Sign of the Week, “I Love You.”
I decided that the “Sign of the Week” needed to be “I Love You” this week since it was Valentine’s Day. This sign has special significance to me. When I was very young my dad began signing this to me before we left one another at any location. Not only did we do the sign normally but we also did it in a circular motion signifying that we “loved each other more than anyone in the whole world.” It was our special way of communicating to one another. We still sign this to one another when we are parting ways and my dad always signs all of his cards to me with the same message. Also when my little cousin, Chase, was in preschool he attended the school where I teach. I taught him the “I Love You” sign so that when he passed me in the hallway or saw me in a part of the school he could sign to me and I could sign back. When he first began preschool he would jump out of line in the hallway and run over to hug me. I taught this sign to him as a way for him to know that I loved him even when I saw him from a distance and that he didn’t necessarily need my “physical attention” to know that I cared about him at that same moment. It was our “secret sign” throughout the school!
Speaking of Chase, we celebrated his 7th birthday on Saturday at the bowling alley. Eric of course could not come to the party because he was laid up in bed so Mrs. Thames and I rode together. Eric and I gave Chase a Mancala game and Legos for his birthday since that is what he always plays when he comes to our house. He had a good time bowling with all of his friends. When we left the party Mrs. Thames and I went to a craft show where a few of her friends were selling their products. We walked around for a bit and I picked up lots of business cards from vendors. Since I don’t know the sex of the baby yet I can’t buy a whole lot of things. So instead I get business cards and write down the items that I liked on the back of the card. When Baby Thames gets here I can contact those people to buy some of the things I liked in the appropriate colors.
It also snowed today, again. Eric and I have been joking around saying that Baby Thames will probably be 10 years old before he/she sees snow since so much of it is happening this year and it usually doesn’t come around like this in our area except for about every 10 years!
Later that night Eric was feeling just a little better. He felt like he wanted to get out so we went to dinner (a pre-Valentine’s dinner) with our friends. We also came back to our house to hang out for a bit and watch some of the Olympics before they went home.
On Sunday it was Valentine’s Day. I got up and went to church while Eric slept. We had already planned to go down to my grandparents’ house to do our taxes this day so I went ahead and went without Eric. Our weekends from now until the baby comes are pretty filled up so we figured we had better go ahead and get it done. Also since Baby Thames is due to arrive 1 day after Tax Day we didn’t want to get down to crunch time and have a lot going on. I hated to leave my Valentine at home but he was still in some pain and needed to rest. So, Quila and I drove to Sandbridge and spent the afternoon with Mom-Mom and Dad-Dad. Mom-Mom took a picture of Quila and I in our matching pink sweaters for Valentine’s Day. If you think this is bad imagine what I’ll be like if I have a little girl! Dad-Dad and I got the taxes done and we all had lunch together before I went home. When I got home Eric was still resting and so Quila and I rested with him. It was a quiet, but nice Valentine’s Day. Even with Eric still in an uncomfortable state he managed to read Baby Thames a Valentine’s story that night before bed. This was the highlight of my Valentine’s Day…my sweetheart, my unborn child, my dog, and I all snuggled up in bed reading, “The Valentine Bears.” Flowers, candy, or extravagant presents could never measure up to this!
On Monday was President’s Day and we had to go to school due to a make-up from the snow. When I left school I went to the mall. I officially had to break down and buy some maternity pants for work. Up until now I have used the Belly Band and my normal pants…just not buttoned. I can still use my own pants but it is starting to become more and more uncomfortable. I found 4 great pairs of maternity pants that I can wear to work that are super comfy! I also found some tops to wear (some maternity, some not). I had fun shopping. When Eric got off of work he had to go see a UPS doctor. He needed to be cleared to go back to work on Tuesday from his back injury.
On Tuesday Eric was sent home from work on short-term disability. His boss and other human resource personnel decided that he needed to be at home rather than at work with his back condition. He also started his physical therapy today. He is attending therapy at the same place where my cousin Amber works. He will be going 2 times a week for at least a month to try to get relief of his back and leg pain. Later that night we attended Part 3 of our “Childbirth Education” class. We watched another video and talked about writing a Birthing Plan. We also went on a tour of the hospital. This is not the hospital that Eric and I are delivering at but we went along for the tour anyway to hear the valuable information that was to offer.
For Ash Wednesday our family has a little tradition of meeting up to eat our 1 meal at Long John Silvers and then go to the Ash Wednesday service. This year, for the first time, I chose the 2 small meals option so that poor Baby Thames didn’t have to starve all day. After school I met my family to eat before attending Mass. This year I had a hard time figuring out what to give up for Lent. I decided (kind-of selfishly) that I would not give up anything food related since I was going to be having showers all through Lent. I thought that it might be rude to not eat some of the foods at my own shower when the hostesses had fixed them. I didn’t want to give up desserts for example and then not be able to eat my own Baby Shower cakes. Figuring out what to give up is not always an easy task! After Mass we all went to a viewing for a close friend of the family. Later that night I started coming down with a cold. I have been very fortunate throughout my pregnancy to not get a lot of the colds that my students pass around the classroom. It’s hard having a cold when you can’t take anything to make you feel better and you already have “troubled breathing patterns” when you’re pregnant. I hope to get over it soon.
On Thursday Eric and I attended a “Baby and Dog” class. The class was FANTASTIC. We learned a lot of valuable information about what to do with your dog: 1) before baby comes 2) when baby arrives 3) when baby becomes mobile! Eric recognized the presenter of the class and she did him as well because he had delivered packages to her place of business before. She was a dog trainer and had a wealth of knowledge to share with everyone. As an Ice Breaker we all had to go around and share the age and breed of our dogs. Eric and I were the only people with a Chihuahua. She talked to us specifically a few times about that breed when she was referring to different animal characteristics/personalities. I learned a great deal in the class. I was truly amazed at how much the information that she presented about dealing with dogs mirrored the information that I present about children. She talked about patience, consistency, modeling, setting expectations and boundaries, etc. She was very positively spoken throughout her presentation. She also brought along her assistant, “Toby,” to help with the demonstrations. He was a very well-behaved and sweet dog. When Eric and I got done we both talked about how grateful we were for our little “Quila.” Even though she barks a lot and can be very picky with her foods she’s overall a great dog and is certainly not as bad as how some of the other participants described their dogs.
On Friday at school I bought a few more books for Baby Thames. I have lots of books in my classroom but most of them are not infant/toddler friendly. The new books I got for the baby have cardboard and textured pages. After school I picked up Mrs. Thames and we went to several baby boutiques and maternity stores. We had a great time looking at all the cute baby things. I didn’t buy anything for Baby Thames because much of it was gender related but I did buy a cute jean jacket for myself at Now Showing! Later that night we went out and got pizza (cheese of course for me since it was Friday).
I decided that the “Sign of the Week” needed to be “I Love You” this week since it was Valentine’s Day. This sign has special significance to me. When I was very young my dad began signing this to me before we left one another at any location. Not only did we do the sign normally but we also did it in a circular motion signifying that we “loved each other more than anyone in the whole world.” It was our special way of communicating to one another. We still sign this to one another when we are parting ways and my dad always signs all of his cards to me with the same message. Also when my little cousin, Chase, was in preschool he attended the school where I teach. I taught him the “I Love You” sign so that when he passed me in the hallway or saw me in a part of the school he could sign to me and I could sign back. When he first began preschool he would jump out of line in the hallway and run over to hug me. I taught this sign to him as a way for him to know that I loved him even when I saw him from a distance and that he didn’t necessarily need my “physical attention” to know that I cared about him at that same moment. It was our “secret sign” throughout the school!
Speaking of Chase, we celebrated his 7th birthday on Saturday at the bowling alley. Eric of course could not come to the party because he was laid up in bed so Mrs. Thames and I rode together. Eric and I gave Chase a Mancala game and Legos for his birthday since that is what he always plays when he comes to our house. He had a good time bowling with all of his friends. When we left the party Mrs. Thames and I went to a craft show where a few of her friends were selling their products. We walked around for a bit and I picked up lots of business cards from vendors. Since I don’t know the sex of the baby yet I can’t buy a whole lot of things. So instead I get business cards and write down the items that I liked on the back of the card. When Baby Thames gets here I can contact those people to buy some of the things I liked in the appropriate colors.
It also snowed today, again. Eric and I have been joking around saying that Baby Thames will probably be 10 years old before he/she sees snow since so much of it is happening this year and it usually doesn’t come around like this in our area except for about every 10 years!
Later that night Eric was feeling just a little better. He felt like he wanted to get out so we went to dinner (a pre-Valentine’s dinner) with our friends. We also came back to our house to hang out for a bit and watch some of the Olympics before they went home.
On Sunday it was Valentine’s Day. I got up and went to church while Eric slept. We had already planned to go down to my grandparents’ house to do our taxes this day so I went ahead and went without Eric. Our weekends from now until the baby comes are pretty filled up so we figured we had better go ahead and get it done. Also since Baby Thames is due to arrive 1 day after Tax Day we didn’t want to get down to crunch time and have a lot going on. I hated to leave my Valentine at home but he was still in some pain and needed to rest. So, Quila and I drove to Sandbridge and spent the afternoon with Mom-Mom and Dad-Dad. Mom-Mom took a picture of Quila and I in our matching pink sweaters for Valentine’s Day. If you think this is bad imagine what I’ll be like if I have a little girl! Dad-Dad and I got the taxes done and we all had lunch together before I went home. When I got home Eric was still resting and so Quila and I rested with him. It was a quiet, but nice Valentine’s Day. Even with Eric still in an uncomfortable state he managed to read Baby Thames a Valentine’s story that night before bed. This was the highlight of my Valentine’s Day…my sweetheart, my unborn child, my dog, and I all snuggled up in bed reading, “The Valentine Bears.” Flowers, candy, or extravagant presents could never measure up to this!
On Monday was President’s Day and we had to go to school due to a make-up from the snow. When I left school I went to the mall. I officially had to break down and buy some maternity pants for work. Up until now I have used the Belly Band and my normal pants…just not buttoned. I can still use my own pants but it is starting to become more and more uncomfortable. I found 4 great pairs of maternity pants that I can wear to work that are super comfy! I also found some tops to wear (some maternity, some not). I had fun shopping. When Eric got off of work he had to go see a UPS doctor. He needed to be cleared to go back to work on Tuesday from his back injury.
On Tuesday Eric was sent home from work on short-term disability. His boss and other human resource personnel decided that he needed to be at home rather than at work with his back condition. He also started his physical therapy today. He is attending therapy at the same place where my cousin Amber works. He will be going 2 times a week for at least a month to try to get relief of his back and leg pain. Later that night we attended Part 3 of our “Childbirth Education” class. We watched another video and talked about writing a Birthing Plan. We also went on a tour of the hospital. This is not the hospital that Eric and I are delivering at but we went along for the tour anyway to hear the valuable information that was to offer.
For Ash Wednesday our family has a little tradition of meeting up to eat our 1 meal at Long John Silvers and then go to the Ash Wednesday service. This year, for the first time, I chose the 2 small meals option so that poor Baby Thames didn’t have to starve all day. After school I met my family to eat before attending Mass. This year I had a hard time figuring out what to give up for Lent. I decided (kind-of selfishly) that I would not give up anything food related since I was going to be having showers all through Lent. I thought that it might be rude to not eat some of the foods at my own shower when the hostesses had fixed them. I didn’t want to give up desserts for example and then not be able to eat my own Baby Shower cakes. Figuring out what to give up is not always an easy task! After Mass we all went to a viewing for a close friend of the family. Later that night I started coming down with a cold. I have been very fortunate throughout my pregnancy to not get a lot of the colds that my students pass around the classroom. It’s hard having a cold when you can’t take anything to make you feel better and you already have “troubled breathing patterns” when you’re pregnant. I hope to get over it soon.
On Thursday Eric and I attended a “Baby and Dog” class. The class was FANTASTIC. We learned a lot of valuable information about what to do with your dog: 1) before baby comes 2) when baby arrives 3) when baby becomes mobile! Eric recognized the presenter of the class and she did him as well because he had delivered packages to her place of business before. She was a dog trainer and had a wealth of knowledge to share with everyone. As an Ice Breaker we all had to go around and share the age and breed of our dogs. Eric and I were the only people with a Chihuahua. She talked to us specifically a few times about that breed when she was referring to different animal characteristics/personalities. I learned a great deal in the class. I was truly amazed at how much the information that she presented about dealing with dogs mirrored the information that I present about children. She talked about patience, consistency, modeling, setting expectations and boundaries, etc. She was very positively spoken throughout her presentation. She also brought along her assistant, “Toby,” to help with the demonstrations. He was a very well-behaved and sweet dog. When Eric and I got done we both talked about how grateful we were for our little “Quila.” Even though she barks a lot and can be very picky with her foods she’s overall a great dog and is certainly not as bad as how some of the other participants described their dogs.
On Friday at school I bought a few more books for Baby Thames. I have lots of books in my classroom but most of them are not infant/toddler friendly. The new books I got for the baby have cardboard and textured pages. After school I picked up Mrs. Thames and we went to several baby boutiques and maternity stores. We had a great time looking at all the cute baby things. I didn’t buy anything for Baby Thames because much of it was gender related but I did buy a cute jean jacket for myself at Now Showing! Later that night we went out and got pizza (cheese of course for me since it was Friday).
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