she should be allowed to celebrate loudly that her daughter graduated....and she and her husband are now near $24,000 poorer. I have to say I agree with her a little bit.

But all in all it was a fantastic event. Tutti did not have an easy time with high school. Those years that people always say are some of the best of their lives, well let's just say that wasn't the case for Tutti. So to see her forge ahead through all of the shit storms that followed her the past 4 years is truly wonderful. Not to mention the fact that she is the first in a long (long) line of children in that part of my family to actually graduate.

Her and Mom, who has raised her pretty much since infancy and has managed to put her through Geurin pretty much all on her own.


Tutti and Bobby, who thinks of her as another little sister.


Tutti and Matt, who has never resented her for monopolizing so much of our dating life.


Me and Tutti, who I love as if she were my own child. (side note...notice the straight hair and no bangs)


Tutti and Mike, the boyfriend, who we all have very different feeling about.


The entire family


And there is a special picture...but it certainly deserves a post all on it's own. I will get to that this weekend...it is priceless.

Mother's Day

I know I am a little (or a lot) late posting about Mother's Day. Sue me.

It was a wonderful day! And Caitlyn is really in to holidays and special occasions now. So she was all geared up and ready to give me my gifts the minute my eyes popped open.

She had breakfast with me, which Daddy went to get. I refuse to go out for breakfast on this day. It is way too crowded, and by the time I wake up, the wait for a table is way too long for my growling belly.

After eating, Caitlyn presented me with all of my goodies. And goodies they were.

The first was a card that she made. The picture is of her and I on her first day of school. That hair of mine....gone.



The second was also a card. Which I find just too damned cute!




The third was a plate that was made at school. Although I love the plate, it certainly doesn't make me like the teacher anymore.


And of course, a Shrek baby. I am not exactly sure why, but she insisted that Tutti take her to Build A Bear for this little guy. And she decided that even though he is a boy, he should be dressed in a $15.00 Tinkerbell costume. I think she wanted one, and my day was just a good excuse for her to get one.


And this my friends is the one that brought tears to my eyes. It is certainly the keeper of the group. I love that my daughter knows so much about me. I will translate some of them as a few aren't as obvious to people outside of the Walsh household.


1. My Mom's name is Nace (Nancy)
2. My Mom's eyes are green.
3. My Mom's hair is red.
4. My Mom is 18 years old. (I have a new reason to love this kid)
5. My Mom's favorite color is green.
6. My Mom likes to eat salid (salad).
7. My Mom likes to wear shoos (shoes). (Who doesn't really?)
8. My Mom likes to play on the kompdr (computer). (Thinking I spend too much time here)
9. My Mom likes to cook ham
10. My Mom's favorite store is Targit (Target).
11. My Mom's favorite restaurant is Fakis Fil (Franksville). (Hot dog joint near the house)
12. My Mom drives a van.
13. My Mom doessn't like ??? (She tells me it's weeds???? I so don't garden.)
14. I love my Mom because (no answer...should I be concerned????)

Tutti's Prom

I forgot to post some of these.

Tutti had her prom on the 27th. And I think I can officially say that she was absolutely stunning. STUNNING!! She had her hair and make up done professionally and it came out beautiful. And her dress! Purely Cinderella fashion. I loved how all of the girls that she went with had on such brightly colored dresses.

Tutti and Mike


The entire group


Tutti in her true form


And of course Cate had to get in some of the pictures (thank you Auntie Mary or my cool Watermelon raincoat!)

Why Do You Love Me So Much?

This was the question I posed to Caitlyn this afternoon when we were lounging on the couch together.

C: Cause you take me to the park.

C: Cause you buy me ice cream.

C: Cause we are snuggle bunnies sometimes.

C: That's all I can think of.

At this point I had to giggle to myself at her reasons for loving a person. That is, until she said this...

C: And I have a gazillion more in my heart Mommy!

*sniff sniff*

She sure knows how to warm my heart when she wants to.

Sick Sick Sick

Of what??? Sick of being sick!! Not me. The girl. Once again she has a cold. I am convinced that her hellish teacher has plagued her with cooties. She wasn't this sick last year in school. She wasn't this sick the year before that in daycare/preschool. So why is it that she has the kindergarten teacher from hell and she is sick nonstop from November until the present time?? Really, the only logical answer is that teacher has plagued her. Right? I have to be right, cause then I am allowed to hate her more.

So the cough that landed us in the emergency room approximately a month ago has returned. Though it isn't anywhere near as violent this go round as it was then. Of course the minute she starts coughing now, she tells me this...

"Mommy I think I need to go to the emergency room."

Now if she were a kid that was there on a regular basis I would accept this statement as run of the mill. But since her escape from the NICU, she has only ever been to the ER twice. TWICE!!! Which in preemie land is a fantastic record. Of course, both times were for the same ridiculous cough. So I need to deprogram her and change her thinking that a cough lands you in the ER every time.

Despite the cough and snot dripping from her nose constantly, she is way excited that spring seems to have decided to make it's grand entrance. And it's been a long time since we have had a "real" spring here in Chicago. Thus, I have forgotten how much I hate spring. Makes getting dressed in the morning when it's 40 out very difficult. Because by mid afternoon, it's usually somewhere around 60. Clothes for 60 degrees and 40 degrees really are very different clothes. But the nice weather has allowed for the girl to be out of the house from the moment she exits school until it is time for dinner and bed. Which makes for a much neater house and happier mom ;)

New job news....I have agreed to work summer school. Not only is it a hefty sum of $32.00 an hour, but I think it looks good that I am willing to meet some of the students and staff. Nothing like a little brown nosing before I even get there right? And it's only 2 days a week, of which I can decide which 2 days I want to do, for 5 weeks. And it is smack dab in the middle of the summer, so I still have a nice break at the beginning and the end. And I've said before, I can't complain about my vacation time as most people (who aren't teachers) don't get nearly the amount of vacation that I get. I still have to work 5 days over the summer for my current job according to my contract, but those are picked by me as well. And I have agreed to do those days in a summer school program for a kid on my caseload. Not because I believe that he needs my assistance over the summer, but because his Mom is so very frustrated and her anxiety levels are rising to the point of a nervous breakdown. And she has pretty much found a confidant in me, she trusts me. And I don't want her to feel insecure about someone taking my place. Just give me a little pat on the back for going above and beyond the call of duty *wink wink*

I've not yet counted down the number of days until summer break. Which surprises me, as I usually do that sometime around the return after spring break. But things have been too busy to do that these days. But rest assured, the count is coming soon. Especially since things are now starting to wind down and I no longer have appointments from the time I leave the house until the time I return home. Maybe Monday I will do that.

Beloved Bunny

This is Bunny. He is very near and dear to Caitlyn's heart. When she was 2 days old, my girlfriend, Suzi, brought him to the hospital for her. It was the first time Suzi had seen Caitlyn. It was also the first time that I ever touched Caitlyn.

Bunny stayed with Caitlyn for the duration of her NICU stay. He travelled from warmer to warmer, isolette to isolette, and crib to crib with her. When it was time for Caitlyn to come home, Bunny came home a day or so earlier as we were taking most of her belongings home. We knew we would have a load to carry with us the day she was leaving, so we figured anything we could get home early, the better.

Once Caitlyn was home, Bunny lived in her crib with her. She paid no attention to him being there, she was too little. But he was there none the less.

Until Caitlyn was nearing 4 years old, she wasn't too concerned with Bunny. However, all of that changed right before her 4th birthday. Since that time, Caitlyn has not been without Bunny in bed with her. Until this weekend that is.

Friday morning, Caitlyn got into my bed just like she always does when Matt heads off to work. But this Friday, she didn't bring Bunny in with her. It was decided that afternoon that she was going to have a sleepover at Grandma's house. I came home to pack up her clothes, and of course get Bunny and snuggle blank (a receiving blanket she has had since homecoming as well, but that's another post and picture). I found snuggle blank easily. Bunny on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. Nowhere.

I called her at my mom's and asked her where he was. She insisted that he was either on her bed or in my bed. Which is where he always is. (We don't take Bunny out anywhere except for sleepovers to prevent him from getting lost.) After looking for 15 minutes with no luck, I went to drop her things off and told her he was somewhere in the house but I couldn't find him. Her response...

"He is probably hiding from me."

For the entire weekend, I looked and looked, and then looked some more, for Bunny. I couldn't find him anywhere. And Caitlyn couldn't find him either. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of where she last left him.

I was completely devastated by last night. I was convinced that Bunny was gone from our lives forever. Caitlyn was upset. She took another bunny into bed with her last night. When I went to wake her this morning, that bunny was placed neatly on the pillow....far away from her. When she sleeps with Bunny, he is always tucked under her blankets with her, to make sure he stays warm at night. I have seen her in her sleep feel around her bed until she has located him, with her eyes closed, and pull him close to her.

I told Matt that my heart was broken for her. I really thought that this would be the stuffed animal that she has all her life. We all have something that we have had since childhood that we hold very dear to us. And this is what Bunny is for Caitlyn. When she cries, she cries to Bunny. When she plays, Bunny also has a role in whatever she is playing. No he was gone :(

When I was trying to wake her this morning (she is a beast to wake up), I figured I would look some more in her room. Because I figured that the 763 times I looked over the weekend, I hadn't done it efficiently enough. As I was picking up her sleeping bag to fold and put back on her bed, Bunny fell out!

I wanted to scream with excitement. Instead, I put Bunny on her chest and told her to open her eyes because she had a surprise visitor. When her eyes opened, they were the happiest eyes you can imagine! She pulled him so close to her and gave him the biggest hug. Then she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep much to my dismay.

When she asked me where he was hiding, I told her I found him in her sleeping bag. Her response....

"I put him there Friday night to make sure he stayed warm. I remember now Mommy."

Remembering now didn't do me any good all weekend. But I am almost certain that we will all be sleeping a little better tonight now that Bunny has returned safely.

Her First "Real" P*unishment

Caitlyn got her first real p*unishsment yesterday night. I say real only because up until now, she has only ever recieved time outs and an ocassional spsanking here and there. And by spsanking, I mean that she has gotten her butt tapped one time on only a handful of ocassions.

Last night as I was cleaning up toys, I was putting the bazillion pieces of Polly Pocket Dolls in the Polly Pocket suitcase that had to be purchased to contain the bits that are in fact produced by the devil (that sure is one hell of a run on sentence isn't it???) As I was cleaning up the pieces from hell, I discovered 2 heads of the dolls in the suitcase. The heads were certainly not attached to the bodies they belonged with. Flashes of serial killers immediately run through my mind. I mean, isn't that how they all start out? Ripping the heads off of dolls, or torturing small animals. I quickly scan the room to make sure that the cats are still alive. (Yes I know, Marten is anything but a small animal...but he's smaller than her finally.) Both cats are alive and well.

I turn to Cate and ask her how this happened. Of course she blamed it on Kelly. Who in their right mind wouldn't blame this act on another child. I call my mother and tell her what Kelly has done. I also tell her that I am not so much concerned with the act of ripping the heads of, but I am more concerned with the lack of respect for toys that I spend my hard earned money on (sounds grown up like doesn't it!). I tell my mom that she needs to let Kelly know that if I ever see anything like this again, they will not be getting toys from me...ever!

After I hang up, I ask Cate what happened with the toys. She retells the same story that Kelly gave. Well, to an extent. Only she leaves herself out of the bad parts. Kelly said that they were playing with them together and she was pulling the heads off. Which resulted in Cate's hysterical laughter. Cate says that Kelly just pulled the heads off. Here's the troubling part of the conversation:

Mom: Did you ask Kelly to stop doing that to your toys?

Cate: Yes (nodding hesitantly)

Mom: Were you laughing when Kelly was doing this?

Cate: No (shaking head hesitantly)

Mom: Are you lying to me?

Cate: blank stare with tears welling in her eyes.

Mom: Answer me. Did you ask her to stop?

Cate: Shakes her head no.

Mom: Were you laughing?

Cate: Nods her head yes.

Now, I have no patience for liars. Really, I don't. And this isn't even something major that she needed to lie about. She wasn't going to get in any kind of trouble if she had just told me the truth. Add this to the fact that she lied to me a couple weeks ago and got caught. It makes for one pissed off mother.

I tell her that she needs to come and sit next to me on the couch so that we can talk some about this. I go through the whol "boy who cried wolf" scenarios and tell her why it is bad to lie and how I may not believe her one day when it is really necessary for me to believe her. Now the tears come....fast...furious! Heavy breathing, the kind where I am almosst certain she is going to hyperventilate and pass out in 8.7 secondss flat. Before we continue the conversation, I make her calm down.

After she calms, I ask her what she thinks her p*unishment should be. Man I used to hate when my mom asked me that question. The most obvious answer is no punishment at all, that I will never do the stupid act again. But I find myself asking anyway. To which she prompltly responds.... "A time out."

I tell her no. To which she is utterly shocked. I let her know that this can't be her p*unishment as it was the p*unishment that I gave when she was caught lying a couple of weeks ago and obviously that doesn't stop her from lying.

At this point, I am at a loss for what p*unishment I really should give her. Whcih kind of made me giggle on the inside. So I call Matt into the room. While he is aware of the situation, he has not participated in any of the discussion. I ask him what he thinks the p*unishment should be. He immediately has an answer (which impresses me tremendously!). He says that she should take her bath without playing and go straight to bed. Not a big deal really, until he said this..."And she isn't watching her shows before bed. She can just go straight to sleep."

Now, asking Cate to go straight to bed without watching some Spongebob is like ripping her toenails out one by one with pliers. When she hears this, the sobbing begins all over again. Once again, I get her to calm down and she asks me if she can at least have music on. There's that need for noise that has been with her since the NICU that appears it will never leave. I agree to it, Matt is a little peeved that I do, but I explain to him that she has never liked silence in bed. He agrees.

For the remainder of the evening, she is repeating how she wishes that she could erase this and she wishes it never happened, etc. To all of these comments, my response was

"The next time you think about lying to Mommy, I want you to remember exactly how you feel this very moment. Maybe that will stop you from doing it again."

(Nice huh!)

I must say that I felt like complete shit the entire evening for doing it to her. And I was on the verge of just talking to her and giving in several times. Thankfully, I had to drive mom to work so Matt was home to put her in bed. He had to be the one to enforce it. And he was fantastic at it!! I thanked him profusely for being the one to "stay sstrong" in the situation as I was so ready to cave in.

Hopefully she has learned her lesson. Although, I am still going to zing her the next time we are shopping and she asks for a toy. I will quickly remind her that she enjoyed destroying her toys and tell her that I am not sure I sshould buy them for her. And then, if Matt isn't with us, I will probably cave and buy her the stupid toy anyway!

Happy Birthday Matt!!!

Happy birthday to my sweet husband!

Caitlyn was very excited to give Matt his gifts, which consisted of a big bag of Twizzler's, a Mr. Wonderful Doll, and a card. All of which she picked out herself. And then she suggested that we take him out to dinner. Where else? Pizza Hut of course. Cause she knows how much Daddy likes their pizza. (the fact that it's her favorite place on the planet really had no impact I'm sure)

I got matt this nifty little "bouquet" from Edible Arrangements. Nothing too feminine, just manly enough ;] Unfortunately, it's not the Charger that he wanted, but it will have to do!




Happy Birthday Matthew!!! I love you :]

The Report Card

I have decided that I just don't like Caitlyn's teacher. I have also decided that I am not going to fight anything the woman says anymore. The only saving grace she has at this point in time is that she is a phenommenal reading teacher. That is the only positive thing that I can say about her at this point in time. Part of the reason that I won't be arguing with anything she says anymore, is the fact that there are only a handful of school days left in the year, and I just want (read, need) to be done with her.

The parent teacher conference was, as usual, a huge pain in my ass. Let me just run down a list of things that she said about my kid:
1. She wishes that Caitlyn would smile more.
2. She thinks Caitlyn has a tendency to be too sensitive to things.
3. She says Caitlyn is very/easily distracted when she is working in class.
4. She feels that Caitlyn is fully prepared for first grade and will have minimal difficulty with transitioning to first grade.

Now.....number 4 is all that is keeping me sane right about now.

Let's break some of these down a bit shall we?

1. Are you telling me that my daughter is frequently unhappy? "I often have to tell her to smile and be happy," says the teacher. When I question if Cate smiles while playing, while chatting with other kids, while being read to, etc, I am assured that she does. Well, then, when isn't she smiling? "When she is working on a worksheet," says the brilliant one. Well, hmmm, maybe she is concentrating? Or better yet, maybe she doesn't smile for you because she likes you about as much as I do???? Get bent lady, my kid is happy and smiles all the damn time when she is home. Of course, when it is appropriate to do so, not just because I think she should be smiling.

2. Caitlyn is very in tune with the feelings and emotions of others around her. Very often, she mirrors what others are feeling. Caitlyn has always been the kid to cry at the drop of a hat. I don't discourage this, if it is appropriate to cry in a situation, then by all means, I am going to allow her to cry. If it isn't appropriate, say for example when the lead on her pencil breaks, then we will discuss why that is nothing to cry about. But when she has done something wrong in class, like wrestling, and she is reprimanded for it, is it wrong for her to feel guilt and then cry? I don't think so. She has disappointed an authority in the classroom, so cry, feel better, and move on with the day. But apparently, this goes hand in hand with my kid not smiling enough.

3. Saying that my daughter is easily distracted means something entirely different to me than it does to other moms. I work in special ed, and I hear "easily distracted" thrown about no less than 10 times a day. And every time that it is mentioned to me, it needs to be explored whether or not this distractibility is interferring with their ability to learn. More often than not, the answer is no, but it bothers the hell out of the teacher that the kid isn't sitting still all day. I pose this very question to Caitlyn's teacher. "Is it impacting her ability to learn and complete work in the classroom?" Teacher responds with a very quick no. She also is very quick to tell Matt and I how perfectly normal it is. Really? Then why the fuck is it noted on her report card if it is something that is within normal limits?????

Here's the scenario of Caitlyn's distractibility:
Teacher: When Caitlyn is working on a worksheet, if the child next to her starts talking, she stops what she is doing and pays attention to that student.

Classroom environment:
All children sit at circular tables.
All children are within 1 foot (12 inches folks) of each other.
Teacher has said in the past that she encourages socialization (it is after all kindergarten)

Now tell me this, if you are sitting next to someone, 12 inches from them, and they start talking, and they are your friend, do you not pay attention??? Does that make me distractable because I do?

And finally, did the kid who started talking thus distracting my kid have anything said to them?? Probably not, as I am most certain that this has escalated to nothing more than a personality conflict at this point.

Because of this personality conflict, my daughter now has 2 checks for this marking period. Making a total of 5 checks so far for the year. Kindergarten!! 5 checks!!! What is wrong with that picture.

I ask the teacher why is it that on the behavior charts that come home every day, there are smiley faces for the majority of days. These marks on the report card certainly are not reflective of those behavior charts. To which she has no answer. Rather she dicks around and beats around the bush trying to convince me that the two are unrelated. Maybe in your world lady, but not in mine.

It is at this point that I have decided to just finish out the year as peacefully as possible. It is obvious that this woman can't give explanations for marks she gives on a report. And certainly does not approve of parents asking her questions, or should I say, calling her out on her bullshit. I am almost positive that my name has been mentioned to the first grade teachers. Which should make for a fun filled second year of school. But I know that I have to go into that year without any preconcienved notions.....at least that's what I keep trying to tell myself!

On a positive note....I am super proud of my little girlie who has mastered several of the skills that are on the report card. And when she told me that she was upset about the checks, I reassured her that I didn't give a hoot about those silly checks. That they mean absolutely nothing to me and I am just happy that she is learning and thriving in that classroom.

Just Some Random Thoughts

At the playground today, Caitlyn went to run towards the slide and hit her head right on the bar used for chin ups. It would appear that she has gotten taller by about an inch since the last time she was there. She is fine, and went right on running.

My wedding video is getting more play time now than it ever has in the past. She absolutely will not stop watching it. Over. And over. And over again. I seriously need to get that thing burned to DVD before it won't play anymore.

Polly Pockets are in fact the devil's creation. No child should be allowed to want to play with these damn toys. The shoes for these dolls....yeah they're about half the size of a small pinky nail. And God forbid if Polly doesn't have matching shoes because one is missing and there is a possibility that the damn cat ate it. I refuse to look through the cat litter box for it. There are just certain things at which I draw the line.

Report card pick up is Wednesday. Typically, parents look forward to these. Me? Not so much. It would appear that I am way too critical of this goofy teacher. Really, she is goofy. It's not just me. I have asked people.

I go in on Thursday to sign my contract for next year and negotiate salary. Not looking forward to this as I have a feeling that they don't want to give me any credit for my 10 years experience. Damn the TRS to hell right now.

Do I win money at Bingo? Hell no. I win ridiculous shit like this.

The Birthday Party

Today Caitlyn went to a birthday party. Nothing unusual about that really. However, I didn't stay there with her. It was the first time that I have done that. The opportunity has arisen in the past, but I have never taken advantage of it. But this time, I decided to bite the bullet and let it happen. We've had moms drop their kids off at her parties in the past, and I would think how strange that was. To just leave your kid there, and then come back a couple of hours later to get them again.

But when I talked to the mom when I RSVP'd, she had assured me that Cate would be fine there. That she had a fenced in yard and she had a large basement that the kids would be in if they weren't outside. She also mentioned that there were going to be a lot of adults there from her family. So it was almost as if she was telling me to not come along with Caitlyn.

When I told Cate that I wasn't going to be there with her, I expected a different response than I got. She promptly simply said...."Okay Mommy." I was baffled. This child that I call my cling on, could have cared less that I wasn't going to be there with her.

I guess I should be ecstatic about that. Right? Well, it makes me a little sad to be perfectly honest. Just demonstrates to me once again that she is getting older. Not like I'm thinking she doesn't need me or anything anymore. But it's just one more step of her pulling away from me and doing things on her own.

Matt had to pick her up because I was out doing some things with Mom. And she was happy as could be when I got home. Telling me about all the wonderful things she did. Oh, and she fell down the basement stairs. She just kind of threw that in there mid sentence. See, had I been there, that wouldn't have happened! But she was quick to tell me that she didn't cry and it hardly hurt as she only fell on her butt.

Later when I was giving her a bath, I immediately started thinking about all of the things that could have happened to her because I wasn't there. Things like an overly touch unlce, or a not so nice to play with cousin. All horrific things to me. I figured I couldn't come right out and ask her if anyone was "overly nice" to her or mean for that matter either. So I tried to beat around the bush. And all of her answers were perfectly acceptable. Which put my mind at ease.

So I guess this is the start of a new trend with the girlie. I would imagine that after a few parties I will start to look forward to the time by myself. Right??? Right????




.......and as a side note, I only drove by that silly party once to check on her in the backyard and she was having a ball. Despite not wearing her jacket like I told her to.

I Forgot

Silly me! In all the excitement about posting about my new job, I completely forgot to post pics and tell you about the girl's Easter. This year, for some reason, I didn't take pics of her coloring eggs. Not sure why I didn't, but I think it's because she was so into coloring the eggs with me, that I was completely engaged in the activity with her and never even thought about anything else. Or I am just a bad mom for not thinking about it. But I certainly do like the first explanation better.

Caitlyn loved loved loved coloring the eggs this year. She was all creative as far as what colors she was going to use and how she was going to mix the colors and precisely what color should be put on the egg first. She colored a total of 18. Normally, there aren't that many, but this year there were no casualties in the boiling process. So she got all of them, and no complaints from her about that.

When we were done coloring eggs, she decided that she wanted to write the Easter Bunny a letter. Which went a like this:
Hepe Estr
Luve Caitlyn

Nothing better than inventive spelling! If you need translating: Happy Easter Love Caitlyn. But it looks pretty much like it sounds I suppose.

Easter morning, Caitlyn woke up to a basket filled with goodies and ann empty egg carton. It didn't take her long to find all of the eggs. She had some trouble with a few of the more difficult ones, but she was able to find them all on her own. I am thinking that it's going to get increasinglly difficult to find new places to hide these eggs. We may have to expand to more rooms that just the living room and dining room.

For the next 4 hours or so, Caitlyn hung out watching TV and eating far too much candy and chocolate. But hey, that's what holidays are all about I suppose. She got to eat the goods and chill out while I cooked and finished up the cleaning. Once that was all done, it was bath time. And then she was FINALLY able to get into her dress. Which I do think that she asked me every 7 minutes if she could get dressed. From the time that she woke up until the time that I actually got her dressed.

And here is the end result:


You see, everything is a super model pose these days. She can't just stand there nicely for me to take a picture. She has to pose for it. Very often I have to tell her to just leave her hands at her side and let me take the damn picture. But she insisted on modeling the dress for me. And nothing I said could convince her otherwise.

I Got It!!

Stunned. This is what I am. I got the call from the assistant superintendent yesterday evening that I was the team's number one choice of the interviewees! How's that for spanking my ego ;) He said he just needed to call and check my references and that he would get back to me today to officially offer me the position.

Did I talk to him today? Well of course I didn't. I was helping Tutti clear up some bullshit at work that she is encountering. So my phone was on vibrate, and I had no idea that he called. So I called to leave a message to call me again tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't make me sound like too much of a fool.

The one thing that needs to be squared away is how many years of experience they will give me. They are able to give up to 8, I have 10. However, none of my positions have been in "certified" positions. Basically what that means is that my certificate has been in an "exempt" status for the last 10 years. Current, but inactive. Which technically really isn't the case, but on paper that's what it looks like. So I am not sure how much negotiating on salary I am going to be able to do. Even if they can't give me the full 8 years, I would like something. Cause 10 years is a lot to just toss out the window.

In other news, Caitlyn is celebrating her "fake birthday" tomorrow at school. Because her birthday falls in the summer, she won't be in school for it. So like last year, the teacher puts on a little production for them so that the kid can experience what the other kids whose birthdays occur during the school year experience. Which is wonderful....unless you're a mom like me who completely forgets that this will be happening tomorrow. And you haven't purchased any cupcakes or anything for the kid to distribute. But fear not, Tutti ran right out and purchased 30 mini cupcakes for the girl. So all is right in her world now. And she has forgiven my ignorance ;)

It's gone!

So the antibiotic coupled with the inhaler has done the trick. The girlie is feeling much much better. And she is coughing so infrequently now, back to normalcy and niceness :)

Danny has made his way home and is on the road to recovery. Amazing how quickly kids can bounce back from major surgery isn't it?

My second interview is scheduled for this coming Monday at 1:30. I believe that there are 2 other people interviewing for the same position. At least that's what it seems since the girl who called said that she has 2 other people to schedule on that day. Or there are more and they have scheduled them on another day. Or I am just thinking way to much into it and I shouldn't worry about how many other people are interviewing?

It has been decided that Easter dinner will be at my house this year. Typically it is at Mary's house (Danny's mom). However, due to the recent events of surgery and Jack developing pink eye, it would seem to be the wisest option to just have it here. Which is kind of nice. Then we don't have to worry about leaving the house at all. So that's nice. The downside, I need to clean the hell out of my house. It really is quite the scary sight. And I do believe that the dust bunnies are rallying to overthrow me.

The 6 hour ER Stint

It would appear that the cough I thought would just go away, isn't. Last night around 6ish, Caitlyn started with her uncontrollable hacking again. Which of courses prompted vomitting, always fun. I tried calling her doctor to see what we shoudl do, and his phone was busy...for over 30 minutes! I am thinking that there was something really wrong with his phone line? So I told Matt that we were just going to Lutheran General and calling it a night. Caitlyn's doc is not out of that hospital, but they do have a pediatric emergency room, which is why I go there instead. Not to mention the fact that her doc is out of Christ, which would mean going 45 minutes away to the ER....seems silly to me.

They did get us in right away, which I was thankful for. But of course, in true Caitlyn fashion, she didn't cough a bit for the first hour that we were there. And why would she really? There is nothing near as fun as making your parents look like complete fools in front of medical experts.

The first person to see her was a student. He couldn't hear anything strange going on in her lungs, and figured she was just beginning the flu. Then the "real" doc came in the follow up his exam. Hmmm...different story from him altogether. Seems he could hear the wheezing and also noted that she had some coarse sounds on the right side, more than likely beginning stages of pneumonia. So we headed down for a chest xray. Which Caitlyn thoroughly loved. And the fact that the techncian let her see the images was certainly an added bonus.

Once back in the room, she was given a neb treatment. Through our rose colored glasses we were fairly certain this was going to be the cure all. Not so much. It helped. For all of about 7.2 minutes. Then began the extreme hacking again. Shortly after, they decided another neb treatment would certainly do the trick. But see, they don't know how my kid loves to skew the odds.

The second one seemed to be going along nicely. Well, that's until she decided to throw up from the either the taste of it of the plastic in her mouth. Not sure. Either way, she now how vomit ladden clothes and was still coughing. This spurred some interest from the doctors though :P After cleaning her up, we finished the treatment and were told we needed to hang around some so they could watch her.

An hour later, the doc comes back in and says that he is prescribing an antibiotic because he is worried about the coarse sounds on the right side turning into pneumonia. He also prescribed some more albuterol. Which I won't be filling, as I just refilled one for her since her last canister expired.

She sounds the same this morning, hopefully the abx will kick the hell out of whatever is going on. If not, she may just cough for the rest of her life. She is terribly sad not to be at school today though, as it was supposed to be her fake birthday celebration. Since she isn't in school for her actual birthday, they do a fake one for the summer kids. I have reassured her that she will have her fake birthday after spring break though and she seems ok about that...only slightly pissed off I guess.

I must mention though, a funny that occurred in the hospital. Typically, doctors seem to talk to moms like they have a significantly lower IQ than the rest of the walking upright world. This doc however, whom I adored, spoke to Matt as though he were certainly learning disabled. At first I thought it was a fluke, but everytime the man spoke to Matt, he looked at him like Matt could barely understand the English language. And it wasn't just me noticing it, Matt asked me as well if it was just his imagination that this was happening. I reassured him that it was not! So now when I talk to Matt about Caitlyn, I am making sure to speak in slow sentences with easy to understand words so as not to confuse him ;]

Danny Boy

Caitlyn's cousin Danny has Biliary Atresia He was diagosed with it when he was about 8 weeks old. I would go into the entire story of it, but I would do it no justice. Suffice it to say, danny can get sick very quickly. Luckily, with lots of prayers he has managed to do outstanding for the past almost 7 years. Up until this weekend. His mom took him to the emergency room because he had been throwing up quite a bit. To make a long story short, it turns out he had a bowel obstruction. Which I know now is not uncommon in children with this condition.

Danny ended up having to have surgery the other day and is since doing much better. Caitlyn on the other hand is beside herself that he most favorite cousin on the planet is in the hospital. To make matters worse, she can't go see him. She is just too sick to be around a kid who is sicker. So I told her what she needed to do was say lots of prayers that Danny gets better soon.

I have never asked Caitlyn to pray for anyone, or anything. And I never thought that I had to explain to her how to do it. I just figured she would know how I guess. Well it would appear that she doesn't quite understand the process based on the barrage of questions I got regarding the topic. To name my favorite questions:

1. How can God hear me when heaven is so far away?
2. Is God watching over Danny in the hospital?
3. Did Grandma rita pray for me when I was in the hospital?

After some lengthy explanations regarding prayer, explanations that a 5 year old can understand, she assured me that she was in fact praying long and hard for him. When I found out that Danny is getting better and stronger, I let her know that her prayers must be working.

Now that we have the prayer business out of the way, I just wish there was a way to control the sudden outbursts of crying that occur. She is so worried about him, and no matter what I tell her, I don't think her fears are going to be put to rest until she sees him at home and comfortable....I guess that's the case for all of us though.

Inhaler or Over the Counter Meds??

The girl is doing well. She seems to be battling a cough right now. I am always so torn as to whether I should go with the over the counter cough medicine or start with the inhaler. I try to "treat" and be invasive as little as I possibly can. So for the first couple of days of the cough, I usually stay away from it. Hoping that it will just go away on it's own. It's when it starts interferring with the sleep that I have a tendency to intervene. Cause interferrance with Cate's sleep equates the same for me. And we all know that I am not a big fan of that.

Either way, I started with the inhaler for a couple of days in the hopes that maybe it was just seasonal. After 2 days of the thing not leaving and the inhaler not helping so much, we moved to the night time, make me sleepy, cough medicine. And now that is seeming to help. So let's just hope that it isn't a recurrence of the crap that she had last month.

Her cough seems to be getting a little wet now, not so much the dry barky cough that she had. So whatever is in there is loosening up. I just wish now that she would learn to spit the crap out versus swallowing it back down. But that is a skill that must be learned it appears.

The interview went very well. At least I think it did, I guess the guy interviewing me could have a completely different perspective on it huh? I did find out though at the very beginning of the interview, that it isn't a position like I currently hold. Rather it is more of a supervisory position. Very strange to me, but what the hell, I'm game! I'll give it a go if offered the opportunity.

The person also informed me that having the references that I did have, carry a lot of weight. Which I kind of knew, which is why I asked one person in particular for a letter of recommendation. Having her speak highly of you means a lot to prospective employers. So I was very grateful that she was willing to write a letter for me.

I was assured that I have made it to the next round of interviews. Rounds? Didn't know there were rounds, but I guess I am glad that I have made it to the next of the said rounds. Would have been much nicer if I had been offered the job right there on the spot right? But I will take what I can get. So another week or so of my being horribly nervous!

Tomorrow is the day

First off...I am officially on spring break....woooohoooo! Technically, it is supposed to start tomorrow, but I took a personal day. The nice thing is, Caitlyn and Matt aren't off next week, so I get the house to myself. ALL.DAY!! Sweet :)

My interview is tomorrow at 2:30. I am really nervous about this one for some reason. But I am thinking that I will be fine once I am in there and not having to dwell over what they will be asking me or anything like that.

Fingers crossed it goes well!

I am getting used to the hair. It's hard, but I am coping. I am fairly certain that in a few weeks, it will seem like it has always been like this. Until then though.....