Nick and Kelly For All Time: December 2010

This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Between leaving Teddy for the first time, getting back into the swing of things at school and dealing with the death of Lori Morris at the same time, AND we are all sick- I'M BEYOND EXHAUSTED! Here's a recap of the week...

Monday: Getting up was no problem, Teddy has been waking up around 5/6 am to nurse, so my internal clock was already set to this time. However, today was different, I couldn't go back to sleep with him until my usual 8:30. I had everything ready. I was super organized. The car was packed and it was time to go...That's when I broke down. Something about going upstairs and picking Teddy up out of his peaceful sleep made me so sad and heartbroken. I cried all the way to school and talked to my mom. Teddy just slept. When I dropped him off at Belinda's he woke up and smiled at me. I knew he would be just fine. He had a bit of a runny nose, but nothing too bad.

Once I got to school, I was still a little sad, but it was exciting seeing everyone. There were plenty of hugs and sympathy from my friends to make me feel better. My class came in and their positive energy picked up my spirits in no time. I was feeling okay, but not myself so I decided it was time for a mid-day pick me up...which if you know me as a teacher, you KNOW comes in the form of a DANCE PARTY USA! As I was looking for my favorite Christmas song, All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, I found CD's that Lori had burned for me. They had her handwriting on it. I had to walk out of the room. It's so hard being back in the very place she created for me. She helped form me into the teacher I am today. I am fun because she taught me it was okay to be fun and silly with students. She showed me how we can go bigger and better with every moment. Most of my favorite memories as a teacher are related to her. But because of her, I am determined to love this class and to make this the best year for Rushie. So I smiled, told the kids to come to the carpet, I turned the volume to high, pushed play and I stood up on a chair and lip-synced the intro and then boogied with them for the rest of the song. It felt AMAZING!

Tuesday: Tuesday was pretty good. Teddy slept off and on throughout the night, but I got a couple 2-3 hour stretches so it wasn't too bad. He had another good day at the sitters. Tuesday night is when it all changed for us though. Teddy was not sleeping comfortably at all. He was coughing and wheezing and I could tell his little cold had moved into his chest. At 3:00 AM I got him back to sleep and woke Nick up and told him he HAD to be on baby duty because I was moving to another room to try to get some sleep. I took the baby monitor and went into the guest bedroom. I heard Teddy wake up, tried to ignore it. I heard Nick take him downstairs, tried to ignore it. Then I heard Teddy wailing- there is NO ignoring that! So I got up and went downstairs at 4:00. I held Teddy and nursed him on the couch. He fell asleep. Nick stayed up with me. He even made me chicken noodle soup and fed it to me. There was no getting back to sleep at this point, so he made my coffee and we talked and talked until it was time to go to work.

Wednesday: Going to work on 3 hours of sleep is insane. I had no idea how I was going to do it, I just knew it had to be done. I called and made a doctor's appt for Teddy at 3. Belinda said he wasn't fussing and seemed to be doing a little better with the cough. I decided to keep the appt anyway. Good thing I did! Our little Tbear had a double ear infection and bronchiolitis!!! The bronchiolitis is a viral illness, so that needed to run it course, but we got amoxicillin for the ears. Poor Teddy!!!

Thursday: After praying that Teddy would sleep because if he didn't sleep again, I didn't think I'd make it, I woke up briefly at 3 and again at 5. 6 hours of almost uninterrupted sleep! Oh heaven!!!! This was a much better day for my spirits and physical well being. This was Teddy's first day with Nonna at home. They both had a blast.

Friday: TGIF!!!! Another great night of sleep! Yahoo! We had a blast at school. I am so thankful I decided to do the Hawaiian Adventure theme instead of trying to jump in and do everything at once.

It is GOOD to be back to work. I feel like my old self again. Nick made a silly joke and I laughed, truly laughed and he remarked that I hadn't laughed like that in a long time. I just feel more like myself. Being a teacher is what/who I am and I love it. As you all know, there are parts of the job I hate, but it really comes down to the fact that teaching is in my soul and I am a better person when I'm teaching. More tired, yes, but somehow more complete.