Back to Blogging

I feel like its high time I started posting on the blog again regularly. I miss it, and I think it would be a good way to keep everyone updated on pregnancy adventures. Leave me lots of comments, I <3 comments. They make me feel all validated, cuz I gots issues.

As most of you know, I am officially preggers. It's very early yet, so I just hope everything goes smoothly. Jay and I are so excited (excited, overwhelmed, in shock, etc etc). Part of me wanted to wait until I was through the first trimester to tell anyone, so I could be sure everything was ok....but who am i kidding? You don't keep secrets like this in my family, you just DON'T. I would be hunted down and murdered in my sleep by certain people. You know who you are.

Everyone wants to know how I'm feeling. What they really want to ask is if I am puking my guts out yet. Its rather sick and twisted how happy people get when they find out how bad your morning sickness is. It's like really people, I'm not faking it I swear.

The quick answer is no! I don't have any morning sickness *yet*. What I DO have is extreme fatigue. Like I really think answering a question that isn't absolutely necessary, is the hardest thing I have EVER done. I have to brace myself to form complete sentences. I feel a little "icky" at times. Not quite nauseous exactly, but close. Thats about it though.

We might as well get it all out there, NO I have not seen a doctor yet. Most people who read my blog are very close friends and/or family and already know I plan on seeing a midwife. I haven't exactly chosen one yet. I have one in mind, but still want Jay's input before I make the call. I also have to save up a bit for the initial prenatal workup. I'll shoot for sometime in February I guess. There is really nothing other than bloodwork that can be done for me anyway, and I'm not in a terrible rush.

Oh and another thing I might as well tell y'all now is: We aren't planning on finding out the sex of the baby. Go ahead and freak out. Let me know when you are done.

Okay now take a deep breath. It's not that I am opposed to knowing or even that we want to be surprised. On the contrary, I think we both would rather find out. The thing is that I just don't feel that it's a good enough reason for routine ultrasound. Yes, women get ultrasounds all the time and their baby's aren't deformed. I realize this. I even think there is a time and a place for them and if a need arises, I will definitely get one. The thing is, they are being used as a routine procedure with no real evidence that it helps outcomes in any way, and it is a relatively new technology that has not been properly studied. We DO know that there is something that actually happens to the cells during ultrasound called "cavitation" and no one knows what kind of permanent effects it may have. So I just don't want to have one unless I need one.

Alright well I'm at work so I guess I should go "work" now.

Disgustingly Happy

Been awhile since I updated this...things have been so crazy I kind of forgot about it for awhile. I don't have a ton to blog about at the moment but I'm having a really good day which is always nice!

Things making me happy today:

• Bulleted lists of things that make me happy
• Cute paisley bowls
• Cool, breezy purely Oregonian day
• Gretchy coming on Sunday! I'm SO excited :D
• The soy chai latte I am going to make after I finish this post
• The book I am going to read while I drink it
• Elijah cutely practicing his letters at my desk
• The awesome ab workout I learned recently...its actually kind of fun ( I know I know, you can stop thinking "who are you and what have you done with Marilyn") and I'm looking forward to doing it later with J...the ab workout that is :)
• New songs on my ipod to listen to while I workout later
• Its not my night to make dinner muaahahaha
• My mom comes home in about a week and a half! I miss you mommy!
• And the most wonderful thing about today is that when I go to bed I get to enjoy my new bedding (feels like happy!) again! yay for flannel!
  

The hike of ill-repute

Beautiful day for an after-work hike....until....(insert suspenseful theme music here)

OUCH

I sprained my ankle! I'm so bummed. As most of you know, I have been trying to get back in the swing of things weight-wise. To that end, Mom and I have been taking hikes as regularly as we can. We went to Silver Falls on Monday and it turned into a total fiasco. First, mom walked into a mob of hungry wasps that proceeded to sting her repeatedly. At that point, about halfway down our chosen trail (it was a small one since we were short on time, so this is about a mile into the hike) we decide to turn back since there seemed to be more swarms further ahead. Ok, I saw one more wasp and chickened out. Whatever.

As Mom was lamenting about our foiled trip, I started to give her a pep-talk. You know "just be glad we got out" "enjoy the scenery" "exercise is exercise"...yada yada yada.

It was at this ill-fated moment that my ankle decided to shut me up by rolling inward during mid-stride. OOOOWWWWW.

I decided it would be ok to hike back out because I could wiggle my toes so I must be fine. The real pain didn't set in until later. Its just a minor sprain, but it's really cramping my style. Oh and not to mention my workout routine.

My camera is out of batteries but I did get a few pictures. I'll post them as soon as I can!

Can't wait to see you all on November 22!

All things bright and beautiful

Just another school day

Today Elijah was invited to start attending the extended day at his school, meaning he would be there from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm instead of picking him up at noon. This is a very special invitation, as not all children are invited to stay for the longer days. They have to show certain signs of readiness first. I just wanted to post this picture of him with his teacher Amber.

The Pink Tower

This picture was taken by the director of Elijah's school, which she decided was a great moment to capture the quintessential Montessori exercise. She liked it so much that she put it on the school newsletter :) I was just going to post the picture so everyone could see him in action- and get a peek at the school, but I decided to write a little something to explain what he is doing. The lesson is called "The pink tower" for obvious reasons, it being pink and also...a tower :) In this case, it had toppled over and Elijah volunteered to put it back up. Sooooo, why is he stacking stuff? I looked into it a little and found that he is actually doing alot more than stacking.

The purpose: Build blocks of graduated 3 dimensional sizes in order to understand sequence and order.

When building the tower, the children grasp each cube with one hand to get the muscular impression of the size (Again the connection- the hand is visually measuring the cubes for the mind to process). As the teacher is giving the initial lesson (these are done on-on-one), they introduce the concept of large and small, large, larger, largest, small, smaller, smallest. This is very basic, and would probably be used for smaller children initially....but when they are older or ready for more, you can add the counting of the cubes. The concrete difference between 1 and 10 is the first step in understanding addition. Later, they teach the child to count backwards, using the tower again. Count backwards from 10 as the largest cube down to the smallest cube. This visual aid is invaluable to understanding subtraction. Basically, it makes numbers mean something.

When the child can build the tower easily they are taught to build the tower with one corner exactly above the other all the way up, the two edges exactly even. The smallest cube can fit on each ledge on each level. This shows the size and difference between each of the cubes.

Develops -
1.Visual and small muscular perception of dimensions.
2. This awareness of dimensions leads to observation of the child’s environment.
3. Helps to make smoother and more coordinated movement.
4. Math readiness by introducing concepts of smaller, larger, prepares for the decimal and number system.

Eventually, this same lesson is used to help to prepare for the cube root. 1000 smallest cubes make the largest 10th cube. 8 of the smallest cubes make the second cube, 27 of the smallest cube make the third cube, 64 of the smallest cubes make the fourth cube, 124 cubes make the fifth cube, and so on.

I dunno about you, but I had to read that cube root part a couple times...maybe I need to build a tower.

Pretty cool!