Sieger update

I know everyone loves a newborn baby, but I am loving each day with Siege more and more the older he gets. These days, at almost 8 months old, he is doing the cutest things! He's recently discovered his voice, and apparently he really likes it, because he screams and babbles all day long. He also can make farting noises with his tongue. He especially likes to do this while he's eating to ensure I'm covered with peas and sweet potato by the end of his meal.

He is cruising around in his walker like a champ! He can navigate that thing under tables, on the carpet, down the hall, and in the bathroom. He loves to pull out momma's cabinet drawers and throw the dish towels onto the floor. Nadi takes cover every time I put him in his walker. She's been ambushed a few times.

My favorite thing about this stage is how interested he is in me (typical woman right?). I can get him to crack a smile and laugh all the time. Siege reaches for me to pick him up now. I love that I can comfort him immediately with a hug and a kiss.

Toys, Toys, Toys. The boy is in constant need of stimulation. Anything he can find he picks up. He loves the TV remote. And although he's not crawling he seems to get where he wants by rolling around. I'm not sure he's going to be much of a crawler. He is standing up with the support of the couch or he'll hold on to my leg, not pulling himself up yet though.

As of Sunday, he is officially swaddle free. Chris thought he would use that thing until he was 7 years old. His naps have been great ever since. He takes two 1-2 hour naps each day. Siege can also put his binkie in his mouth now which is awesome! During the night, I'll throw a few in the crib and he'll find one if his falls out and go right back to sleep.

Lately he's been spending a lot of time in grandma's pool. He doesn't seem to hate it too bad. I'm sure as the weather gets a little warmer he'll enjoy it more.

We've got a few trips planned for the summer. Siege and I leave for Chicago in about 3 weeks. This will be Siege's first trip. Hopefully he's not too terrible! Unfortunately, Chris has to work so we are going to miss daddy big time! Luckily I will be traveling with family so I'm sure I'll have lots of help. We'll be gone for 1 week. Then, at the end of June all of us are headed to San Diego with some friends for another week.

I am really appreciating all the time I get to spend with my Sieger Bear. It is such a blessing to be able to watch him grow and change each day.

Here she is...

Over the past few months we've been wrestling with the idea of getting a new car. We went from crossover, to sport utility, to mini-van, and finally settled with the Lincoln MKX. I love her. She rides so smooth, has some nifty upgrades that we've never had... like power locks (seriously I was living in the stone age), navigation, panoramic sunroof, heated/cooled seats, and a sweet trunk that pops up on its own. Now instead of dreading my trips to the grocery store, I can't wait to run my next errand. Who knows how long that will last, but I'm becoming much more efficient in the mean time.

Today, while Chris was off, we decided we were going to run a few errands and right after Chris took the picture above, she wouldn't start. I have the worst car luck. The first day I got my mazda in high school, I was about to go show off my new wheels when I ran over a nail and got a flat. Today we take this picture and the battery was dead. Anyway, despite spending a few hours at the dealership getting a new battery, all is well. Having the sport utility sure makes traveling a lot easier with the little one. I like being higher up off the ground and there's more room for all the mommy-junk I lug around everywhere.

Tracy Gifford M.A.

This past Sunday I had my commencement ceremony.

I never walked for my bachelors degree, so I thought this time I should, and I'm glad I did. Over the past two years I put in 300 plus hours in administration, wrote a thesis, and learned a ton about school leadership. I have to say my experience with Touro University was amazing.

I remember signing up with Touro at a new teacher conference in August. I wasn't sure what I wanted to get my masters degree in, but I knew I needed it. Your pay jumps up quickly with a masters degree (or at least it did before the massive budget crisis, who knows what will happen now). The funny thing about this district is that you can get your masters in basket weaving if you'd like and you will still get the same pay increase. So, when I decided to get my degree in Administration I got a lot of different reactions from my colleagues.

"You're going to the dark side huh?"

"People that go into administration early either don't like kids or aren't good at teaching."

"So... you want more money."

The sad part is, I've thought all these things in my head about previous administrators before too. And while, I just don't know if I will ever become a principal, who knows what my future holds, I do know that I've become a much better teacher because of the program. The program forced me out of the comfort zone of my classroom and made me see the much bigger picture, the school.

The first week of class we had to pick a school supervisor to monitor our hours and meet with us periodically. The first meeting with my principal, she made me NJHS advisor. I felt completely overwhelmed. It was my first year, I was still figuring out what I was going to teach the next day, and now I had to re-establish a club that I didn't really know anything about. I was in Student Council, so I ran with what I knew. In my first year we did a canned food drive, spent time with some folks at a retirement facility, sold holiday grams, threw together a talent show, put on a guitar hero contest, went to an NJHS conference and I met some amazing kids in the process.

I also got really good at collaborating with the other 7th grade history teacher. We worked great together. We came up with new lessons that included raps, virtually field trips, brought in guest speakers, came up with a layered curriculum, and so much more.

That year I won, "New Teacher of the Year," and I really don't think I would have done any of it without Touro pushing me to break out of my comfort zone. It was sort of like, you just don't know what potential you have until someone forces you to do it. It's when someone delegates you a task and you're not sure if you can handle it, but they tell you that you have to and you just do. It's very empowering. Not too mention, I met 11 great people along the way that were in my program. I was even caught talking smack about one of my professors in the bathroom by the professor!! So embarrassing!

Looking back now, as a stay at home mom, some might say it was a waste of time and money, but getting my masters degree really enriched my life.

Plus, I think I might be getting a pretty sweet graduation gift. Stay tuned!!

...and look how happy Siege is with his grandpa!

The Day I Became a Momma

It's my first mother's day and today I can't help but think of that special day my little Siege came into the world. He sure has changed everything and made our lives so much fuller. It was probably the best day of my life thus far. Although it was 7 months ago sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday and other times it seems like it's been ages. Today, I thought I'd give a little synopsis of that day, excluding most of the gory details of course.

On October 5th, 2010, a day I thought would be like every other, I woke up thinking I had lost all control of my bodily functions. I thought for sure I had wet the bed. As I ran to the toilet totally embarrassed, I realized that I was still going... and going... and going. I remember yelling from the toilet, "Chris....uh.... I think my water broke."

Then, I cried. It was too early. Siege wasn't due until November 19th, for another 6 weeks. The more I freaked out, the more Chris realized I needed my mother. He had me call her and it was probably the only thing that made me breath a little easier. Mothers just have a way to know what you need. That's why we get a special day like today.

I called the doctors office who told me to go to labor and delivery. Would this really be it? Next, I called my boss. I had never taken a sick day and I only had one sub my entire teaching career due to meetings I had to attend at the school, so the thought of not going into work freaked me out even more. I had NOTHING for a sub. I was ready to sing and dance like I always did that day. Subs don't put on a show, they pass out worksheets or play videos. To think I would be starting my maternity leave that day made me pretty nervous.

On the way to the hospital, I remember my mom looking so excited, like it was Christmas. I felt like I was going to puke. When she saw that I was ghostly white she said in her Mexi-Bostanian accent, "Tracy, don't worry the baby can survive."

That was NOT what I wanted to hear. The baby can survive? I accredit that comment to a mix up in translation. Which had happened over and over growing up in my household. But this was not a time for an error with words. I wanted to hear that the baby would be fine and I would go home that night with a healthy little baby OR that I would head back off to work after the doctors said it was nothing and carry out my pregnancy. However, neither of those things happened.

When we reached the hospital at 6:30AM it was empty. That's when I knew I would love Centennial Hills. The first nurse checked to see if my water had in fact broken and it wasn't just a slow leak (as if I was a busted water heater). When she told me it had, I asked her what that meant. Was I going have this baby today? She said, "Maybe." Then I asked if I could go to work. She said, "You're here until you have that baby wether that's today or three weeks from now."

That was definitely not what I wanted to hear. After all, my bridal shower was on Saturday!

I got settled in a room where I couldn't leave the bed, not even to use the rest room. They wanted to keep me from contracting as long as possible. When my doctor showed up he could see that I was upset. He made me laugh and comforted me by talking about his premature daughter that was born at 28 weeks. She was in high school now, a beautiful cheerleader.

He decided to not give me steroids to prevent labor and to just let my body go into labor naturally. He said that 50% of women go into labor within 24 hours of having their water break. If I didn't, he would induce me in 2 days to prevent an infection.

My entire family came to see me that night (Chris was still at work. He went in after my mother picked me up and drove me to the hospital). We had a party in that labor and delivery room. I think there was about 15 of us in there. Just as my family was about to leave my nurse came in to warn me I was contracting. It must have been too much laughing. She continually asked me if I was in pain, which I wasn't at all.

Chris got to the hospital around 11PM that night and slept like a baby as I tried to clear my head. By 3AM I was dilated to a 3 and the baby was on his way! By 6AM I was still only at a 3 and my contractions were super irregular. The nurse told me they would start pitocin and the contractions would start getting a lot more intense. At this point my pain was still pretty minimal, but when she offered the epidural I said, "Let's do it!"

I can honestly say, I hardly experienced any pain during labor. I guess you could say that was the single benefit from having my water break early. I remember getting the shakes and a little itchy all over my body, but no real pain, until the pushing when my epidural started to wear off a bit.

By 12:30 PM I was ready to go. The nurse told me to hold that baby in until the doctor could be there. He was 8 minutes away, the longest 8 minutes of my life. When the doc got there we pushed one cute little alien baby out. Prior to delivery Chris had said he had no interest in cutting the umbilical cord, but that quickly changed when the doctor put the scissors in his hands.

The feeling I got next is indescribable. I became a mom in that moment. I loved that little gooey baby more than anything in the whole world. Thinking about it puts the biggest smile on my face.

While the next few weeks were spent in the NICU, Siege was a healthy boy. His lungs were fully developed and he was pretty huge for being 6 weeks early (5 lbs, 9 oz). The doctor called my uterus "Lurch".

Everyday I love my bubba more and more. And although I complain sometimes about the duties that come with motherhood, every sleepless night, dirty diaper, all the spews, & cranky days, are worth every smile I get from my little Siegers. Motherhood is incredible.

The Snooty West Sider.

For this post, I decided to do a tribute to the neighborhood. I love it here. My entire life I grew up on the east side, and no offense east-siders, you did me well all those years, but I had no idea what I was missing out on. The stores are new, there are more than just two available restaurants to choose from, and my favorite reason of all, I don't just walk strait out on to a busy street from my door stop.

Each morning (and I've been pretty good lately) I start the day off with a jog. There are lots of walking trails

and even a really pretty park with lots of trees on my 2 mile loop.

We also have two resort style pools and a toddler pool in our community that are right around the corner.

I just love it. Not to mention, my neighbors are pretty frickin cool. Geez, maybe I should become a sales agent for our development.

And check out this stud muffin.