Abi's photo session

This past Saturday, I took Abi to my friend Bonnie for her first photo session. Bonnie loves taking photos, but really loves babies. An hour and half session, along with 212 photos, some crying and one moment where she christened Bonnie's table, here are some that I have chosen to share with all of you. Thank you Bonnie for this wonderful gift!

Abi - One month today!

Two weeks old - 4-9-11

Yes, we were a bit crazy and took Abi to Epcot to celebrate Lorelai's 6th birthday. We had a great time and Abi received her 1st Visit button.

Abi from last Friday

Abi - 6 days old

Ugh

Since the kids have been at Circle this year, one of the things we have had to get used to is that their teachers do all of the grading of their work and what they say is final. The teachers send the grades to us at the end of the month, then they send them to the records office. We then have to submit attendance, the grades from the teachers and any other pertinent information by the 7th of each month.

The lead teacher, sends an email telling the parents to check their students grades and if something does not look right to email that particular teacher and cc the lead teacher as well. This has been happening since the beginning of the school year. My ugh title is because I have been dealing with one teacher all year, who forgets to put a grade in her record book for 2-3 assignments every month. When I look through the kids notebooks to double check their grades, the work is done and graded by the said teacher, but she forgets to record it herself. This has been happening since September! This month I had to question Liz's grade because Liz has been a straight A student all year. Every class, every month straight A's, but this month she suddenly had a D in one class. The teacher had put F's in four spots that she said she did not receive work from Liz, yet the work was in her notebook and graded. I emailed the teacher to let her know and she apologized and made the corrections, but it is frustrating that we are still dealing with this seven months after the first incident. Three more weeks and we are finished and we will not have to deal with that again.

Bullet point thoughts

• I caught a cold from the kids, so I have been in bed the last two days. It makes it easy to snuggle with Abi, but impossible to keep the rest of the kids on track.


• Mike went back to work Monday, so it has been really hard dealing with everything, especially when I am not feeling well.


• Abi seems to be allergic to dairy, just like Sophie. She is a spitting up machine. It has made it a bit difficult to eat things, especially when everyone is bringing meals and a majority of the meals have dairy in them.


• After having a great first week postpartum, the second week has been a bit trying. I must have done a bit too much last week, which is crazy considering I really didn't do anything. Anywho, my body is telling me I did too much, which has knocked the wind out of me. It doesn't help that Mike is back to work and the kids have their full school schedule this week.


• We think my iron is running low again. Mike said I am really pale compared to last week, so I probably need to recheck that and increase my iron rich foods.


• Abi is amazing. She sleeps through the night and is very alert during the day. Today she is a sleepy head, but this weather would make anyone sleepy.


• Mike is going out of town next week. I am really not thrilled about his trip considering I am still not cleared to drive or do normal activities since it has not even been two weeks since I had Abi. I should be getting cleared on Monday to do that, but to get thrown back into everything so quickly is not cool, especially considering how I have been feeling. I will still not be able to walk up stairs, which is a pain when all of the kids rooms are upstairs and Sophie still on occasion gets up in the middle of the night. Thursday may be my most trying day since I will have to drive the kids to school.


• Sophie has done some amazing things in the last week. She has potty trained herself fully. I had been working on this for the last 8 months and we didn't get very far and then she does it in one week. She also transitioned into her bedroom quite nicely, sleeping with Lorelai on the bottom bunk. Again amazing. She was still sleeping with us the Friday night I went into labor. Then she also started eating fruits and veggies, which absolutely dumbfounded me. We could not get her to try something new, let alone, actually eat a salad at dinner. Now, she picks sugar snap peas off of the plants in the garden and eats them right then and there. She is eating salad with dinner and fruit with breakfast. Many of you know how shy Sophie is as well. She rarely speaks with anyone that she really does not know and sometimes those that she does see on a regular basis. This past week she talks to everyone. Anyone who has stopped by with a meal, she starts talking to right away, plus she shows them pictures that she has drawn and books that she loves. While I am thrilled that she has accomplished so much in a short time, it also saddens me because my little girl has grown up. She accomplished so many milestones in one week that it was a lot to take in and realize she is not the baby any more.

Birth Announcement

Announcing the arrival of Abigail Eleanor Jean (Abi)! She arrived yesterday morning at 11:02 am, weighing in at 8lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She was a longer and hardest labor I have ever had due to her position, but it was still short and not bad compared to many other people I know. I had the hemorraging problem again, but the midwives were awesome and spotted it right away. I think this is the best postpartum experience I have ever had. Welll, I am off to rest with my sweet girl!