Wake up.
Open my laptop to check the Interwebs.
Get mad that the Internet is not working.
Get mad at myself for getting mad about the Internet not working.
Vow to go on an Internet fast. Someday.
Eat the breakfast that I bought the night before in the hospital cafeteria.
Get crumbs in bed.
Laugh at how annoyed Steve would get if I was getting crumbs in bed at home.
Miss Steve.
Get dressed. Remember to put on my all-access NICU parent pass.
Walk to the hospital.
Wash my hands.
Talk to Levi's nurse.
Hold Levi for a couple of hours.
Change Levi's diaper.
Wash my hands
Buy lunch in the hospital cafeteria.
Walk back from the hospital.
Eat lunch in bed.
Get crumbs in bed.
Miss Steve.
Play on the Interwebs/read for my graduate classes/take a nap/sometimes do more than one of those things at the same time.
Walk to the hospital.
Wash my hands.
Change Levi's diaper.
Wash my hands.
Hold Levi for a few hours.
Wash my hands.
Buy dinner in the hospital cafeteria.
Walk back from the hospital.
Eat dinner in bed.
Get crumbs in bed.
Miss Steve.
Call Grandma and Grandpa Busch and Grandma and Grandpa Alston and give them the Levi Report.
Walk to the hospital.
Wash my hands.
Change Levi's diaper.
Wash my hands.
Hold Levi for a couple of hours.
Wash my hands.
Walk back from the hospital.
Call Steve and get the Kaitlyn Report.
Say prayer with Steve before saying goodnight.
Miss Steve.
Try to practice good sleep hygiene by not getting on the Internet so close to bedtime.
Fail.
Play on the Internet.
Go to sleep and do it all again.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Daddy Meets Levi
Steve wasn't able to be in Anchorage when Levi was born (somebody has to have a job to support the VFN household...), but he made it to Anchorage a few weeks later.
Levi and one of his favorite nurses were particularly excited about it.
The first thing Steve said was, "That's a small baby."
There was holding.
Snuggling. (I love how Steve's thumb is as big as Levi's arm.)
Family picturing. (Little kiddos aren't allowed in the NICU, so Kaitlyn has yet to meet her brother.)
Finger-holding.
And this precious moment where Levi got to hold on to both of his parents at the same time.
Levi and one of his favorite nurses were particularly excited about it.
The first thing Steve said was, "That's a small baby."
There was holding.
Snuggling. (I love how Steve's thumb is as big as Levi's arm.)
Family picturing. (Little kiddos aren't allowed in the NICU, so Kaitlyn has yet to meet her brother.)
Finger-holding.
And this precious moment where Levi got to hold on to both of his parents at the same time.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Introducing Levi Benjamin
Another life-changing opportunity has come our way. This one is in the form of a tiny little boy born November 18th.
Steve and I are adopting another baby. His name is Levi Benjamin Alston.
Levi wasn't supposed to arrive until February 4th, but the doctors said he might come early. His birthmother flew down to Anchorage to be close to the hospital just in case.
On November 12th it looked like Levi was on his way, so I impulsively bought the next ticket out of Brevig Mission. Longtime readers may remember that I missed Kaitlyn's birth by five hours. That was not going to happen again.
After six days of waiting Levi was born.
Because he was eleven weeks early, he was whisked directly into the NICU. I got to see him long enough to verify that he was, in fact, male before he disappeared through a window.
It was three hours before I got to see him again. Three hours of frantic prayer. Three hours of being told that he wasn't yet stable enough for us to see him. Three hours of wondering what that meant and if it was normal.
Steve and I are adopting another baby. His name is Levi Benjamin Alston.
Levi wasn't supposed to arrive until February 4th, but the doctors said he might come early. His birthmother flew down to Anchorage to be close to the hospital just in case.
On November 12th it looked like Levi was on his way, so I impulsively bought the next ticket out of Brevig Mission. Longtime readers may remember that I missed Kaitlyn's birth by five hours. That was not going to happen again.
After six days of waiting Levi was born.
Because he was eleven weeks early, he was whisked directly into the NICU. I got to see him long enough to verify that he was, in fact, male before he disappeared through a window.
It was three hours before I got to see him again. Three hours of frantic prayer. Three hours of being told that he wasn't yet stable enough for us to see him. Three hours of wondering what that meant and if it was normal.
Finally, the charge nurse brought us into the NICU. He was tiny. He was fragile. He was beautiful.
By the next day, he was off of the respirator and on a bubble C-PAP. Basically, that means he was breathing better.
It also means I got to hold him.
He only cried a little bit. :)
Most of the time he was calm.
We even got to see him with his eyes open!
I am in love again.
More about Levi coming soon.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Adventures in First Grade Reading
I teach a reading class every morning from 9:00-10:30. When I first accepted my position, my father-in-law asked me how I was going to know how to teach how to read. I said, "They'll already read when they come to me. I'll just work on inferencing and comprehension and stuff like that. I don't know how to teach kids how to read!"
Then I got the assignment: first grade. I am, in fact, teaching kids how to read.
Thanks to a scripted reading program and some helpful colleagues, we're doing all right. I thought I'd offer readers a little glimpse into my mornings...
The Angie Board. This is the only thing that bears resemblance to my previous classroom. There are a lot more baby pictures now than they're were before...
We focus a lot on parts of a story. We also have very simple goals that we work on for a couple weeks at a time. It turns out that "Active Listening" was too complex of a concept. Now we are working on "Sitting Still."
We have little name stars (I blurred the names out). And black paper that blocks any action happening outside the classroom. (Our classroom is a little conference room in the office that used to host the video conferencing equipment.)
This is the first time I've ever had an alphabet up in my classroom...
We work on alternatives to raising our hands and asking the teacher how to spell something.
Some of the writing makes it to the Wow Writing Wall. (I'll have to scan some of the writing some time. It's adorable.) My first grade teacher saved all of my writing in a three ring binder and gave it to me at the end of the year. My parents still have it. I'm doing the same thing for my students. Each one has a file folder full of writing.
But, this is the best part about teaching first grade reading.
These adorable little faces and smiles.
They also hug me every day. They even hug me when they see me outside of school.
I love it.
They're young enough to be silly, yet old enough to hold a good conversation.
And they are teaching me lots. For example:
-Letting first graders pick which stickers they want is not a good idea. It will take FOREVER.
-If you let one first grader have a turn at something, you have to let all the first graders have a turn at something.
-It is very important how long your pencil is.
-First graders will remember exactly what you said when you don't want them to remember it at all.
-It didn't really happen if you didn't share it with the class.
-Sometimes you just need some time to cry.
-Being uninvited from someone's birthday party is serious business.
-Being forbidden from trick-or-treating at someone's house is even more serious business.
I think I still have a lot to learn. I'll keep all VFN readers posted.
Then I got the assignment: first grade. I am, in fact, teaching kids how to read.
Thanks to a scripted reading program and some helpful colleagues, we're doing all right. I thought I'd offer readers a little glimpse into my mornings...
The Angie Board. This is the only thing that bears resemblance to my previous classroom. There are a lot more baby pictures now than they're were before...
We focus a lot on parts of a story. We also have very simple goals that we work on for a couple weeks at a time. It turns out that "Active Listening" was too complex of a concept. Now we are working on "Sitting Still."
We have little name stars (I blurred the names out). And black paper that blocks any action happening outside the classroom. (Our classroom is a little conference room in the office that used to host the video conferencing equipment.)
This is the first time I've ever had an alphabet up in my classroom...
We work on alternatives to raising our hands and asking the teacher how to spell something.
Some of the writing makes it to the Wow Writing Wall. (I'll have to scan some of the writing some time. It's adorable.) My first grade teacher saved all of my writing in a three ring binder and gave it to me at the end of the year. My parents still have it. I'm doing the same thing for my students. Each one has a file folder full of writing.
But, this is the best part about teaching first grade reading.
These adorable little faces and smiles.
They also hug me every day. They even hug me when they see me outside of school.
I love it.
They're young enough to be silly, yet old enough to hold a good conversation.
And they are teaching me lots. For example:
-Letting first graders pick which stickers they want is not a good idea. It will take FOREVER.
-If you let one first grader have a turn at something, you have to let all the first graders have a turn at something.
-It is very important how long your pencil is.
-First graders will remember exactly what you said when you don't want them to remember it at all.
-It didn't really happen if you didn't share it with the class.
-Sometimes you just need some time to cry.
-Being uninvited from someone's birthday party is serious business.
-Being forbidden from trick-or-treating at someone's house is even more serious business.
I think I still have a lot to learn. I'll keep all VFN readers posted.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Mommy Blog: Successfully Making It Through the First Year
Factors that have contributed to my not blogging include:
-excruciatingly slow internet
-a camera that is misbehaving and the inability to fund a new one (for some reason, Steve doesn't thing that "camera" needs to be one of our major budget categories...)
-the cosmically unfair fact that our version of photoshop is incompatible with my new laptop
-mylaziness preoccupation with other things
But, I'm back. You're welcome.
Countless things have happened in the last year, but one is particularly noteworthy: my baby turned one. Lucky for me/Kaitlyn/all of my readers, my amazing sister-in-law was able to document Kaitlyn as a newly minted one year-old.
Note to readers: These pictures were not taken in Brevig Mission. They were taken during a visit to the Lower 48 that Kaitlyn and I made in March. If they had been taken in Brevig Mission, they would have consisted of Kaitlyn in a snowsuit, coat, boots, gloves, and beaver hat with only her little eyes poking out.
She walks now. Both a blessing and a curse.
Kaitlyn got to enjoy a swing for the first time.
Something tells me she liked it.
Note to readers: My mom loves this picture. It's on the fridge at my parents' house.
For those of you artsy types, I'm including this portrait. Isn't it beautiful?
My favorite pictures were the ones of the Cake Smash.
I spent days on etsy looking for the perfect tutu. Please try not to judge me.
I spent days on pinterest looking for the perfect cake. Again, please try not to judge me.
It was all worth it.
-excruciatingly slow internet
-a camera that is misbehaving and the inability to fund a new one (for some reason, Steve doesn't thing that "camera" needs to be one of our major budget categories...)
-the cosmically unfair fact that our version of photoshop is incompatible with my new laptop
-my
But, I'm back. You're welcome.
Countless things have happened in the last year, but one is particularly noteworthy: my baby turned one. Lucky for me/Kaitlyn/all of my readers, my amazing sister-in-law was able to document Kaitlyn as a newly minted one year-old.
Note to readers: These pictures were not taken in Brevig Mission. They were taken during a visit to the Lower 48 that Kaitlyn and I made in March. If they had been taken in Brevig Mission, they would have consisted of Kaitlyn in a snowsuit, coat, boots, gloves, and beaver hat with only her little eyes poking out.
She walks now. Both a blessing and a curse.
Kaitlyn got to enjoy a swing for the first time.
Something tells me she liked it.
Note to readers: My mom loves this picture. It's on the fridge at my parents' house.
For those of you artsy types, I'm including this portrait. Isn't it beautiful?
My favorite pictures were the ones of the Cake Smash.
I spent days on etsy looking for the perfect tutu. Please try not to judge me.
I spent days on pinterest looking for the perfect cake. Again, please try not to judge me.
It was all worth it.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Mommy Blog: Obligatory Halloween Post
Now that I have a child, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to do a blog post about Halloween. I mean, what's the point of dressing up said child if you can't share it with the whole wide Internet? By the way, if the Halloween post doesn't go up until a week after Halloween, does it still count? So many things I'm still trying to learn...
Kaitlyn's first Halloween was a smashing success. As soon as we got to the school she was whisked away by school employees (Kaitlyn has quite a fan club). The kindergarten teacher took this picture of her.
Do I get Mommy Bonus Points for dressing in a coordinating costume?
In case you were wondering exactly how cute we were... we both had tails.
Note to readers: My mostly sincere apologies to anyone who is offended by the above tailage.
Despite our best efforts, Daddy was not willing to go along with the farm theme ("But Steve, you'll ruin Kaitlyn's first Halloween").
Kaitlyn also had a Halloween outfit to wear while we handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.
I had a second Halloween outfit too. :) Daddy was once again a party-pooper. Kaitlyn, however, was a real trooper. She came with me to answer the door almost every time. She only tried eating candy out of the bowl seven times.
Is it embarrassing to admit that my daughter had more than one Halloween costume?
We were a bit indecisive this Halloween.
We briefly considered combining the two costumes. I think it's best that we didn't. Cows and tutus don't belong together.
Note to readers: No actual candy was consumed during the taking of the above photograph. One fun size Butterfinger was only harmed temporarily by baby drool.
Happy Halloween.
*This post sponsored by grandmothers who can't help but buy festive things for their grandchildren...
Kaitlyn's first Halloween was a smashing success. As soon as we got to the school she was whisked away by school employees (Kaitlyn has quite a fan club). The kindergarten teacher took this picture of her.
Do I get Mommy Bonus Points for dressing in a coordinating costume?
In case you were wondering exactly how cute we were... we both had tails.
Note to readers: My mostly sincere apologies to anyone who is offended by the above tailage.
Despite our best efforts, Daddy was not willing to go along with the farm theme ("But Steve, you'll ruin Kaitlyn's first Halloween").
Kaitlyn also had a Halloween outfit to wear while we handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.
I had a second Halloween outfit too. :) Daddy was once again a party-pooper. Kaitlyn, however, was a real trooper. She came with me to answer the door almost every time. She only tried eating candy out of the bowl seven times.
Is it embarrassing to admit that my daughter had more than one Halloween costume?
We were a bit indecisive this Halloween.
We briefly considered combining the two costumes. I think it's best that we didn't. Cows and tutus don't belong together.
Note to readers: No actual candy was consumed during the taking of the above photograph. One fun size Butterfinger was only harmed temporarily by baby drool.
Happy Halloween.
*This post sponsored by grandmothers who can't help but buy festive things for their grandchildren...
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Mommy Blog: Dangerous Pursuits and Other Cuteness
This is how I found Kaitlyn when I went to get her after a nap a few days ago. It's only a matter of time before she's trying to crawl out of the crib...
This is Kaitlyn standing up on the swing. Someday this will not end well.
On a more positive note, you can see her teeth! Enjoy them because she doesn't show them off very often.
Kaitlyn holding her own bottle. A triumphant parenting moment.
Kaitlyn's BFF helping her with a little meal.
The face I get to see while I'm cooking dinner. Lucky me.
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