Dance Class

I started Gracie in a dance class tonight. I know she is kind of young, but I found one that starts at 18 months, so we did a trial class tonight. I was very nervous because she is just 18 months and they do not allow parents to come in (due to the fact that the kids would always run and cry for them). We are only allowed to view once a month. I waited right outside the door on a bench and listened the whole time :) Gracie walked right in with the other kids and they said she did really well until about the last 5 minutes when she realized that she hadn't seen me in awhile and then she started to cry and look for me. Overall, a good first time. We are going to try it out for a month and see how she does. I just wanted to look into something for the winter because she is so active and I'm afraid she will be bored not going outside as much. I have to say she looked adorable in her leotard. I will post pics this weekend. I will also update on how she continues to do. They did tell me she did much better than most kids on their first night, especially for her age.

Tagged

I've been tagged to post 6 random things about me...so here it goes!

1. I am in my 8th year of teaching and have taught a lot of grades. I have taught special education, 1st grade, 5th grade, and 2nd grade. I'm pretty sure I will finally be stable in 2nd grade because I took over a retirement position.

2. I have only talked to my dad 2 times since my wedding over 3 years ago.

3. I have always wanted to be a mom, but didn't think I would love it as much as I do. I truly enjoy everything about it. It is absolutely amazing how much they learn and how much they love you. I never knew how much joy it would bring me. We plan on probably only having 1 more and in some ways that makes me sad.

4. No one really knows too much about this.....but, before I got pregnant with Gracie I lost 3o pounds. I was down to a size 2/3 and in the best shape I've ever been in. However, I was becoming obsessed with losing the weight. I didn't have an eating disorder, but would limit my calories to 800-1000 a day and was working out for at least an hour everyday. I even got up early on Thanksgiving and Christmas to workout. I just make some really stupid decisions, now all I want is a little of that motivation back.

5. I have a cleaning lady that comes every other week. I have had this now for about 6 months. It is wonderful to come home to a clean house. Not sure if I will be able to do it forever, but for right now I'm enjoying it.

6. Sometimes I think I would like to live out of Indiana. However, I know that I would be homesick and may not enjoy it. I just really don't care for the winters here and would just like to experience something new. It will probably never happen because I would be too chicken to move, but sometimes it's a nice thought.

I had lots to post about, so read below for other topics!

Gracie's rash

For the time being Gracie's rash is pretty much gone. She has a couple of splotches, but not much of anything. Cross your fingers that she does not break out head to toe again!

Eagle Creek Park

Yesterday we went on a field trip to Eagle Creek Park. It was soo much fun! The kids had a blast. We did 4 rotations: nature hike, amphibians study, nocturnal animals study, and leaf and tree study. The nature hike was everyone's favorite and it was definitely a workout, but lots of fun. We also got to see a turtle, snake, frog, skunk, and opposum (the kids got to pet them all). We had lunch in the park and let the kids play for awhile. This would be a great place for families to go and visit.

The only negative side was the bugs. I ended up getting bit or stung by something right underneath my eye and it started to really swell under my eye. I had to put some stuff on it (not sure what it was) and take Benadryl, which makes me soo tired.

Weekend

This weekend we went home to Loogootee for my cousin Mandy's wedding. It was very nice and she looked beautiful. We only went to the reception because we knew that Gracie wouldn't make it through an hour church service. She did very well at the reception, but we only stayed about 3 hours because she was on the move and running everywhere-just like a toddler! We planned on staying at my mom's house but I forgot to kennel the dog. I didn't remember that I forgot to call until I was already packed. So, we had to drive home that night, but Gracie slept the entire way and until 8:00 the next morning.

On Sunday after Gracie's nap we headed to Appleworks in Trafalgar. It was AWESOME! I had never been there before, but we had sooo much fun. They have 3 huge pumpkin patches, 50 acres of apple picking, train rides, mazes, tractor rides, a playground, petting zoo, etc. I highly recommend it. We were there for over 2 hours and Gracie would have made it longer, she loved it. We had to leave because they were closing. We are hoping to go back before the fall is over. I will post pictures of it later.

Lots going on..

I made a post last weekend, but somehow only the heading showed up and I haven't had time to update again. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Gracie has now been to the dr. 3 times for a rash that keeps coming up. The first time she was covered head to toe and they said it was viral, then she got another one(it looked different) on her arms, neck, and back and they said this one was excema. But, she also had such horrible diaper rash that she had an infection, so she was put on amoxicillan and an anhistamine. You know it's bad when you walk in to find her with her diaper off in her crib and she is just scratching everywhere in the diaper area....poor girl. Well the rash and diaper rash went away and then came back on Wed. so back to the dr. I went. I'm not giving up. Well the time they thought viral again (it's on her back, neck, and stomach) because it was more under the skin, but also mentioned it could be bacterial (but not likely). So they don't know either. I'm not completely convinced it's viral because yesterday it was horrible, this morning you could hardly tell and then it flared again in the evening...so to me it seems more like an allergic reation or severe excema...but I can' t figure it out. Also, it is not under the skin anymore, it is bumps on her skin. We haven't changed anything, introduced anything....I'm just at a loss. On top if it she has 4 teeth all coming in (dr. did say this could have something to do with it) and she has a horrible cough and runny nose. However, ears, chest, everything is fine. So, I have been a nervous wreck washing and cleaning things everyday.......We had to cancel our family pics yesterday because she has just not been herself and I didn't know if I could cover up all of the rash or not....I just feel so bad for her. Who would have ever thought motherhood would be sooo hard. It is just difficult to see them go through anything. Well I have to get to work, will try to do better catching up this week.