Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

...to orchestra I went, this afternoon, for a 1/2 day of subbing.

It was my first day job since the kiddo's birth and his first time at a "real" babysitter's house ("real" meaning someone other than family or friends/aka the first person we've ever paid to watch the guy). Andrew went to Mrs. Debby's for 5 hours (my full-day subbing gigs will land him there for 9 hours). I helped a sweet group of 5 high school chamber orchestra students with notes/rhythms and then I was asked to cover a pre-calculus class for the last period of the day.

Mrs. Debby, mother of one of Jon's seniors, is a wonderful lady who sanely watches 8 toddlers daily BY HERSELF. She serves them breakfast and lunch and seems to really have it all together any time I call or drop in. She said Andrew looked for me and then cried a little this afternoon, following an initial 15-minute honeymoon period, but then all was well. Phew.

That was it. No trauma of any kind. Andrew lived through the day. I lived through the day. Maddie and Dora had free roam of the house all day and the linoleum remained intact (this is a BIG deal, trust me. Remember THIS?!?). And honestly, (you'd better sit down for this statement) both Andrew and I actually BENEFITED from our experiences today. I enjoyed being a teacher again in some manner and Andrew got to play with some new friends (as well as Mrs. Debby's dog). I have rarely seen him as exhausted as he was this evening.

Of course, if I had my druthers, I'd get to be home with the munch until the day when I first shuffled him off to Kindergarten. I have dearly loved my full-time job these past two years. However, the numbers in the bank account haven't been kidding; it was high time for a second paycheck around here. In addition to the part-time substituting, I have picked up a couple of gigs accompanying kids at the upcoming solo and ensemble festival. So, the good ol' bacon is definitely being brought home by me again. Not the whole pig, of course, but at least a few slices.

Home Again, Home Again, Rigity Jig

Andrew and I just got home to Columbia from a 10-day trip to WV. I decided to take him for what will probably be the last solo time, because I officially start substitute teaching in the district here this Monday and it's off to the babysitter's for him.

West Virginia was fun and therapeutic. We visited Morgantown, Harrisville, and Charleston, and the weather was good enough to get outside a good bit. Here are the highlight pics:

Playing on his new 4-wheeler at Aunt Phyl's

Hiking at Aunt Rena's Down the slide at Tugboat Depot

Danny Connoley keeping the boys in line. We visited the Morgantown school where I taught music for 7 years and Andrew decided to help the Phys. Ed. teacher sweep her gym. I miss teaching with Debi! We had fun.

We had to check out the rail trail, of course.

Ah, out with the girls at Cheddar's. Miss them all very much.

We did visit the Welch cemetery, as always, but this is all Andrew saw of it. I got out of the car to chat a bit with Dad but Andrew slept right through it.

So, another fun trip over. The whole family will very likely head up there this summer, and we're looking forward to that.

Skinny Youngins

Elle J tagged me! The task was to post the first photo of you and your (now) spouse in the dating era. This is definitely the oldest one I can lay my hands on, taken October 2001. We started dating in August of that year and took this trip to Elkins, WV to check out the gorgeous fall leaves. I was almost 29 and Jon had just turned 28 (a nine-month age span he delights in reminding me of almost daily). It was really windy on this overlook so the weird thing I'm doing with my hands must be getting hair out of my face. Geez. I also love that Jon obviously took this photo of us; he does that a lot, long arms and all. It's a bit of a bummer, though, to feel as if this wasn't terribly long ago, and we look waaay young and pretty darn skinny.

So, there ya have it, Elle J! Thanks for the tag. And NOW, drumroll please.... I tag Heidi, Jennifer, and Lori. Whatcha got, girls???

Can't Keep a Good Man Down

Andrew is 21 months old today. He has an upper respiratory viral infection which has us giving him albuterol through a nebulizer and mask a couple of times a day. He looks like a fighter pilot but sits surprisingly patiently when getting the treatments (getting read to by Daddy never hurts... a little Truck Duck goes a long way).Even though he's got a nasty cough, he feels fantastic and hasn't been slowed down one bit. Mom's in town and brought a table/chairs set that both she and I used as children. Now, Andrew does his coloring there.

He was still in pretty good spirits after bathtime, wearing his most favorite dragon towel.

We even made it to the zoo yesterday to take advantage of the insanely beautiful weather in the 70s. He's posing here with Grandma Diana.

And finally, this morning, he was even in a great mood when we drug him out of bed at 6 am to participate in the March for Meals 5K through the zoo. Jon ran the 5K and I did the "fun walk" with Andrew. Jon did really well, considering that his last race was years ago.

He was ready to go for it, Elmo and cheerios in hand.

Afterward, he had a lot of fun running around the finish line area.

So, you can't keep a good man down. Happy 21-month birthday to our little fighter pilot.

And then there were six.

Here we go....

I am ecstatic to announce that Andrew will be a big brother sometime around September 21!!! Our family of five (hounds included, of course) will soon be one of six. Trips to Disney World will be much more successful; everyone will have someone to ride with. As planned, we will avoid both of the family situations we grew up in; no middle child like Jon, and no only child like myself. We have wanted this second child ever since we realized this having kids thing was pretty cool (I think that was approximately the morning after Andrew first slept through the night).

We officially found out January 7, as pictured above. Below, we have the ultrasound pic from the first confirming doc's visit on February 4. We saw the heartbeat in the little peanut.

Then, today, we got to see what looked more like a baby (and very much like an alien) and we HEARD the 150 bpm heartbeat for the first time, which of course is always especially cool. I'm 12 weeks along now, so it's looking like this kiddo is a go.

Of course, I have the routine old woman chromosomal testing in a month or so, so that's the only possible hiccup in all this happiness. Aside from that, the pregnancy has been a breeze so far; just like with Andrew, no morning sickness, just tiredness.

September just seems so far away....