Our new jobs

This week is the first "real" week for both Justin and me in our new jobs.

Justin is busy, busy, busy. He says that he likes working there more every day. And that the kids are too cute! (He's working IT in an elementary school) He just needs to figure out a way to keep track of all the problems he is in charge of fixing!

I got to teach a class for the first time today, not bad. My classes that I teach alone are VERY small. But I will get to teach larger classes next week, though with another teacher in the room. I was left alone with an extended homeroom period today. It was just me and 30 8th graders. I exerted a little more authority than I did last week, but I am still not as scary as some of the other teachers. I think they can "sense" a new teacher! I think that and age have something to do with it. Older teachers (and I'm talking 40+) seem to be able to rule their classrooms better I have observed. I will keep working on it!

Chase is getting to spend his days now with both grandparents. He's having fun, though a little tired. The grandparents aren't putting him back to sleep in the morning like Justin and I have done in the past. This kid is use to sleeping in until 9am and now he's up at 7:30! So, he is exhausted by the time I get him home, but too tired to sleep!

Happy Birthday Chasen!

Chasen celebrated his one-year birthday on Saturday, and boy did he party! We had family and a few friends with babies the same age over for an afternoon party. Chasen had a good time with his cake, though thought it was more fun to play with than eat. He earned his mid-party bath!

He got some cool gifts too. His favorite was from Silka and Larry. A green 4-wheeler push toy! He LOVES it! He kept getting on it all day yesterday and today. He even knows how to get off, not that gracefully but he can do it! He jumps up and down on it and makes the "engine" roar! So far, he can only go backwards but he will figure it out soon. Overall, he had a great time and was exhausted by the end of the day.

Justin and I went out for sushi that night, a gift to ourselves for surviving the first year!

New Job Starts Thursday!

Well it's official-I now work for the Newton County School System! I got the green light from the Board of Education and new teacher orientation starts this Thursday! I thought I wouldn't have to start until next week, but it's this week! I compared my schedule to Justin's Rockdale County schedule, and I get more Christmas vacation to make up for starting early.

It's exciting and scary at the same time. I have no idea what I'm suppose to be doing the first week during "teacher planning". How far am I planning? What in the world am I planning? I hope that I have a good "mentor" who doesn't mind lots of questions.

Chasen got his 4th tooth in this week. Now he has two matching pairs! Hopefully both will be out quite a bit so that we can see them on his birthday pictures! He's really loving his walker this week. He pushes it around and around in circles and just laughs! He thinks he's a big boy when he walks! He's getting better at the turns, but we still have to get him out of a jam every now and then.

A fish out of water

Chasen had his first swimming lesson this Saturday, and just like we thought - he's a fish! My friend Lisa had us over to the lake for a birthday party and was kind enough to take Chase out for a swim. We were worried that he would get a little upset since it wasn't mommy swimming with him. But he loved it! He first got in this float and just laughed! Then, Lisa took him out and swam with him. He splashed and splashed - a little more than my friend had bargained for. He had such a great time! Then, he went on his first boat ride. He giggled and thought it was a blast - then the excitement was too much and he took a nap while we toured the lake.

Later on, another friend of ours and his 3 year old son came over to visit us at home. I was amazed at how Chasen responded to him. He was a big-kid stalker! He followed the other boy around, did what he did, wanted to share everything and just talked his ears off. Chase normally ignores babies his age, but obviously not older kids! He was in love! We will have to have our friend Jason and his son over more often!

Crazy thing that happened later on, our Bradford pear tree lost another limb - into the middle of the street! Luckily our friend was still here, so at 11pm we were sawing limbs and getting the huge thing out of the road. This is the 2nd time a limb has fallen. This tree looks horrible now! It's just falling apart one piece at a time!

Getting Ready!

Who gave this baby a cupcake?

This was Chase's first experience with chocolate....yum yum! We had his pictures taken to have ready by his birthday which is only two short weeks away! I can't believe my little boy will be 1 years old! It seems like just a few weeks ago I was still waddling around with swollen ankles and couldn't see my feet. Now my baby is eating cupcakes! And not eating baby food anymore...but that's another issue.

Well, I was offered the position at a middle school about 15 minutes from home. It would be part-time to start, but the principal thinks that it will turn into full time as soon as school starts and they get everyone figured out. It's interesting, I would actually be teaching all three grades the students who need extra help in math. They get pulled from their regular teachers for my class. The class size would be smaller, about half the size of a normal class. I think this will be good to start with, but also challenging. But, my goal is to make a difference and who better to make a difference with than kids who really need the help? The school has given the ok, now I just have to wait for the Board of Education to approve me. Then, Justin and I will both start the last week of July. What's great, we will have the same time off and holidays!

Hire me!

Isn't our little business man cute? I've been taking him to interviews dressed like this but so far no luck.....Seriously though, I have had interviews but still no luck yet! I think if the interviews were based on personality I would have the jobs hands down. But, I lack experience and aren't certified to teach public schools yet so that puts me at a disadvantage. School hasn't started yet though, so maybe I will find a very desperate principal soon!

Justin and I had our neighbors over for dinner last weekend, they were a lot of fun. The funny story is, we had met our neighbors a year ago but never had gotten together. But Justin and I recently joined Myspace (an Internet site for networking) and Justin found them on it too. So, we finally got together with our neighbors through the Internet! I guess that's where technology has led us. We don't get to know our neighbors in person, but through the computer.

Learning to Walk

Sorry I haven't posted this week but we've been slack in our photography and I know that people only read my blog to see pictures of the baby! I try not to let my bruised ego keep me up at night!

Great news! Justin got a new job! He is going to start working at a local elementary school as their IT guy. It's called INTEL. Not only will he be fixing all of their computers, but he will be running the morning "talk show" for the announcements. He will be in charge of a group of 5th graders who will broadcast the latest school news, lunch menu, give the pledge of allegiance etc. The principal has also told him that they want to take their show to a new level and have it be fun and energetic. So, Justin will be coming up with elementary SNL skits on top of that! It sounds like fun, and he's excited about it - though not about being at school at 7:00am! That will take some time to get use to.

I had an interview myself this week for a teaching position and one next week as well. Hopefully one of the two will pan out or more offers will come in! I also took the GRE last week just in case I don't get a job offer and will start back school to become certified. 1040 thank you very much! (For those of you who don't know, you need an 800 to get into my school of choice.)

OK, ego stroking complete-now to Chasen! He finally surfaced tooth #3 ! Thank goodness! This teething period seemed to be longer than his first time! It's his top tooth, so it's much larger. And cuter! He has also become very loud. I have friends whose babies have been loud for some time now. But Chase was always a lot softer. Sure he talked and made noises, but not ear-piercing screeches. Well, all that has changed this week! He has figured out that loud=proud and he loves to shriek! It's especially an effective tool to get mommy's attention. Of course, the fact that he and Justin have shouting matches isn't helping either! But I guess his time has come and he wants everyone to know!