play by play

this is p totally manhandling his toy on his bumbo seat. he loves it.

eyeing the prize...



action shot...



more athleticism...



the follow through...



had to take a breather and do a little hand sucking.



that was hard work.

guilty pumper

amazing story from today. if you know me, you know that i pump. (if you need further explanation, you don't know me.) and today was one of many amazing pumping blunders i have had along the way.

i took a half day at school so i could take porter to get his 4 month shots. i left school at noon and knew i needed to pump before i picked him up because otherwise it would be way too long before i got home. one would think i should have just stayed in my classroom and pumped like i always do during my conference period but i just knew the sub, who would have a key, would surely walk in the moment i hooked up. i couldn't bare the thought of being 'caught.'

so the solution was to pump in my car. this is not a first. i have even pumped while i was driving... several times. i love to multi-task. there is a place near the high school football field that has a little path back behind some trees... i have pumped there several times so i thought it to be a good spot. it is surely where the high school kids go to smoke. seemed safe enough.

well, about 5 minutes into the process, something terrible happened.

a cop pulled up behind me.

i just knew he was going to come to my window and ask me if i was huffing paint or something and why i was 'hiding' my suv behind the trees next to the football field.

when the cop got out i realized it was the officer that is stationed at my school... gary...and i was a little relieved and TOTALLY mortified at the same time.

panic came over me. all i could think was that i had 2 options: a.) wait until he comes to the window and play it cool with the sweater draped over me. or b.) abruptly roll down my window and shout out what is going on.

yep. i opted for plan b.

i rolled down my window and flailed my arm out and shouted "gary! gary! its carrie! you have to STOP. don't come over here! i can't tell you what im doing!"

gary: "hey carrie... you what?" (he partly couldn't hear me... and partly was probably thinking...did she just say that she can't tell me what she's doing?'

me: "ok fine. please dont come to the window... IM PUMPING. you know. pumping."

gary: "oh, god. seriously? i was just coming to take a smoke break. you just keep on pumping. i am NOT coming to your window."

awesome.

so not only was he NOT planning on coming to the window...he did NOT need or want to know what i was doing.

these are the times i think about how lucy thinks im just like bridget jones... and i think she might be right. so awkward.

on to other news. thanks so much for all the concern for p -- his fever is gone and turns out it was just a little cold (that he ended up giving me)... oh, daycare.

he did great today at his 4 month visit. 14 lbs. and 25 1/2 inches long. long and lean.

home sick

my mom tried to prepare me for this... that now that we are in 'school', p would inevitably face some illness from all the added germs. we aren't quite sure what's wrong, but he had a fever last night and was up almost all night so we are headed to the dr. this afternoon. sad he doesn't feel good, but happy to get to spend some extra time with him.

school has started

yesterday was our first day with the kiddos. its crazy how being a mom now has changed my perspective in everything... but now i am realizing i think its going to affect my teaching.

all of these snotty nosed, hormone raging, emotionally charged twerps are someone's baby. wow. a new love for them is developing.

best story of the day:

while i was giving my schpeel to my class (rules, supplies, tardies, make-up work...) a sweet little boy raised his hand like he was trying really hard to touch the ceiling. usually only 6th graders raise their hands like that, because in 6th grade its still super cool to know every answer and be the first called on... but this was a 7th grader. normally my 7th graders have to be deeply convinced of an answer or have some sort of great investment in an activity to raise their hands. so i called on him... because my goodness, he must have something important to add to our conversation.

and this is what he said:

boy: 'hey, mrs. ryan. has anyone ever told you that you REALLY look like a celebrity?'

me: 'no sweetie, im just a teacher... not nearly that cool.'

boy: 'well, you look EXACTLY like Molly Ringwald. like, exactly like her. when she was younger... (pause) I LOVE SIXTEEN CANDLES.'

i couldn't help but just start laughing. how many 7th grade boys do you know that have seen Sixteen Candles? and how many of them have watched it enough times to know Molly Ringwald's name? she's not exactly an 'it' name these days. i would expect a Twilight reference... but certainly not Sixteen Candles. and not from a 7th grade boy.

wiggle worms

last night some guys came over to brew with z and so the ladies hung out inside with the babes.

here are p and ella constantly wiggling. so hard to capture them...





and b and p.



and one more of him sleeping today. i love the sprawled out arms. snoozing.

encouraging.

when i went to pick him up on wednesday the woman who is in the infant room in the afternoons said 'that Porter, he has a wise old soul. i just love looking at him because when he looks me in the eyes i feel like he's known me my whole life.'

my sweet boy has an old soul.

i'm not totally sure what that means, but when he looks at me i feel it too.

here he is no worse for wear, napping like a champ this morning.

one more from the first day

i just love his face in this one. had to share.