Back to Work

Well folks. I'm officially back to being Mrs. Payne in the classroom. After 4 months of being off work, I think it's time to go back. I miss my little boy like crazy, but I am very excited to start back in the classroom. Just to clarify, the past two days have been training. Tomorrow is when I get to meet my students.

Everyone says they're very excited to meet me. I am very excited to meet them as well. With this training that I had to go to, I have very much evolved how I feel about education and teaching. I'm very excited to implement these new ideas in the classroom. I also have a buddy who teaches what I teach and we both feel the same way about the curriculum. We have no standards, no book, and we're making it up as we go. We met with our principal and told him what we wanted to do and found out it was a-ok. Yay! I feel very nervous about tomorrow and very anxious. The girl who teaches what I teach said that she applied for my job earlier in the year, but the principal said he knew exactly who he wanted for the job (me) and sought me out. That's a lot to live up to! But I know I can do it.

The last week of maternity leave was hard. I did a lot of Pinterest projects, lots of errands, and Friday, I ventured out and got Coleman the iPhone 5. We were joking Thursday night about going tomorrow and getting it, and then he asked me Friday when Teddy and I woke up if I would go (mind you this was 10am). So I just went to the store in Frankfort, they asked if I was there for the iPhone 5, I said yes, and they said cool! I was so shocked! They didn't have any blacks, but Coleman I think would have rather had white anyways. We went out to dinner with his family at Texas Roadhouse, went to the Reds-Dodgers game on Saturday (which they clinched their division), and had a cookout on Sunday. It was a great last week. I think the only thing keeping me from not thinking about how sad I am about leaving Teddy is that in 3 weeks I get a week off with him for Fall Break. I can handle that! Which brings me to my big reveal. . . My mom is our babysitter. This has been a huge relief on her, me, and our wallet. She thought she might be able to do it, so she asked her boss about 3 weeks ago and he said yes! So she's working from our house - she didn't quit. I think knowing she's there with him is really helpful as well. I worry more about her than him! But it's worked well the past few days so I think it's gonna all work out.

Teddy is doing really well. I can't believe he'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow! He's getting so big. He's smiling a lot more, almost laughing, and he's been "talking" a lot more too! He says a lot of "Ooooo's"
and "Ah's" (pronounced like the A in cat). It's so cute!

I'll write a little more as this week ends. . . Wish me luck for tomorrow!!!!!!