The "Nuptial Nine"

I have been married for almost a year now and I have learned that many things come with the first year of marriage. We have had so much fun decorating our apartment, spending time with each other and our families. We have been able to take several short vacations and just take time to enjoy being married. But the one bad thing that I have found comes with the first year of marriage is weight gain. I have gained weight (not much, but..) since we got married and I have several friends who got married last year or the year before who agree. My friend Ashley was the one who coined the phrase "The Nuptial Nine." I laughed at her when she told me this, b/c at the time I was not married and she had been for a year. I totally understand now. Ashley was right. As a newly married couple we don't cook as much as we should and we definately don't work out as much as we should. We eat out a lot and we don't eat as much healthy food as we should. This is our problem!
Before the wedding, I worked 0ut a lot and ate healthy (and at home)...but Mom was cooking so that made it very easy! I lost weight before the wedding....but I had a dress to motivate me. After the wedding, I didn't have mom's cooking and no dress for motivation. So, the weight gain began. I have been lucky to not have made it to "nine" pounds, but about 5 or so. And what makes it even more frustrating is that my husband has lost tons of weight since we got married! Ugh! Not fair! I am so proud of him....but it is not fair that guys can loose weight so easily. I wish that it was that easy for girls.
But, again, my friend Ashley was right and I wish I would have listened to her then! Let's just hope that the second year of marriage includes some weight LOSS! I will keep you posted on that. :)

Smokey is walking!

Oh my gosh! The steroids are working...and working so well! Smokey is now WALKING! He is very wobbly, but he is doing so awesome. Brent and I have been laughing because it looks like he is drunk when he walks. So cute. We went to the vet yesterday and she was so proud of him. He is (according to her) doing better than he should be at this point. I was such a proud mama when she said that! He has been so determined to walk, and it has paid off. We have been using one of Brent's old belts to help him walk around outside. He does so well with that...it goes under his hips to give some support. For the next few weeks, we will be doing swimming therapy. I think this is so cool. We put him in a FULL bathtub and let him swim to build the muscles in his back legs. We tried it for the first time last night and it was so cute and Smokey loved it! (He is the only dog I have ever met that LIKES the bathtub. He gets excited about a bath...or even hearing the word "bath").
So...we are hoping that in a week or 2 that he will be back to normal. Or close to it. He has improved so fast already, I can only imagine what is to come. My prayers have been answered!

Smokey's Intervertebral Disk Disease

Last Wednesday night my little baby Smokey was acting very funny after a walk outside. He would not walk or let me pick him up and he was all tensed up. I was scared that he might have pulled a muscle (that afternoon he had tripped on a stepping stone while walking.) We debated on taking him to the emergency clinic that night....I wish we had. We decided not to because we didn't want to spend a bunch of money to have someone tell us that he had a pulled muscle or strained his him or something simple like that. So, we went to bed with him on Wednesday night and just decided to wait until morning to make a decision.

Thursday morning, he wouldn't walk far and when he did it was painful. Brent was scheduled to go in at 11:00, so he called the vet around 8:30. He told them that Smokey was having trouble using his back legs. They said we couldn't come until 4:30. (later on we found out that they should have told Brent to bring him in right away. The vet was mad that this didn't happen...we were too.) By the time I got home on Thursday Smokey wasn't using his back legs at all. I was very scared at this point.

The vet told us that this condition (intervertebral disk disease) is common in Pekingese and other small, short legged dogs. I have never heard of it before...and I researched this bread long before I got Smokey. She told us that there were two options: neurological surgery (which is $4,000 1/2 of which has to be paid upfront!) or steroid treatment. We asked lots of questions and found out that neither of these options were 100% going to work. This is when I broke down...at the thought of my baby being paralyzed for the rest of his life. And then the thought of what would happen if he didn't get better....we would have to put him down. I wouldn't want him to live without control of his legs. I cried in front of the vet and felt like an idiot...but this is my little boy....my Smokey. ( I am even getting teary now..)

We decided to try the steroid treatment. Smokey stayed the night at the vet on Thursday. I cried all the way home and most of the night. Friday was a tough day....I worried about him all day. I went after school and picked him up. He has since been home and it is so sad to watch him....so helpless. He has peed and pooped on himself several times and has to stay in a crate. He won't eat much either. It breaks my heart. I slept beside him on the couch (while he was on the floor) all weekend. We get up every couple hours to go out. I have seen a tiny bit of improvement...he has some muscle movement in his upper hips and thighs. When I stretch his leg out, he pulls it back in. It doesn't sound like much, but it is progress to me.

I really hope that this treatment works. It will be at least 2 to 3 weeks before we can see real improvement. In about 10 days, we will start swimming therapy...supposed to be great for this condition.

Keep praying for my little Smokey. He appreciates it, and so do Brent and I.

Moments that make you laugh

As a first grade teacher, you have many moments that just make you laugh! (and some where you want to laugh but you shouldn't!) Today, I had one of those moments and it came at such a good time.

I must begin by giving you a visual of the situation...... This particular student is one of those kids who just can't sit still no matter what he does! He is constantly moving and/or tapping a pencil. So, he was standing at my desk (well....really he was bouncing at my desk beside me while I sat) and we were doing some speech practice. He has trouble with a few sounds so we work each day on those. I was showing him some pictures and he was saying the words. He was doing such a good job and I had praised him for that good work. As he said garage, he burped. It came mid- word..... "gar BURP age." I laughed so hard and so did he. We had a good time laughing about the funny moment! I think the laughing lasted about 2 minutes! So funny!

At the this time of the year when I am tired and ready to be done, little funny moments like this help me to remember why I love my job! Funny stuff like this (as small as it may seem) always comes at the perfect time....when I need to relax and enjoy teaching. It is like God knows that I need to laugh....

" A day with out laughter is wasted."

Babies

I have determined one fact this year: We are NOT ready for babies, despite the pressure from family (mother in law!) , friends and coworkers! I don't know why people assume that once you get married that you should start having kids. Where does that thought come from? I am 24 years old and haven't even been married for a year yet! I want some time alone with my husband for a few years before I think about popping out any kids. People are going to have to get used to this idea!

I LOVE kids, especially babies. BUT...after all that have heard from friends who have recently had babies I just further confirm my first statement :WE ARE NOT READY FOR BABIES! I am so not ready to go through childbirth, change diapers, and I am also not ready to wake up every 3 hours to attach a child to my boob. No, that does not sound fun, thank you very much.

I have also determined that my dog is my baby. And I am totally content with that. I have had Smokey (a cute gray and black pekingese) for almost 4 years now. Anyone that knows me well, knows that he is spoiled rotten. He needs me just as much as a kid, in some ways.....He sleeps all the time and doesn't wake up every three hours cyring. He needs me to feed him once a day in a bowl on the floor, to take him to the bathroom 3 or 4 times a day with NO diapers, and give him a bath every few weeks.....and I don't loose any sleep! He is the best kind of baby! He is a great cuddle buddy and he is so fun to play with. See, I don't need a baby...I have Smokey!

Another reason I am not ready for kids is.....Duh! I have 20 children that I teach and care for 5 days a week for about 7 hours a day! Shew! I think that is enough for one person. They are great birth control! :)

Of course I want to have babies.....in about 5 years! (at least) :)

15 days....

There are only 15 days of school left in the year! I have been blessed to have the BEST group of kids this year, BUT..... I am ready for summer! This class is full of the best behaved, sweetest kids in the world. Also they have the most wonderful, supportive parents. I have been lucky this year! So, the end of school will be bittersweet. I will be sad to see this group move on, but I am ready for a new group. When you spend enough time with the same group of people everyday, they start to get on your nerves. This happens with adults and kids.... When I was in college, I frequetly got annoyed by roommates, co-workers, classmates etc. And now that I am a teacher I get so frustrated by the smallest things with these kids. I think it is just the time of year. (Ask any teacher and they will agree!) We have all ( the kids and me) spent so much time together we are now getting on each other's nerves! Even the kids are feeling it....I frequently hear comments at this time of the year like " he said he didn't want to be my friend" or "she looked at me funny" or "why do we have to learn this?" or "She took MY marker and won't give it back" Most of the time my response is..."have you tried to work it out with your friend on your own?" Most of the time they haven't and with a few minutes with each other, they work it out.....or they forget about it! Ha! Do you understand now why I am counting down the days? :)

Don't get me wrong....I love first grade kids! They are so fun and keep me entertained. But, this time of year we all want to be at the pool instead of in the classroom! It happens every year.....and then about mid-July I am so ready to start back! At that time in the summer, I can't wait to get back to school and set up my room, meet new kids and start fresh!

So, I say again....there are only 15 more days of school. I am ready to sit by the pool and relax!