swimming!

This past week was horrible at school. I don't even want to discuss it. I can sum it up like this. We have "Teacher Quality Day" on Thursday but we truly need an "Administrator Quality Day". Enough said about that. I was so upset I wanted to resign. Gerhardt was supposed to be gone for the weekend installing computers and stuff in a new branch in Des Moines. Since I don't work on Friday and they put him up in the Marriott he asked if I would like to get away and go with him. He may have regretted asking that because I know he planned on leaving yet Thursday afternoon but I had to pack and packing for myself and the 2 children on short notice took awhile. Not to mention Anne had an allergic reaction to something before we left and we almost took her to the hospital. Luckily the Benadryll took care of it. It was late Thursday night when we arrived at the Marriott. We had a King size bed. It was big enough for Gerhardt and I and Anneliese. Sleeping in the same bed as Anne is very dangerous but the bed was big enough I didn't get kicked at all. It was very comfy. Gerhardt went to work on Friday and Anne and I hit the pool. Baby Kiefer sat in the stroller and fell asleep. Anne had a blast. We had to get out when Kiefer woke up and started crying. Luckily he took a long morning nap. Then we had to walk somewhere for lunch. How I wished I could use my sit and stand stroller but that again is another infuriating story. I used the single stroller and for the first time Anne's backpack leash. I usually just tell her to stay close to Mommy and she does but there is a lot more traffic in Des Moines so I didn't chance it. We enjoyed lunch at Perkins (pancakes with sprinkles are Anne's favorite). Then we went back to the hotel for a nap. At first I didn't think it was going to happen but Anne realized she could get her sleeping bag in the closet and wanted to sleep in there. She went to sleep and so did Kiefer so I actually got a nap. After the nap was supper followed by more time in the pool. Daddy took Kiefer so I could concentrate on Anne who has no fear in the water. We all slept pretty good that night. We got up and Anne and I went for one more swim. Gerhardt thought he would be done shortly after noon and we would go home. He met us to check out and go for lunch. He told me it would take him an hour, 2 tops. Well, problems arose and we were stuck in the office building for many hours. Anne entertained herself by coloring and running around the empty hallways. She finally fell asleep in my lap and I laid her down in one of the offices. Gerhardt then informed me I should look for a place for us to stay that night because it was going to be a while. He was waiting for someone to call him back. They finally called around 6 to say someone else would have to call him in the morning. The Marriott was booked with a corporate rate. Even though we will be reimbursed by the company we had to look for a cheap hotel. I found a place that looked interesting. It was a Budget Inn and it had an attacked German restaurant. It also had a pool. When we got there the restaurant was closed, the place was pretty run down and the indoor pool was an outdoor pool with a shed around it. We did swim a little but it was really cold so even Anne admitted she wanted to get out. The next morning someone was supposed to call at 10 Eastern time. Well, they got confused and waited until 10 our time. Gerhardt could then finish what he had to do. At 12:30 we finally left, got lunch and started home. We got back around 7. Anne and Kiefer slept very well as did Gerhardt and I. Poor Gerhardt had to drive back today and is staying the night tonight. He just called that he is finally done and will drive home tomorrow morning. It was a fun weekend even if I made it sound horrible. I was away from school and the household chores and I really needed that.

Mommy's Birthday

Gerhardt and Anneliese making Mommy's birthday cake. Gerhardt was going to make it at work and surprise me but didn't bring enough eggs. This way Anneliese got to help and we got cute pictures and yummy cake!
She did a pretty good job of frosting the cake.
Licking off the frosting, the best part!

3 year check

Anneliese had her 3 year well child check up on Thursday. She is very healthy and actually gained a pound. She has been 30 pounds for about 9 months but now she tips the scales at 31 pounds. She is in the 50% for height and 35% for weight. She has far surpassed all the cognitive development milestones. Can she count to 4? She can count to 30 some days but at least to 20. Does she know 3 colors. She knows a lot of colors even some obsure ones. I don't really think Anne is exceptional because her friends can do those things too. The only milestone she hasn't reached is she can't ride her tricycle. She just can't seem to get her little legs to push the pedal down. The doctor was not worried and said that was more of a 4 year old milestone anyway.

I told the doctor about the allergy test and my doubts about the findings. He said he had a letter from the allergist and went to get it. The allergist is foreign and very difficult to understand but I am still not sure what is going on. The findings he told the doctor were very different than what he told me. He said Anneliese is definitely very allergic to milk. He also stated that her egg allergy seems to be going away but not completely gone. He stated that she is definitely not allergic to wheat and mushrooms which was inconclusive in the test 2 years ago. He then stated results for peanuts and cats were inconclusive. He did go on to say that he believed her wheezing and coughing was caused by her cat allergy and the cats should be removed. She doesn't wheeze or cough! He then stated that the cat allergy may be contributing to flare ups of her eczema although that is unlikely. Anneliese's doctor is obviously a cat lover and told me not to worry about it. He didn't see any reason to get rid of the cats. He said most allergists tell people to get rid of cats no matter what. If she does start wheezing or coughing we will have to do something. I told him we bought an air purifier and he asked if that was helping anything. We haven't had it long enough to really tell. The thing is we have it set on automatic and it runs on the lowest setting most of the time and says the air is clean. Either our purifier isn't very good or our house wasn't too bad to start with. Seriously I would think there would be a lot of cat dander in the air with our 2 big hairy cats. That is where we are with that.

first week of school

Monday morning I went back to work. I was ready to go back actually. I told Anne Sunday night that she was going to Jamie's the next day. She was up before 6, got her own clothes out of the dresser and pretty much dressed herself. She was ready to go around 6:30 and kept telling me we needed to leave now. I was still in my jammies. I got everyone packed up and to Jamie's with no tears. It was much easier dropping off Kiefer for the first time for 2 reasons. First of all I know Jamie now and know she will take excellent care of my kids. I don't think there is anyone on earth I trust more than her. Secondly, I knew I was only going back to work part time and wouldn't be away from them as much as before. I need to get away from them for awhile. I did warn Jamie that Anne strongly resists naps now. I got to work on time!

We had a motivational speaker and I was impressed with the first day's presentation and pretty pumped about the new school year. When I went to pick up the kids I asked how things went. Jamie said Anne was the first one asleep at nap time and had no problems at all. I asked Jamie to come live with us. Kiefer only took an ounce of his bottle in the morning and nothing in the afternoon. I fed him at lunch time. Otherwise he did fine too. She said he didn't fuss but just refused the bottle. When I put Anne in the car she cried, "Mommy I want to stay at Jamie's and play with my friends!" This was after I asked if she missed Mommy today. She did say yes. I am glad she is so happy there.

Tuesday I learned of some new policies and the new middle school schedule. It is horrible! Kids cannot take band and choir. They have to choose and they only get it every third day. Everywhere else in the state has middle school band at least every other day if not every day. Several good kids quit band because they chose choir. The choir took an even bigger hit. This is all because one of our middle schools was labeled one of the 35 worst schools in the state because of ITBS scores. They eliminated study hall which used to be opposite band and choir so they could have longer periods for math and reading. The students who do not take band or choir take general music. Why are we punishing the music kids? They are the ones with the high ITBS scores. I could comment more but will refrain from doing so. My friend Mary who teaches general music referred to me as "having my panties on fire" over the situation. I came home rather dissolutioned on the second day of school.

Wednesday I was supposed to work a half day and it was Anne's birthday. In order to get everything done before open house I worked almost a full day. I was yelled at by Mary and Gerhardt for doing so but promise not to make it a habit. I also found out the new middle school band director has TWO lunch duties. He has an hour of lunch duty every single day. I am so glad I did not take that job!

Thursday and Friday I had off. It was weird not going to school on the first day of school. It was fine though. My schedule has not been established yet. It will be fairly random for the first few weeks while I am recruiting. I got that all set up on Wednesday.

New allergy

I took Anneliese to the allergist on Thursday. I was hoping he would tell me she had outgrown her egg allergy. I have been feeding her some eggs and she hasn't seemed to have a reaction. The test was awful. Kiefer slept in his stroller while we waited the half hour to see the doctor but as soon as they started to prick her woke up crying and wanting to eat. I realized then I should have left him with a sitter so I could have at least held her hand. She was very brave. She did exactly as the doctor told her. She didn't try to scratch her back at all but she did sit and wriggle so I could tell it itched. After they were done pricking her she sat and looked so sad. Her bottom lip was jutted out and tears ran down her cheek. It broke my heart. I moved Kiefer's stroller right next to her and put him back in it. I held his bottle in one hand and her hand in the other. At one point she layed her head on my shoulder and cried. The first test came back positive for milk, eggs, and CATS. They couldn't read the peanut result. They redid the peanut and cat tests because I told them we have 2 cats and she has never had a problem with them. Both of those tests came back positive too. The doctor explained that her cat allergy was mild but was probably the cause of her eczema. It might get worse and turn into a sneezing and wheezing allergy or she may outgrow it in a couple of years. He did suggest we get rid of the cats. My first thought was daycare. Jamie has 3 cats and I don't want to have to switch providers. The doctor thought since her allergy was mild that shouldn't be a problem as long as the place where she sleeps at night is allergen free. If her allergy gets worse we will have to make other arrangements. I expected Gerhardt would be upset by the news. I called him at work and said, "I have really bad news. Anne is allergic to cats and we have to get rid of them." He responded, "Is that all? The tone of your voice sounded like it was something really bad like we have to amputate Anne's leg."

Shortly after we got home Anne started playing with the kitties. She was hugging Ludwig and he being the great cat he is was patiently putting up with it. She calls Ludwig her kitty and Wolfie is Daddy's kitty. I don't have a kitty I guess. I don't know how she will react to getting rid of them. I think she will be very sad and look for them for awhile and then again she might not even care. If she were older it would be worse. That same night when I went to tuck Anne into bed Ludwig jumped up on her bed. He has never done that before with her in it. He curled up like he was going to sleep there too. I had to remove him from her room. She cried and said, "Ludwig wants to sleep with me Mommy!" He sat layed right outside her room in front of the door for a long time.

At this point we have not found a good home for the cats. We had hoped Gerhardt's Aunt would take them but she doesn't want them permanently. I am not sure what we will do. It would be good to keep them together but hard to get someone to take 2 adult gigantic, very hairy cats. I don't want to take them to the pound. Anne has survived this long she will make it a little longer. I have been doing a lot of research into the cat allergy and have found several sources that say you can keep a cat if you do several things. They can't ever be in the room where the person with the allergy sleeps. We can keep them out of her room I think. You should vacuum the house including furniture twice a week and steam clean the carpets twice a month. You should also get an air filter. I am lucky to get the carpets vacuumed once a week and cleaned once a year. Vacuuming the furniture only happens when it really needs it. I don't think that is possible for me! I am looking into an air cleaner though. I have read several reviews where they have worked very well for people with a cat allergy that wanted to keep their cat and had more severe symptoms than Anne. It is worth a try but I am not sure which one to get. We will need to get one whether we keep the cats or not. Even when they are gone the allergens will still be everywhere. I keep going back and forth. I know I need to do the best thing for Anne and that is getting rid of the cats. Then I think of how good pets are for kids and how much my pets meant to me as a kid. Dogs are so much work and she could be allergic to them too. We didn't test for dogs. You can't pet a fish! Gerhardt says we could get her a hamster. Yuck, Ew, Gross! The poor kid can't have cheese or ice cream and now we have to take her pets away too! Right now I am looking for a good air cleaner and still hoping to find a good home for Ludwig and Wolfie. Maybe someplace where we could still visit them.

Crazy names

For the longest time Anneliese had boring names for her stuffed animals and dolls. Her doll was Baby Doll and her brown bear was Brown Bear, and the white bear was named White Bear. I think you get the idea. She has started giving them real names except they are bizarre. Her doll is Baby Chicken. Other stuffed animals are Gilbur, Honor, Cizzy and Shaggybum. My personal favorite is Garfieldcat. Garfieldcat is a dog.

Baby Kiefer is over 12 pounds now and is wearing 3-6 month clothes. I packed away the 0-3 month clothes yesterday. It was sad but not as traumatic as I thought it might be. I think I had so many things to do that I did have time to cry about him outgrowing his baby clothes.

Zoo

Yesterday we took the kids to the Niabi zoo in the Quad Cities. Gerhardt had wanted to take Anneliese as a Daddy-Daughter Day but I wanted to go too. The plan was to leave our house by 8:00 am and get to the zoo when it opened at 9:30. The weather forecast called for mild temperatures in the morning and rain starting around noon. The rain forecast was moved back to 3:00 pm later. It is not a big zoo so I thought we could see it all in the morning and then hopefully Anne would nap on the way home. So much for planning. Kiefer didn't quite agree with the plan. Of course we weren't quite ready at 8:00 but could have left at 8:15 but Kiefer wanted to eat so I fed him and then after getting him in the carseat he puked enough to have to completely change his clothes. We left at 9 am.

The trip to my parents was horrible with Anne screaming, "I'm stuck!" the whole way. Gerhardt thought we should try playing a video on our portable DVD player for this trip. We brought along the Incredibles and the Letter Factory. 2 videos should have been enough. It wasn't that long of a trip. First of all there was construction. Then I am not sure what happened. I remember Gerhardt turning off on highway 67 like the google directions told us to and then I fell asleep. I woke up from time to time but really wasn't paying much attention. I remember going through Oneida and thinking "This isn't on the google map" I didn't say anything and dismissed it as the town was too small. Later we were in Galva and again I was thinking the same thing. Gerhardt said, "Are we on the right road? I don't think we are on 67." He was right. We were on 34 East. I have no idea how that happened. We may have gotten mixed up when we stopped on a side road to feed a hungry Kiefer. The trip that should have taken an hour and a half took more than 3 hours. We got near the zoo at 12:15 and decided to stop for lunch. We got to the zoo at 1:00. Shortly after entering the zoo, Kiefer wanted to eat again. I found a bench in a gazebo and fed him there. Gerhardt and Anneliese went off to see the animals. When we stopped for lunch I had put a disposable diaper on Kiefer. I hate disposables and never use them but I still had a few the hospital gave me and thought this would be a good time to use them. As I sat in the gazebo feeding Kiefer, I heard loud explosive pooping noises, then I felt wet. The diaper did not hold it in. Not only were Kiefer's clothes soaked but mine as well. There was even poop on the bench and on my shoe. I was not thrilled. I used cloth diapers the rest of the day. After getting that all cleaned up and him fed Gerhardt and Anne came back. They had already seen most of the zoo but Anne wanted to show Mommy things. Luckily I did pack extra clothes for Kiefer and myself since he is the puke master. I went to the bathroom and changed. Then I told Gerhardt he probably should have brought Anne by himself. The day got better. There were sprinkles from time to time but it never rained and we had a lot of fun the rest of the day. Anneliese loved all the animals and especially loved feeding the fish and ducks in the Koi pond. She wanted to go on the Carousel so we bought her a ticket and I was going to go with her. She couldn't decide which animal to ride so I decided for her. We walked around the merry go round twice trying to decide. When I put her on the horse she started crying and wanted down. She said she needed to "Sit with Daddy". There was a bench for handicapped people so I sat on that and held her there. So much for rollercoasters. She is scared of the Merry-Go-Round. We rode in the bench for the 1 minute ride that cost $2. Oh well. She had a blast the rest of the day. The weather was perfect eventhough it sprinkled a little. We left the zoo at 4:30 after feeding Kiefer again. We stopped for supper on the way and to feed Kiefer again. We got home at 8:00. Gerhardt and I were very sick of hearing the Incredibles and especially the Letter Factory. We need to get more DVDS for the next trip. The DVD was a great idea there was no whining unless the movie stopped. She did take a half hour nap.

I asked Anneliese what her favorite animal was when we got home. She said it was a brown and pink Elephant. We didn't even see an elephant. They were inside when we went by their pen. Then I decided to be more specific and ask what animal she liked the best that we saw today. She said she liked the monkey. We saw several monkeys. Gerhardt said she got most excited about the Bear and Zebra. It was a fun day for all and I was glad a went along in the end.

4 am thoughts

It is 4 am and my son woke up wanting to eat. He has been sleeping until at least 5 but this morning wanted to get up earlier. He must not be too hungry because he is laying on the boppy pillow looking up at me and giving me that killer smile of his that could melt any heart. Right now I am tired and thinking, "yes you are adorable now EAT so I can go back to bed!"

I am not sure why it hits me so hard but another one of my high school classmates died on Sunday. He wasn't a close friend. I did work with him at Pizza Hut, my high school job, but have only really talked to him once in the last 20 years. That was 2 years ago when another classmate died of cancer. Matt, the deceased had been diagnosed with ALS. ALS is a form of muscular dystrophy. My Dad has another form of muscular dystrophy so I know a little bit more about the disease then most people do although I am certainly not an expert. Fortunately my Dad's form of MD is the mildest, slowest progressing kind and probably will not kill him. ALS is the fastest progressing kind. Matt and my Dad were the same age when they were diagnosed and my Dad will be 72 in August. Anyway when I talked to Matt 2 years ago he was in his second year after the diagnosis and I remember thinking, "Wow, he is doing great!" I guess after that he started to go downhill and this last year was a very fast decline. He leaves behind a wife and 3 children. Why has this affected me so? It is the reminder of my own mortality? As I was reading his obituary I was thinking. " There shouldn't be a 38 year old on this page. " When I talked to Matt 2 years ago he had quit his job and was concentrating on spending as much time with his family as possible and just enjoying life. He didn't worry about getting money for them just gave them as much of himself as he could. It is crazy to think about how fast something like ALS or cancer can strike. We all should take a lesson from Matt and live each day to the fullest and let our families know how much we love them every day!

Sleeping through the night is getting closer

Kiefer has slept until a little past 5 am the past 2 mornings. I know that seems early but for a baby not so bad. Anneliese slept through the night (until 6 am) at 4 weeks but Kiefer has been wanting a 2 am snack pretty consistently. Maybe soon he will allow me to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That is a parent's dream! I hope he gives his sister the message too.

Food allergies and doctor's appointments

I have been wondering if Anneliese has outgrown her egg allergy because she has accidentally eaten things with mayonaise in them when we were at other people's houses and had no reaction. I tried to feed her scrambled eggs last week but she told me she couldn't eat them because they would make her sick. I taught her too well. I made french toast with soy milk the next day and she loved it. She ate 2 pieces. I think she got the equivalent to a whole egg and no reaction. YEAH! I have to put her through the allergy test again though before the doctor can give her any vaccinations grown in eggs. I know now it should be worth it. The milk allergy however is still very strong. Anne has baked goods with milk in it without any problem but last night she had a cookie at muni band. I tasted it first and no peanut taste so I thought it would be okay. We got home and she started wheezing, coughing and having trouble breathing. It really wasn't her normal milk reaction so I thought maybe she got a peanut. I called the lady who made the cookies and asked. She said no peanuts or peanut butter. She told me exactly what was in the cookies. She said milk and real butter. That may have been it. I make cookies with vegetable oil margarine and she does Jamie. It was a scary reaction. We gave her Benadryl but Gerhardt took her to the ER. I was nursing Kiefer and came when he was done. Gerhardt said she was a little better by the time they got to the ER but still thought she should be checked out. By the time the doctor got to her she was perfectly fine. The Benadryl did the trick. Gerhardt said he felt pretty silly but better safe than sorry. I told Anneliese's doctor that once and he told me to never feel silly for checking things out! By the time I got to the ER she was fine, bouncing off the walls because it was way past her bedtime. The ER doctor did prescribe some steroids just in case but I don't think they are necessary. I will give them to her just in case. She is supposed to see her regular doctor in a couple of days to follow up. I guess I will call and ask he really thinks she needs to come in. I hope Kiefer doesn't have these allergies too. They are just too scary. Gerhardt was freaked out and he never freaks out!

Speaking of Kiefer, he had his 2 month check up and is perfectly fine. He is 11 pounds 7 oz. He was 50% in weight and height. He did not enjoy his shots and screamed bloody murder. Anne barely cried when she had hers and she usually was fine afterward. He whined all afternoon. They are different kids. Let's hope he is different with the food allergies too.

Big Boy and broken strollers

Kiefer is one month old today. He is a big boy. He weighs 9 pounds and 3 oz. and is 21 inches long. Yesterday at the breastfeeding clinic there were 2 other babies that were a month old and Kiefer looked huge compared to them. He likes to eat!

Anneliese got a stroller from Kiefer as her big sister gift when he was born. She loves it and pushes it around everywhere. Yesterday I tripped over a toy in her room and ended up putting my foot through the stroller. Anneliese cried and I felt terrible. We had errands to run so I told her I would try to fix it later. Everyone we met she told, "Mommy broke my stroller." Last night it was on my to do list but I was finishing the laundry and feeding Kiefer so Gerhardt fixed the stroller. This morning Anne was very happy and said, "Mommy fixed my stroller!" I told her Daddy did it but I guess Gerhardt had told her I fixed it. It doesn't matter it is fixed and everyone is happy now.

Kiefer Josef Lachnitt is here!

Yes, I am a little late posting this but Kiefer Josef Lachnitt was born Monday, May 17, 2010 at 10:50 AM. He weighed 7 pounds 5 1/2 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. He was 27 days early but is healthy! I was getting very big and uncomfortable and kept telling people this baby was going to be huge and I hoped it came early! Monday morning I woke up and felt icky and thought I don't want to go to school but then thought I had better get up and go. This was 6 am and as I started to get up my water broke. I guess I am not going to school today after all I thought! I had felt contractions but they were very irregular and didn't really hurt so I didn't think I was in labor. I told Gerhardt but also told him I thought we had plenty of time. I took a shower and told him he would have time to do the same. I didn't have time to get a sub for school so I just called in and said no band today, I am having a baby! We got to the hospital about 7:30 am. I was already at 5 cm and 100% effaced. I was having regular contractions but wasn't feeling all of them, only the big ones. I told them I wanted an epidural. They said there might not be time, I had to have a bag of fluids via IV first. I got the bag and they said we could try the epidural. I had the catheder put in and the contractions were getting painful. They gave me one dose of medicine and it did nothing to help the pain. I asked the nurse if they could give me more and she said, "you are going to feel much better real soon. I am going to get Dr. Hays and you are going to have a baby." Dr. Hays came in and I pushed 5 times and he was here! I couldn't believe it! First of all the ultrasound tech told the nurse after I left the room but was still in ear shot that it was a girl so I was a little surprised it was a boy. I didn't tell anyone what I overheard because I didn't want to spoil the surprise and wasn't sure she was talking about me. Anneliese had been 10 days overdue, I had to be induced, had 10 hours of labor and 3 hours and 13 minutes of pushing. I felt horrible the next day. With Kiefer, 27 days early, 3 hours of labor, 10 minutes of pushing and I felt great 2 hours later. Kiefer was a little jaundice so we had to have daily blood tests for a while but he wasn't bad enough to be hospitalized. He sleeps a lot and is doing pretty good at night. He sleeps for 3-4 hours at night. Anneliese has had trouble sleeping with all the changes in her life. She did sleep through the night last night which was good. She is adjusting well. She loves her baby brother. She wants a lot of Mommy attention but that is understandable.

Kiefer right after birth
Kiefer Josef Lachnitt, born 10:50am May 17, 2010, 7 pounds 5 1/2 oz. 19 1/2 inches long.
Anneliese and her new stroller. This was her big sister gift from Kiefer.









Anneliese having fun after her bath.

Daddy and Baby Kiefer in hospital
Baby Kiefer ready to go home from the hospital in the outfit his big sister picked out for him.






Daddy and Anneliese ready to take Mommy and Kiefer home from the hospital.








Kiefer right after birth and cleaning up.

Anneliese holding Baby Kiefer for the first time. She was scared of him at first but gradually has gotten braver. Now she gets her step stool and puts it in front of his crib so she can talk to him.
Anneliese picking flowers for Mommy in the backyard.
Kiefer after his first bath at home.
Anneliese visiting Mommy in the hospital

Big Girl!

Anne has been using the potty for a long time now so this may not seem like news but everytime she has gone on the potty it has been with one of us helping her. Last night I said something like it is time for Anne to go potty. Where is Anne? She was already in the bathroom. She had her pants and underware pulled down and was sitting on the potty peeing all by herself. We were very happy and she was pretty proud of herself too. Gerhardt told her this morning how proud he was of her for doing that last night. She said, "I did a great job!"

We had sibling preparation class this morning. I was a little silly and I doubt she got much out of it but I don't know how much her little brain does soak up. She had fun anyway. There were 6 children there. 3 were Anne's age and the others were older, probably at least 7. The nurse talked about having a new baby at the house. Anne was so shy and so was another little girl. The 3rd girl Anne's age talked the whole time. It was very cute. They dressed the kids up in a hospital gown, booties, and a hat which Anne thought was great fun. They took their pictures and gave them a tour of the maternity ward and let them see a baby. Anne also colored a card for her new baby brother or sister. They gave us some tips on how to prepare her for the new baby. Many of the things we are already doing but it is good to know you are doing the right things and we got some new ideas too. The nurse had the kids hold a doll like a baby and change a diaper. Anne was very serious and paid attention. When it was her turn to try she did a really good job. The serious look on her face was pretty funny though.

Steroids = tired Mommy

Anneliese had another asthma attack yesterday so we have another round of steroids and breathing treatments. The doctor thought she might have a little pneumonia too. Yesterday she was miserable so I stayed home from school today. Today she is fine. She is absolutely crazy hyper. She did not nap. I tried even laying down with her on her bed. I feel asleep but was awaken by her jumping on me. She is laying on the floor now. I don't know if she is finally tired or if she is just mad because she put her nebulizer mask on Ludwig and I took it off.

Yesterday was the big day for pink slips in the school district. If you were reassigned you were notified earlier. I got a lovely letter stating that I was reassigned elementary vocal music at Sunnyside Elementary. I was less than thrilled. The school board had not voted on the cuts yet but for some reason the union decided to go ahead and reassign people. The board did vote on Monday night and 5th grade band was not eliminated. It was put to part time though. I had to apply for the job. No one else wants it so it isn't a big deal. I was just annoyed. 28 1/2 positions were cut Monday night as well as a one million dollar property tax increase. Of course the teacher's union is asking for a raise so they had to add that million dollars into the budget even though negotiations are not over. 20 of those positions cut could be saved if the union would have taken the districts offer of a salary freeze. Many districts in the area are getting a pay cut. I would have been very happy with a salary freeze. Now I will get only half my salary and no benefits. Thank you BEA! I complained to one the union heads about being the band director cut even though I am not the least senior and definitely not the weakest link. He told me, "I am sorry you are not getting your plum job back next year but be happy you have a job. You just need to learn to adapt." I haven't ever had to adapt before in the other 2 times I was reassigned because of some stupid union rule. (sarcasm) My plum job of traveling to 6 schools in the 5 days! What kind of fruit is my job now that I have to go to all those schools in 2.5 days?

I am at 33 weeks in my pregnancy and ready to have this baby! I don't sleep well already and am so tired. Speaking of tired, Anneliese is asleep on the living room floor. I guess she needed a nap after all. Of course it is time for a breathing treatment now. Back to the baby, everything is good there. With Anneliese I measured small at most appointments but with this one I am measuring big. I hope that just means this one will come earlier, not that it is going to be huge!

Crazy children and weird places to sleep

I had a doctor's appointment today and since we are on spring break I took Anne along. When the nurse found the heartbeat I told Anne that was the baby she was hearing. She said, "The baby is crazy!" The nurse got a kick out of that!
Everything was good at the appointment. I passed the glucose screening with flying colors and the baby is no longer in breech position. I measured exactly what I should. I am one pound lighter than I was the day I delivered Anneliese. That was the heaviest I have ever been in my life. Oh boy, I am afraid of how big I may be by June!

Anneliese has taken to sleeping on the floor since we took her binkies away. She gets out of bed and curls up on a tiny pillow on the floor. It is always in the same spot between her toy box and her play kitchen. She slept there all last night, for her nap today and is sleeping there again tonight. I just make sure she has plenty of blankets to keep her warm. I guess we didn't need to buy her a bed.

I am having trouble sleeping already. I just can't get comfortable or stay comfortable. All the extra weight is causing me hip and back pain. That is why I am blogging at 1 am. I have a little more than 2 months left too. I may try sleeping in the chair since I tend to fall asleep there when I don't want to.

Aquaphilic Ointment

We put Aquaphilic Ointment on Anne every night before bed for her Ezcema. I leave the jar by the bed. We call putting the ointment on "getting goopy". Friday night she must have been bored. About an hour after she went to bed I heard crying. I went in her room to she a little girl covered in "goopy". She was saying, "I made a big mess!" At first I was horrified by the mess but then had to laugh. I let the child sit and cry while I looked for the camera because it was hilarious. The entire left side of her face was caked with white ointment. Her binky was even covered. It was all over her jammes, sheets and pillow. Of course there was some on the floor too. Unfortunately I could not find the camera but got the girl cleaned up. She managed to empty most of an almost full jar or ointment. Now that is no longer stored by her bed.
I am trying to break her of her binky this week. She doesn't need it. If we have a babysitter she goes to sleep without it. She hasn't used one at daycare most of the school year but demands one at home. I told her the binky fairy came and took the binkies to a little baby who needed them because big girls like her don't need binkies anymore. I don't think she bought it. She cries for a while but then goes to sleep so I am hoping she will be over it by the time my Spring Break is over. She had been driving me nuts because she loses it in the night and then cries until I come find it. She has woken me up more in the last month then she did as a tiny baby so I decided that was enough of the binky!
Today, Anne went with Gerhardt's Aunts to Cedar Rapids. She had fun. I asked her what she did and who she saw. She said she saw cows and a farm house. I think that was on the way home. She did eventually tell me she saw Ethan and Ali, popped bubbles, went on the swings and slides with Emily, and then something about dancing that didn't make any sense. I had a list of things I wanted to get done while the child was not here to bother me. I only got one of those things done which was make reeds but at least I got that done. Next time someone offeres to take Anneliese, I need to send the cats along too. They kept trying to help the process along.
This week I have to get the baby's room ready and get some serious cleaning done. Wish me luck!

Sheet tent

Anneliese and Daddy are having a great time with their sheet tent. Anne gets in it and goes crazy. She gets even more excited when the kitties get in it too. She now says that she is a kitty too.

She told our daycare provider yesterday she was having a little sister. She has said that before but then says her little sister will be a baby boy. Yesterday she said it will be a baby girl. We don't know and won't find out until the baby is bo

My job is on the final cut list for budget cuts. The superintendent is considering letting me keep my job part time though. I have not heard back from him and it has been almost a week so I don't know. They are not eliminating 5th grade band however just a teacher. As it is worded now that teacher is me but if they change the wording to a band director it will not be me. The high school director is pushing for them to do that. Then I will teach at Aldo Leopold, the new middle school that I helped design and do half of my current job. That will be a lot so I don't think they could possibly give me lunch duty but who knows.

My sweet girl

Tonight I was having a bit of a pity party for myself because I am losing my job. I was crying and Anneliese brought in a plastic ice cream cone and said, "Mommy you need some ice cream." Then she hugged me, patted my back and said, "it will be okay, Mommy." That actually made me cry more but a different kind of tears.

Anne being girly

Anneliese would not stand for barrettes or ponytails in her hair as a younger child. None of that for her! She would rip them right out. She also hates dresses and I only put one on her once in a while for Church. She will tolerate it for Church but demands it be taken off as soon as we get home. There are 5 girls and 3 boys at daycare and Anne plays with the boys but that is all fine. She loves to roll in dirt and little kids should do that. She has suddenly taken to wanting barrettes in her hair. I had some I bought when she was really little but they didn't do much because they were small. She wants them in all the time. I bought her some new ones at the store with flowers. Gerhardt almost puked at how girly they were. We did need another set of sheets for her bed though. I gave her the choice between flowers and airplanes and she looked at me like I was crazy for asking and said, "Airplanes!" Today she wore a dress Georgia bought her and her flower barrette and was very cute and girly all day.

Update

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while. There is a lot to say. Not much of it is good though. First of all we do have a new car. Gerhardt found a 2008 Ford Fusion with only 14,000 miles on it in Maquoketa and we paid only $12,000 for it. I think we got a good deal. It is a manual transmission but that I what I learned to drive on and it came back pretty quickly. Gerhardt doesn't have as much experience with a manual but it is picking it up pretty fast too. I am now wondering if we should have waited though and not spent the money. We may not need 2 cars next year.

The school district needs to cut 2.8-3.8 million dollars from next year's budget. A committee of I don't know who gave the school board 4 different plans with different teachers on them. My job was listed on every list. They also had that cutting me would save the district $78,000. ?????? I don't think so, they don't pay me that much even with benefits and the 5th grade band does not cost the district much at all. One of the plans cuts 6 music positions, mine, another middle school band director, the entire orchestra program and 2 vocal teachers. It also cuts elementary art. Who wants to send their kids to our school now! I don't think that one will happen but it looks like my job will go. Unfortunately they would offer me another position but it would be elementary general music because of a retirement. One of the middle school band teachers is least in seniority and if life was fair I would get to take her job but it isn't so I am screwed. I would have to resign because me and kindergarten is just not going to happen. If I were cut and not reassigned then I could get unemployment benefits and call back rights for when an opening occurs. One of the other band teachers is going to retire in 2 years. I can take a year maternity leave but then would have to come back and teach general music for a year. I think I will do that anyway in case Ted decides to retire early. The superintendent has not put forth his plan yet though. He told the elementary art teacher there would be no cuts in art or music in his plan so who knows. The school board decides though. I am going to try to talk to the superintendent and tell him I would be willing to go to part time and not get benefits until Ted retires. Then I could take his job and go back to full time. By then Anneliese will be in kindergarten. Putting me to part time would save the district a lot of money too. I also could go teach at Notre Dame 5-12 band. I would get paid half what I am getting paid now and would be a lot more time. They do offer free daycare and free tuition for my kids though. There is a lot to think about and I have been very stressed about it. I know I need to calm down because worrying isn't going to change anything and it is not good for the baby but I just can't help it. I have liked my job this year and fear if I resign will never get another teaching job again. I don't know what else I would do.

Through all this stress I managed to catch another cold. Anne has it too. This morning she woke up at 6 screaming that she had made a mess. Her bed was covered in puke. I picked her up and said, "let's go take a bath." She said, "no, potty first." Okay, yes potty first. Then she wanted bear. I picked up bear and her face was covered with puke. Anne freaked out. "Bear is hurt." I told her bear just needed a bath like her. Everyone is cleaned up and she seems to be okay now. She is eating breakfast. I think she got to coughing and it made her throw up.

Car Shopping

Car Shopping has not been too bad so far. We went to Shottenkirk in Burlington and got a good salesman who was not pushy. He asked what we were looking for and since we really had no idea suggested we try 4 different cars. I let Gerhardt test drive them by himself to narrow down the field and so we didn't have to put a car seat and Anneliese in each trip. He tried a Kia Optima, Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, and a Honda Accord. I think we are leaning toward the Fusion. Now we are just checking out prices and hopefully will have some new wheels soon.

Anne and the Baby

Friday night we babysat for the orchestra teacher's 3 month old daughter, Annabelle. We were interested to see if Anneliese would share her toys and how she would react to the baby. When she first saw the baby she got very excited and said, "It's a BABY!" Annabelle dropped her binky and Anneliese immediately retrieved it and gave it back to her. Annabelle's mother told me she had eaten a little over an hour ago but Annabelle was acting hungry. She cried a little and Anneliese said, "Mommy, the baby is hungry" in a tone that said, "Get to work lady." I heated up the formula and Annabelle took it down immediately. Then she was happy. Anneliese brought a blanket for her, and different toys, she even shared her beloved bear. Anneliese didn't mind the baby in her bouncy seat or even in her crib later. She was a little disappointed when she tried to roll her the ball and the baby did not roll it back. She is going to be a great big sister, I hope. She has told me she wants her little sister to be a baby boy. She will get one of those.

Ludwig is the best cat!

This morning Anne spent quite a bit of time chasing Wolfie around the house. I heard hissing and laughing and then either, "Wolfie is sad." or "Wolfie is scared." Yes, Anne leave him alone. After Wolfie finally found a good hiding place I walked into the living to see Ludwig completely wrapped in green tissue paper with only his head sticking out and Anne trying to pick him up. Ludwig wasn't fighting it at all. What a cat! Anne said, "Kitty wanted a blanket." I told her I didn't think the kitty wanted a blanket and got her distracted from him. He wore the tissue paper for a while before finally getting it off.

Anneliese is in the "kiss it and make it better" stage which is very cute. At least she doesn't cry when she falls. She will say, "I hurt my finger." I kiss it and it is better. Some hurts need multiple kisses. Now when Bear falls (or is dropped) I have to kiss him too.

Snow day number 2

I am really not sure why we aren't school but it must be bad in the country but most of our students are in town. I don't know, no school and I realized yesterday I thought our make up day was going to be June 3, nope June 4. This one will be June 7. I won't be there. I will either have just had a baby or be very unhappy that baby has not come yet.
Anne and I ran a few errands this morning and had lunch with Daddy. She held up one of her french fries and said, "Mommy this is a fish pie." At first I was confused. I thought she was confused with her chicken strips then I realized she was mispronouncing french fry. She is growing and learning so much. I think she has actually put on some weight which is good in that she can finally wear her 2T clothes bad for pregnant Mommy who already has backaches and has to pick her up. She loves to sing and is constantly singing. I love it. She crawls up on the piano bench and pounds on the keys while singing. Sometimes it is a real song and sometimes it is completely made up. One night she was making up a song and Gerhardt and were dying laughing on the couch because it was so funny. She stopped, looked at us, and said, "That was a good song!" She loves to read books and many of our books she can now read to herself because she knows them by heart. She can recognize her letters most of the time and knows what sounds they make. I know my daycare provider works with the kids a lot on this. She is not as good at her numbers. She can count to twenty but doesn't recognize the written numbers as well. She loves to hug her stuffed animals and Ludwig. Wolfie still runs in fear. Ludwig gets so much love that he really doesn't want. Sometimes we hear Anne yelling, "Ludwig (actually she says Wudvig) come back!" She is sleeping in her big girl bed most of the time and has figured out she can get out of it and play with toys on her own. She doesn't get out at night but naptime is interesting. One day I told her I would be back to check on her and if she wasn't in bed Mommy would be mad. Well, when I checked on her she was in bed. She had 4 puzzles and several other toys on the bed and was having a great time but she was on the bed and hadn't left it. She could reach all those things from her bed. Now, I have to say Mommy will check if you are napping. Sometimes she is out of bed and makes a mad dive for the bed like I won't notice or something. Today she was very tired and went to sleep right away though.