And we're off!

To a great start to the school year, that is. I've officially put in 2 full weeks of work and they've gone smoothly. Mornings are 100 million times easier without a nursing baby and since she's almost independent with a bottle (she takes a different kind than Morgan did and they leak - which she thinks is great fun if she's not starving) so we still have to keep an eye on her. Both girls are increasing their independence in the mornings and it's wonderful. Morgan gets dressed almost independently and Hadley is able to entertain herself more and more each day.

Today (written Friday, posted Saturday), both girls woke up almost simultaneously so I nabbed Morgan first since she LOVES to get Hadley up in the morning and we walked in on a baby who was easily sitting up in bed playing with her hippo. She's able to do this no problem when playing but hasn't done this in bed yet. And project, Adam, he will be lowering her mattress this evening after supper.

For the record, Morgan told me at bedtime last night that I'm a genius. Specifically, "Mommy, you're a GENIUS." We'll see how long she actually thinks that (ahem, 12 and disagreeing, I'm sure, ahem) but I had to write that one down.

Work. I should talk about work. I love my work. There are so many things I'm excited for and I can't believe I'm already putting in my 5th year here at the AEA. This is my second year in my 3 schools and I couldn't be more excited. I asked the principal if someone could at least paint my cinder block, exposed ceiling, janitor's large closet room over the summer b/c it was a scary place and I know my kids (and preK parents) hated it. I came back and not only had they painted a bright, clean white, I had a real ceiling, white walls, and general beautifulness that I would never have expected. It was one of those things where I thought I was asking a lot to have the district spend money on paint/labor but to remodel and make it an actual ROOM that is learning-friendly and not scary was more than I could have asked for. Automatic 100 Points to Washington Elementary/Muscatine CSD.

Besides the awesome new room, I have less chaos in both of my rooms (my 3rd school is tiny, should be closed, and I'm only there a few hours one time each week) and there is organization galore at least visually which is huge in my world of "must be orderly to function." I also had some time at the end of the last school year (and a TON of energy to do so) to create some things to help my kids learn language skills (thank you Pinterest and pals) and make articulation therapy more fun and I'm excited to see where it all takes us as SLP and students. I'm also just more confident in my roles at these schools since they're not my "new" schools anymore and that's always a good feeling to be one of the "oldies" in this field.

Lastly, we have an AWESOME set of new hires this year and my sector/dept is going to be really strong. I'm actually excited about our PD plan this year as I sat in the "creation committee" (is that what it should be called?) and it seems like it will help us really refine what we're doing (even though some SLPs are already doing much/some of what's going on)...either way, I think it will be a great learning experience and help me grow professionally (which is not something I've been able to say in PD years past...).

That was a lot about work. I'm just excited about it, my numbers are kind of low to start the year off but I have lots of check-ins and a few slam-dunk evals to get started from the end of the year last year so I know things will fill in quickly. We also have more progress monitoring to do (ha. of course.) so I'll be on my toes for sure.

I have something controversial to be excited about and that is the new iPad I received from my department yesterday. Here's why it's controversial (I'll try to keep it short - I could go on for hours) - there are roughly 50-55 SLPs in my area/region and ... dun dun dun ... only 10 of us get iPads. Other agencies in Iowa had ALL SLPs receive iPads last year and since our agency has preached and preached that we're so far ahead of other AEAs and so great and whatnot, it was a tough sell when we were told flat out NO, we wouldn't be getting any last year, especially when we are being drilled with "21st century skills" constantly. Fast forward to end of last year - we were asked by our dept if we had or used our own personal iPads with our students. I said no b/c I didn't have/use one and I didn't use my iPod with my students b/c (this may not be right but it's how I felt) it was a personal one and heaven forbid it be broken/lost/stolen/etc., I really didn't feel like forking over the cash for a replacement. SO, I don't know how their decision making process worked but I ended up being one of the ten SLPs who was set to receive one this year. Their rationale is that they will buy 10 each year until everyone has an agency one.  That's at least 5 years, folks, and makes me incredibly frustrated. I don't feel like I deserve an iPad b/c there are certainly better and more knowledgeable SLPs in my dept who deserve it more than I do, have done more research, know it better than I do (iPads/iPods are similar but it's still a little different), etc...so I feel bad being excited but I am excited nonetheless as I feel like it will revolutionize my therapy in many aspects and keep my kids motivated and focused. I'm eager to ditch the artic cards and do fun things on my iPad. Morgan is going to pee her pants if/when I ever show it to her. We're still planning to hopefully pool resources and get a family one at Christmas since I can't download anything besides free apps (and don't want to since it's a work device) and apps purchased with work funds so she'll have more access later. For now, free preK apps galore for Miss Morgan Pie and Hadley too - she LOVED the baby piano I let her play with on the iPod this morning so I could get a piggy in her hair...

Well that was a longie. If you didn't figure it out already, I'm SUPER excited about this school year and being a better SLP than I feel I am sometimes. I'm also eager to not have a maternity leave this year and be able to use the whole year as I see fit. Disclaimer - I am so thankful I was able to take leave on so many levels last year but to have your year split in two with a giant gap and new schools and life in general left me feeling a bit inadequate with my students last year. It was constant prep, then catch up with a lot of prayer involved. ;-) So here we go, year has started, and I'm so thankful for all I will be able to do this year. (ps. more on the girls later b/c really, who wants to read about my work? no one. who wants to read about the girls? ME!! and hopefully who ever reads this too.)