Confessions of a Blogaholic

Rylee has an ever-growing vocabulary. I think she starts saying something and it takes us a few days to pick up on the new "word", but it's funny because even once she has learned a word, she sometimes trips over her tongue when trying to say it.

Words she can say and things she can do:
"Dada" and "Dadeeeeeee" (She likes to draw out ending vowel sounds)
"mama" (though she prefers saying daddy...)
"bubble"
"doggie"
"Kit Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" (Kitty Kat)
"duckie"
"Buh-bye"

She can also:
blow kisses
give "baby kisses" (those open-mouthed ones with a muah sound)
go down the stairs the right way (backwards)
open and close doors
get up and down on the couch
and she's peed in the potty twice (totally accidentally, but she did it)

Every day it's something new. She's pretty awesome!

Have I mentioned that Rylee loves to read. I mean, she LOVES to read. She will sit with a book for 10 minutes and just flip through the pages. *sigh* a girl after my own heart :)

I love the days that when they are over you can sit back and say, "Wow....today I made something of myself."

Ry has a potty. I know, she's only 13 months, probably too early, but she's a pretty smart cookie. And I figure since she sees potty training going on at the sitters, maybe she'll pick it up from the kids. But really, who WANTS to pee on this pretty thing:

If you've stuck around long enough to see this post, congrats! Sorry such LOOONG spans of time seem to keep happening between posts, but now that it's summer, I should be able to post a bit more frequently (depending on if Rylee's ok with that, lol).

The last few months, as always, have been pretty insane. This past Tuesday was my last official day with students, and unlike other years/teachers, I didn't have my countdown going. In fact, the last day caught me TOTALLY off-guard. I had stacks of graded papers that never got returned, I hadn't collected textbooks, my room was still a mess. I was completely unprepared. I really don't know what happened this year, it just went faster than all 3 of my other teaching years.

In May, I started both an Administrative Technology in Education class as well as my Administrative internship. By January, I should have finished everything necessary to apply for my admin license. Whoop! For my internship, I have to do like 110 hours of activities to fulfill 16 directives that all begin with words like "directing", "scheduling", "managing", "training", and "mentoring." I have to do 6 interviews with curriculum directors outside of my district (3 of which I already have scheduled to do in the next two weeks), attend several state and national conferences, and basically serve as my district's curriculum director's free assistant for the duration of the project. She's putting me in charge of the Race to the Top stuff assuming our district stays involved. She's also WONDERFUL because she is so well-connected and she seems so excited to work with an intern. She's asked around about me (I've heard from others), and she seems to want me to head-up some stuff. So, yay!

I also got the spot as my building's union rep for next year--Yay, again! I'm on the contract negotiations committee, and we meet Tuesday evening to negotiate with the Board. So exciting. I'm looking forward to 1) Learning how all this works, 2) Learning how to communicate in conflict situations more appropriately, and 3) Being a more active person in my profession.

In addition, Nate and I have been doing some work to the house recently. In the week before Ry's birthday, we hired a contractor to come out and do our deck. It turned out beautifully! Nate posted some pics on his Facebook page, but he did it directly from his phone, so I can't find them on the computer :( Next to our 16 x 20 deck is a 10 x 10 patio with the firepit. Next to the patio is a small line of 3 arborvitae bushes that we hope will eventually make a "natural" privacy screen. We moved the canopy and outdoor furniture onto the deck. I'd say outside of the house and Rylee's conception, the deck is one of the best investments we have ever made. We use it all the time between dinner, grilling, hanging out, playing with Ry. We sit out there a lot!! And with a DVR, who needs to be inside during this beautiful weather anyhow?

Ry's birthday was May 4, and the weekend before, we had a little party at our house. She got all up in her smash cake! I made rainbow-layered cupcakes for us to eat and a rainbow-layered cake for her. She seemed to have a blast, and we were glad to have the Ramsey family over as Rylee just loves Ethan and Aly!

Rylee gets more amazing every day. She responds to commands now (that sounds weird, sorry, I know she's not a dog!), like "go get your shoes" and "give it to daddy" and "put it in the trash." She can make it all the way up and down stairs by herself. She can communicate some, though EVERYTHING is "da da"!! She says, "bah-bah" and waves for bye-bye, goes to her high chair and grabs it to let us know she's hungry, grabs the door hand to the garage when she's ready to go somewhere. She dances ALL THE TIME--to commercials, phone ringtones, radio, toys. She LOVES going for walks and MOVING FURNITURE!! Our chairs on constantly moved across the floor :)

I've been steadily continuing to lose weight. It's crazy, actually, because no matter what I do, I'm not gaining it back. I'm still eating whole grains and lots of veggies/fruits. I take my one-a-day, 2 fish oil vitamins, and 2 calcium supps (at breakfast and dinner), and that's about it. I don't really work out outside of taking Ry on walks and playing with her. I eat a pudding cup about every other day, and I still love desserts. I guess it's just in moderation now, or something. Every time I get on the scale (whenever I think to do it), I lose about another pound. It's pretty cool, actually. I'll let you know when I hit my plateau, lol.

Well, I've got to get these last few essay exams finished, so I'm off to do that. I'll be back soon, I promise :)