Maggie Weekley

Duckie love, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

morgan has spent the last 40 minutes rolling on the floor, talking, and playing with a burp cloth. the kid entertains herself & me, all at once!

the time change has not been kind to us. it's difficult to keep morgan awake until 8-ish and she wakes up at 6ish. this translates into a fussy evening, limited late-afternoon naps, and dan gets very little sleep before schmoo is up and ready to play. she still sleeps through the night, though, so i shouldn't complain...

solid foods are still going strong. last night i mashed some pear into her cereal, which she gobbled up. so far there hasn't been anything we've given her that she hasn't liked. she always responds with the first bite with a sour face - almost as if she forgets what to do with food, but soon flaps her arms and opens her mouth - just like a little bird.

i bought a couple of avocados yesterday and plan to feed her some tomorrow. since they are soft and mushed by design, it takes less work for me to prep them for her.

monday morning brought a thin layer of frost on my car. i am so unprepared for the cold weather... i used my subway rewards card to scrape the ice. one perk of the time change is it's easier to get up on time (hopefully i can keep this up). sleeping in will not be good for timeliness when there is a thick layer of ice on the car that needs chipped off.

river road is ALMOST done, so i'm hoping by thanksgiving mine and dan's commute downtown will be cut by about 10 minutes, several curves, and several unnecessary miles of westover travel.

schmoo and i are headed to tyler co. for the weekend. it's been too long since i've been home to visit. can't wait!

naked baby pictures, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

Morgan is "a half." Six months old... and every day, she surprises us with some new ability. At this point, she's:
-sitting up pretty well and is very patient when she topples over.
-still enjoying bathtime, splashing in the sink, and chewing on rubber ducky.
-eaten mashed potatoes, peas, and grapes. So far she's seemed to like them all with gusto. Hopefully she'll be a food-y (foodie? foody?) like her bff, Hazey.
-sleeps through the night 99% of the time.
-goes to 2-3 MHS events with me each week.
-somehow slept through 15 minutes of sad Lily-wails on our way home from Hazey's birthday party.
-wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes.
-usually aware of the camera and desperately wants to grab, chew, and drool on it


Schmoo's life is enough to keep me occupied, but I'm working out how to balance family and work. So far, I've been lucky to have the support of co-workers, Dan, and Emily M. to make sure Morgan is well looked-after so I can do my "other" job.

Fall sports are wrapping up, so we're able to start putting together spreads, meaning we're moving closer toward our first deadline. The first month felt so slow... and now the classes fly by... too fast, maybe. I've got such great kids, though. They work hard and are (mostly) eager to learn new stuff.

Tonight I need to work on lesson plans and get them caught up for the next couple of weeks. This is my biggest weakness. Lessons are SO much better when they are thoughtfully planned out. Sometimes I get too caught up in brainstorming and get ahead of myself, which translates into disorganization. The new quarter begins Wednesday, which means a perfect chance to start fresh and try something new.

outside girl, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

The past 3 days have been mostly free of Internet & phone service. Even though it was a welcome break, I'm knee-deep in blogs, making new ipod playlists, updating podcasts, and drooling over ew.com's "25 Best Whedonverse Episodes" photo gallery (Buffy!! Angel!!). Tonight is the Desperate Housewives season premier. Oh, fall TV, you have my full attention.

The fam spent the weekend in Bearsville for the annual pig roast. More than just pigs were on the menu: goat, lamb, turkey, and beef were all served. I only had a small bit of turkey and lamb. All-day rain and a chilly breeze kept the party low-key, but it was still fun to be outside, tromping around in the mud with my steel-toed boots. Morgan was snuggled in the carrier for most of the afternoon. Later in the evening, Danny, Krystal & I played The Farming Game, an agricultural twist on Monopoly.

Lately I've been overwhelmed with photos. Most of them are of school events - sports, homecoming court, and special events. There are many ways to store digital photos, each with pros and cons. For now, I just obsess over having backup copies of everything and will most likely end up with multiple copies of the same photo, most likely with different file names. This shouldn't be something that causes me this much anxiety, but there's something very fragile, in my mind, about a digital photo. No tangible evidence of the photo exists until you print it. Disks fail, corrupt. I'm sure I've got more than 1000 school-related photos on my hard drive right now... it's way past time to make a decision. It seems something else has made it to my to-do list.

About an hour ago I went downstairs to wash some of Morgan's bottles and refill my water mug. I set Morgan in her chair, gave her a couple of toys, and proceeded to sing to her while I worked. She started to fuss and 3 minutes later was completely zonked out - and is still sleeping. There's nothing groundbreaking about a baby falling asleep, but it's nice to know that she's able to fall asleep on her own, unswaddled - and stay asleep.

labor day '09, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

...#2 and i'm way excited, as always, but i've been spending the morning cleaning and cooking. college gameday on espn has been on, of course, and gave me a sign that cleaning on gameday morning was ok: they've played dmb songs all morning. i don't think i'll ever grow tired of dmb.

morgan is napping, the laundry is goin, clean clothes put away, i'm dressed, the house is straightened up, bed made... all of my angst from this week is gone. dan and i finally had an evening together last night - we hadn't seen each other since monday except to hand off the schmoo.

later today we're headed to the beanery to watch the game. dan is using my laptop to broadcast the game (only available on espn 360) at the bar.

for now, i'm going to continue my obsessive search for the perfect pair of tall boots to wear with skirts. jennifer aniston wore a pair of frye campus boots in marley and me. i'm in love with them, although the calf is not wide enough to fit my calves. frye has been around forever - their boots were iconic in the 60s - just my style. so, i'll just keep searching for something similar.

let's goooooo.....

labor day '09, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

...but it was no john deere green moment - just luck that our names are the same as a couple in caddyshack. i would've, though. someday i'll climb a water tower for him.

School has been in session for a couple of weeks now. So far, I'm adjusting pretty well to teaching high school. Sure, it's different than middle school, but a little bit of experience goes a long way toward being comfortable.

The school operates using a modified 8-block schedule. The days alternate between odd and even schedules. I teach 4 classes - journalism, photography, yearbook, and English 9. I also supervise in-school suspension (ISS) 3 periods and have 1 prep period. When it's all said and done, I like my schedule and find time throughout the day to get done what I need to get done so I don't have to take much home with me. ISS is worth the hassle because I'm able to get so much planning done. I don't have Internet access, but I can take my laptop and type lesson plans, look at photos from events the night before, etc... I'm writing this entry, actually, during ISS.

So what do I teach in each class? A quick curriculum rundown:

English 9 - writing, grammar and literature. "The Most Dangerous Game," "Thank You, M'am," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Gift of the Magi," "The Road not Taken," "The Odyssey," "Cyrano de Bergerac," and "Romeo and Juliet" are some of the short stories and poems covered this year. I'm planning on teaching To Kill a Mockingbird at some point.

Journalism - a year-long class, covers all the basics of journalism. Writing, photography, layout, design, PR, marketing, and broadcast. This class is the feeder into yearbook, so I'm trying to make it as interesting as possible to lure kids to stick with the program. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to come up with creative ideas for this class right now and struggling with a couple of strong personalities in that class who make it not fun.

Photo - one-semester intro to photography. This year, the class went digital - no more darkroom. I'm more comfortable with this setup because I've never been in a darkroom (although I'd love to learn). Also, a darkroom requires a large budget (hard to come by these days) and the skills learned there aren't as useful in day-to-day life as digital editing. Do I wish we could offer dark room? Of course. I didn't have a say in the matter, though, and I can be a more effective teacher in a digital course. So, I'm using Photoshop (the school has CS2, CS4 & Elements, depending on what lab you're in) as the basis for instruction. We have 2 Nikon D70s and my D60. I'm hoping to learn along with students so by the end of the year we all have a working knowledge of manual functions of the cameras. Emily... any desire to be a guest lecturer?? :-)

Yearbook - the crown jewel of the journalism program. I am lucky to have a group of hard-working, creative students who have taken leadership for their book. A 200-page yearbook is quite an undertaking and it's because of my students that we're ahead of where we could be. Every staff member is pitching in. I've brought Morgan along to soccer and volleyball matches so far - everyone loves her (of course!) - and I've been able to teach some sports photography to students even with her along. It's nice to know that even if it's difficult for me, I have the support of my co-workers and students to be a teacher and a mom.




Now that school is in full-swing, I'm finding little to no time to do anything but be a mommy once I'm home from school. I can read e-mails, but not respond. I can upload pictures, but not edit. I can do a few dishes, but not all of them. I can do a few loads of laundry, but not always get it folded. Letting the housework go has been very difficult for me, even though I know I'll have more time on the weekends to get things straightened up again. I'm used to keeping a really clean, neat, every dish clean house and my OCD-tendencies toward cleaning give me anxiety. But it's all worth it because...

labor day '09, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

...Morgan is an incredible little girl. Last night at the soccer match she was talking, talking, talking (maybe cheering?) and kept the people around us entertained. So vocal development is on track. She's flipped over back to front during the night a few times, but we've not seen her do it yet... but soon. Her neck is quite strong and her head doesn't do the bobble-thing very often, but she's not a 'supported sitter' quite yet. The transition to bottle-feeding has been easy for everyone, it seems. She put on 2 lbs over the past 2 1/2 weeks (bringing her to 13.6) and is back on the curve.

She's quickly growing out of 0-3 month clothes and is working toward 6 month clothes. There is such a huge difference in sizes between brands, though, it's hard to pin down an exact size. There are a few newborn dresses that still fit her, yet some 3 month outfits that won't go over her head. I didn't ever find a pair of newborn or 3mo shorts that fit her well and didn't show her diaper and onesie.

The fabric wraps have been put in storage and the Ergo is the prime method of baby-toting. Dan prefers the stroller, but I just can't get on board with the stroller quite yet. There's a time and place for a stroller, but the Ergo is pefect for me and Morgan right now.

cutie, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

[big thanks to Emily, who heard this song on XM radio, then told me all about it...]

"Schmoopie"
by Uncle Jim

Schmoopie is the word I use when I want to say I love you
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
Schmoopie means my pride and joy it means I want to hug you
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
It's nothing like pickle juice or onion skins or mayonnaise

If it's cuter than a daffodil or sweeter than a peanut
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
If it's smaller than an Antelope and bigger than a teacup
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
Some days it¹s a fingernail, a muddy foot, a wagging tail
Schmoopie is the word I use when I want to say I love you

If you're walking in the grass and find a little gift that¹s left behind
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
Just wash it off and walk right out into the world it's not your fault!
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
It¹s something like an attitude of irreverence and gratitude

When your pizza's cold, your tush is hot,
your breath smells bad and you fart a lot
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
If your eyes are red, your hair looks bad,
your teeth are green and you're raving mad
SCHMOOPIE! SCHMOOPIE!
Maybe it's pickle juice and onion skins and mayonnaise

Schmoopie is the word I use when I want to say I love you
SCHMOOPIE SCHMOOPIE

it's a dress, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

Today was Morgan's 4-month well baby checkup. She's hit all of her developmental milestones and made it through her visit without crying. Unfortunately, she only gained 11 oz over the past 2 months, which dropped her from 50th to 10th percentile. The doctor asked us to supplement her diet with formula and make sure she's eating 5-6 oz every 3 hours. We go back for a weigh-in and shots (my new insurance will be active then, so shots will be covered) in 2 weeks.

Since I found out I was pregnant and began researching breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding, I decided that breastfeeding was very important to me - for both mine and Morgan's health. Morgan, Dan and I all had to work to make breastfeeding go smoothly - without Dan's support there is no way it would have. I knew that going back to work would be a (necessary) strain on our lives, but I guess I just assumed I'd make it work somehow. I will do anything for schmoo's health, but it makes me sad that I can no longer provide all of the nutrition she needs. Watching Dan feed her this afternoon, though, was pretty great...



Content standards and objectives (CSOs) have been my primary reading material over the past few days. MHS does not require teachers of the same class (all 9th grade English teachers, for example) to teach the same thing at the same time, which was the case in Vegas. This allows me some flexibility as to when I teach. CSOs tell me what I have to teach. No big deal, it's just finding the main idea among all of the administrative chatter/standardized-test-language.

So far, I have a gagillion ideas, many formed into mini-lessons with rubrics, activities, tests, etc... but very little organization to it all. I've decided to start with poetry, but I'm not sure what my class will be like (90-minute blocks), how many activities I'll need for each class, etc... so I'm going in with a large "bag of tricks" and hoping for the best. Much like Mikey, most things seem to work out for me.

...is dying, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

I had no luck with the pennyroyal plant this summer. I cut most of it off, hoping it would grow back, which it is, but still kind of brown and gangly. It smells great, but not worth the trouble again.

Today while I was researching poetry lessons online, I dropped my mug of frosty coke on the floor. on the curtains. on the rug. It went everywhere. My nerves are shot right now. It seems that our lives just calmed down and now there's another upheaval in the works. I think that is how it will always be, no?

Yesterday was orientation with Mon Co schools. There are 54 new employees to Mon County and about 1800 professional employees county-wide. It was a pretty boring 3 hours, but I got important information about insurance, payroll, union membership, etc... I looked around the room, but didn't recognize anyone.

Friday is my first day at MHS. My nerves are starting to get to me, as they always do at this time of year. I have new anxieties, though, in addition to traditional back to school jitters. I'm not sure if the yearbook equipment and textbooks have been moved to my new classroom, if I have the 2 classrooms I was promised (I'm inheriting a massive amount of supplies, books, etc... that will not fit in one classroom if I also want to accommodate kids), or if the plans I've been writing are remotely interesting to my students.

Beyond all of those concerns - it's being away from Morgan all day, 5 days a week that is weighing on me. I want Morgan to learn to trust other people as caregivers, so leaving her with Danny and Emily doesn't bother me (that may be a totally different situation if it were daycare with strangers), but I am definitely concerned that I will get behind on pumping.

I suppose I feel like this every time something new happens. It all feels so big and imposing. Eventually I find that I'm in the middle of it all and it's not so bad. Football will be starting soon, and nothing cures a touch of the blues like WVU football...

schmoo in headlights, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

It's back to school time, and with that has come a barrage of changes. Morgan is getting her first tooth - bottom right canine area (do you have canines on the bottom?). You can see the tiny white peak just under the skin. As exciting as her first tooth is for us, it's not exciting for her usually decent sleep habits. Last night, for example, she was up from 1:30 until 5.

She's found her voice and actively participates in conversations. Sometimes she has a pained look on her face as if it is taking a lot of effort to make noise.

Feet (hers, specifically) are her new favorite snack. Hopefully that will stop when she takes a big 'ol teeth-filled chomp on one. Of course it's adorable, but a little icky at the same time.

Bath time used to be a nightmare. Loud, piercing wails that made you laugh and cry at the same time. All of a sudden, though, water is fun, it feels good, and bathtime is the enjoyable first leg of nighttime rituals. I'm hoping to add story time soon... I've had a hard time finding a comfy spot that she'll settle into long enough to get through even the first few pages. She's not much for cuddling.

Her hair is growing in and getting thicker every day. It's brown, and in the sunlight has a red tint.

Tomorrow we take her to the doctor for her 4-month well-baby checkup. She's a bit behind on her immunizations because of issues with the Health Department and insurance coverage. After talking to someone at the HD, I was told we didn't qualify to have her shots there because my insurance covers her immunizations in the doctor's office. In Vegas. We'll be covered by the Health Plan on Sept. 1, which also covers doctor's office immunizations, so we'll do it that way.

7-18-09 072, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

Sunday morning before we went to the reunion, we took some family photos with Danny's dad. I'm in love with the orange and green paint job in the house - bold and eclectic.

the Balli farm, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

The second stop on our family reunion tour took us to Holly River State Park in Webster County. I had been there with the family as a kid, but didn't really remember it. We stayed at this farmhouse, which was about 5 miles up the mountain on a gravel road from the state park grounds.

The house was incredible, featuring my dream porch, grape arbor, updated furnishings, and tons of charm. I've posted detail photos of the house on my flickr page.

On our way down the mountain Sunday afternoon, we saw 2 black bear cubs running around the forest! Monday morning, Danny's dad saw the daddy bear eating grapes from the arbor at the house. There was also a deer family roaming around, and it was so quiet you could hear the bees buzzing around the porch.

I'm not sure I could handle the seclusion on nights when I'm home alone... I like knowing there are neighbors somewhat nearby.... but there was something peaceful, rejuvenating, and quintessentially West Virginian about that house and I hope we have a chance to return next summer.

Aunt Deb & Schmoo, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

This past Thursday I went to a steak fry at the Shriner's club. It was great to visit with Aunt Deb and Uncle Mike, eat good food, and be with mom and dad. Schmoo was quite the charmer and sported her new bib I bought from a local crafter at RibFest a couple of weekends ago.

friends that cry together, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

"Auntie Em" and Hazel visited this week... one of the highlights of my summer. It's been too long since we've been able to visit for more than a few hours. We did the Morgantown thing - Blackbear, Bead Monster, Gabes, Target... and managed to fit in a cookout with the Uncle Bens and Granny Annie in the middle of bouts of rain.

A story for the baby books... When Em got to the house, I was upstairs changing Morgan. Ann, Em and Hazel came up, and as soon as the girls saw each other, they started crying hysterically. It was sad and hilarious all at once. They soon made up, and Morgan let Hazel play with her toys (we'll pretend that Morgan knows she has toys, let alone has the ability to share).

A big milestone for me - I nursed Schmoo in the baby section of Gabes. Yup, right there in the middle of everything. I needed to get over my fear of nursing in public (it's hard to get all of my errands done without Morgan wanting to nurse) and Em gave me the encouragement to do so. It's wonderful being around a like-minded mama.

mommy can play that game, too, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

As I wrote before, we're trying to establish some routines, which means keeping Morgan up for a bit longer than she wants at night. The last hour is usually fussy, but we're learning to make games out of it. On this particular night, I laid down on the bed beside her and mimicked her motions. She better have abs of steel as much as she kicks her legs in the air! Maybe I can get abs of steel if I do this every night.... just a thought.

first babydoll, scout, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

It's amazing to see how fast Schmoo aquires new skills, like holding on to toys. She's been seeming more interested in her surroundings and has been better at concentrating on an item, so I tried some toys one evening to see what she'd do. Although she's not squealing with delight quite yet, toys are fun for her short little attention span. I snuggled her doll, Scout, in her arm and she held on to it for 10-15 minutes. Who knew I'd be such a sap for something so girly?

Byers Family Reunion, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

Today, the fam went to the Byers family reunion in Pine Grove. We started out on time, but got held up at Sheetz, then got stuck behind what may have been every construction truck on the road today. The Garmin said our average speed for the trip was 26 mph. Thankfully, Morgan slept the whole way there and didn't seem to mind the slow going.

There was a lot of good food, of course, conversation, and photo ops. Schmoo was a doll and let everyone pass her around without any meltdowns. It took her awhile to get to sleep on the way home, but held out long enough for us to stop at WalMart for groceries. You can't ask for much more than that.

uncle ben, originally uploaded by maggiebeth.

I still can't get enough of watching Addy figure out how to play with Morgan. Next summer they'll really get to play together!