Nephew Noah :)





I've been wanting to blog about my sweet baby nephew Noah for awhile now. I'm such a baby lover I hate to see how I am when I have my own kid, because my facebook is already so full of Noah pictures and he's just my nephew, haha. I just love him so much though! He's the first baby of the family in my immediate family and in my whole family he's the first baby of his generation as well. I'm sure there will be more from my sister in a few years, and hopfully from Jared and I too!

Anyways, Noah was born January 11, 2010. I'll never forget that day! It was my first day of classes for the spring semester up at EIU. I remember that I had a morning class at 8am and then I had another night class at 430 pm. I was really nervous about skipping class the first day, but I figured it was a pretty legit reason!

So after my 8am class I sped home and arrived at the hospital around one. I don't remember the exact time Noah was born, but it was only a few hours after I had been there! I guess I was just expecting Jen to be in labor allll day and night but he came pretty quickly after the pitocin was given. Little Noah was not so little, he weighed a whopping 9lbs 3 oz. That was the biggest baby in our family so far! Hopefully it remains that way! He came out with chubby cheeks and we love them, they're still there today!

I wanted to share some pictures of the little budger (as my dad has nick named him, because since the day he was born he's always been such a grunter and a squirmy little guy). He is now 8 and a half months old, so the pictures are from months 1-8.



Month 2



Month 3

month 4

month 5

month 5



 I might be a little biased, but I honestly think he's the cutest little guy ever. As he gets older I can't get over how much he looks more and more like a little man every day!



month 6- Aunt Randi didn't do well feeding him plums!




month 7




month 7



month 8

month 8

month 8- little screamer, haha so happy!

month 8- he loves uncle Jared

Needless to say, I love taking pictures of him. He's one of a kind, that's for sure! He's getting so big though! Jen (my sister, Noah's mom) is already excited about planning his first birthday party. I have no doubt it will be amazing! 





Our date :)

Yesterday Jared and I went on a date. I told him to plan it so I could just enjoy a stress free day with him! So, we drove to St. Louis and went to The CiTy Museum! I had never even heard of this place, but it's not your typical museum. This place is for adults and children. The whole museum was a huge maze of nooks and crannys to climb in and through, tunnels, slides, etc. I can't even begin to describe all of the features of this museum. There was an aquarium exhibit, a circus, a skate park, caves, a ball pit, and so on. It was a great date. We both had a lot of fun. It was nice just to spend the day together by ourselves too. After the museum we went to Union Station and bought some fudge, yum!

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caves

We will definitely be going back here, especially when we have kids some day!

Volleyball!

This past weekend I went to Mt. Pulaski to watch my sister Kate play volleyball. I'm in love with this sport. It's so fun to watch and even more fun to play! I really really really wish I would have played in high school. Since I didn't play, I try to go watch my sister play as much as I can. I am sad she is a senior this year because it'll be the last year to watch her play! I wish I was able to go to all of her games, but because of my class schedule and me being up at Eastern, it's just not possible. I'm blessed to have Friday's off from school though so I'll probably try and make it to all her Thursday night games. Anyways, this weekend was their tournament in Mt. Pulaski. She played really well! She is an outside hitter so she gets to slam the ball! Here are some pictures I took while at the games this weekend. They got 2nd in their division!

Rottweiler Puppy





Well, I never thought I'd be saying this, but Jared and I are looking into gettin a rottweiler puppy. For those of you know who me, I've grown up with golden retrievers and miniature dachshunds my whole life. From the time I was born till now we've had one of the two, if not both. So, those are the only dogs I've ever been interested in. I always pictured Jared and I getting a golden retriever puppy from my dad (he rasies them). BUT, Jared has always wanted a rottweiler. We kind of argued about this a little bit, but it's only fair that he get the kind of dog he's always wanted. So, he told me about a month ago he'd like to start looking for a rottweiler puppy. Immediately I said NO. I didn't think that we were ready for a dog 1. because we don't have a house yet 2. because we're not even married yet and 3. because we can't afford an 800 dollar dog right now. So, I never really gave it much more thought since I pretty much ruled that out right away. Well, then Jared told me last weekend that he found a place that raises their rottweilers with children, and they were near Terre Haute and ready to be picked up. Again, I said no.

Well, last night we had a little argument, and I felt really bad afterwards. He told me that it upset him that I just ruled it out immediately. He said that he wanted a dog to live with him at our house so he's not so lonely until I move in. Well after telling me that, how could I say no? The only thing hindering my decision now is the money. So I told him we just needed to start looking for a cheaper breeder. So today I found a couple in St. Louis for a couple hundered less than the other breeder was asking. I would still like to wait until we get the house which isn't too far away. I also told Jared that if he saved money for one instead of taking the money out of savings that I would agree to him getting one. So, for his birthday he is getting money from me towards a dog. I think he might ask for money from other family members as well so that he can get a dog within the next month or two. He also said he'd be willing to pick up some extra hours on a Saturday to get a little extra money. Now, I'm worried about the potty training since I won't be there to help until May! AHHHHHHH.

But hey, I'm going to try not to stress about it because I know it will truly make Jared happy to have the dog he's always wanted! Don't sweat the small stuff in life :)

Little by little, we'll get there!

I got an email today from the knot website saying that they were having major clearance sales and also an extra 20% off your total purchase today. I decided to browse the site and I found some cute stuff! I ordered something for all my bridesmaids, then while I was shopping I thought I'd check out Victoria's Secret too. So, I ended up buying 2 things for all my bridesmaids today. Even though I only got 2 things for each girl, it adds up quickly! I know what your thinking, well don't have such a big wedding party then! But, I'd rather spend more money and have everyone in my wedding :)
That's why I decided to get some of the buying out of the way now. I know that if I wait till May, I'll be completely broke and we'll have to get the guy's gifts at that time as well.
I can't reveal what I bought in case anyone in my wedding decides to read this, but they sure are cute and I'm excited about it!

Little by little, we'll get there! I am taking advantage of the fact that I have 7 months and 29 days till the wedding (I'm not counting or anything). So, I was trying to think of something different to do at the ceremony and I have a couple ideas. I thought about doing balloons at the end when we walk out of the church, but then I saw a picture from someone's wedding and they did sparklers! I love this idea! I haven't researched the prices yet, but I think that's what I want to do. The fire makes for great pictures and the kids really have fun with it as well!

STRESSED!

After a day like today I just want to quit school and be a waitress forever. Tuesdays are my really long days, so I know that played a part in my day being horrible. I got up for class at 8, came home for lunch, then went to my literature class (which I HATE reading), then came home and ate supper, then went back to class from 7-945 pm! And my last class is supposed to get out at 930, but she let us out 15 mintues late tonight, which just put me in an even worse mood. If you can't sum up your lesson in 2 and a half hours, then maybe you shouldn't be a teacher. Uhh!

Okay, but here is the real reason why I'm stressed out. Projects, projects, projects, papers, papers, papers!
Here is all of the stuff I have to do in a matter of a couple weeks:
Social Studies-
a week unit on the state of Illinois, and actually go teach the lessons to kids at Marshall.
an aricle review which is like a 2 page paper on a schollarly journal
Middle Level Reading-
Read Holes
read Moby Dick
Do a presentation on an article review plus a paper of the actual review itself
Middle Level development-
A research paper on Anorexia
A group unit- 2 weeks long
an article review and paper
Elementary Diagnostic Reading-
an article review and paper
assess a child outside of class and present the research and findings in research paper format
Science in the classroom:
a lesson on plants and actually teach the lesson at Mattoon elementary
a thematic unit for 2 week span on recylcing
a research paper about recycling
several article reviews and papers
Literary Masterwoks:
read a novel every 2 weeks, really boring and hard ones might I add!
Practicum
while doing all of this stuff, I also have to go out into the school for 4 weeks and teach for half a day every day.. all of these lessons are also being created by me and implemented in the classroom.
plust more professional development binders (2)

Let me tell you what a "unit" is
a unit is like a ton of lesson plans which are each at least 10 pages long each, plus all of the extras that go into a lesson like the materials, the resources, the title, the concepts, the purpose. blah blah blah All of this has to be planned out and put into a binder. All of the lessons go together and intertwine with different subjects.

This is why I am so stressed! I feel like I just have WAYYYY too much going on in my classes to even be able to keep track of it all! That is another reason why I wrote it all out, just for myself so I can use it as a check list kind of thing. I'm guessing this isn't everything, this is just what I know about after the first 3 weeks of school. Sorry if I seem like I'm complaining, but hey, I am! Teaching is HARD and not always fun :(



This is only the beginning of the semester, my collection of binders will only grow!

 Please pray for me this semester as I go through all of the stress of school/buying a house/ and planning a wedding. Exactly 8 months from today and I'll be done with school and a married woman!

2nd Practicum

In the education field you are required 2 practicums before you actually student teach. A practicum is a 4 week period that the pre-service teacher is actually in the classroom teaching for. We go for just half a day and during this time we don't go to our other education classes that we have at that time. They call it a block because it blocks off part of your day to allow you to do the practicum when its time.
Well, last semester I was in a 6th grade classroom at Neoga. I never thought I'd like the older kids but I actually enjoyed teaching them quite well! I had a great class and an awesome teacher to help me along. Most of the time while I was there I taught science to 3 different 6th grade classes.  So, this semester I wanted to try out a younger grade to give myself some range in my experience.
I just found out that I was placed in Paris Crestwood Elementary for 1st grade this time. I'm not really as nervous this time around since I have already had one practicum. I'm only nervous about getting all of the work done! It requires sooooo much planning and creative thinking, and I'm also in 3 other classes while doing this. So, I'll be a busy bee this semester!
But, once this semester is over with I'll be ready to student teach and then graduate! My last day of student teaching should be April 22. I just found that out last week and I'm really excited about it because that means I'll have almost a whole month before the wedding off from school! This will be a much needed relaxation period!