9/26/12
Hey everyone...great news...I'm now a full-time teacher!!! Today I signed my first full-time contract. It's been 5 years in the making, but it finally happened! Some of you are probably wondering, "How can you be a part time teacher?" Well, as I'm now a 4 year veteran, let me explain! In most school districts, if you teach 5 classes each day, you're considered "full time." My first year teaching, I was a sub and did a couple of long-term subbing jobs. The following years I worked as a .33, .40, .61, and up until today, I was a .84 this year. Basically, think of those numbers as cents of a dollar. Once you get "a dollar" you're full time with 5 classes. Prior to that, I only taugh 1 class, or 2 classes, or 3 classes each day, which made me a "part timer." Though I'm only teaching 4 classes this year, they're counting my "5th" class as time spent coordinating my beloved AVID program between the two schools I work in during the school day. If this info went in one ear and out the other...no worries...I have to explain this to my parents all the time!!!
This may sound complicated and not a big deal, but for my family, this is a huge deal! With each class a teacher teaches, or each fraction of the "dollar", we get paid more...significantly more. Granted, I didn't become a teacher to become rich; I did start teaching to make a living and provide for my family. I'm super excited today because now this will make it much easier to provide for my lovely wife, and our baby!!! In addition to the salary, I can now get benefits from the district, so I won't have to pay for my own health insurance out of pocket like I've done the past 4 years I've taught. Imagine a part time job with a full insurance payment to pay out of my pocket! This is a huge help to us...now that money can be thrown in the bank for our little one!
By no means am I bragging about all of this...hell, pro athletes make my annual salary in a single game! But this is great because this provides us with a better cushion to plan for our future and provide for ourselves and our little one in 6 short months!
As for us, this is a big weekend...this is Laura's first weekend home (without me) as a mom! Of course she isn't handling the baby this weekend, I won't be around due to my sacred hunting season. Thankfully, her mom will be heading to the cities Friday afternoon to keep her company and hang out while I'm away (yes, she's a big girl, but her mom had some time off work so they're getting some bonding time!). I love hunting, and she definitely married a guy with a hunting problem. Imagine you being only able to do your favorite hobby for 4 weekends each year, and you need to drive 5 hours to do that hobby for a short period of time! I'll be taking the mutt, Lexi, with me to walk in the woods, so she'll enjoy the solitude and chaos-free house without me!
On that note, I'll wrap this one up. Thanks so much for reading about my big day! I hope you enjoyed reading my Daddy Diary. As usual, your thoughts/best wishes/prayers are greatly appreciated! Take care!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Letting the cat out of the bag (slowly)!!!
9/23/12
Hey everybody...and for some of you, welcome to my Daddy Diary! Laura and I have started to tell more people about our exciting news this weekend!!! Laura called her grandparents last night, and I visited my grandparents this morning to tell them the news. They were all pretty excited, though I think her grandma was just plain shocked..."ok...that's exciting" were her words!!!
As of now, our families know...we plan to make some calls to Laura's aunts and uncles in the upcoming days when we have a spare moment (this will be a busy week for us!) in the next couple days. Needless to say, Laura and I got a few hugs today when we told my grandparents and KeeKee! For Laura's side, this will be the first great grandchild, while this will be the 5th great grandchild for my dad's parents, and the first for Granny!!! Laura sent word to her aunt Brenda last night, and my parents will be letting aunt Ruth and Eleanor know by the end of the day today.
We haven't spread the word to everyone yet. Laura and I still have some friends and coworkers that don't know, but will be finding out in the next week or two. So for those of you that have known for a while or just found out today, we appreciate you not spreading the word via Facebook. We'll let the rest of the world find out soon enough, but we don't want our friends and family to find out through the stupid website!!! However, with that being said, please pass along the address to my blog to anyone you feel may be interested in following our pregnancy, or to anyone interested in knowing more about how pregnancies progress through the guy's eyes.
Laura had a rough night last night. She came out of the shower not feeling well and vowing never to eat McDonald's again!!! She fell asleep before 10 last night and didn't wake up until almost 10 this morning!!! Needless to say, Lexi is providing some great training for me in taking care of a youngster without the help of mom and especially trying to do so with as little noise as possible!!! I must say, Laura has been quite the trooper! Her strength and endurance have been amazing! She powers through bouts of nausea and extreme exhaustion on almost a daily basis...if it were me, I'd be rolled up in the fetal position and whining for my mom and sympathy!!! I knew she was an amazing woman when I married her over 3 years ago, but I never knew how amazing she'd be in keeping our little baby nourished and well-taken care of during our pregnancy! I love you, Laura Jean!
I need you all to be a witness for me and support me on this one...My grandparents said that I should take the kid hunting and give mom a needed break in the future...and Laura said "YES!!! Go hunting often!!!" So please, when I need someone to vouch for me, I expect you all to help me out as September comes around each year!!! If it's a boy, I'll be so excited to take him hunting and pass along all the great BS my dad has passed along to me over the years. If it's a girl, I'll still drag her along for a few years before she gets her own opinion!!! Regardless, I'm just pumped to become a dad in just over 6 months away!
Well...I think that's it for this one! Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary! For everyone reading this, whether it's your first read-along or not, Laura and I appreciate your thoughts/best wishes/prayers as we continue to look forward to our growing family!!! Take care!
Hey everybody...and for some of you, welcome to my Daddy Diary! Laura and I have started to tell more people about our exciting news this weekend!!! Laura called her grandparents last night, and I visited my grandparents this morning to tell them the news. They were all pretty excited, though I think her grandma was just plain shocked..."ok...that's exciting" were her words!!!
As of now, our families know...we plan to make some calls to Laura's aunts and uncles in the upcoming days when we have a spare moment (this will be a busy week for us!) in the next couple days. Needless to say, Laura and I got a few hugs today when we told my grandparents and KeeKee! For Laura's side, this will be the first great grandchild, while this will be the 5th great grandchild for my dad's parents, and the first for Granny!!! Laura sent word to her aunt Brenda last night, and my parents will be letting aunt Ruth and Eleanor know by the end of the day today.
We haven't spread the word to everyone yet. Laura and I still have some friends and coworkers that don't know, but will be finding out in the next week or two. So for those of you that have known for a while or just found out today, we appreciate you not spreading the word via Facebook. We'll let the rest of the world find out soon enough, but we don't want our friends and family to find out through the stupid website!!! However, with that being said, please pass along the address to my blog to anyone you feel may be interested in following our pregnancy, or to anyone interested in knowing more about how pregnancies progress through the guy's eyes.
Laura had a rough night last night. She came out of the shower not feeling well and vowing never to eat McDonald's again!!! She fell asleep before 10 last night and didn't wake up until almost 10 this morning!!! Needless to say, Lexi is providing some great training for me in taking care of a youngster without the help of mom and especially trying to do so with as little noise as possible!!! I must say, Laura has been quite the trooper! Her strength and endurance have been amazing! She powers through bouts of nausea and extreme exhaustion on almost a daily basis...if it were me, I'd be rolled up in the fetal position and whining for my mom and sympathy!!! I knew she was an amazing woman when I married her over 3 years ago, but I never knew how amazing she'd be in keeping our little baby nourished and well-taken care of during our pregnancy! I love you, Laura Jean!
I need you all to be a witness for me and support me on this one...My grandparents said that I should take the kid hunting and give mom a needed break in the future...and Laura said "YES!!! Go hunting often!!!" So please, when I need someone to vouch for me, I expect you all to help me out as September comes around each year!!! If it's a boy, I'll be so excited to take him hunting and pass along all the great BS my dad has passed along to me over the years. If it's a girl, I'll still drag her along for a few years before she gets her own opinion!!! Regardless, I'm just pumped to become a dad in just over 6 months away!
Well...I think that's it for this one! Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary! For everyone reading this, whether it's your first read-along or not, Laura and I appreciate your thoughts/best wishes/prayers as we continue to look forward to our growing family!!! Take care!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The greatest sound in the world!!!
9/20/12
Hello friends and family, and a special Happy Anniversary wish to my parents who celebrate their 32nd year of marriage today!!! I'm looking forward to celebrating that milestone with my amazing wife in just 29 short years!!!
Two nights ago, Laura and I went to our doctor's appointment. After some chit chat with her and seeing how everything was going, we got to the cool part of the visit! She picked up this microphone device and placed it on Laura's belly. We heard this wooshing sound, which I thought was Laura's dinner...but it turns out it was the blood rushing through her body. Then came the cool part...we heard a very rapid "thump thump thump thump." The doctor asked, "Do you hear that quick thumping? That's your baby's heart beating!" It would've taken 12 morticians to wipe that smile off of my face!!! It was the absolute coolest sound in the world. Over a month ago, we saw the baby's heart beating for the first time...and that was so awesome...but this took fatherhood to a whole new level of reality!!! I had been anticipating this appointment for weeks! I even thought that hearing the heart beat for the first time may bring tears to my eyes...but I was smiling too much for tears! I could've listened to that sound for days, but we only had a short minute or so to hear that heart beat! Thankfully, our doctor told us if we ever wanted to hear it at future appointments, we just needed to ask and she'd be happy let us hear it again!!
As for us, we are approaching the end of our first trimester. The first 12 weeks officially ends tomorrow, however, counting backwards from our April 1, 2013 due date, October 1st will be the end of our first trimester. Don't worry if you're confused...I'm barely keeping it all straight in my head anyways!!! Regardless of our progress, over the next couple of weeks, we'll begin informing people of our exciting development that we've been keeping to ourselves (and you selected few so far)!!! I told a few of the guys at school yesterday. They were thrilled and had some typical guy-insults to throw my way. One of the smart asses asked if I'd be on the business end during the delivery to catch the baby in a 3-ring binder!!! (The class I'm teaching this year is the same as last year in which I'm preparing kids for college by helping them develop various skills, including organization. The cornerstone of our organization in class involves the "extreme" use of a 3-ring binder to carry all school supplies with the students all day long. So, fittingly, around school I've become the "binder guy", the "Cornell Notes guy" and my favorite, the "AVID guy!") Last year I joked with my students that my first born son will be named "Cornell", so I'll have to inform the students at some point, but not just yet. (Cornell Notes is the second cornerstone of my program that is a unique and specific note-taking method that makes it more efficient and a better study tool).
On a very positive note, Laura has been feeling much better lately. She still has her times where she isn't doing so good, but they are becoming much more infrequent, and she is sleeping better at night. She may not agree with those thoughts, but I definitely notice my wife's personality is slowly coming back to normal!
Until the next update, we appreciate your continued best wishes/thoughts/prayers! Take care and thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!
Hello friends and family, and a special Happy Anniversary wish to my parents who celebrate their 32nd year of marriage today!!! I'm looking forward to celebrating that milestone with my amazing wife in just 29 short years!!!
Two nights ago, Laura and I went to our doctor's appointment. After some chit chat with her and seeing how everything was going, we got to the cool part of the visit! She picked up this microphone device and placed it on Laura's belly. We heard this wooshing sound, which I thought was Laura's dinner...but it turns out it was the blood rushing through her body. Then came the cool part...we heard a very rapid "thump thump thump thump." The doctor asked, "Do you hear that quick thumping? That's your baby's heart beating!" It would've taken 12 morticians to wipe that smile off of my face!!! It was the absolute coolest sound in the world. Over a month ago, we saw the baby's heart beating for the first time...and that was so awesome...but this took fatherhood to a whole new level of reality!!! I had been anticipating this appointment for weeks! I even thought that hearing the heart beat for the first time may bring tears to my eyes...but I was smiling too much for tears! I could've listened to that sound for days, but we only had a short minute or so to hear that heart beat! Thankfully, our doctor told us if we ever wanted to hear it at future appointments, we just needed to ask and she'd be happy let us hear it again!!
As for us, we are approaching the end of our first trimester. The first 12 weeks officially ends tomorrow, however, counting backwards from our April 1, 2013 due date, October 1st will be the end of our first trimester. Don't worry if you're confused...I'm barely keeping it all straight in my head anyways!!! Regardless of our progress, over the next couple of weeks, we'll begin informing people of our exciting development that we've been keeping to ourselves (and you selected few so far)!!! I told a few of the guys at school yesterday. They were thrilled and had some typical guy-insults to throw my way. One of the smart asses asked if I'd be on the business end during the delivery to catch the baby in a 3-ring binder!!! (The class I'm teaching this year is the same as last year in which I'm preparing kids for college by helping them develop various skills, including organization. The cornerstone of our organization in class involves the "extreme" use of a 3-ring binder to carry all school supplies with the students all day long. So, fittingly, around school I've become the "binder guy", the "Cornell Notes guy" and my favorite, the "AVID guy!") Last year I joked with my students that my first born son will be named "Cornell", so I'll have to inform the students at some point, but not just yet. (Cornell Notes is the second cornerstone of my program that is a unique and specific note-taking method that makes it more efficient and a better study tool).
On a very positive note, Laura has been feeling much better lately. She still has her times where she isn't doing so good, but they are becoming much more infrequent, and she is sleeping better at night. She may not agree with those thoughts, but I definitely notice my wife's personality is slowly coming back to normal!
Until the next update, we appreciate your continued best wishes/thoughts/prayers! Take care and thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!
Monday, September 17, 2012
...a heart beat away!
9/17/12
Hello everyone, and welcome to the shortest blog I'll ever write!!! Tomorrow night, we have a doctor's appointment where we'll hear our baby's heart beat for the first time!!! I don't think I need to say anything else about how awesome tomorrow night will be! It's a late appointment, so I may not post tomorrow, but I'll be sure to provide the details within the week!
As usual, thanks for sending us your best thoughts/wishes/prayers. And...thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the shortest blog I'll ever write!!! Tomorrow night, we have a doctor's appointment where we'll hear our baby's heart beat for the first time!!! I don't think I need to say anything else about how awesome tomorrow night will be! It's a late appointment, so I may not post tomorrow, but I'll be sure to provide the details within the week!
As usual, thanks for sending us your best thoughts/wishes/prayers. And...thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
School Perspective
9/6/12
Though I don't have any exciting news to relay on this blog, I am happy to report that Laura has been feeling much better lately than she had felt for a few weeks! The past few days, she's been doing really well. Tomorrow we're 10 weeks along, so hopefully her improvement means that she may be moving out of the "morning sickness" period of our adventure!
As for this post and the title, being back in the classroom has given me more perspective and how much I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a healthy baby. As I've walked through the halls the first week of school, I've noted several kids sitting in the halls...already kicked out of class. I've noticed Special Education students having meltdowns, and struggles with their new schedule/routines that they need to adjust to. We will love our baby unconditionally, but it will be a huge relief to have a healthy "normal" baby born!
I'm also reminded, too frequently, how difficult it will be to potentially raise a teenage girl. Seriously...I don't think I'm going to let my girl out of the house until she's 30...it just might be easier!!! I can't believe the outfits some parents allow their girls to leave the house in...and if they "don't know" what they're wearing, then they need to do their jobs! Let's put it this way, college girls aren't even wearing those kinds of shorts! It's definitely a difficult, and awkward occassion to help students with homework/assignments that are wearing outfits that are in clear violation of the dress code!!! Needless to say, any girl I may have will be dressing in Amish attire IF she ever leaves my house prior to her 30th birthday!!!!
Our next doctor's appointment isn't for a week and a half, so I won't have any new developments between now and then. However, should I have something to share, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted. And if for no other reason than just getting some ideas out there that are swirling in my brain (much like today) I'll be sure to post those goofy thoughts too! Until next time, we appreciate your thoughts and/or prayers for a happy and healthy baby sometime around April 1, 2013! Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary!
Though I don't have any exciting news to relay on this blog, I am happy to report that Laura has been feeling much better lately than she had felt for a few weeks! The past few days, she's been doing really well. Tomorrow we're 10 weeks along, so hopefully her improvement means that she may be moving out of the "morning sickness" period of our adventure!
As for this post and the title, being back in the classroom has given me more perspective and how much I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a healthy baby. As I've walked through the halls the first week of school, I've noted several kids sitting in the halls...already kicked out of class. I've noticed Special Education students having meltdowns, and struggles with their new schedule/routines that they need to adjust to. We will love our baby unconditionally, but it will be a huge relief to have a healthy "normal" baby born!
I'm also reminded, too frequently, how difficult it will be to potentially raise a teenage girl. Seriously...I don't think I'm going to let my girl out of the house until she's 30...it just might be easier!!! I can't believe the outfits some parents allow their girls to leave the house in...and if they "don't know" what they're wearing, then they need to do their jobs! Let's put it this way, college girls aren't even wearing those kinds of shorts! It's definitely a difficult, and awkward occassion to help students with homework/assignments that are wearing outfits that are in clear violation of the dress code!!! Needless to say, any girl I may have will be dressing in Amish attire IF she ever leaves my house prior to her 30th birthday!!!!
Our next doctor's appointment isn't for a week and a half, so I won't have any new developments between now and then. However, should I have something to share, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted. And if for no other reason than just getting some ideas out there that are swirling in my brain (much like today) I'll be sure to post those goofy thoughts too! Until next time, we appreciate your thoughts and/or prayers for a happy and healthy baby sometime around April 1, 2013! Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary!
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