Birthday bash

We had a great time with my parents and grandparents here for the weekend!


It was a whirlwind trip, but it was great to see them and fun times were had by all!!


Myka loved her supersized cupcake (well at least the frosting part)

Will post the video of the entire thing soon! Just had to share this pic now :)
She had a great time swimming, once she realized it was just a really big bathtub -- the little flower ring with the shade helped since she is like her daddy and really doesn't like bright lights!
She loved being the center of attention (really who doesn't??) and is getting the hang of opening presents (again, more pics and video to follow)

talking and walking!!

ok, so it is official we now have a walking baby -- if only we could get her to wear shoes! She seriously screams bloody murder everytime we try to put them on her feet! Suggestions??????
check out the video of the (barefoot) walking baby!




love to all!
erin, mike & myka

talking

ok, and here is a video of her talking in her high chair -- her new word is beebee, and i think it is for binkie :)

she's walking!!

ok, so here is a video of Myka taking a few steps -- she has done this numerous times, and hopefully soon she will just take off. The problem? she gets so very excited to be taking steps that she looses her balance :) all in good time!




oh and a couple of cute photos -- and as always more on the picasa site :)

smiling for the camera :)

at faire watching medieval babes!

beanie babies everywhere!!!

I have greatly enjoyed Spring Break, although i didn't get half of what i wanted to get done actually done, but Myka and i had a great time!

XOXOXOXO,

erin, mike and myka

new videos and pics finally uploaded

Hello all!
Just wanted to post a quick note that we finally got around to posting a few new pics and quite a few new videos to the picasa site
had to post my fav pic here though -- her hair is now long enough that in the tub at least we can make it a mohawk (hehehe)


Click here for a direct link to the videos :) (i tried to post them here, but it kept timing out taking so long . . . .)
We are all well, we all had a yucky cold over the past few weeks, but i think we are all on the healthy side of it now! Hopefully it will stay that way so that we can have a great spring break!
love to all,
erin, mike and myka

February has already been one whopper of a month!

Not sure where January went, and I have been meaning to update for a while, but this past week or so has been pretty amazing (and not really in a good way unfortunately)
so, I will just jump in -- last Wednesday we went to the doc for an ultrasound -- yes we were pregnant again, we found out at that appt that the pregnancy was not viable and scheduled a D&C for Thursday. (Surprisingly, I was ok with it, since there had been issues from the start and I hadn't really let myself get excited. Ok that is apart from the catholic guilt for being ok with it).

Wed night, Mike went for a ride on his motorcycle because it was such a beautiful night and just to clear his head for the next day. A car turned left in front of him and he broadsided the car basically. He is ok -- he says it just proves he really does have a rock for a skull! We spent the majority of the night in the ER -- CT scans, x-rays the works. Fun times were had by all.
then back to the hosp on Thurs for my procedure. All went fine there.

Friday was pretty uneventful until that night when I got a call from my step-dad because Andrea had an allergic reaction to her antibiotics and was now in the ER. I went to make sure all was ok -- they were keeping her overnight for observation, but had gotten the reaction under control which is all that matters really.

Then last night Mike's tooth really started bothering him. more pain than the entire accident ordeal, so we had to find a dentist open at 8PM and off we went to get some teeth pulled.
So, I would say that we have filled our quota for emergencies, but I am not saying that because I am just that superstitious about these things!!

Myka news -- she is wonderful -- and completely mobile. crawling all over the place and pulling herself up on anything and everything she can! she will be walking soon i just know it. She absolutely LOVES being here at the daycare center -- she gets so excited when we get here in the morning it is just too cute!!! We go in for her 9 month appt next Wednesday. I can hardly believe that she is 9 months old already!!! Her newest expression is scrunching up her nose -- of course every time I try to get a picture she stops -- typical baby!! she now has all 8 front teeth and is enjoying finger foods whenever she can! OH, and she is now blowing kisses and waving when she leaves the room -- too cute!!!

There is new video and pics on the camera, and I will do my best to get them posted soon!
Love to all!
erin, mike and myka

And then there were 5

So, Myka now has 5 teeth!! She was a bit crabby a few days ago, and we thought -- more teeth really? She just got 2! Then the next morning, there were 2 more, bringing the grand total to 5! I am hoping she is done for now, teething is no fun, especially when you get multiple teeth at a time!!
Christmas was great! She really liked the wrapping, and played with the paper just as much as the toys!! We went over to my mom's for Christmas and spent the day eating yummy food and watching movies :)
I finally got to see Twilight with Nat -- it is a great movie! Not as good as the book of course, but a very good rendition i think -- i can't wait to see the sequel!
I can hardly believe it is already the second week of break. I have really enjoyed spending time with Myka during the week, one of the perks of being a teacher!
Happy New Year!!!
p.s. Christmas day pics are posted on the picasa site!

Christmas Eve


Christmas day at home



Christmas day at grandma's

Santa pics :)

Ok, so here is the best pic of Myka with Santa today -- it was great fun!! (there are a few more on the Picasa site)

Also, she has 2 more teeth, one more on the bottom and one on the top (three total now!)
If you want an actual copy of the Santa pic, let me know what size and we will get it printed out and sent!

Merry Christmas!!!

erin

the cutest baby EVER -- again :)

Ok, so I think we quite possibly have the cutest baby ever!! (see below)

When I first took the picture, i was sad that her eyes were closed, but the more I look at the pic, the better i think it really is!!

We attempted to go see Santa today, but the line was WAY too long, so we are going to go tomorrow and wait in the line (hoping it will be less crazy tomorrow -- wish us luck!) Will send out or post pics with Santa soon! (just updated the picasa site with more pics too!)

General News

So, the new house is great!!! We are not completely unpacked yet, but on our way there. Myka is in her own room and has been since right after Thanksgiving -- she is such a big girl now :) She is up on all fours regularly and rocking back and forth, she will be crawling soon.

And in other big news -- she has a spot at the daycare at Metro Tech!!! She will start on Monday. While I am sad to leave the center she is at, they really are wonderful, it will be so very very nice to have her just downstairs from me (my room this year is in the same building as the daycare)! And, I know a good majority of the students who are in the daycare program, so that is good too :)

They are closed when we are not in school, but they are open in June if I happen to get or want a summer school job :)
The only hitch is that while she is in the infant I have to race down there to pick her up as they want all infants picked up by 3:45 and I am not done teaching until 3:25, I will just have to use my time more wisely while I am here!

I can't believe it is almost Christmas already, don't have any shopping done, and the tree isn't up yet, but it will be this weekend (hopefully anyway!) And someday I will find the time to see the Twilight movie!!!! I can't believe I haven't seen it yet -- maybe over break!

Happy Holidays all -- hope everyone is well :) love to all!! Erin, mike and myka

85th percentile baby!!

So, Mykaela now is 18 lbs 14oz and 27.5 in long -- that is the 85% all around -- not bad for a baby who started in the single digits the day after we took her home!!! She got 5 shots yesterday, but today you can't even tell where they were administered. The nurse was amazing, i thought she had only done 1 shot in her leg, when she had actually already given her all 4 (she also got the flu vaccine in her arm). So, she went home covered in band-aids!

We are moving up to stage 2 foods, and she is going to be crawling before we know it! She consistently gets 1 leg under her, and occasionally gets both and she has started the bouncing baby thing that most do before the start actually crawling -- i am sure she will be cruising all around at Christmas, just in time for the tree :)

Now we just have to pack up and move this weekend and get all settled before or probably during thanksgiving break!! I can't believe the holidays are already almost here!! Time flies when you're having fun :)

Moving again

So, I didn't want to post anything until we knew where we were going, but we are moving :)

The people we are renting from are losing their house, and so we have to find somewhere to go. Long, crappy story that i don't even want to go into!

And it is soon -- we are moving this weekend. We thought we had a house, but they decided to keep it in the family, so this past weekend we were scrambling to find a new place, and actually i think the new place is better than the old one. AND, it is a lease purchase, so that is good too!!!

It is a 3 bed/2 bath with a 2 car carport -- so we are loosing the garage, but it is OK, there is a workroom in the backyard, and if we wanted to enclose the carport at some point it would be really easy to do so . . . . .

The best part (i think) is that we can do whatever we want to the walls and such in the house -- so no more white walls for us!!!!! it may be around Christmas break when we actually have time to paint and such, but at least we can :)

So, i will e-mail people with new contact info -- if i haven't sent you a message by next week, let me know and i will get you the info!! :)

love to all!

Erin



p.s. Myka goes in for her well-baby visit today, will post info about her checkup soon :)

first non-well baby appt

So, we took Myka to her first "sick" doctors appointment on Saturday. She had a pretty wicked cold with a bad cough and so we figured getting her checked out was best. Her lungs and ears were clear, and no real fever to speak of so they didn't give her any antibiotics, but it was good to check just the same. AND, she now tips the scales at 18 pounds :)
my growing baby girl!!!

she goes in for shots and a well-baby visit next Wednesday.

Oh, and remember how I was switching to Biology -- well, I have now switched back to Physical Science. Long story short, the other teacher came back and I was given my old classroom back and she got the new clean one. Am I happy about it?? Not really, but not a lot can be done at this point, so why stress (at least that is what I keep telling myself!)

Well, bell just rang -- back to teaching :)
love to all!!

Halloween

Our Halloween was pretty uneventful. Myka's bedtime is about 7:30 -- 8:00 and she is a routine baby, and gets really crabby if we keep her up . . . . and my mom's household had the stomach flu, so we stayed away from there!!

So, we put her in her costume took pictures and went to bed!

Next year will be more exciting I am sure -- we posted pics on picasaweb (also check out the video's album -- i finally got that before bath video posted) :)

here is my favorite although you really can't tell that she is a bat, but the look is priceless!!!

new teaching assignment

Ok, so a week ago friday at about 3, my dept chair came and asked if I wanted to switch classrooms and classes.

Brief backstory -- one of our teachers is having issues getting her visa renewed (she is from India) and hasn't been at school since the first week. The students have had different subs since then.

I have a student teacher, so he would still teach my physical science classes, and once he is done with his student teaching requirements he will take over those classes.

So, last weekend on Saturday my mom and sister Andrea went with Myka and I to the classroom to clean (oh did it need it!!) and get things ready. The week flew by, and it really has been great! I am enjoying Biology and Sophomores, and according to their reflection on the week, they are enjoying the class now too :)

So, that is the update on me -- we shall see what week 2 of bio brings us!
hope all is well with everyone :)

love,
erin

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frustrations & happiness

OK, so I have come to the time of the year for frustrations. I am not sure how this always happens, but it always seems to come around.
I just don't know how my students have gotten as far as they have with this horrible lack of skills. It is just such a tremendous disservice to them. I am honestly worried about how they are going to become productive members of society. It is not just the students in AZ either, while on the whole the students in CO were a bit higher in their knowledge levels, I was also dealing with mainly sophomores there, and here I have all freshmen.
so the question becomes -- what to do??
My decision has been to move on and hope that they will get the basic knowledge as we keep going through other labs. (But then there is always that little voice inside my head that says they really won't get the concepts if they don't have basic math and measurement skills).
it truly is a dilemma -- do we hold those students back to get the concepts, but with little to no parent support, are they really going to be able progress? What happens when we have a middle school full of 18 year olds??? UGH! I just have to remember that I am helping some and can't possibly help all (although i feel like i am dying trying!). I think that a lot of this frustration is from the subject matter as well -- physical science isn't nearly as interesting as Biology (i know some would argue, but that is my opinion). So, because that is my opinion I don't have the enthusiasm that I should.

On the happy side, Myka is the most amazing baby ever!! she giggles and laughs and is going to be crawling before we know it!! Time to baby proof the house :) I have a video that we took last night (with our little camera) and will try to post it tonight. she is giggling and playing with Mike before bath time. It is the cutest thing ever!! She is in her "Halloween prison" outfit today (will post pics of that today too hopefully) it is orange and white striped - too cute!!!

Now if I could only figure out how to not be frustrated with school -- life would be great! Just take a deep breath and keep moving forward right???

Love to all!
Erin

yummy, yummy food!!!

So, we are working on solid foods, and at first Myka was not sure she liked it -- but today, she took the spoon right from me and here are some way too cute pics of her with it :)

No longer a preemie!

So, we took Mykaela to her 4 month appt (at almost 5 months, but who is counting) on Thursday, and she weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs 13 oz and is now 24.5 inches long!!! that is the 75th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height, i would say she is definitely no longer a preemie!!!
she is almost out of her car seat length-wise anyway.
I am doing better at adding pics regularly to the picasa web site and here is a pic from yesterday in her ISU outfit :)

I found the sepia option on our camera :)
We are heading up to Utah this weekend to visit the family. Mike's grandparents (and a few others in the family)haven't seen her yet, and we finally found the time to get up there! It will be a quick trip, but we are looking forward to it!

Myka has found her voice

And she really loves to hear herself talk :)
Some days (like the one in the video) are louder than others!
All is well, Mike got a job at Buddy Stubs in Phoenix, starts on Monday, we are excited that he got a job in the motorcycle field!
I am plugging away teaching -- Myka is in daycare, and we are just waiting and hoping that a spot will open up at the daycare at Metro tech soon!!
Love,
Erin, Mike and Myka
p.s. check the picasa web site often, trying to be better at uploading pics!!