I love the things that kids say sometimes, especially the ones in my class. Oh they make me laugh. Ok, so today....one little boy that doesn't ever listen was reading in the reading center. Me and my para had asked him like 8 times to come over and bring us his binder so we could put something in it. Well he wasn't listening, so when he finally started over I told him to clean his ear wax out on the way over so he could hear me. He is standing in the middle of the room with both of his fingers deep inside his ears trying to clean it out.
After that he says "Can I wash my hands because the ear wax that I just got out is diirrttyyy"!!! hahahahaha

They do make me laugh! :)

Catch Up

It has been so long since I blogged and I am sooo sorry about that. A lot has been happening in mine and Landon's life!! We moved out on our own, Landon had a near death experience with some medicine he took, I had an allergic reaction to something, and school is still going good!! Anyway. I know, me who never really wanted to live on my own moved out!! I didn't expect to do it so soon either, but I just happened upon a great deal at the apartment complex and I just couldn't pass it up!! I love it and there are about 8 other teachers that live in the same complex so that should be fun. We have been there for about a month now and Landon did great transitioning. He had no problems at all and loves that he has free reign over the house!! :) Let's see what else....Ben and Amanda came in to town 2 weekends ago and we had so much fun getting to hang out with them. We're going up to Boston for Christmas and we didn't think we would get to see them before them, but Amanda surprised Ben for his birthday and flew them down here for a long weekend. While they were here, Amanda and I wanted Landon and Addy to have pictures done, so Zack May (check his blog out....http://blog.zachmay.com/) did some AWESOME pictures of them. I uploaded a lot of them, but I didn't even come close to uploading them all. So take a look and call to book him to take pictures of your family or whatever!! He is amazing!
So that's basically all that is going on with us!!

Waffles, Crackers, Bananas, and Juice!!

Yep. The title says it all. That is all that Landon will currently eat. Well there are a few more things that I can get him to eat without a fuss. This all started prior to him getting sick about 3-4 weeks ago. (Maybe 5). Once he got sick I totally understood. I was in survival mode while he was sick so that is all he would eat and I let him. But prior to him getting sick he would at least eat turkey, ham, and hotdogs for meat. Now he will eat NONE. And I seriously mean none. I have tried everything, every which way, covered up by a sweet potato bite (which he discovered my trick), pureed (sp?), just about any way to get it down. But nothing will do. So his daily meals consist of a Kashi waffle in the morning with banana, maybe some dry cereal for a snack mid-morning (since he can't have dairy), who knows what is for lunch....cereal bar. Whatever I can get him to eat. And then dinner is just a battle...probably oatmeal with bananas. The other night my mom and I seriously could only get him to eat Chex Mix and Potato Chips!! SERIOUSLY?? I have that child that I said I would never have and never let eat like this!! Ugh. And this is why I feel like he eats constantly because he is never full. But he knows I will give it to him because I feel like he will starve! Ahhh, what to do-what to do!?

So if any of you have any great ideas of how to get him to eat, I would greatly appreciate it. I'll give you a list of things he will eat with no problem:
1. Bananas (he does not lack calcium! haha)
2. Baby oatmeal (with bananas)
3. Baked sweet potato
4. Chex Mix
5. Any type of cracker that doesn't have cheese in it
6. Bread
7. a few grapes/strawberries
8. French fries (yeah, that was his lunch 3 days in a row along with Frosted Mini Wheats) I'm such a good mother! :)
9. Any type of dry cereal

Healthy food advice or anything that would increase his list of food is welcome! :)

Out of crackers as we speak,
B

ER trip #2

Yep. So the other night when I said that I hoped we wouldn't go anytime soon...well I think I jinxed myself because we went again today!! :( Ever since last Thursday night when we went, Landon has never stopped running fever. He has pretty much had one at some point during the day, every day. Not too much fun! A couple of nights ago I started feeling like I was getting a cold and had the whole sinus headache, etc. Well I started taking Tylenol Sinus Nighttime. I guess that mixed with me just being exhausted from school, I'm OUT at night. The other morning my dad told me that he had been up with Landon at some crazy time of the night and that he just got him up and played with him downstairs for 2 hours!!! And I never heard them....I normally would.

Anyway, last night was evidently another one of those nights where he was up, but did I hear him, nope. Thankfully they did! haha Well they were basically up with him all night because he never slept because he couldn't stop coughing and had a fever of 103!! They took a shower, somewhat played, laid on the couch, etc. And I never heard them again. I guess it was a good thing since I had to get up and go to school. I talked to his doctor yesterday morning and she said that if he had run fever the night before, she was sending him to the ER because she didn't know what else to do. He only had a low grade fever so she didn't send us. But I talked to her this morning after I was already at school ( :/ ) and she said she really felt like we needed to go to Egleston to have chest x-ray done and more tests run since it's been a fever for a week. So I call my mom and she gets him packed up, I call a sub even though I haven't earned a day off yet, and mom gets him packed up and she comes to get me at the school.

Off we go to the ER. Feeling like we have a legitimate reason for going. Ok, never been to a Children's ER, but I loved it!! It was so nice and clean and so sweet to the poor, sickly child! But, before we could be seen the nurse said that since Landon was here for a "respiratory" problem, he had to wear a mask so that he was spreading germs every time he coughed. I told her I would attempt it, but I would make NO promises as to keeping it on him because he is not the type for that. But, he actually wore the thing. He looked so funny, but so cute. He definitely didn't feel good because he kept it on the whole 1 1/2 that we waited in the waiting room. I'm sure he was so worn out from not sleeping last night, so he would doze off in between fits from another little girl in the waiting room. As we were sitting there, he was getting hotter and hotter by the min. When we finally went back, our sweet nurse Megan took his vitals. Hold your breath for his temperature....104!!!! Holy freaking smokes.....he was so, so hot and really just out of it.

The resident came in, took a look at him, reported to his boss, boss came in asked the SAME EXACT questions, and then I think about 3 other people needed the same story. Why couldn't they just all come in at the same time and let me tell them!?!? Motrin was given, chest x-ray done, a lot of crying and whimpering, a lot of nasty coughing, another huge shot in to each leg, and then the same exact diagnosis....still a horrible ear infection. Grrr....won't they just go away sometime soon. So we were ordered for the exact same shots for the next 2 days (yeah his legs will be hurting because they will do them in the same spot each time) and then hopefully he will be on the road to recovery. We are going to the ENT next Tuesday for them to check on tubes since this is his 3rd ear infection in 5 1/2 weeks. This trip to the ER didn't result in bruised feet and hands trying to get an IV in and it resulted in a super cute gown he had to wear! I know he didn't feel good, but the gown was probably the cutest thing ever. Just take a look below at the pictures! :)

Now I really think this was a last trip to the ER because they took great care of us this time!

Loving my little patient,

B

Dozing off with monkey right by his side! ;)

Not too happy about sitting on the bed for any length of time....just wanted to be held.

So pitiful....but the gown is SOOO cute! My mom wouldn't let me bring the gown home because she said they wash them and reuse them?? Is that true?? I figured I was entitled to it since I'm paying for the piece of gauze they used too. But I didn't take it. :(

This is where we spent our day...on the bed together!

This is the only time in his life when he has cuddled for 7 days straight!!

Wishing everyone would leave him alone so he could finally get some sleep!

Our first trip to....

the ER!!!! Yes, I never really wanted to blog about our first trip, but having a boy, I knew I was bound to have to do it eventually. I must say though, it was not to get stitches or fix a broken bone (knock on wood....I really don't want to do that ever either, but I'm sure I will). So Thursday afternoon, I get a phone call as I'm leaving school from Ms. Janet saying that Landon really doesn't look good and that he had a 101 fever at 3. Well at 4 when I got him, it was 102.1. I knew he didn't feel good because when I got to her house he was sitting in her lap, monkey and mam and sleep sack all on him. Not a good sign.....Landon doesn't sit in my lap, much less her lap and "take a break". He really didn't look good at all. His face was kinda ghostly white. It freaked me out when I saw him. He just seemed out of it. We pass Dr. Jattan's office, the pediatrician, on our way home and I knew they didn't take walk-ins, but I knew something was wrong with him so I stopped in. I walked in and the nurse that I love was at the desk. (Yes, thank goodness!!) I couldn't say one word and she said "He doesn't look good at all." I started in on my "I know y'all don't take walk-ins, but I can't take a day of work tomorrow and I thought....." She just stopped me and said sign him in. I know Dr. J will want to see him. Perfect. I literally couldn't sit down before they called me back in front of other people (I felt really bad, but they were in the well room, so then I didn't feel so bad). Temp now 102.5. It is going up and he has medicine for it in him. He falls asleep in the 10 min. that we are waiting for her to come in. Dr. J comes in and notices this and says "Something is really wrong with this boy if he is asleep in my office" because normally he is a holy terror. Anyway she takes a look at him and notices that both of his ears are infected again. (This is the 3rd time since June, now. ughhh) He also has thrush from being on the antibiotics 2 weeks ago. She gives him a shot of some crazy powerful antibiotics which had a needle that I thought seriously might come out the other side of his leg. OUCH!
We left and came home and he laid in my lap all afternoon and evening. Was not interested in anyone, not even Pops! He wouldn't eat or drink all night and so the on-call dr. said I would need to take him in if he didn't eat/drink before 9. Well we got a little down him and I put him to bed about 8:15. I go to bed about 10 and at 11:15-11:30 I hear him crying. I walk in and as I pick him up....throws up all over me. Great. I go to put him on the changing table and he does it again. Ok...I'm going to now take all his clothes off to get him cleaned up and he does it a 3rd time!!! I finally call for back up, and we take his temp and it's over 103. (The on-call dr told me that if he started throwing up, he was dehydrated.) So me, mom, dad, and Landon all head to Rockdale. I really wanted to go to Scottish Rite, but I knew that I had to work and didn't want to be that far away not knowing how long we would be there. So we get there, and as we're getting checked in, I become sick. And then mom becomes sick and then Landon is sick again. The nurse checking us in seriously thought we were crazy!! haha I feel fine then and get taken back to our room. We wait a little while before we're seen and mom still isn't feeling great so Alex comes to get her about 2:30 am. They proceed to start an IV and our sweet nurse Joy is trying her best to take care of my sleepless child who is pitiful. The first attempt at the IV is in the foot so he couldn't mess with it much. I'm holding Landon, dad is holding the legs and she goes in for the kill. It wasn't too bad, but she can't get the needle in the vein. She finally does after tons of wailing and she says it's not good enough so she has to pull it out. Grrr. So dad and I switch spots and he is now holding him and I'm the helper. Ok. We can do this, I know we can. We're going for the hand now. (Blood, needles, stuff like that doesn't bother me, I guess until someone is doing it to my child.) So she starts again and we finally get the needle in the vein. I'm feeling fine until some unknown reason I start to feel light headed and I realize I'm going down unless someone is there to catch me. I voice what is about to happen and she can't let go of his hand because there is a needle in his hand!! Ahhh...I seriously felt helpless and didn't know where to go. I just lean on my dad's bad shoulder (thanks!) and hang out until she can walk me to the chair to sit down and EVERYTHING is spinning, I can't hear anything, and then it hits again. I'm sick.....once it was over for the 2nd time I felt fine again. So I re-evaluate myself and decide I'm going back to help finish up and get everything taped up. As I'm getting to the bed, I hear her yell "NO" and I look down and the IV has come out and blood is squirting all over from his hand!! Anyway, we get all of it cleaned up, get anti-nausea medicine in him so we can try to get him to drink fluids. Needless to say, he drinks, holds it down, has color back in his face, and we are set to go home at 4:30 am!! It was seriously the longest night of my life and after 1 hour of sleep, I arose to go greet my lovelies at school and try to function. I think I did ok for the most part!!!
So, I really hope that there are no more trips to the ER anytime in our near future because they are never fun!!

Still playing nurse to him,
B

Shoal Creek

Ok, so I know many of you already know, but there are a few that have been bugging me to blog about my new job!! :) I am happy to say that I am a 1st grade teacher at Shoal Creek Elementary!! I had an interview on the Wednesday before the week of pre-planning for teachers and got hired that night at 7:15!! I was super pumped, and I actually had to start working the next day at 8:00. It was New Teacher Orientation so I had to go and do all that fun stuff. I was in a rush to get as much done as I could in my classroom because I new the week of pre-planning was going to be busy with things that did not include my classroom! The room I got was literally, EMPTY. Nothing was in there except some art paper and that's about it. So, it was nice that I didn't have to go through a lot of stuff, but it also meant that I had to get TONS of stuff to make it look like a classroom. I thought my walk-in closet at home was full of stuff for my class until I got it up there and realized that it took up barely any space. My mom and I basically worked from morning 'til night trying to get things organized and buying stuff. We worked until late at night, but it really paid off in the end. The week of pre-planning was busy with meetings and such, but it was such a fun week of meeting new people and getting accustomed to the school. I forgot to mention earlier, but I seriously have the best team of 1st grade teachers. There are 5 of us and they are so much fun! I am so blessed that I have people that are willing to help me when I feel like I am just overwhelmed with what to do next. (Thanks girls!!! :)) I also am at a school where the entire staff is willing to help. I haven't come across one person that has not wanted to help. I met all my kids at Open House and everyone was super sweet. I started out with 16 students, dropped 2, and then gained 4 more, so now I am at a total of 18 sweethearts! It really is a fun place to be working at. It is also great because Landon's babysitter is just 1 1/2 miles away from the school. He started going to Ms. Janet's when I started working at Glenn's for the end of the summer. I was nervous about getting a teaching job somewhere that was the total opposite direction of her house, but I couldn't have asked for a better place to get a job since it is so close to her.
So....I have completed my 2nd week of teaching and I think I've pretty much got the swing of things now! :) Or at least I hope I do. No....I really do. No worries for the kids in my class. I'll post pictures of my super cute kids as soon as my whole class is there on the same day! ;)

Now being called Ms. Merritt,
B

St. George Island

We got home last week from our beach trip to St. George Island. This was our 19th summer going. My dad's mom takes all of the family every year and we always stay in the same house! It is such a fun week to just be with family. There is nothing to do on the island, except for a few restaurants and a couple of gift shops; therefore, we just stay at our house all week and hang out on the beach all day long! Last summer, I took Landon and it was fun, but he didn't get to enjoy the beach part of it! (He was only 3 months old!) This year he had sooo much fun! He absolutely loved the sand and the water. We brought our hose from home and ran it all the way down to the beach so that he could have some fresh water and something to play with...you'll see plenty of the hose below! ;) Amanda and Adalyn were able to fly in for the last 4 days, so it was fun to have them there this year!

The week flew by way too fast, but we really enjoyed being with everyone!

Here are some pictures from the week! Hope you enjoy!

Landon doing his first coloring! Had to keep him occupied somehow!

Check out that beach view! ;) His best friend on the beach...The Hose!!

Working really hard to keep all his shells in the bucket!
He loved this box and that spoon!
I know you can't see us very well, but me, Landon, Amanda, Ben and Addy out in the ocean!
Soo sweet! Relaxing on the beach together!
Doing her face! If you did this face to her, she would do it right back to you! I think he must have been hungry or something!
Such a handsome man! He loved this drawer...and he loved more than anything to stand in it....thankfully it didn't break
"Where did it go?" Laughing on the porch!
There it is again!
Sharing their food Almost all the cousins...missing one this year! Can you find me?? hahaha
This is the height line up...next year all the Merritt's will be right next to each other! :)
The additions to the family...Amanda, Landon, and Addy

3rd times a charm!!

So I still have not heard back from Pine Street!! :/ I emailed the assisstant principal yesterday and I am still waiting to hear back from her. I had an interview on Monday at a private daycare here locally to be the pre-k teacher. The ladies were all super sweet and it seemed to be a decent place and the interview went pretty good. BUT, the pay is not good at all and the hours would be LONG and I would still have to pay for childcare for Landon even though he would be with me. I would get a slightly reduced rate, but what I would get paid, I just don't think would be worth it.

I do however have another interview tomorrow morning at 7:15 (ahhh!) at Barksdale Elementary to be the Pre-K teacher! I am super excited about this because Barksdale was actually one of my top choices to work at. It would be super close and super nice to be at. They have been waiting on approval for their Pre-K program and just got approved to start it next year! So I am hopeful that I will still either hear from Pine Street about 5th grade or that something will come from Barksdale. Man, what a difference in age....one week I'm thinking 5th and the next I'm thinking 4 year olds. My head is spinning trying to keep all my thoughts organized for these principals and what age I'm even talking about!! :) So please continue to pray that I get some kind of offer from some school. It might not even be either of these schools that I am interviewing with, but that I would be at the school that God feels I can make the biggest impact on!! I'm hoping that the 3rd times a charm!!

Thank you all for continuing to pray and think about me! If any of you happen to be up oh so early and you think about it, just say a quickie for me!! I'll let you know how it goes!

New Discoveries

So we are learning all kind of new things around here now!! Landon is the biggest investigator ever and he is in to EVERYTHING!! He is obsessed with going outside and just stands by the door and cries to go out. He also loves the vacuum and loves to lay it down and just play with the different gadgets on it.
The newest thing I have been wanting him to learn is how to drink out of a straw, eat of a plate without chunking the plate across the room, and try to use a fork. We have finally accomplished one of those which is drinking out of a straw. There have been several times where we have gone to a restaurant and I have forgotten his cup and it is so difficult to get any liquid down him since he couldn't drink out of a straw. I had been trying different times to show him how to do it while we were out, but he was more interested in eating the straw and playing in the cup of water than drinking it. While Landon and I were out to eat with Sara L. last night, I once again forgot his cup and by the end of the meal he was so thirsty. So we tried and it didn't work. Darn!!
We went by Jim n Nicks for dessert because Sara had never had their chocolate pie and was in dire need of some eye candy, so she decided that would be it for the night!! Well while we were there, Landon really had had enough of the high chair for the night and we were just trying to entertain him. I just thought I would practice once again with the straw and guess what...he did it!! It caught him so off guard that something came out of there and then he got the hang of it!!It seemed so super easy, but I guess it just took him practicing some and then he discovered that there really is something to come out of there!!

Here is is below this morning practicing yet again with his cup and straw!

We are still working on not turning it up when he drinks it though...he hasn't quite figured that out yet!

I have also been wanting him to at least practice using a fork for some easy to pick up foods. We have been working on it, and he knows he is supposed to use it, but we are still mastering how to actually get it on there and it stay on there all the way to his mouth! :) He is a hard worker trying to get his waffle on the fork!

He just decided to give up and realized that it is a lot easier to just pick it up with his hands! And the whole plate thing....that is a different story. The minute it is empty it is either on his head or thrown across the floor. I am still working with him to ask for more, via the sign language that he finally has mastered, and to keep his plate on his tray. He just thinks I am funny and that I am speaking a different language!! :)

And this is the other cute thing he is doing...he loves to crawl in to the dryer while we are folding laundry. Of course the will close the door on him if we would let him so someone has to make sure they are holding the door down so he doesn't.

And he's in...he just likes to get in and out and look at the light in the background!

This is just a picture that Leslie took of me and Landon while we were over at their house the other night. I seriously don't think I have a picture with Landon since he has gotten older where he is smiling. He is always too busy to take a picture so when she snatched this one, I was super excited! Just thought I would share a couple of pair of dimples with you! ;)

Walking in confident....

***UPDATE 6/5: I still have not heard anything from Pine Street. I was told that I would hear something by this past Wednesday, but I am still playing the waiting game! :( I'm sure is busy and what not, but I am becoming slightly impatient....doesn't she know she has a girl sitting at her house where there are no jobs to come by and that girl at least got an interview and now is really wanting to know how it went? haha I seriously am ok with waiting, but I just would like to know even if I didn't get the job so I know if I need to start looking other places again. Thanks again for all the continued prayers!! I'll let you know as soon as I hear something!

** UPDATE: So the interview went awesome today!! There was the principal, assistant principal, and the teacher of the year, which also happened to be the grade chair for third grade. I felt unbelievably relaxed and calm....I think because there were so many prayers going around! A big thanks to everyone! :) I sat in there with them and talked for an hour! It obviously was a lot of questions, but the principal also gave me a lot of input and advice for being a first year teacher! I felt so relieved when I left there. I was interviewing for a 5th grade position, but she informed me that a 3rd grade position had opened up unexpectedly yesterday so I was kind of interviewing for both. I was super happy about that because 3rd grade happens to be my favorite! Everyone assured me as I was walking out, that they really enjoyed talking to me and that I should know something by next Wednesday, if not sooner! So please continue to pray and let's keep our fingers crossed to get good news soon!!


Yep, you see it...this could be my official teaching home next year and I could officially be a Road Runner after tomorrow.....

So this is just going to be a quick update, but I got a call from Pine Street today and I have an interview with the principal tomorrow at 1:00 for a 5th grade position!! I am beyond excited and seriously can't believe that something might just work out. I am extremely nervous because 90% of my experience is in the lower grades (3rd and below), and I'm not giong to lie, these really big 5th graders kind of intimidate me, (who by the way is only 5'2"!!) I will gladly accept the position if it is offered, but I just never dreamed I would be teaching older kids.

So please pray that I am confident in what I have learned and that I can portray to these lovely lasdies that will be interviewing me that I may not be experienced with 5th graders, but I am willing to take on the challenge and will do any and everything to get accustomed to the 5th grade scene! I will DEFINITELY be back to update tomorrow and let you know if I get it or at least how the interview went. So, if any of you think about it tomorrow around 1, say a little prayer for me and pray that they feel like I am the person that is supposed to join the Pine Street faculty next year! :)

Preparing and calming my nerves for tomorrow,

B