It's So Hard To Say Good-Bye...

One of the hardest things about being a teacher is when you lose a student. Last Friday, one of the nicest kids I've known was killed in a car accident. I've lost 4 students in the 9 years that I've been teaching. 3 of them have been to car accidents. I've gone to all of the wakes. No one should ever have to bury their own child.

Last night, I went at 7 PM. I got into the long line of faculty, friends, and family to pay my respects. He was on the bowling team. Bowling teams from our conference came to pay their respects. It was amazing. I didn't get up to say good-bye to him until 8:30, that's how long the line was. I lost it when I got up to his casket, just like I did a few years ago when I lost another young man to a car accident.

It's so hard to say good-bye. Rest In Peace, Eric. I'll miss you.

I Hate You Friday, December 11

This morning I was so excited that it was Friday. It has been a very long week. Things were going well today.

At the end of second period, I opened an email from the assistant principal of discipline. In the subject it said, "For your eyes only". We usually get these if someone has written a threatening message in a bathroom, or if they need us to identify a student in a picture. What I read was not something like that at all.

A former student of mine that I had as a sophomore, was in a car accident this morning on his way to school. He didn't make it. He was a senior. He was a nice kid. One of the nicest kids I've ever met.

I just realized that I keep typing was. This is so hard. I hate you, Friday, December 11. This is the 4th student of mine that has passed away. I hate you, Friday, December 11.

Here's a link that will tell you about his accident. He was a good kid. Please pray for his family, friends, and the students and teachers at my school.

Daddy's Little Girl...

Juliana has definitely become a daddy's girl. When he got home from California, she immediately stopped crying in my arms, lit up in a smile and proceeded to babble loudly at him. I imagine that she was yelling at him for being gone for a week, and to never do that again.

Last night, she was screaming in my arms, and Ryan walked into the house, and immediately, she started to smile, and then the following pictures were taken (I had to stand to the side, so as not to make her angry). How is that fair?!?

Daddy-Daughter Date...

Every Thanksgiving, Ryan and I watch the mini-series, "Band of Brothers". Every Christmas break, I read the book, "Band of Brothers". I'm a huge World War II buff. So much so, that I one of the people I would love to meet is Major Dick Winters, who lead Easy company that "Band of Brothers" is based off of. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should.

My dad is also very much into World War II. In fact, he has actual pictures of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, framed and hung on the wall. My dad's uncle worked for an admiral of the US Navy, which is how my dad got the pictures. His uncle was able to pull strings to get my grandfather pulled off of a boat heading to the Pacific and stationed in Honolulu instead of being shipped to Guadalcanal. When I was in 5th grade, I did a project on Hawaii, and my dad allowed me to bring the pictures to school as part of my project. That's how I first became interested in World War II.

When Jaime and I were younger, and living at home, our parents would take us to the Mariott-Lincolnshire to see different plays. We saw Peter Pan, but my favorite was South Pacific. I love reading about World War II, and that's a common link my dad and I share. This year, Ryan was gone over my Thanksgiving break, and I was disappointed that we wouldn't have our marathon watching of "Band of Brothers".

My dad found out that "South Pacific" was coming to the Rosemont Theatre, and got 2 tickets for the two of us to go see it. Needless to say, it was AMAZING! We went to the Saturday matinee, and had really great seats. The man who played Emile Debeque was a well-known opera singer, and I honestly don't think he needed to have a mic on him. I could have listened to him sing forever. Since we went to the matinee, we were surrounded by many older people (like my grandma's age). It was interesting listening to them talk about their memories of World War II. A younger lady mentioned that her father was stationed on the USS Arizona, and had gotten shore leave the morning of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and was unable to get back to the ship before it was sunk. She said he was never the same after that, and felt guilty that he didn't die with the rest of his "brothers".

Thank you, Daddy, for taking me to see it. I had a wonderful time :-)

Out Of The Mouth Of Two Year Olds...

I think that out of the ages that Noah has been, I have enjoyed this age the most. He says the funniest things! For example,

1) This morning, I was talking to him about being a good boy and he said, "I not a good boy. I Noah, momma!"

2) Ryan's been gone since Thanksgiving night, and I told Noah that Daddy was on an airplane, so at least 7 times a day we have this conversation: "Momma?" "Noah?" "Where Daddy?" "I don't know, where is Daddy?" "Daddy on airplane!" "Is he coming home today?" "No, momma! He flying now!"

3) A couple months ago, I smelled something foul and told Noah we needed to change his diaper. "No change diaper! I got gas!" He was wrong.

He cracks me up!

Eating = Weight Gain

On Sunday, we sent a bottle with Juliana to the nursery. In theory, the little girl should have been hungry. She hadn't eaten since 2 AM, and church starts at 9. We had tried to feed her right before we left, but when the little girl doesn't want to eat, she doesn't want to eat. One of my friends, Anna, works in the nursery and there is no one I'd rather leave Juliana with. Anna is a calm and loving lady. She has the ability to get any baby, no matter how fussy, to calm down, just by holding them and talking to them. I let Anna know that if the little girl got fussy, she could try to feed her with the bottle that was already made.

When I went to pick Juliana, Anna said, "I'm so sorry, Jenna. I tried to get her to drink some of her bottle when she got fussy, but she just acted like she was drinking." I assured Anna that it was alright; that the little girl likes to "toy with your emotions" when you're feeding her, that that was perfectly normal for Juliana. On a different note, Anna was able to soothe her right to sleep.

My point is this, if Anna couldn't get her to eat, then it's not just me, Ryan, Theresa, the grandparents, etc. So, we still continue to get up twice in the night to feed the little girl, as the night time feedings are still some of her best. During the day, she will eat between 5-6 ounces from 6:30-6. I know what you're all thinking, because that's exactly what Ryan and I think, "that's not normal". No, it's not, but we will continue to do what it takes to get food in this little girl.

Ryan and I had noticed that her legs have gotten a little meat on them (yay). We'd noticed that the 0-3 month clothes she had been wearing were getting a little small, and had finally switched over to all 3-6 month clothes (yay). The little girl turns 7 months at the end of this week, and we've been carefully monitoring and tracking all the food she has been eating- since birth. Ryan even prints out a graph that we take to doctor appointments, so that they can see that she still eats about the same amount of food she ate as a 1 month old.

Today, Juliana had an appointment at the gastroenterologist. I stripped her down to her diaper, and we weighed her. She had gained a pound in a month- this is a new record! I was excited. I had been feeding her when they called us back (hey, any weight counts, why do you think I didn't take her diaper off?). Dr. Smith was pleased as well. He told me, "I've been worried since I knew you were coming in today. If she hadn't made a big weight gain, I was afraid of what I was going to have to tell you." His statement took me by surprise. We knew he wasn't happy with the weight gains at all the previous appointments, but he never showed any worry. If Juliana hadn't made a big weight gain, he was going to send us to Children's Memorial downtown, and we were going to have to get her on a feeding tube.

Juliana is back on the growth charts (she had been on a slippery slope going downwards). She's hanging onto the 5th percentile by the tips of her fingers, but we will take it. Nothing has changed. He still wants us to do both night time feedings (sleep will have to wait awhile longer). We still have to concentrate her formula. She's still on both medicines. And we will still be working with the feeding therapist and dietician. He is hopeful that in the next 2 months, she will stay at the 5th percentile or even move to the 10th. All of our hopes are that she continues to gain and to eat.

Thank you for all the encouragement and prayers. You'll never know how much we've appreciated all of them.

Girls' Afternoon Out...

Being a high school teacher, I sometimes get sucked into reading books that my students are reading. Case in point, the "Twilight" series. Last year one of my students became my "supplier" bringing me a book as I finished each one. Fortunately, they are an easy read (otherwise I wouldn't have wasted my time because of my brain injury). As I read them, I found that I preferred one character over another, Jacob. I was totally turned off by Edward, he was too controlling, too overprotective, telling Bella who she could be friends with, where she wasn't allowed to go, etc. Jacob reminded me of Ryan. They both wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Anyway, if you're not a teenage girl, or the mother of a teenage girl, the movie, "New Moon" came out on Friday. It's the second book and second movie of the "Twilight" series. A group of ladies from work arranged to go see the movie on Sunday, and I went with. It was the first movie I'd been to since "Prince Caspian". Needless to say, I was excited. It was nice to get out of the house, and be out with friends. Plus, I enjoyed the movie, as it was more about Jacob than about Edward.

Was it a cheesy love story? Yes. Was there action? Yes. Was the acting better than it was in the first movie? Yes. Does Ryan want to see it now? Yes.

Go Team Jacob!