STRESS...Who needs it??!!

Well, I have been out of touch this week. Our family had a terrible scare. David was in the ER this week for Chest pain that radiated into his left arm. His left hand even began to go numb and he was beginning to black out. He had a BP of 170/96 and an extremely high pulse rate. I was notified at school at 11:30 am and I was in my car by 11:32 am. They were sure he was having a heart attack?!?! What?!?! David is far too young, too healthy and in-shape for that one. He doesn't nor has he ever smoked and there isn't any heart issues in his family!! Turns out that his very stressfull job and the one hour commute to work and one hour commute home in terrible Atlanta traffic was the culprate. He rarely complains. He is one to keep it all inside. He did appear to have inflamation of the lungs (a condition that is clearly brought on by stress and mimics the symptoms of a heart attack) He still has pain....It will go away with time, but he is fine. Do you know that I couldn't even get him to stay home from work? It all becomes clear as to why this happened to him. So I have spent this week trying to make his life more pleasant when he is at home. So glad to have him when he is home :-) Oh how I love my David!!

September 11 Comment/Reality

I am a high school Latin Teacher. On September 11, I went into work thinking as many of us were, where I was when the tragedy occurred? I remembered that I was teaching in a Latin I class. We were about to have a quiz. So on 9/11/2007, I, absent mindedly, asked the students where they were when it happened.....Most of my students commented on how they didn't remember it happening!!! what!!??!! They don't remember??!!?? They proceeded to tell me how they knew what it meant, but that they didn't recall the event. My seniors were in the 6th grade (They could recall a bit), but my sophomores were in the 4th grade and my freshmen, well they were in the third grade....OMG... I AM SO OLD!!!! They began to tell me how their parents (rightly so) kept them from the horror of this event...That isn't my issue...my issue is that they DON'T REMEMBER!!! It shocks me that I actually have students who truly DO NOT REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11th 2001. Where did the time go? It feels like yesterday. I still feel the pain from that day!! May we never forget!!!

GO BRAVES!!!

Emily Grace went to her first Braves game today!! We had a great time, although I think Emily was more interested in her "Cracker Jacks" than anything else!! It was a lovely day and we had fantastic seats in the shade, which is important in Hot 'Lanta.

Our Amazing Emily Grace

On September 2nd, Emily Grace became 18 months old and it was also the the 5th month anniversary from the date we held her for the first time. Wow!! Tempus Fugit!! Apparently, someone must have mentioned to Emily that baby girls really begin talking at 18 months old. She litterally woke up Sunday morning and began talking away. In fact, she has pretty much replaced all of her baby signs with words. I was completely floored, stunned, or whatever. My mouth fell open and hit the floor. Some of her words are a bit difficult to catch unless you are mommy or daddy, I guess...but I clearly know what she is saying. I am proud and sad all at the same time...just like the day she began to walk. Also, I checked her mouth today, and she is also currently cutting 4 molars and an eye tooth. SLOW DOWN!!! Look at this sweet picture...she still looks like such a baby here and not a fast growing toddler.

Back to work :-(

A lot has transpired since I blogged last. I am a Latin teacher and school started back on August 6th. I had to hire a nanny for Emily and prepare emotionally to go back to work and to leave her. I think that she has acclimated better than I have. I have probably cried more than she for sure. I haven't worked since mid March. I have a nice situation though, I work across the street from our neighborhood and I don't have to be at work until 10am and Emily's nanny cares for her here. All seemed well in the beginning, but when school started I ended up with a really bad cold. I even missed the first Friday of school with the students. Eventuallly, David and Emily both had it as well. We were all sick and have been trying to drudge along with our daily obligations while recuperating. I have fallen behind on so much that being on the computer for anything other than updating grades has fallen to the bottom of priority list for sure. Oh yeah, during that whole issue, David and I had our wedding anniversary. We tried to celebrate, but even dinner out wore us out. We were ready for bed far too early :-(
In the mean time, I took the UGA cheerleader pics and posted them....the only energy I actually had. I do have some of Emily as a princess. She was so enamored with my earings that we had to get her a pair. These incidentally came with a princess crown. Take a look at our princess.

Gearing up for Georgia Football!!

Here is Emily showing off her new University of Georgia cheerleading outfit...Go DAWGS!!!

Summer Fun with Emily Grace

Here are some cute pics of Emily eating her ice cream. She gets so focused on it ;-) The others are just some cute pics of Emily playing and learning to say "Cheese" for the camera.

I have been tagged....Five things MeMe

Five things MeMe

I have been tagged by Jennifer at My three sons and a little China girl : http://baseballstobows.blogspot.com/


Five things that I was doing 10 years ago.

1. Planning the last details for my wedding and Honeymoon (My anniversary is August 9th,)
2. Having tons of Fun with our new Golden Retriever Puppy, Bailey
3. Making my house a home
4. Planning my first day and year as a Latin teacher (School started later then :)
5. Becoming a Latin Teacher to high school students …Yikes! The first day was a bit scary.

Five of My Favorite Snack Foods:
1. Dark Chocolate
2. Freshly Made chunky Salsa and tortilla chips
3. Fire Roasted Hummus and Pita Chips
4. Fresh Hot French Bread and Dipped in Olive Oil and Spices
5. Strawberries Dipped in Dark Chocolate with a side of Champagne (is that two?:)

Five Songs of which I know all the lyrics:
1. Happy Together…The Turtles (such a happy song)
2. Green Eyes…Coldplay
3. Girls just want to have fun..Cyndi Lauper
4. Here with me…Dido (Really anything by Dido)
5. American Baby….Dave Matthews Band

Five things that I would do with a Million Dollars:
1. Try to usurp the system and adopt another baby from China without the LONG wait ☺
2. Give to the Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital to help those families who definitely needed it.
3. I would definitely go back to Italy and rent a Villa in Tuscany with our family (grandparents, siblings nieces and nephews) for a week. I love Italy!!
4. Buy a new house with decent closet space...or I could just buy less stuff to store Ha
5. I ran out of money already…I need another million :)

Five Bad Habits that I have:
1. Sleeping in my contacts too often
2. Spending too much money on photography and scrapbooking.
3. Not getting enough sleep…. I might miss something Ha ha
4. Not updating my blog often enough.
5. Not cooking real meals enough… I hate to cook and I love to go out to dinner.

Five things that I like to do.
1. Spend time with family and friends
2. Travel to new places
3. Photography
4. Scrapbooking
5. Hiking and just being among nature

Five things I will never wear again:
I can’t make that promise. I love fashion and if it looks good, I
will wear it again. :)

Five people I have tagged: Phil, Julia, Kathy, Georgia and Mick

Emily Grace is 17th months old today!! Aug 2nd

Happy 17th months, sweet Emily Grace!! She is so busy and loves to explore. Nothing is safe, I mean nothing Ha Ha. She is so smart...All moms think that about their baby, but it is TRUE for mine :-) I only started her potty training at 16 months because she will lie down in front of me and do the "change my diaper" sign when it truly was time to do so. She can use baby sign language to communicate just about anything to me. It is amazing. She picks them up so fast. She comprehends English really well now and it has only been 4 months. She does whatever I ask her to do..ie: "Pick up your socks and shoes that you just took off and put them away" and she will. She can put on her own shoes (sometimes it is the wrong foot, but she can do it, though) She is beginning to talk, but still uses her signs more. She does say "cheese." Every time that she signs that she wants to eat. She says "cheese" and then signs "please." Too cute, she doesn't understand that pasta and cheese do not constitute a balanced diet. She may be Chinese but her tummy is definitely Italian. :-)

Emily Grace's New Potty

On July 23rd, Emily tinkled in her potty for the first time!! We were so proud of her and she was pretty proud of herself too. Now that she has associated tinkling with the word "potty" I can't even say the word without her "going" right at the sound of it or even at the sight of it. This of course means that she isn't always "hitting the target" so to speak. That's alright, we will get there...I am still so proud of her. Obviously these pics were taken while she was playing and not trying to tinkle. :-)