wow. i am sucking at this.

i get so busy! i wish there were a way to sync my facebook statuses to my blog. ahhh, that would make my life so easy!

max is NINE months old! goodgodDAMN!!! i can't believe in just three short, SHORT months, he will be a whole year old. i want him to stay a teeny tiny baby forever. but i also love that he's a big boy i can toss around now. :)


highlights:
-says "luffoo" (i love you - trust me.), mama, dada, hi and bye, and he thinks his name is bubba. i mean, i didn't set out to make him think that, that's just what i call him!
-pulls himself up to standing!
-rolls around like a hamster in a ball.
sleeps in the crib at the lowest position due to his navy seal training. it's only a matter of time until he scales the side.
-eats a LOT! actually, we're saving on formula since he only really eats about 2 bottles a day now.
-speaking of eating... max ate a frog yesterday. lemme break it down: max was in the pack-n-play over at jen's and she looked over and saw him gnawing on something. she didn't think much of it since he had a teether in there, but upon closer inspection, found that it was, indeed, a tree frog. poor thing had jumped in there, max caught it, and started chewing the CRAP out of it. tore it in half. *insert gags here*
-wears all 9 and 12 month clothes!!! his jams are all 12 month since the 9's are too short. i remember looking at those and thinking, "he will NEVER be big enough for these!" and now i look at them and think to myself that they look like they'll only fot for a few more weeks!!!

we go for his 9-month appointment on friday. i can't wait to see how much he has grown!

the poor frog. ;)

Survey Sayyyyssssss...

We went to the neurologist yesterday and after a silent, weird examination (reflexes; expected- turn him upside down and dangle him there for a second; UNexpected), the official diagnosis is max is "completely normal". No pinched nerve, no neurological disorder, not even a muscle disformity. Just a crooked smile. He said 2-3% of the population are just born this way and it's totally fine. Actually, he looked at Max and said, "Well it certainly isn't affecting his appetite, hm?" haha.

He said it won't hinder his speech or motor skills in the least, but it WILL make him a ladykiller in about 13 years. ;)

2% of the population.... so my Max really IS one in a million. <3

8 month bits...

i can't believe max is 8 months old. i've been writing in his baby book each month, but i thought i should be writing more of the "little" things, too. like, lately, he really likes to straddle my legs while i'm sitting and he just rests his head on my bubbies and sucks his thumb. he just sits and sucks. but it makes me so incredibly happy because i can tell he feels safe and happy right there with his mommy.

his incisor came in. so he has both bottom front teeth and a fang. and it looks as though #4 is gonna be his other one. so, cool life. max the vampire. ;)

he still wakes up giggling. i know i sound like "that mom" who makes her kid sound like the best baby ever (mostly because he is, haha), but he honestly wakes himself up laughing. and when i come in and say, "goooood mooooooorning" all sing-song-y, it just makes him crack up even more.

his hair is very very red and getting very very curly as it gets longer. chris' hair is the same when it gets too long. i hope it stays this color. he has his very own, unique look. :)

i've packed away all of his 3-month clothes and most of his 6-month stuff. it really makes me sad when i have to pack up some of my favorite outfits for him.

we have to go to the neurologist on march 1st about his lip. when he was born, they said it was either a pinched nerve - war wound - or neurological. if it WAS neurological, they said it *could* inhibit his speech and/or motor skills. both of which are completely fine and perfectly on-schedule, so I think it's just a pinched nerve. (and they can't do anything about that anyway.) i hate that we have to take him, but our pediatrician says we should go just to rule out any other issue.

so anyhoo. i wish time would stand still for awhile. i wish it was summer so i could stay home with my bubba everyday. such a pickle.

Let's see...

...if I can blog from my phone! You'll know I am by the auto-capitalization. Y'all KNOW I'm too lazy for the shift key!

Sidenote: my face is breaking the fuck out like a teenager. I had cramps yesterday (never happens). I'm on 31 days (totally normal, but was 28 last month). And I felt nautious yesterday and again this morning.

Hopes are not up.

But GOODGOTDAMN, that would be batshit crazy.

alive and well.

happy 2011! ...on february 3rd.

i think so much happens, and i WANT to write about it, but i get too tired, or too busy, or just want to play with max, or chris, or whatever that i just don't.

so let's see. instead of trying to catch up, i'll just start from where i am.

my foot is killing me. i have plantar faciitis, which started RIGHT when i stopped breastfeeding, but my doctor swears one has nothing to do with the other. anyhoo, i can't walk. or run. or do anything that requires wearing cute shoes. so that sucks. i lost 5 pounds last month, but i could be doing better if i was *reallllly* watching what i eat, and of course, if i could do some kind of cardio.

max is a giant. he's 7 & 1/2 months and is about 20 pounds. he's been sitting up, rolling over, scooching, babbling, and waving... but the REALLY exciting stuff is that not only does he have a few teeth, he discovered he can CHOOSE his emotion! yesterday, when i picked him up early because he was having a rough day, he was MEAN-MUGGIN' me! like, eyebrows furled, pouty lip - everything! he was thinking, "HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME HERE ALL DAY?!?!" or something! he was so pissed, but it was hilarious!

i hate going to work and leaving my baby everyday. i mean, i do it. i have to. and it helps that i'm the first thing he sees in the morning, and when i wake him up, he smiles when he hears my voice before he even opens his eyes. but, i still wish i was with him all day. i want him to know I'M the mommy and not the nanny.

i pick him up in the middle of the night and rock him. he's not normally a "cuddler", but he doesn't wake up easy, so that's the one chance i get to just love on him for as long as i want. the best is when he wakes up for just a second, snuggles up in my neck, and goes limp again. i just love my little bubba.

i don't want to forget...

...last night when i was feeding max at about 11 o'clock. for whatever reason, he was in SUCH a giggly mood. he's a smiley kid anyway, but last night was the most adorable thing i've ever seen. he would just look at me a laugh! i would give him the bottle and he would try to drink, but he was smiling too wide to do it. so i would take it away and he would GIGGLE so much!!! i thought i was going to die. we played that game for about 20 minutes. my boy loves his momma. :)

and ps - who are we kidding?- i'm not finishing that 30 day thing. wanna know something?- ask! i'll answer!

Day 7 - My Job

(one of the projects we do for writing - coming up with better verbs that express more feeling.)


I'm just about to start my 7th year teaching 7th grade. and i'm still alive - haha. :)

i graduated college in 2002 with a communication degree. i was bartending at the time and continued to do so until my untimely firing (bartenders should be ALLOWED to be rude to assholes, by the way) about 6 months later. i originally wanted to be a communication consultant at a big company, but as it turns out, that's pretty much impossible for a young, 20ish female.
so i was jobless for about a month until i got the. worst. job. on the planet!!! -Manager of the Juniors Dept. at Dillards Deparment store. the third ring of hell as far as i'm concerned. i worked there for a year making the most ridiculous salary known to man, but i met a girl whom i became friends with. she had gone to college too and was in sort of the same situation as me. she told me about how her friend had graduated with a biology degree and couldn't find a job, so she became a science teacher.
a teacher without a teaching degree? is that possible? why yes, yes it is. you have to take a 'subject area exam'. if you pass, they consider you qualified to teach that subject. "interesting," i thought. so i looked into it and as it turned out, with my degree, i had enough credits to teach english. so i took the exam and passed. i decided to become a substitute teacher to see how i liked it, then at night, i got a job bartending close to my apartment. my first day as a sub, i got called to a middle school down the street. i got there and they didn't need me! arg! BUT, they said i was needed at the OTHER middle school closer to where i lived, so i went there. i LOVED it. 13 year-old kids are hilarious when a sub is in. like i'm an idiot! that age is great, because they get sarcasm. so i was funny, but we still got work done. turns out, the teachers liked me, so i was pretty much there everyday. then i was hired as a "permanent sub" for the school for the last semester. i knew there was an opening for english coming in the fall, so i put the word out that i really wanted it. i pestered the principal for the rest of the year and then once a week all summer until finally, she said, "fine! go to training and i'll see you in a week!" i got a job! woohoooo!!! not only a job, but a career!!! check me out!
once hired, i had a temporary certificate for 3 years. in that time, i had to complete courses to satisfy education certification. there were 5 college classes that i got done in my first year.
i've been teaching at the same middle school i started subbing in 8 years ago! i love being around kids that age all the time. they are so dramatic, fun, and still mostly child-like. 13 is a weird age, but it's that age where they're either still wearing glasses, braces, and carrying a book - OR - skinny jeans with a cell in the back pocket and eye shadow caked on haphazardly. it's fun to see everyday. and i'm pretty good at it. kids learn stuff. haha.