Flooring

This weekend went by super fast....too fast in fact....Friday night we went to a double birthday party at Spotlight Karaoke. Our friends Diana and Ashley both turned 35 so we went to celebrate. It was the first time we "hired" an official babysitter that was not a family member or friend. One of my seniors, a sweet girl name Julianne, came and babysat for Isabella. Everything went very well, Isabella was her normal sweetheart self. We had a blast singing, eating sushi, and catching up with friends.

Saturday morning Dave, Christa, Brad, and I woke up bright and early to embark on a day of installing new kitchen and bathroom flooring in our tenant's condo...(side note...for those of you who don't know...Christa conned me into going halves and buying an "investment condo" We got a great deal and an eighty year old tenant. It will financially be great one day, but until then, it can be a pain in the arse...We spent 9 hours working on the floor....craziness. I really don't think it needed to be replaced.

Dave and I still have our house on the market. We put it up at a bad time (holidays/ recession). We have had a couple of offers, but they have been CRAZY LOW offers. People think that because it is a recession that we are going to give our house away. We aren't moving because we have to, but because we want a larger house since Isabella's arrival and we want to be in suburbia with other young families. We have to keep our house perfect (you should see the garage!) because at any moment someone could call and want to see the house. This morning we were trying to recover from the weekend of work when the centralized agency called asking if someone could look between 11-1...which was great, but also meant we had to leave the house for a couple of hours...fun, fun...

Isabella has been so sweet lately. She smiles and laughs all of the time. She is crawling, which is exciting, but she can only go oneway....backwards...it is too cute. I have embroidered really cute things for Isabella and word got around at her daycare that I have an embroidery machine. I really do not want to be in the embroidery business. I have waaaaay too much going on. So now I have to figure out a way to not feel like I have to embroidery everything for people who ask. I am tired...so tired....I just started graduate school again (last semester...yea).

Isabella and the Cat

We have the best friends ever. Our friends Misty, Boyd, and Lora have been kind enough to watch Isabella while Dave and I attend baptismal classes at the Catholic Church so that Isabella can get baptised. The first time she was pretty fussy, but this time they said she was good....(or at least they told us that)...Isabella loves Misty's cat Dexter....too cute....

This past weekend Christa and I took the senior women to a tea party at the Ashland House. 18 girls showed up and we all wore hats. They were so well behaved and we were proud of them when they all told us thank you at the end. We spent Sunday out and about trying to kill time while people were looking at our house. Yes, we our house is still on the market (putting it up for sale during the holidays probably not the best idea) but we have had a good amount of interest since the new year. Keep your fingers crossed that we have an offer. We can wait to have a bigger house so Isabella will have a place for all of her gigantic toys!!! We are also looking forward to moving to suburbia.

Rug burn....5 outfits/1 day...

As I am reflecting back on this busy day, I realize Isabella has had 5 wardrobe changes....
1. pjs from last night
2. outfit for school
3. onesie/baby legs when she got home
gave her a bath
4. pjs #1
spit up, spit up, more spit up
5. pjs #2

Isabella had a red rash on her face this evening. We were trying to figure out what it was from and the only explanation we could come up with was rug burn. She rolls over and back and has been desperately trying to crawl...a lot of the time her face is in the carpet...poor thing. With the help from Dave, she walks pretty well...we think walking might come sooner rather than later.

Dave came home early (6pm...) and we had a nice dinner. I made the best salad topped with grilled chicken...healthy and oh so good! I am still on my quest to lose more baby weight...Christa and I ran 3 miles after school and I have been doing well on my diet.

Last night Misty and Boyd were very kind and watched Isabella while Dave and I went to a baptismal class at St. Cecila. She was pretty good at first, but apparently was fighting sleep, got mad, and started screaming....I felt so bad...but apparently Misty and Boyd are up for the challenge again because they have graciously offered to watch her for our next (and final) baptismal class. I am glad we went to the class because it made me realize how important it is to raise Isabella knowing God and having those values in our family.

Go Longhorns.....and deep thoughts

Today is the Fiesta Bowl (UT is playing in it....I don't even know who they are playing)...In honor of this occasion I dressed little Isabella in her Longhorn dress (thanks grandma and grandpa Wilcox)....Christa and I went back to work today after the nice holiday break. The kids don't come back until tomorrow...Because we both teach a semester class, we both get all new seniors...(most of mine will go to her and vice versa)... Christa and I are on the DDI Cadre and presented 3 20 minute sessions to our fellow teachers. We worked really hard putting together the presentation. Trust me, it is much easier to be a spectator....with that being said, I thought I would go deep for this blog....

First, I want to be positive by saying I am truly grateful for my wonderful life. I have the best husband in the world, most beautiful daughter, and wonderful family and friends. I have a job I love and really have a fortunate life. One thing I am truly grateful for is the way I was raised. (thank you mom and dad!!!!)...I was raised to always be kind, respectful, and considerate....If your boss told you to do something, you did it....with a smile (even if you didn't want to) because maybe one day you will be boss....When people are giving a presentation (even if it is boring) you pay attention (or at least pretend to)....you don't pull out your cell phone and text, you do not pull out your laptop and surf the net....I know this sounds like I am rambling...but I just don't get how grown adults can have such a lack of respect for their boss and peers. I bring this up for 2 reasons. First, today went pretty well, but I could not get over how many teachers spent the entire in service (when our principal was presenting) talking or texting on their cell phones....it did not occur to them that it was very disruptive because A. it is rude and B. the rest of us could not hear as well. When Christa and I were presenting our "small piece" the first group was wonderful...I was very nervous...I even tripped...which was pretty embarrassing, but what can you do. We tried to make it fun and interesting. The second group of teachers left me in shock. Granted, not everyone behaved in a disrespectful manor, but to have teachers come in, roll their eyes at you, act (with their body language, comments) that you were wasting their time...Christa did a wonderful job and was the leader of the presentation, and did not seem to notice as much. I, on the other hand realized what was happening and could not believe it. How could grown adults, behave so rudely. A few of them were arguing and just being plain rude. I was appalled....So when the third group came in, I was dreading it. I thought for sure they would act the same way. To my grateful surprise they were wonderful!!!! They really got into the presentation (it actually was fun)...it made me so happy. I thanked them and told them that I was extremely grateful that they were such a good group...I also told them that some in the group before were not as nice...they couldn't believe. I then realized the sessions were just like teaching kids....the first and third went well because the people were so respectful...the second group had a few "bad apples" that just ruined it for everyone else...their negativity overshadowed the purpose of the presentation.

The other example of appalling adult behavior occurs on a routine basis in my graduate class. There are 10 of us who have taken the same classes for almost 2 years. There is one particular student...I will call her J...who routinely spends the entire class surfing the net while the teacher and classmates are presenting. Yet, when it is her turn to present, she expects our complete attention. I just don't get where these people come from....since when is it OK to act in such a way. I would never imagine being so disrespectful. Christa told me to not let it upset me because, you can't teach 30, 40, 50 year olds manners....but I say to that...I know I am not perfect, but if grown adults are modeling this behavior, how are our young people going to turn out....I guess when it is all said and done the only thing we can do it raise our own children with morals and values. I promise you when Isabella is 30 years old she will not pull out her cell phone and text or act rude to others....

sorry for the long rant.....I can not forget about the 99% of my WONDERFUL colleagues who were supportive.

Blue Ray

My parents bought Dave and I a blue ray for Christmas...while I am normally very grateful for Christmas presents, this one I am not so sure....Dave keeps buying blue rays (which are not cheap!!!) and even has bought blue rays that he already owns (Pirates of the Caribbean)...I am trying to be a good sport, but 30.00 a movie seems to be expensive....I keep thinking about all of the cute dresses I could be buying Isabella.

We had a pretty quiet weekend...I spent most of it working on lesson plans. I have finally taken the plunge and designed a stock market project for all of my economic students. The stock market has been a subject that has intimated me, but I feel like it is something that the kids will really enjoy. They will all be given 100,000fake money to invest int he stock market. Gmail financial has a really user friendly site the kids can use....Each class will have 1 winner and then we will have the classes compete against one another. It will be interesting to see how the AP Macroeconomics students fair against the regular economic students.

Isabella has been pretty fussy the last few days. I am not sure if it is something we are feeding her (maybe it is too soon to do the applesauce and rice cereal). She has the smelly diarrhea and throw up again....( I know...tmi)...she is such a sweet baby, but these last two weeks at home with her make me realize how hard it is being with a baby all day long....having to entertain them... she will play with her toys for a few minutes, but gets bored and wants to be held or mommy to play with her.

We had a couple of good leads on our house...hopefully someone will buy it soon. We love our little house, but it is way too small for the three of us. Isabella's toys alone take up most of the house.

Christa and I are giving a presentation to all of the teachers at our high school tomorrow....I am excited, but nervous. Our topic is the importance of telling students the purpose of a lesson. Too often teacher do not tell the students why the content is important or how it will impact their life. We are going to start the session by having them do something but not really telling them how to do it or the purpose. We then will go through the proper steps and compare the two.

Dave and I both ran 3 miles today. We are supposed to be training for a half marathon in less than a month....I can barely run three miles so I am not sure how that is supposed to work. It is funny how once you stop running (even for a short period of time) you can lose it.....I laugh when I think that I actually ran a full marathon in exactly 5 hours....It kills me to run 3 miles!!! My main motivation for losing weight is that I want to be "tiny" when we start trying to have another baby....(which will probably be around July)...

Lazy Day

Today was a pretty lazy day. I spent most of it working on lesson plans...(fun!!!!) I did do lots of laundry and take down our Christmas tree/ decorations. Isabella has not been feeling well these last couple of days. She has been fussy, but still cute. I am very glad that Dave has Saturday and Sunday off from work to spend it with us. He loves his job, but seems to always be working. Christa and I are working on a proposal for our principal. We have one graduate class left (our internship) and want to focus on a particular weakness our school needs help with.

Finally understand blogspot settings!

I feel like I do not post a lot on the blogspot because I didn't like my background. I finally spent an hour or so figuring out how to add cute backgrounds, etc. This is a test post so I can see the differences. It also gives me a chance to post more pictures. Christa and I bought Dave and Brad the same sweaters for Christmas. We had pirate accessories (aka fake earrings) they were wearing in the picture. We had a great New Years Eve at home with a few friends and very good gumbo!!!!

I forgot to update some of Isabella's accomplishments: She will be 5 months in a few days. Here are some of the things she does:
- rolls over from being on her back to being on her stomach (the only problem is she can't do the opposite so after a minute or so she starts crying)
- she is still sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed (our new excuse of why she can't sleep in her crib/room is that she might roll over and not be able to roll back...I know....very weak)
- smiles all the time
- recognizes her feet
- responds to her name being called
- plays peek a boo
- LOVES the "where is thumb kin" song
- must wear bibs most of the day or she will spit up on her clothes
- is eating rice cereal from a bowl, bananas, and applesauce
- stands pretty steady with our help
- is almost sitting up on her own without falling over
- likes her exasaucer more
- watches SPROUT

I almost forgot the Santa story...I really need to post more....Throughout the entire holiday season I kept telling Dave we needed to get Isabella's picture on Santa's lap. Well it was Christmas eve and we still had not had the picture taken. Dave was at work (we were supposed to leave pretty early to have Christmas Eve in Austin with the in-laws) and I took her to the Galleria. I dressed her up very cute, but was aggravated because we forgot to put her stroller back in my car. So for 2 hours I stood in line with her (holding her). After about an hour, some kid threw up all over Santa and he had to leave to have a wardrobe change. Isabella slept most of the time and when it was almost her turn I woke her up. She was pretty fussy, but once she sat on Santa's lap and was told to "smile for the camera" she smiled away...she is such a ham when it comes to the camera....she loves it!!!!
So the most important lesson I learned (besides the fact I will not wait until the last minute to have Santa pictures taken) is to always make sure the stroller is in the car!!!!

Happy New Yearl

We hope everyone had a great holiday and happy new year! We had a wonderful Christmas, spent a few days in Breaux Bridge with the entire family and a few days in Austin with Dave's family. Isabella had a great time, but will be much more into it next year. Dave has been working tons of hours but was able to take a couple of days off for the holidays. We were able to go on a propper date in Austin after Dave's parents kindly offered to watch Isabella. The two of us had the best time downtown. We started out at a Irish Pub, next had a nice dinner, then spent the rest of the night at Pete's Piano bar. I have a couple more days left until work starts again and have really enjoyed all of the mommy time I have had with Isabella.