Victory over The Dress!

After working on this dress for three months (on and off), I finally finished it last night!!  After receiving a sewing machine for Christmas from hubby, I have made some crayon rolls, a bumper pad for Skylar's crib, a pillow case for her toddler-size pillow, and now, a dress!  The dress was by far the hardest thing to make and was actually a pretty sophisticated pattern. Needless to say, I was grateful for Ken's mom and granny for offering up advise and hands-on help! 

Here is the full-length.

The top- you can see the ruffles that cross over the front and the little sleeves (they were the devil!)

The gords in the skirt help it stand out. (Skylar is doing her version on Marilyn...)

And the back!

Skylar is 18-months-old!

It's official- Skylar is 18-months-old today!  So now we are going to get serious about getting rid of froggy, potty training, eating vegetables!, and sleeping in a big girl bed!

Below are some pictures from the big Easter dinner we had tonight while Ken's grandparents and brother and his family were in town. We hid some eggs and had a big hunt in the backyard and then had a nice dinner. We found some of the prettiest flowers in the yard to decorate the table with. 

On another note, in order to celebrate Skylar's 18 months of life, we (Ken's mother, grandmother and I) spent many hours last night and more today working on a special cake for her. After one failed attempt and one misplaced cake, we finally created a wonderful lamby for her to sink her chompers into!

Hunting for eggs!

Huntin eggs at the Easter festival at Willomore this past Saturday. It was Skylar's first Easter celebration/egg hunt. At first she didn't seem to get the idea and Daddy had to show her to pick up the eggs and put them in her basket, but eventually she caught on.

Here is Skylar hunting eggs in the backyard.

Daddy was hunting baby kisses!

When we tried to put the eggs back out for her to "hunt" them again, she ran around behind us saying "no, no, no!" as she quickly tried to put the eggs we had already laid out back in the bucket. 

In reverse order: Skylar's first attempt at dyeing Easter eggs!  She was an excellent marksman and loved slamming the eggs into the coloring cups. There was color dye everywhere! Can you guess which eggs Skylar decorated?  I think she did the bunny in the back there...

A new way to entertain Skylar and walk the dogs...

I love warm weather!

The obligatory crack shot.

Look at Sammy's tongue!

We have a breakthrough!

For the past few days, Skylar has been gushing out lots of juicy goodness from her mouth- something she has NEVER really done. So naturally, I've been thinking that she is FINALLY getting some more chompers in her mouth. Sadly, the child was 13? months old before she got her first tooth- and then 5 more quickly followed over the next two weeks. Since then, she woefully has not had any more action in her mouth.  

So tonight at dinner, as I saw a huge gooey mass slide out of her mouth and onto her chin while she was laughing at something, I decided it was time for me to check out her gums...  And surprise surprise, I found not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE!! new teeth already poking out of her gums!!!  Yes, that is right, there are five teeth that have actually cut through her gums and are making their way out, plus a few more large

 lumps of mass in there that seem to be just ready to make their way out in a few days!  I couldn't believe it!  

Either I have been the slackest mother in the world for not noticing these sooner, or they really all have just recently made their debut... all at the same time!  It is amazing that she hasn't acted like they hurt or been extra grouchy or anything!  At least, not that we attributed to teeth!

Here is a pic of Skylar watching UNC beat Oklahoma... she loves UNC bball!

Whoops- I have let things slide a little!

Ok, I have been pretty terrible about updating this blog- so I am going to give anyone reading this an overload of pics and info. Basically all about Sky b/c lets face it- she's the whole reason why I am doing this blog!  So I am going to give everyone a glimpse into some of Skylar's antics right now.

First, Skylar has always been into reading books, we read everyday before bed and naps and throughout the day for fun. Lately, she has been really engaged in her books and likes for you to ask her to point out all the different items on each page of the book. Anything from "dog", "mouse", "girl", "balloon", etc. She is really amazing at picking out everything correctly, no matter how small, hidden, or full of images the page is. If she doesn't know something, she learns really fast by just watching you point it out to her once. She had one black and white book from the library that she would flip to the page where each item was located and pick it out all on her own!  So smart!!

One of Skylar's other new tricks is to turn on some music (from one of her many musical toys) and then start spinning around in circles. Sometimes she doesn't even need her music to start "dancing"! Here are a few pics of her spinning in the kitchen!

Now, one of Skylar's other favorite tricks is to try to stick her food to her head. As you can see, she found out that macaroni and deli meat work well. 

Isn't she cute!?!

Hello, my name is Ms. Pittman, EC teacher at McIver Education Center

So, I have officially started work as an EC teacher for transition-age students at McIver Education Center. I have substituted in my class for two weeks and then officially became the teacher one week ago. In the last three weeks, I have been learning as much about my students and fellow teachers as possible (i.e., their learning styles, schedules, prompt needs, academic ability, personalities, etc.) At the same time, I am also learning more about myself. It is a lot different to go from a student teacher position where there is always someone to hold you accountable and to tell you what you need to do and by when. Now, I am left to my own devices and when I ask questions and opinions from others I get a standard, "It's your classroom teach." 

Well, it is. It is my classroom, however I have inherited my classroom from another teacher who is retiring. So, as I step into my class, I am confronted with several different opinions from my coworkers. Some tell me to do as I see fit, others try to tell me how it would work better, and still others tell me that I need to do things a certain way. What I need to do is figure out what is best for me and my students so that I am comfortable in my new position and my students flourish. There are a lot of times that I feel over my head, yet a few times that I can see progress in development of relations with my students. I can say though, that I have great assistants in my class, who know the students well and are supportive of me. Speaking from experience, that makes a HUGE difference!

I have also inherited a classroom full of junk. My predecessor was evidently a major pack rat and kept materials and papers from way back when for a use that only she could foresee at the time.  So, we have since dumped about 10 large bins full of old papers and materials that have turned yellow with age, several tables full of unused baskets and such, and three tables. I still need to decide how to decorate the classroom so that it looks pleasing to the eye, yet also of a still befitting a group of young adults. Above is a pic of my classroom after the dumpage (we still have a long way to go) so let me know if you have any suggestions for my bulletin boards and rest of the class.