40 Days To a Better Me!

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 days of preparation, Lent, for the coming of the Lord, Easter. This is such an important time of the year, calling for repenting and rededication to the Lord and his church.

Normally, this is a time when I would give up something that is taking me away from the Lord. This year I have decided that I am going to do things to better myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Since Brody has come into our lives, he has been my constant focus. I have realized, to be a better mother to him, I have to take care of myself.

So...in the place of giving something up, I'm going to give to myself so that I can give to others.
(And the reason I'm writing these is because I feel like I have to stick to something more if its in writing.)

40 Days to a Better Me!

I promise to...

• Say something positive about myself each day.
• Take time just for myself each day.
• Do some type of physical activity every day.
• Have a meaningful conversation with my husband every day.
• Not let the stress of 3 online classes, National Boards, and the politics of school get in the way of the passion I have for what I do.
• Reach out to 3 friends every week.
• Attend church every Sunday, even when Ken is working and I have Brody by myself.
• Spend quality time with my son apart from the routine things I have to do each day.

What will you do to make a positive change in your life?

Country Boys!

Brody had his first ride on Ken's four-wheeler this afternoon. It was so nice outside, we just couldn't pass it up. He only went out the back yard, but he seemed to enjoy it!

A Night In

Last night, we had so much fun just staying in and spending time together. We are almost never at house house, just the three of us, on a Saturday night. Ken cooked spaghetti and we just hung out and watched tv until Brody went to bed. And then I got the idea to play Phase 10. We never play with just the two of us. It was nice to get some quality family time in.

(Excuse the no make-up, double chin, late night look!)

Gerber Grin!

Just had to post these pics from earlier today. He was having so much fun with his mommy! Who's needs daddy to have a good time!

Red Envelope Day

I initiall saw this on Facebook this morning and was very excited about this. A friend of mine participates in 40 Days For Life and I thought RED was a great way to kick it off!

I wanted to post this information on my blog in hopes that others who read this and are passionate about pro-life will consider participating too! It really is so easy, but the impact we could make together is HUGE!!! Go here to read more, then follow the directions below! www.sendaredenvelope.org!!

Here is all you have to do:

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

N.W.Washington , D.C. 20500

Seal the empty envelope and on the back, write the following message:
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

Even you, President Obama, stated during the National Prayer Breakfast " There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being."

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then send this website to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.

The Middle Wife

This is from an email my aunt sent me. I laughed so hard!!!!

Ive been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself,but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second gradeclassroom a few years back.When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell.

So I always have a few sessionswith my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually,show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes,pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place anyboundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to schooland talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid,takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillowstuffed under her sweater.She holds up a snapshot of an infant.
'This is Luke, my baby brother, andI'm going to tell you about his birthday.''
First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad puta seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for ninemonths through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not tolaugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.'

Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh,Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked aroundthe house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing ahysterical duck walk and groaning.)' My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't havea sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down inbed like this.'

(Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case hegot thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, likepsshhheew!'

(This kid has her legs spread with her little hands mimingwater flowing away. It was too much!)'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe.They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of asudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they allsaid it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot oftoys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him forcrawling up in there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it'show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ' Middle Wife' comes along.

A Must Buy

We bought this Playskool Ball Popper for Brody for Christmas. He absolutely loves it! It is a must buy for anyone 9+ months. I just had to get a clip of it. It's kind of long, but since this is my journal, I put this in to remember some of his favorite things.

Good Morning!

Brody woke up bright and early around 7:00. Yay for sleeping in! Ken is working this weekend so its just the two of us during the day. We've been playing all morning and even practicing our standing!

*If anyone knows how to change your template to three columns let me know. I've followed several tutorials but they all make it stack the left column on top of the middle column...really confused!

TGIF!

It has been a LONG week! But it is an absolutely gorgeous day outside! I'm definitely am ready for the weekend.


I know I have a school blog, but I have to post some of these pics from today. We have been working on a Cowboy Unit all week and today we had a "real" campfire and made S'mores.

Here they are around the campfire. I was nervous that they were going to be upset because it wasn't a real fire. But when Jamya walked out she said "Oooohh! Its really real!" They toasted their marshmallows like pros!

I thought since I haven't posted in awhile, I'd throw a pic of Brody in the mix. He is doing so well! He PT came yesterday and said he did well, only cried for a short time and actually got some therapy. He is hilarious! We have Abby, Rob and Kim's lab and he just crawls after her and Bailey going "uh uh, uh uh"...his version of ruff, ruff. He laughs and squeals at them. It's so nice to have my peanut back to his old self!

"Its Not All About You" Tuesday

I saw a post on Facebook yesterday about being positive. Tresandria Hubbard popped into my mind immediately when I starting writing this post.

I definitely think the Lord has a plan for everyone of us even though we may not understand it at the time. I started last school year 4 months pregnant, teaching Kindergarten for the first time, and no assistant. She quit before she started. A month later, in walks this energetic history grad from Miss. State. Her attitude was AMAZING! "What can I do to help you?" was her first question for me every morning! She has a positive outlook on EVERYTHING...and I mean everything! "It is what it is" is her life philosophy. She has definitely changed the way I look at things in my life. And now she is a Kindergarten teacher and an awesome one I might add! She works three...yes you heard me...three jobs and never complains about any of them. What a wonderful inspiration she is! Who inspires you?

Brody Update

I have recieved lots of calls, texts, and emails about Brody so I thought I'd do one more update on Brody. Ken stayed home with him yesterday after waking up with 101 fever again. We decided to run him back to the doctor just to check him over again. His fever was up and down yesterday but never got over 101. Doc said there is a pretty nasty virus going around that is acting like the flu. Lots of babies have come in with the symptoms: high fever for several days, cough, runny nose, red throat, and just plain exhaustion. But the flu test comes up negative. Just like Brody's did.


Doc checked him over: ears-great! congestion-yes! red throat-yes! (Went ahead and did strep test, also came back neg. Yay!) fever-No...finally perfect read of 98.6. Diagnosis: Viral infection. Treatment...some Motrin and a lotta love. Doc told us to look for a spike last night and this morning in his fever. Last night he did really well. 99.9. Took it just before I layed him down for his nap and we're sitting at 100.2.


I really think this is the last of it. I stayed home with him today just in case Doc was right about his fever going up this morning. There was no point in driving all the way to Jackson for work and getting a call a couple of hours later to come get him. Besides, this way he can rest and I can get some much needed National Board work done. I'm pretty sure he will be back at daycare tomorrow.


I actually managed to get some pictures of little man last night playing.

Say "Thank you"

Brody was supposed to be practicing stacking the blocks. But as you can see he had other plans...

Brody loves riding his lion that Papa and Gigi gave him for Christmas. Bailey also wanted to play and you can see by her big head in the middle of the picture.

Brody has only wanted his daddy for the last couple of days. (This was taken Sunday night with his Daddy holding him.)

I was so excited he reached out for me last night.

Shocked!!!

I won't ruin it for the ones who haven't seen The Bachelor tonight, but YAAAAAYYY! My girl so got picked first. Woohooo! I just told Ken I wasn't going to watch it anymore if she didn't get picked, but she did!
Okay, okay. I promise I'm not crazy. But please remember...I deal with 5 year olds all day and I love me some Bachelor. How many of you are as crazed as me? (It's okay...you can admit it...I won't tell anyone!)

Ask and You Shall Receive!

Many of you have been asking for more pics of Brody. My dad has been trying to get me to come get his camera for a week now and I finally remembered to get it. I have been experimenting with it and of course Brody was the subject of all my experimentation!

We have been working with Brody on recognizing parts of his body...mainly on his face. He's great at finding your nose...still working on him finding his own. He is fasicnated with dogs and I guess has picked up on Bailey always having her tongue out. Brody sticks his tongue out at everything lately. Its so funny. I've been trying to make a teachable moment out of it and point out that this is his tongue.

Another thing he loves to do lately is make his "silly face".He knows it cracks us up and does it ALL the time. I took a video of him making this face.
Silly Face from Nicole Hayman on Vimeo.


I tried so hard to get him to show you his tongue, but I did get it in a picture shortly after.

*Quick Update: Brody's fever has come down but not yet broken. Ken is going to stay home with him tomorrow. If it still doesnt break by lunchtime, we may head back to the doctor and retake the flu test. We've been back and forth between 100-101, which is MUCH better than yesterday. I really think he's on the mend and tomorrow will be a much better day. The power of positive thinking...

Date With The Doctor

Ken and I had plans to eat at BoneFish tonight but remember Brody's fever I told yall about earlier this morning. It never went away and spiked at 103! Nothing was breaking it and he was so lethargic! All he wanted to do was lay on the floor, in my arms, or in his bed.

So we took him to the after hours clinic where we saw Dr. Flowers. He was GREAT! And it was actually the best Brody has ever acted. Mainly because he was trying to go to sleep the whole time. Doc said that he had all the symptoms of the flu and gave him a flu test. It came back negative. Doc still thinks its the flu and said if they test too early it can come back negative. He wants us to come back tomorrow for another test if his symptoms do not improve. So we are basically "treating" a fever virus by alternating Tylenol and Motrin. We have gotten it down to 101 at bedtime.

Say a little prayer that everyone has a restful night.
Also say a little prayer for Emily Kay. She has been really sick as well and needs a little love. Get well soon EK!!!

Crunch Time!

I now only have about 6 more weeks to finish my National Board portfolio. Eeeek!!! I missed class this morning because Brody woke up with 101 temp and a foul mood. He has been lethargic most of the morning, but did eat some heart shaped pancakes for breakfast.

Happy Valentine's Day!

He also has learned how to stack 3 blocks on top of each other. Once he gets to four, he'd rather knock them all down and laugh. Love that kid!

So...back to National Boards...I had to redo my Social Studies entry (MLK play) for various reasons. So after lots of tears and pitty parties, I got my act together and chose to do a much safer unit on Community Helpers. This video was much more age appropriate and the kids actually learned through play. (Which is how 5 years are supposed to learn!) Anyways, they had a blast pretending to be vets, builders, firemen, bakers, doctors and nurses. Too cute! Hopefully this will work and I can get started on the 12 page written commentary. Wow! So much to do.

After this entry, I have one more: Literacy. There is no video on this one and I have a great enough time lapse to actually start on it now. 6 weeks to tackle these last two entries.

I Got This!!!!

Is It Just Me?

Is anyone else having trouble with facebook? Ken can log on fine, but when I type my stuff in the whole computer locks up. Really frustrating!!! Missing all my FB friends!

13 Brody-isms

Today is Brody is 13 months old. How time flies...I wish I could say he was well this week. But we are definitely on the mend! In celebration of his monthly b-day, I thought I would give you some of his likes, not-so-likes, milestones, and anything else I can think of. And sadly I have no picture of Brody on his 13 month Birthday because I still have no working camera.

1. Brody still LOVES sweet potatoes. Now we have just graduated to baked sweet potatoes with a little butter and cinnamon. Yummy!
2. He still has a huge obsession with balls. Any size, shape, or color.
3. His favorite toy is the Playskool Busy Ball Popper we bought him for Christmas.
4. He adores being outside. He will instantly stop crying when we walk outside.
5. The boy has NO fear at all! We took him outside at my parents house and he immediately went straight for the pool. I'm thinking a trip to Maley's is in his near future.
6. He is standing more and more each day. I have even caught him a couple of times trying to move those litttle feet some.
7. He has completely given up the bottle and loves milk from his cup.
8. He now goes to sleep on his own, in his own bed with his Luvie, listening to Baby Bible Tunes.
9. He loves Bailey, our lab, and any dog for that matter. When you ask him, "Where's the doggy Brody?" He points and says, Duduuuu.
10. He said mama one time Saturday afternoon outside at my parents house. We haven't heard it again but it was the most amazing thing that has ever come out of that sweet child's mouth!! (He also will point to Ken and make the same sound he makes for Doggy...ha!!)
11. He loves to tell people "Bye-Bye" and wave. In fact, he loves it so much that he usually will keep saying it long after they or us are gone.
12. He LOVES to give hugs and sigh. Melts my heart everytime!
13. He HATES the doctor's office. But really can you blame him? He goes at least once a month. But we LOVE Dr. Jones. He is so good with Brody and us for that matter.

So....there you have it. 13 facts about our sweet baby boy.

Its Not All About You!

I saw this on a fellow bloggers site and just had to do it. Here are the rules...

What is it?

Well, we'll tell you what it is NOT... It's Not About YOU. It's about SOMEONE ELSE. It's our chance, each of us, to shine our light on someone else, much the same as we have tried to do with MISSION: Monday.

Huh? Whaddya mean?We each spend a lot of time talking about ourselves and our lives, but we are also fairly GIVING people too...Tuesday's Tribute is a chance to talk about OTHER people, OTHER blogs, OTHER lives.

Still lost...what would I write about??How about...A blog/blogger/business whose work you love that you want to help promote to your readers? (example)A friend or a loved one who you respect? (example)One of your kids who just accomplished something great?A cause you feel strongly about? A Fundraiser?

Adair came into my life three years ago with an eagerness to get started with her teaching career...and an empty gas can. = ) We listened to each other's trials and celebrations throughout the years and became a great support system.

She has such an amazing heart and passion for what she does. She is immediately there for you no matter what is going on in her life. My life has been bettered by knowing her. Please keep her family in your prayers as they wait patiently for God's precious gift.

No Bottle-Day 3

We're still going strong with no bottles. And I found out that the daycare will supply his milk, now that he's not on formula. We just bring his cup. And juice for that matter. They supply that too! We are going to let him start eating food from their kitchen tomorrow. He's such a big boy. I thought I was going to have a hard time not having a "baby" anymore. But the milestones keep coming and I just love him even more than the day before.

We are doing really good with going to bed at "bedtime" and not when he just falls asleep in our arms. Last night we put him down, screaming of course, at 8:30. I put in a baby bible songs CD and five minutes later he was OUT!! (I know I'm probably jinxing us tonight, but I have to brag on him.) Ken will have him by himself tonight. Good luck baby!!!

***So not even on the subject...***
I just have to comment on my class this year. With a one year old, 27 5 year olds, National Boards, and three online classes...WOW is about all I can say. I know if I can successfully make it through this year I'm good to go. This by far has been the most challenging group, but I really think its going to be my most rewarding.
We only have about 2 months left with the portfolio for National Boards and then just the assessment center in May. I am taking a NB day tomorrow to try to finish up Entry 2 for class on Saturday. I have finished Entry 3 and 4 already.

I did Entry 2 on Martin Luther King, Jr. (Entry 2: Social Studies and Art Integration) I teach in 100% African American school and the kids were so interested in him. They performed a play acting out important events in his life. Before practicing, I asked them some questions about how he must have felt. I asked the question of "What could Martin have done to be friends with the white boy who would not be his friend?" Answer: Ooooh, Mrs. Hayman, we could paint his skin white!!! Ohhhhhh no we could wash him with bleach!

You have to love a 5 year olds resourcefulness! After a LONG discussion of how that would be very inappropriate, the students came to the conclusion that he could try to be his friend by being nice, writing him a letter, and so on.

I love those kids!

No Bottles-Day 2

Well, I can't exactly say no bottles. He had one at 4:30 this morning. But we could not calm him down. I know, I know, we gotta be tougher. But he breaks my heart!

However, he did make it all day at daycare with just sippy cups! I say that's a huge thumbs up for Brody!! Once again last night, we put him down and literally in about 5 minutes he was out. Let's hope it goes that smoothly tonight.

Lately Brody has been fascinated with doors. Yes, doors. He follows us into a room and shuts the door behind us. Sometimes he manages to shut a door to a room only he is in. And then proceeds to hold it shut when we try to open it to get to him. Oh, we could probably add drawers and cabinets to the list as well. We finally broke down and bought the safety things that go on them to protect his fingers. His personality...uhhh...stubborness... is really starting to shine!

P.S. Our camera is broken once again, so we have no way of taking pictures until we can get a new one. Sorry!

Update on Brody

I wanted to give an update on Brody since this blog is my journal as much as anything else. At 12 months and 3 weeks, we have given up the bottle...well we are in the process of giving up the bottle. Baby food too for that matter. Brody has not had one single bottle today. YAY!!! We have gone through several kinds of sippy cups and the Take-n-Toss worked really well for awhile. But Brody is really rough on cups and likes to throw them across the room. The TnT's could come open and juice and milk would go everywhere.

We have found a lot of luck with the Playtex cups, for anyone who's looking to start with sippy cups. I have ordered new labels (MSU ones) from BabyFace Designs and can't wait for them to come in!

My baby is such a big boy! We also are moving away from baby food. I am sending him tomorrow for the first time with only 3rd foods and graduate foods. He prefers the pasta pickups. Yummy. They even have a spinach and cheese ravioli. We haven't tried that one yet. We packed up all my mom's bottles at her house today, and ours are next. Also, we let him cry himself to sleep last night for the first time in a VERY long time. We started out doing really good with his sleeping and then came all of the ear infections and upper respiratory stuff. I just felt sorry for him and would rock him to sleep.

He's getting to big and its almost midnight every night trying to get him to sleep. He'll easily fall asleep on our shoulders and then the minute you put him in his bed, he's awake! Last night it only took about 20 minutes of screaming before he finally gave in. I count that as a SUCCESS!