I knew I liked him for a reason

Okay, so this is post is not going to be about my family, my children, my husband, or the blissful things that happen during the day . . . nope . . . this post is going to be about Matt Damon *sigh* and the most amazing and inspiring speech I have ever read, well, almost the most amazing speech, but it was inspiring.  It's really about teachers, but Matt is mentioned several times.

This past weekend, one of the most important marches on Washington took place.  It had nothing to do with race, religion, or money, it had to do with our educational system.  As an "almost there" teacher, this protest was/is very near and dear to my heart.  Matt Damon, who I have had a "slight" crush on him since his Goodwill Hunting days, gave a glorious speech defending teachers and denouncing the use of standardized testing.  "My teachers were EMPOWERED to teach me. Their time wasn’t taken up with a bunch of test prep — this silly drill and kill nonsense that any serious person knows doesn’t promote real learning." (Damon, M. 2011)

Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act, the only things that have happened is our children being left behind, and our teachers being blamed for it.  If you are not familiar with the NCLBA, it was the start of the "standardized testing" that every school is required to do.  Funding for each school is based on the outcome of these tests.  School does not do well, they do not get enough money, teachers are blamed, and layoffs occur.  Needless to say, I am not a huge fan of NCLBA and an even less fan of standardized testing.  No child is standard, so no standard test should be used, in my opinion.  "No, my teachers were free to approach me and every other kid in that classroom like an individual puzzle. They took so much care in figuring out who we were and how to best make the lessons resonate with each of us. They were empowered to unlock our potential. They were allowed to be teachers." (Damon, M. 2011)  *Ahhh*, I could kiss him.

Anyways, I wanted to say how proud I am of our teachers fighting for their rights and for their student's rights.  I was super excited when I read that Matt Damon gave a speech at the rally and was pleased to be able to read his speech.  It was lovely and I encourage you all to google "Matt Damon defends teachers" to read his whole speech, or follow the link below.

Damon, M. 2011. Save Our Schools rally speech.  Retrived on August 3, 2011 from http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/the_assistant/?p=5865

So, this morning started out like any other morning.  Baby wakes up early (like before the sun) to eat and daddy feeds her.  I get to sleep in because I work outside of the house and Andy is at home with the kids. 

Anyway, I am fast asleep and I hear "OH MY GOD!" and then crying.  Panic sets in as I jump out of bed to figure out what happened.  I turn around to find Andy holding Hailey who is crying.  He screams, "I fell asleep with her on my chest and she just fell off the bed!"

Hailey stops crying after about 3 seconds but Andy, who has the closest, most connected bond with her does not.  I am now not consoling my baby girl, but her daddy.  So in order to make him feel better, I start listing all of the things that I have done since we first had children.

1. The time the iron burnt Caleb's ear when he was a week old
2. When I was getting laundry and Caleb rolled off the couch
3. When I was playing with the dogs and one of them knocked Shea to the floor and she hit her head
4. When I was clipping Shea's nails for the first time and cut her skin instead
5. When I poked Hailey in the face and scratched the bridge of her nose

Then I though, "shit, I should just stop trying to make him feel better because, honestly, it is making me feel like garbage."  So now he feels terrible and so do I.  Yikes! 

Within a minute, Hailey was fine and smiling away wondering why we were up so early in the morning.  I checked her all over, no bumps, bruises, broken bones, she's good to go to sleep again (and so was mommy).

Lesson in all of this, stuff happens and if we live through it, it was not that bad.

My very first blog . . . like ever . . .

So, I decided to start a blog so that I can keep a record of my growing family.  Since, like is always the case with the third child, I have very little time to fill in all of the answers in poor Hailey's baby book (don't feel bad Hailey, Caleb and Shea's aren't done either) and even less time to cut pictures into cute shapes and put them into an album.  I am hoping that blogging proves to be an easier, more streamline way to keep track of milestones, family funnies, and an all around record of the happenings of my family.

I will start this blog with the amazing story of our new addition Hailey, as Caleb and Shea are 8 and 7 and recalling their birth stories would be way too hard : ).  She was a complete surprise, at least to me.  Andy seemed completely unphased by the news and excited about starting again with all of the "baby" stuff.  I, on the other hand, was sick 24/7 for the first 22 weeks - yes, I even woke up in the middle of the night wanting to puke.  I had a fairly normal second trimester.  Was doing good on weight and size and felt like I could do anything.  Then, the third trimester . . . I gained weight quicly, my back started hurting, my hips felt like they would crumble with each step and I could not sleep.  By mid-third trimester, I was measuring big and it turned out that we had extra amniotic fluid.

Trips to the hospital became a twice a week thing so that I could have regular monitoring of fluid levels and stress tests for Hailey.  All was good on that front, but I grew more and more impatient with being pregnant and so close to the end.  I begged the doctor to induce me, and on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 8:00 a.m., we went in for induction (only three days early).  Labor went really fast for me and by noon, I was transitioning.  Unfortunately, labor was not so good for Hailey.  Several times her heart rate would drop into the 50s and at one point, it took four minutes of moving around to get her heart rate back into the 130s.  That's not all.  After several hours of pushing, the doc came in and said she was OP (occiput posterior, or face up) and was facing up. I decided to keep pushing.  At hour three of pushing, the doctor said we could keep going or have a c-section.  I chose to try pushing for a little longer, but I was exhausted and gave up after only a couple more tries.

As we were getting set for the c-section, I was told it would be about an hour before we could get into the room, Hailey's heart rate dropped again.  This time, we could not get it to go back up, so we went for an emergency c-section.  I was petrified.  I did not want a c-section in the first place, let alone an emergency!  We were in the room and on the table in about 5 minutes and for the first part of it, I was alone.  All I wanted was to have Andy by my side.  Having surgery is scary enough, but doing it while you are awake, well, let's just say was not all that pleasant. It was officially confirmed that she was OP and she was stuck under my pelvic bone - go figure.  To spare all the details, Hailey was born several minutes later, pink and perfect. 



The joy she has brought to our growing family in her 5.5 months of life is extrodinary.  Caleb and Shea love her to pieces and have even stepped up to diaper and feeding duties.  My kids are awesome and my family is wonderful!

Hailey with Mommy and Daddy for the first time.

My first meeting!

Shea-Shea loves me so much she smooshes my cheeks!

Caleb is going to guide me when I get older.  My gentle protector.