First Week Back to School

We made it!  We finished our first week back to school even if it was only three days. I love starting the school year off on a Wednesday.  You can spend the first week going over the syllabus, going over the rules, and working out the kinks.  Then you can get right back into the swing of things on Monday during the second week.  It works out well! I had a great first couple of days back.  I was excited to see my returning students and meet my new students. I am looking forward to getting to know them better this year and see the progress they make from now until the end of the year.

During the Summer, Oakley and I seemed to get into our own routine but there’s something about getting back into the school routine that can be a little refreshing.  Almost like you are being more productive?  Anyone else feel that way?  This was honestly the fastest summer of my life and the worst part is people keep telling me it isn’t going to slow down at all.  I can’t imagine that it will go any faster than it already has. The first day back at school felt like I had only been gone a week or two.  So crazy how time flies!

Oakley started with a new babysitter this year because our last babysitter retired.  It’s gone really well so far and Oakley plays with two other one-year-olds all day.  I love that they’re the same age and will hit their milestones together.  Her babysitter said that one of the boys got hurt so Oakley crawled over to him and patted him on the back.  Every morning when I drop her off, Oakley and her little buddy get so excited to see each other. They smile as big as they can and crawl over to each other.  She also learned how to rawr from him lol.

When the clock hits 3:30, I race out of there to go pick up Oakley.  I get so excited to see her smile when she sees me!  I usually talk to the babysitter for a while and see how her day went. Then, we head home and have a snack or play with her play kitchen.  Right now, her favorite thing to do is to go outside. I push her around in her stroller and we go find Maggie, look at the dogs, and check out the garden.  When we walk up to the mailbox, you can hear all of the birds and insects humming.  When I decide it’s time to go inside, she usually cries.  She loooves being outside and most of the time we end up taking a couple of walks outside in the afternoon.  She gets so excited to see Andrew when he gets home!  Then we all eat dinner and I give Oakley a bath. She usually falls asleep by 8:30.

I really don’t brag on Andrew as much as I should. Usually, I share his latest project, how his pants were falling down while he was carrying our chickens in a fitted sheet, or how he set our yard on fire lol.  Those are all hilarious but on a serious note, he’s really made this week pretty easy on me.  One night, he made sure my lunch box and everything was ready for the next day.  Since he’s off on Fridays, he brought me lunch today and ALL of the students were so excited to see him!  When I got home, he had cleaned up the house, vacuumed, finished putting the knobs on our kitchen cabinets, and made our bed. But he didn’t just make our bed. He made it how I make it, all of the throw pillows were in the right spot.  Oh, and he cleaned off our window sills! I mean, could I ask for anything more? I was not expecting any of that but it sure was nice to come home to after my first week of school. I think he knew that going back to work was bittersweet for me. I love my job, but it’s also hard to leave Oakley especially after spending all summer with her.  I think he also knew that these past three days were a whirlwind and I had a ton to do. The best way I could describe it was I hit the ground running the minute I got out of my car.  We really are blessed with a husband and dad like Andrew. I really got to relax and just enjoy my time with Oakley when I got home.  I plan on doing that for the rest of the weekend too!  Hope Y’all have a wonderful weekend!

Well as you can tell from reading this, I had every intention to post it Friday night but our weekend took a turn for the worst.  Oakley ended up getting a fever Friday night and kept a fever up until today (Tuesday).  Saturday, little bumps started to appear everywhere and by Sunday and Monday, some of them had turned into some bad blisters.  Poor girl caught Hand Foot and Mouth disease from a boy at daycare.  She has been so miserable and fussy. She’ll be laughing one second and then crying and putting her fingers in her mouth the next. Unfortunately, the blisters even end up in their mouth.  The worst part is, it’s a virus so there’s really nothing you can do for them. You just have to wait and let it run its course.  She hasn’t been sleeping well and doesn’t feel like eating all of the time. We’ve tried oatmeal baths, popsicles, chamomile tea, Desitin, ibuprofen, Tylenol, diffusing oils, and I’m sure there’s a bunch of other things that I can’t think of right now because I haven’t been sleeping well either lol.  The few things that have really helped her and made her happy are going for walks outside in her stroller, drinking smoothies, and drinking out of my big water bottle.  I’m glad I’ve at least been able to get her to eat and drink because I guess a lot of kids get dehydrated.  I had quite the day today and I’ll share that in my next post because it’s too long to share here.  Anyway, I’m pretty sure she’s on the mend and I’m thankful she didn’t have a fever today but we would still appreciate some prayers.  Apparently, they’re able to get it again and they can still carry the germs for a couple of weeks after their symptoms are gone.  This scares me because every kid at daycare got it.  It’s horrible seeing your baby sick and I just kept thinking about the moms out there with really sick babies.  You guys are the real MVP’s and my heart breaks for you.  I keep reminding myself that although this is a nasty virus, it’s just a virus and it will be gone in a couple of days.  I’m also thankful for a great aid that can make sure my class runs smoothly until I get back.