We Survived!

I survived conferences. They all went well and the parents were great and thankfully no one was to surprised at what I had to say!
Kyle survived his jumps...barely. He is however pretty battered and bruised. He got to jump 3 times. The first time, he landed in a frozen farmer's field. Apparently the farmer decided to plow right before it froze over. Let's just say it wasn't a soft landing and he has the bruises to prove it. He said the ground didn't budge, it felt just like landing on cement. His second jump went off without a hitch. On jump #3 Kyle landed in a tree. Apparently you can't really control where you land. His legs are all scratched, and badly bruised. He isn't really sure what happened to his face, but it doesn't look to pretty either. When I picked him up last night the first thing that came out of my mouth was "What is wrong with your face?" He didn't answer he just pulled his pants down so I (and anyone walking by the car) could see the rest of the damage.
I am thankful he wasn't seriously hurt and is home now recovering. I really wish he would of had video of these jumps, being the nice wife I am, I am pretty sure I would have gotten a good laugh out of it all. (I can laugh because he is not to badly hurt).
I would post pictures, but I don't know that everyone wants to see pictures of his badly bruised bottom. Just take my word for it, its nasty! Hopefully we do something fun this weekend and have some new pictures!

Wild!

What a Day! Kyle has been off loving life jumping out of planes the last few days, and I am back here preparing for tomorrow's parent/teacher conferences. Ever since returning to school from being sick, it has been game of catch-up for me. My kids also went wild while I was gone and it has been a little difficult to regain control.
I am going to share what happened between the period of 1240-1315....not even a total of 45 minutes.
1240-I drop my kids off at their Host Nation Class. My aide had to go home early so they would not have him with them. They were warned about having good behavior, I watched them all walk in room and all appeared to be well.
1245-I go and sit in the counselor's office to discuss some information before conferences.
1250-I hear running in the hallway. I look up only to see 2 of my student RUNNING to the nurses office. I quickly get up to see what is wrong, and of course it is my most stubborn little girl and she refuses to speak to me, the nurse, or the counselor to tell us what is wrong. The teacher sent no note so we had no way of knowing what was wrong. We ask if she is hurt, she shakes her head no, so I start walking her back to Host Nation Class.
1255-As I am walking her back to Host Nation, I see 2 more of my student RUNNING to the nurses office (I swear they know not to run in the hallway). They aren't shy and announce that one of them had an accident and needed some new clothes. So I say goodbye to the counselor and take him to our classroom to get some fresh clothes.
1300-I start walking the student back to Host Nation Class. When we get about 100 ft. from the classroom, I can hear the teacher screaming at my class in both German and English and my class just yelling and talking over her.
1302-I walk in the door and instantly the kids are silent. The teacher comes over and wants to know why all my kids wet their pants. I find out that the first student had had a major accident and that is why she was sent to the nurse's office. She is very shy (and stubborn) and I am sure this why she didn't tell us. So I shoot my kids the evil eye, they give me a thumb up and go to get this poor girl some fresh clothes.
1205-We get clean clothes.
1308-We head back to get the class. Once again we can hear the class and teacher well before we are in the room.
1309-I walk in the room only to see that 5 kids in my class have taken off their shirts. Apparently they were hot! The teacher proceeds to tell me what a horrible class I have, and how they all have pant wetting problems, and no one listens to her.
1311-I apologize to the teacher and inform my class that I am very disappointed and that at this point it was in their best interest to walk down the hallway with no problems.
1315-My class knows that I am not happy. Without a word everyone takes their seats and eats their snacks, quietly and carefully.
The last hour of school my kids were perfect, probably because they were scared to breathe at this point. Because of their behavior they weren't able to have choice center time and had to do work at their seats, plus have a discussion about the proper way to behave in Host Nation Class.
I am happy to say, everyone survived and all were fully dressed before heading home. I stayed after school and finished preparing for conferences, I needed to stay and write lesson plans, but I suppose I can do that tomorrow. I just needed to get home and relax. I love my job, but those 45 minutes were pretty stressful.
Here is a funny that I received from Laura and it was also being passed around the school today.

(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)
Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.
I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.
From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Smith

Twilight...finally!

Okay, so I realize that I we are a little behind over here, but Twilight was FINALLY in the theater. The best part was it was free for me and $1 for my friends. For Christmas one of my students gave me movie coupons.
I never thought I would get so into the books, I told my friend Lacey so many times, that I didn't want to read them, that I wouldn't like that kind of book. Then, I needed something to read for a trip and thought I would try the book out. I quickly found myself unable to put them down.
The movie was good, like usual not as good as the books, but I didn't walk away disappointed.
Thanks Fran and Dana for going with me, it was a fun night out!

The Search Begins!

I am trying not to get to excited, but today we found out some good news. Kyle and I haven't really enjoyed were we are living, Askren Manor (aka Trash Can Manor). Mind you, it is a step-up from any other place we have ever lived. Plus work is only a minute walk for me, and a 7 minute drive for Kyle, plus we are right next to the commissary (grocery store). However, our neighbors upstairs could win an award for being the worst neighbors in history, I live so close to my students it is scary, and we don't have as much room as we would like. We have been having a hard time even thinking about getting ready to put baby stuff in because it requires cramping more stuff in a little space, and getting rid of our beloved spare (aka junk) room.
But...Kyle went to the housing office today, and apparently pleaded a good case, because they told us to find a place, and that we should be able to move off-post. He REALLY wants to move, so it doesn't surprise me he charmed this poor little old lady into giving us permission to move. It is kinda hard to search for a house (or a bigger apartment) in Germany when you don't speak German, luckily, I have some great German girlfriends who are willing to help us out. So the search has begun! I am excited, but trying to contain myself, because I don't want to be disappointed if we find some place and then the army decides we can't move off-post after all. I am glad my friends are willing to help us because they were told they couldn't live in anything but military housing with their hubbies and they are German...seems odd to me.
Right now we might as well live in America, as we are surrounded by them. We don't know when we will be headed back to the states, so we want to have a place that we enjoy and love while we are here, we want to really experience Germany, and part of that is living next to Germans. Maybe it will help me progress in learning the language too (wishful thinking I am sure)!
--Currently we are planning on Kyle getting deployed again this Fall. He is wanting to put in a Warrant Officer packet to be a helicopter pilot. However, found out that his eyes are not good enough for this. He is suppose to be getting laser eye surgery next month sometime, so after he heals from that he can put in a packet. Then it is a waiting game to be selected. But, no matter what, we will be here until at least Feb. 2010(unless he somehow he gets his packet in and selected before the deployment), however, if he gets deployed, it will probably be more like Feb. 2011 that we leave Germany. So, we have at least a year to live in the new place...which I am hoping will be worth all the work!
Now...to find that perfect place!

Feeling Loved.

Since I have been sick, I have gotten some flowers and thought I would share.
My husband brought me flowers to the hospital (which he had to take home because they do not allow them).

A fellow Kindergarten teacher Ms. Maryland brought some tulips over to my house with a nice card. (I gave my other vases away, so I had to put them in a pitcher).

The school counselor Ms. Eisaman brought me some flowers my first day back at school.

Thanks for thinking of me guys! I really do love all the beautiful flowers that I have around the house now!
--In other news, I signed up for a Professional Development Class today. I am suppose to be teaching a class to the staff at my school in March on this program I have never used as part of being on the Technology Committee. So today I signed up for a class to teach me, so I can teach others. I am hoping the class isn't to time consuming, it is only one credit so lets hope not! I don't need anymore credits to renew my teaching cert., so I was irritated I had to sign-up, I could have self taught, but this will be better. I just wish I was spending this $55 on my master's!
--One more day of school this week with the kids! Yipee! Teacher work day for me on Friday!

Inauguration Day

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP-Photo taken from msnbc.com

So today was an important day in history. I feel a little unpatriotic because I didn't bother to watch the inauguration today of the 44th President Barack Obama. I even got a email message at school saying "Dr. Ohman has authorized the release of Area employees 59 minutes early on Tuesday, January 20 in observance of the Inauguration of the President of the United States. Once students are clear of the buildings, all staff members are dismissed for the day." I guess working in a Department of Defense school has perks!
Instead of watching Kyle and I went to the furniture store and Kyle sat on every couch in the store (mind you we weren't looking for a new couch). We also managed to look at strollers which they had nothing under 500 Euro, cribs, none of which were the same size as American cribs, therefore the sheet set we like would never work, and finally the reason we went to the store we looked at desks...all of which we hated. Furniture stores are not the same as back in the states and it is hard to make big purchases in Euro when we are paid in Dollars. So, to say the least we walked away empty handed! This is probably a good thing considering the prices on things. We usually stay in the clearance section in this store, but of course, no desks where there.
When we got home from the furniture store and ate some dinner we turned the TV only to find out that our AFN (Armed Forces Network...our tv service) had the Inauguration activities on every channel. I think they wanted us to watch. Well, we still avoided it and caught up on the new season of 24!
Its not that we don't care about the inauguration, we understand that it is an important day in history. However, we have never watched an inauguration before, so I guess didn't see a need to start today. Kyle and I are Bush supporters and understand that a lot of mistakes have been made, but also realize that he has been put in some tough situations. It made me sad to read about today's inauguration and see the disrespect that President Bush received. While reading on msn.com I read the following:
"Some in the crowd, weary of Bush's eight years in office, booed the president when the large viewing screens near the World War II Memorial flashed an image of the exiting president arriving at the swearing-in."
"After the inauguration ceremony, some in the crowd waved at the aircraft in the sky. Others, however, cheered when they heard a television broadcaster announce, 'George Bush is no longer president of the United States." Still others in the crowd, broke into chants of "Na-na-na-nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.'"
That doesn't make me to proud to be an American when people act like that. Kyle and I take a lot of pride in our country and were really bothered by this. We can't really do anything about it, but continue supporting and being proud of our country no matter who the leader is!
Also, I can rest assured, because no matter what, I know that ultimately GOD is in charge!

24 week update

I had to go back to the doctor today to be cleared for work and to make sure that the baby was doing okay after all the drugs they have had me on.
Gunnar is weighing in at almost exactly 1.5lbs and looked very healthy. He is fun to watch. I am glad the doctor and ultrasound tech like watching him too, they just sat and watched him today for a good 5 minutes after checking him all out. Gunnar is really into sucking on things. He usually has his hands in his mouth but today it was his arm. At first he was snoozing upside down, but something got him all riled up and he really moved and grooved in there for us.
Here is Gunnar's latest photo.

I am much better and cleared for heading back to work. I am back to weighing the same as I did at my first appointment. This sickness has really taken its toll on me. However, since my lab work was good and Gunnar is healthy and growing he said not to worry. I am just suppose to take it easy and stay away from sick kids. Ha, yeah right, if only parents kept their kids home when they were sick. Luckily I have an aide in my room and I believe a parent volunteer everyday this week (only a 3 day week) so taking it easy should be doable. Plus, we have conferences coming up, Friday is a grade day, so I have lots of assessments to complete in a little amount of time. I usually give myself 2 weeks, I now have 3 days. But luckily it is easy and just requires me sitting there asking kids questions 1 on 1.
Here is a picture of me at 24 weeks. Don't you like the fancy door decor? The Blanket is over the door to keep the dust out from all the construction going on in our stairwell.

After the doctor Kyle and I stopped by the bakery and got some pretzel bread. I am not sure that is what it is called, but it is what it tastes like and what we call it. It is so yummy. We also somehow came out with this amazing piece of bread with pineapple and ham on it, plus 2 fresh croissants. The pineapple/ham bread didn't make it past the first stop light between the two of us. Oh yeah, we also purchased some Haribo (gummy candy) on the way out, what a healthy stop we made!
A picture of that delicious pretzel bread. Yummy!

We also finally finished that stupid, never-ending laundry. As we washed it, I realized we hadn't done it since our Paris trip. How we have made it 18 days without doing laundry is a mystery to me. But it is done, only to be redone in another week.
Tomorrow is back to work, so I need to make sure I have everything ready. I haven't been in to school since the 8th, so I am feeling like I better go in early. I wrote out this weeks lesson plans here at home, but I am nervous to see what state my room is in after being gone over a week.
A sweet lady from school just stopped by and brought me flowers. She said she just found out that I had been in the hospital and the rumors were flying at school about where I was, but that I was really missed. It is was very nice.
Alright, well Kyle has been working on getting our scanner to work for the last 30 minutes. Meanwhile I ate dinner. Maybe I should help him out and heat something up for him. It is leftover night!

Sooner or Later

It was bound to happen, I knew it was coming...but why???
Juice got spilled on our carpet. Not any juice, but pomegranate/cherry juice!
All of our floor is hardwood, and right before Kyle came home from Afghanistan I purchased an area rug (after months of looking for the perfect one) for in front of our couch. I am very particular about it, vacuum it constantly and tell Kyle he isn't allowed to wear shoes on it. I had just recently gotten over him shining his boots on my carpet and leaving stains not only on the carpet, but leaving damage on our glass coffee table, and now this!
We had to take our end table out to make room for the Christmas tree, so I now set my drinks on the floor and am very careful. Kyle just didn't realize I had my juice there and came to give me a kiss and knocked it over. That is what I get for not taking my Christmas tree down yet, and not having our table back. At least he was trying to be sweet...it just ended badly for him.
I guess this is just preparation for the little guy coming, I am sure many more stains are coming.
By the way, Kyle offered to go buy me a new carpet, but after a lot of dabbing, and spraying carpet stain remover on the rug I can live with it. Plus spending that much money on a new rug because of one stain seems silly!
--I would post a picture, but I am to lazy to go look for the camera, I think a nap is in order! Plus you might think I am being ridiculous over a stain you can hardly see anymore.

Thankful to be home?

Ahh...sickness. Thursday I came home from school really sick. I had a horrible cough and a slight fever. By Friday morning I was no better, I could hardly breathe because of my stuffiness, my cough kept me awake most of the night and I was still running a low grade fever. I decided I wanted to take a shower before I called the doctor, really it was just my way of putting it off a little longer. While in the shower, after coughing I started having horrible stomach and back cramps. I got out of the shower without even using soap. I called the doctor and they wanted me to come to the office within the next 15 minutes. This was impossible as Kyle as still at work. So I got them to give us around 30 minutes. I called Kyle and they let him leave exactly 30 minutes later. We were a little late, but no one seemed to mind.
As soon as I walked in the door, they checked my temperature, heard me cough in the waiting room, and told me I had to go straight to the hospital. Which was totally why I didn't want to go to the doctor in the first place. We had to go to labor and delivery and they were waiting for us when we arrived. They rushed me in and took Kyle to start the paper work. The midwife took me to her office and started trying to give me an IV. After 3 veins collapsed on her, she gave up and told me after I got to a room a doctor would have to come give me an IV. Luckily they found a nursing student who spoke English and she was able to tell us a little more as to what was going on other than us guessing by body language and the little German we could understand.
A doctor came to my room and was able to get the IV on the first try (thank goodness), and they came me pain killers for the cramps and fluids to get me hydrated.
My doctor couldn't come by and check on me the first day, but we were told I would have to be in a day or two to get my fever under control and stop the cramping which they told me most likely was contractions (caused from my coughing). The next day my doctor came by, didn't tell me what was wrong, just that they needed to put me on antibiotics and monitor the baby until Monday.
Monday was very ready to go home. Kyle was allowed to stay with me from 8-8, and it was really restful in the hospital, but I was sick of being poked and prodded. I hadn't had a bowel movement since Thursday so Sunday they insisted on giving me a suppository. That was a beginning of bad news for me. Any time after that if anything was wrong there answer was another suppository. Not suppositories to make me go to the bathroom, but mostly for headaches. I didn't realize they were painkillers until later, I couldn't figure out why I needed so many bathroom helpers after the first one did the job. Between Sunday and when I finally got to go home I probably had 6. I really just wanted people to stop touching me. When the doctor came in on Monday he saw that I wasn't any better, even though I tried to look like a real happy/healthy camper, and he said I had to stay until at least Wednesday. That meant another IV, because the one I currently had was not letting fluid in any longer!
Tuesday came around and I was feeling a lot better, my fever was gone and my cramping had all stopped. Baby was fine and I just wanted to be home. So when the doctor came in, I begged and pleaded and he said yes as long as I promised to stay in bed until Monday. I was so happy! He made me stay until later the afternoon so I could finish the last of my antibiotics, and since I could talk again (I had lost my voice), my cough was breaking up, my fever was gone, and the baby was doing good there was no reason I couldn't rest at home. Kyle wanted me to come home too, he was told that it was inappropriate for him to sit or lay with me on the bed, so he had to sit in the uncomfy wooden chair (poor baby).
One the way home we stopped and got my cough syrup at the Rx and then had a surprise waiting for us at home. Yipee, they started the work on our stairwell. That means there are jackhammers, drills, and tons of dust floating around. So much for a restful environment. Kyle is working on getting all the dust that has come into our apartment out and I am trying to keep my sanity and on top of the headaches I have been getting. The jackhammer has been in full force outside my apartment since 8 this morning. I was sleeping so good too. I had a rough start last night with all my coughing, but had finally gotten settled in. It is nice not having to jump out of bed at 5:30 for a nun to make your bed, then have a cleaning lady, nurses, doctors, and breakfast all come in before 6:30. I was only woken up once by Kyle heading off to work, and then the stupid jackhammer...so much for sleeping.
I am glad to be home. I keep hoping the noise stops, but it doesn't look like it will be ending soon. Kyle was suppose to leave for Italy on Sunday, and I thought as soon as I got home they would send him, but it looks like he might get to stay around, which I am so thankful so. Next week is only a 3 days of school with the kids, 4 days for me, so it should be a easy week to start school back up with for me. I am suppose to be avoiding stress. The doctor told me he would write me a letter saying I couldn't work until after the baby, but I kindly declined *much to Kyle's dismay* because I really do enjoy my job and I don't know what I would do at home all day at this point. Once the baby is here I know I will be plenty busy at home.
Oh yes, I still don't really know exactly was wrong with me. The nurses were pretty good about speaking English, but apparently they are not allowed to tell us what is wrong, only the doctor. Then the doctor just came in and checked me out and told me how long I had to stay, never what was wrong. Our military clinic personnel came by on Monday to give us more paperwork and answer questions and they said that it is normal for them not to tell us what is wrong. So, I still don't know what was all happening, I just know that the baby is good, and that I must rest until Monday!

22 weeks

Today I had what they called the "Big Ultrasound." To me it really didn't seem much different than any ultrasound I have had so far. The difference I could see was it was the doctor not the ultrasound tech (aka pretty lady to Kyle) doing it. I think maybe it was the big one because they wrote down the measurements, instead of the "pretty lady" just checking them, plus he took a slightly more detailed look at all the organs. He said everything is looking great and our little man is doing well. We concluded after today that he is going to be lazy as he yawned at least four times during the ultrasound and he is going to like to touch his face, he is always putting his hands in his mouth or touching his face in some way when we check him out.
Dr. Schweind was very shocked (not a good kind) when he saw I haven't gained more than 5lbs, and actually lost some weight since my last appointment. I told him I had been sick, then he informed us a stomach virus has been going around and putting people in the hospital. Yesterday I couldn't keep any food down, he ask why I didn't call. Ha, well, if you know me, I like to tough things out. He informed me this wasn't best for me or the baby. Next time I am to go to the hospital. I made sure I kept drinking fluids even though I wasn't keeping those down either. Today I felt better and even went to school, I am working on keeping my food down. I am exhausted after the day, but my kids were probably they best they have been all year. I couldn't believe it after a 2 week break. I guess they knew I needed their help to get through the day.
Well, Baby Boy Pettit's Picture is a little scary. I really wish they would print off the normal 2-D, but I think the doctor is obsessed with the 3-d photos he can make for us. He even offered us a CD of the entire ultrasound (Kyle didn't understand so he turned it down, oh well, I don't see us sitting around watching it over and over).

Paris New Year's

Dec. 31
Kyle and I departed Schweinfurt at 0230 in a van. We then transferred to two different buses before we finally arrived in Paris around 1400. It took so long due to all the stops at different military installations. We had a couple of hours to freshen up at our hotel before we headed to dinner. Let me tell you, real French Onion Soup is the best. I got it as an appetizer at both dinners and it was just great! After dinner we went on an Illuminations tour down the Seine River on a glass boat. After the boat ride we found our spot for the New Year's Celebration. Close enough to the Eiffel Tower for our liking, yet far enough away to avoid the major crowds. We found out the next day we were standing right next to the tunnel that Princess Diana was killed in.
--The Eiffel Tower was blue with yellow stars to honor the French's Presidency of the European Union. Their six month of presidency ended on the 31st, so we got to see it go from blue to the normal orange-gold. Apparently it won't be blue for another 13 years.

Jan. 1
After getting to sleep in a little, we left our hotel around 1030 for our City tour. We started out back at the Eiffel Tower. Kyle and I opted not to go up it because it was so foggy. Instead we went to the French Officers Military School and checked out some other sites close to the tower. It was nice just to walk around rather than be on the bus. After the Tower we went to the Arc of the Triumph then Kyle and I went and found some lunch, only to get back on the bus. We drove around and saw some sites, ending at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. After the Cathedral we went to another French Restaurant for dinner, and then back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Jan. 2
We got our wake up call at 0640 after a good breakfast and checking out we went to the Palace of Versailles. There was art throughout the palace by Jack Koons. The art was really distracting and took away from the art inside the palace, but it got people talking, which I think was his point. After the Palace we went to the Louvre and had about 2 hours to walk around. We made sure we saw the Mona Lisa, but with so many people bumping into me, and so many people who neglected to put on deodorant that morning I really couldn't take it to long so we didn't stay long and went and walked around outside. After the Louvre we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe, had an undercooked burger and then had about an hour of free time. Kyle and I just wanted to go home, but we walked around and bought baby Pettit a puppet and stuffed animal...the first thing we have bought for him ourselves. Around 1800 we got back on the bus and headed back to Germany.

Jan. 3
We arrived at home around 0430 and went straight to bed. I found it nearly impossible to get any sort of rest and get myself comfortable on that dumb bus and van. Once I got comfortable or asleep it was time to switch vehicles again for us. Kyle had no problem sleeping on the bus. We woke up around 1100, I ate some breakfast/lunch and went back to sleep until around 1600.

To say the least we had a really great time. We enjoyed our tour of Paris very much. I am just extremely exhausted and need to get back on a regular sleeping and eating schedule.

3-fingered Guitar Master

One of the things I ask for at Christmas was Rock Band 2. About a week ago when Kyle and I were walking through the PX they had two sitting there. Kyle knew that was his only chance it get it without having to pay shipping online, so we grabbed it and figured I wouldn't mind having it early. With there only being 2 in the store there was no chance of it still being there if he went and got it at a later time. He was right about me not minding, we have been playing it for about a week now and are having a blast. I am not sure who likes it more! Kyle doesn't like the drums (he thinks they are harder, but he is getting better) so I usually play the drums and he is on the guitar. If one of us is lazy we will be the singer. Kyle and I have worked our way from playing on the easy level to medium and hard. I get a kick out of watching Kyle play guitar because of his missing finger, but he is slowly becoming the 3-fingered guitar master (his thumb doesn't count since he is not using it)!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
Today was a great day! It would have been even better had we not woken up with dog poop all over the house from the dog we are dog sitting, but oh well, we just pretended the reindeer came for a visit. Here is a quick run down of what happened: Kyle and I woke up and spent the morning alone opening gifts and enjoying each others company (and cleaning up dog poo). Then around 1pm, he went and got some of the single soldiers from the barracks who didn't go home for the holidays. We enjoyed a good dinner then we all rocked out with one of my Christmas gifts, Rock Band 2. Once the guys left Kyle and I watched some Christmas movies. Then we got to talk to my family on the web camera, which makes it seem like we are a little closer during the holidays...I really miss and love you guys.


An oh so exciting slide show of 2 grown-ups opening stockings and Christmas Gifts:

Kyle, Suesse and I by our little Christmas Tree


The guys with full bellies