Life has been so hectic for me lately I don't know where to begin. This is always a busy and stressful time for me at work. I do not know why but for some reason after Christmas I begin to really start to get anxious about the school year. I think its because we are not far from June and it is really important for me to make sure ALL my kids walk out my classroom on grade level even if they did not come in that way. That is extremely difficult in a neighborhood where only 13% of the children are performing at or above level. Considering how much I have been out I was very worried about my kids progress but we have made great strides! Needless to say work is keeping me busy. I am typically one to bring work home as opposed to working late at school but working late a lot in the recent weeks. Needless to say I have gone from seeing my baby boy at 4:30 every day to sometimes not until after 6 because Amir will pick him up on those days.
I met with my principal about a month ago and we decided that I will be moving up to second
grade next year with my students. This is such an awesome opportunity for all involved. Its great for the kids because they get some consistency. Its great for me because I will already know all of my students and can jump right into the school year. I am also looking forward to moving up to a higher grade.
It is amazing how different a place can feel with different leadership. Last year I was so unhappy and could not WAIT to get out of the building. I was looking high and low for a new job. Things did not work as planned and I returned to my old school but my old principal retired and I LOVE the new one. She is a breathe of fresh air.
Outside of work everything is going well. I have 12 Chemo treatments left which means I will be done with Chemo one week after my 27th birthday. Thats hoping that I don't have any set backs such as another infection that gets me admitted into the hospital or a drastic drop in my white blood count. After my last chemo treatment I have to wait a month and then I will go back into surgery to have the tissue expander replaced that was removed when I got sick a few months ago and had emergency surgery. I will then have that expander filled gradually which I am thinking will take about 3-6 weeks. Then I have to wait another 2 months and I can fin
ally have my expanders replaced with permanent implants. I am really excited about this I am looking forward to looking normal again (Currently I have lopsided boobs and have to stuff my bra). So I am thinking around the end of summer I will have boobs. I will then have a few minor in office procedures to reconstruct my nipples and tattoo them back to the right color.
As far as my hair I am told it will start to grow back as soon as I stop chemo so I am sure by late spring early summer it will have begun to grow back I am thinking I am going to keep it short and curly for awhile and I definitely decided that I am going to keep it natural for a few years. I had natural hair for about 4 or 5 years. I wore it usually in a big curly afro or had it straightened. I had it relaxed permanently right before my wedding. I know my hair stylist is going to insist that I relax it again so we shall see :-). I am just really excited for the Spring it really signifies new beginnings for me and I cant wait!
In terms of Alex he as always is doing amazing! He has a half crawl going on and we officially have baby proofed the house. He is also beginning to pull up on things now! His personality comes out more and more every day as well. It's so funny how much of Amir and I can be seen in him. Amir is so laid back and down to earth and so is Alex. I on the other hand am very feisty and lack patience Alex absolutely has my patience. He is 100% sleeping through the night in his crib. He has been doing this for some time but we definitely experienced a wakeful period around 6 months and he regressed for a moment to waking up 2 a night which was so hard because I was exhausted. He is eating a lot and we have started introducing a few finger foods here and there but he doesn't seem all that interested just yet so he is still eating tons of baby food. So far his favorite finger foods are pancakes. Here are a few new pictures.
