When I saw what the cuties out in Washington had created, I knew I wanted to try making my own version of a movie called “The Living Alphabet.” Our video stars some special first graders and is a combination of photos and slides with text/illustration. You’ll be amazed by the contortionists we have walking our halls!

I used a regular digital camera to snap the pictures of my students (don’t judge, the execution is pretty terrible), and the children created their letter-specific slides using Doozla. I exported their Doozles as .jpgs and created an iPhoto slideshow of the photos and slides. I then added music to the iPhoto slideshow and sent it to Keynote so I could then export as a .mov file. I’m sure there is a faster, easier way to accomplish this file-changing, but it was a process I was comfortable with and I didn’t want to open the iMovie can of worms. Turn your volume up and have a look:

The Living Alphabet.m4v – YouTube.

1. Everything makes me cry. Everything. I tear up all the time, no exaggeration. Publix commercials, watching strangers with their children, bedtime books like Love You Forever and On the Night You Were Born, photos of Hayes when he was just a little guy, others’ blog posts, pregnancy announcements on Facebook, birth announcements on Facebook, showers for my mommy-to-be friends…cue the waterworks.  Be forewarned: it starts day one in the hospital. For example, have you seen this? I dare you not to cry.

Here are a couple of other things that make me cry on a regular basis. I know, that’s kind of like saying, “Oh man, smell this–It smells horrible!” but really, you should read/listen to them.

The Stanley Clan (blog)

Team Studer (blog)

NPR’s StoryCorps Atlanta (90.1 FM on Tuesdays at 7:35am, Tuesdays between 12-1pm, and Fridays between 6-7am and 8-9am)

2. I speak like a three-year-old. When my son is in the room, I refer to myself as “Mommy” and I call my husband “Daddy.” “Mommy’s going to cut some watermelon for you, OK Hayes?” “Hayes, what was that sound? Is Daddy home?” Not so strange, right? The weirdness comes in when I continue to call myself “Mommy” when Hayes is out of earshot (or simply not paying attention) and I am having a conversation with another adult. Oftentimes I even involve Hayes in the conversation when it’s clear he is already on to the next thing: “Mommy took you Catch Air yesterday, didn’t she? (as H is wriggling out of my arms so as to toddle away). “Maybe Mommy will take you again next week.” Why do I do this when it’s obvious that the conversation is meant for the other adult party? Even if Hayes isn’t really listening, shouldn’t I be modeling proper personal pronoun usage and mature conversational skills? I’m usually a stickler for correct grammar and usage, but I guess motherhood has thrown that out the window. I also have issues with “doggie, “kitty,” “froggie,” “blankie,” etc. All words I swore I would never use as a parent. Hmph.

3. I became a singer/songwriter. I am a singer who remembers every Wee Sing and Maranatha Kids Praise song from childhood and every Mother Goose rhyme and finger play there ever was. I am a songwriter who turns the most mundane tasks into rhapsodies and chants: “Mommy’s changing your diaper, you sweet little man, she’s changing your diaper, like only mommy can” (see, I wasn’t lying with #2). My favorite original hit: (Point out baby’s heel and toes) “This is your heel and these are your toes, (insert baby’s foot into shoe) into your shoe your whole foot goes.” Early on, I think singing and rhyming kept me awake, but now it has become a game. How many verses can I come up with before running out of rhyming words? Can Brad guess the tune I am aiming for? Can I entice Hayes to mimic the sounds I am making? I guess my musical goofy side has become one way of entertaining myself.

4. I can’t remember the last time I listened to the radio, or a CD, or songs on my iPod other than what’s on the “Baby” playlist. Friends will say, “Did you hear ‘xyz’ on The Bert Show the other day?” No. Brad will ask if I’ve heard Zac Brown’s newest song on The Bull. Nope. Listening to kids’ music is now my thing. As a matter of fact, fairly routinely I will make it to my destination having listened to Laurie Berkner, or The Music Class the entire trip, with no child in the car. Cool.

5. I lose sleep over sleep. H’s sleep, my sleep, Brad’s sleep, everyone’s sleep. As I neared the end of my pregnancy, friends, family, and strangers all suggested that I “get as much sleep as possible now because…” I now understand that ominous “because.” I have nothing to complain about being that Hayes slept in his crib beginning on night 2 at home and through the night at 5 weeks old, but like a crazy person, I still stress about sleep. My more specific concerns? When naptime should be, if it’s time to drop his first nap, how long he will sleep, what state he’ll be in sans nap, why he doesn’t sleep in the car, when is too early/too late for bedtime, if he’s too cold or too hot while he’s sleeping, whether or not the monitor is turned up loud enough for me to hear him while I sleep, why the monitor is always on my side of the room while we’re sleeping, what I should do if he has a poopie during the night, whether or not I should close my eyes for a bit while he sleeps and whether or not doing so makes me lazy, when he’s going to start trying to climb out of his crib, why he won’t nap as well hardly at all at his grandparents’ house, why he doesn’t sleep in past 7am most days, if his tummy is full enough to make it through the night, if we’re being too loud while he sleeps, and so on. I told you, I’m crazy. The most illogical part of it all is that Hayes takes 2 consistent naps every day, goes down like a champ, and sleeps through the night no problem. Where does this hysteria come from?

6. I am a paparazzo. I am a paparazzo with a nice camera and no clue how to use it. I fantasize that the photos I am constantly taking of Hayes will someday be quality enough to print and hang on my walls. Until then, I continue to take loads and loads of photos and videos of my child all the while pinning tip after tip (all unread at this point) on my Pinterest photography board. I’m thankful for the experts: people like Linda Scott of Clear Creek Images and Angie Walton of Angie Walton Photography who know what they’re doing. And I’m thankful that I snagged a Living Social deal for a getting-to-know-your-DSLR camera class with Southeast Photo Adventures that a friend and I are planning to attend. Can’t wait, Jenna!

7. I kiss my child all the time. His scrumptious cheeks, mostly, but sometimes my smooches land on the top of his head, his neck, the bottoms of his feet, his ears, his eyelashes, his forehead, his hands…You name it, I kiss it. I feel like if I am holding Hayes, I should take full advantage of the opportunity I have to smother him with kisses. Time is flying by, and I know the day will come when he won’t be a fan of my kisses.

8. I will do anything to make my child smile. Yesterday I resorted to letting a piece of hair fall into my face and then blowing it back up onto to the top of my head. For whatever reason, Hayes loved it and started laughing and snorting, so I continued at least 15 more times. Some of the noises I’ve made in order to keep my child laughing I will never again be able to replicate. I’m sure I’ll think of something else because there is very little as awesome as a baby’s belly laugh. I’ll stop at nothing to coax them out of my little guy.

9. I am a fan of toddler TV. My currently favorites are Sid the Science Kid, Curious George, and Super Why. You can check them out here. Just as I often pull up to my destination jamming out to “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” I sometimes space out long enough (during H’s naptime, of course) to watch George figure out what causes ant problems or Sid determine where smells come from. Kid TV is clever, and I’ve had the thought that it would be fun to brainstorm story ideas for toddler/kid shows.

10. I pray continuously. More than ever, ever before. Prayers of protection and health for Hayes, prayers of thankfulness for my family, prayers with tears, prayers with laughter, in the car prayers, on my knees prayers, over the kitchen sink prayers, lots and lots of prayers. “God, please help me make the right decision for Hayes.” “Lord, please help us all get some sleep tonight.” “Please God, help me keep my cool right now.” “Heavenly Father, please help Hayes realize that these steamed vegetables are the same as the puréed ones that he loves.” “Thank you, God, for the tremendous blessing of being Hayes’ mommy. Amen.”

Some lesser it’s-obvious-I’m-a parent-because items:

• My shoulders are always dirty and dingy. Can you guess why?
• I often have food in my hair.
• I take the trash out numerous times each week.
• Our grocery bill has near doubled.
• The windows and walls in our home are covered with tiny fingerprints.
• I find strange things in the bathtub, laundry basket, couch cushions, etc.
• Toys cover every inch of our home.
• There are Cheerios and raisins at the bottom of my purse.

What makes your parenthood disclosure list? What curious habits have you adopted since growing your family? What surprises you about being a parent? I’d love to be convinced that I’m *somewhat* normal!

Today I watched my boy climb confidently up that same ladder, smiling and babbling the entire way. Today he plummeted headfirst down the slide, landing in a happy heap. I watched as he gathered himself, noting the telltale souvenirs of rough and tumble-ness: a smudge of dirt on his cheek, a stray piece of grass on his lip. Even though I didn’t think it could be possible, today was even more magical than the day before.

I look forward to his daily discoveries: tugging the end of the toilet paper roll and watching with delight as it produces a longer and longer strand, tapping a bubble as it tries to escape his reach and watching it pop and disappear, and repeatedly lifting up his shirt to see that his belly button is, in fact, still there. Never before has learning been so important and so visible. Being his shadow, sidekick, and cheerleader for the last 465 days has taught me that every single moment is truly a gift.

This post was written for the edu180atl.org project where contributors are asked to reflect on the question, “What did I learn today?” Check out what teachers, parents, students, and community members have to say about living life and learning along the way.

I had a nerdy moment today when I placed an order for a new iPhone 4 case. My Speck case has seen better days thanks to countless drops and run-ins as H’s teething toy, and I wanted to design myself one of those cutesy cases that I’ve seen on Pinterest lately. I played with the idea of getting an Erin Condren design to match my life planner, but to be honest, it cost more than I was willing to spend. Shutterfly was the place to go.

I had fun looking through all the options, and although a precious picture of H would have been a fun design, I eventually settled on this design. I used the coupon code SHIP30 for free shipping today and dug up a $25 giftcard a friend had given me. My new case cost a whopping $12.05 and should be on my doorstep in 5-7 days. Hold out for me, Speck case!

No data entered

Doubles facts entered.

A couple of things I learned along the way:

• I could vary the difficulty level of this activity by setting (or not) a minimum and maximum value for each cell. For my students, I set the maximum for each cell to 20 and I told them they could either use the up and down arrows within the cells to change the cell values or enter the correct value directly.
• I could extend the activity by asking fast-finishing students to add one color to the even number cells and a different color to the odd number cells.
• Asking the children to identify patterns within the spreadsheet is so important! This helped me get a handle on an individual student’s number sense. Here are a couple of video clips to illustrate this:

Addition & Subtraction Chart
Additon & Subtraction Chart 2

Following a class field trip to the fire station, Laurie launched an inquiry study of firefighters with her students. In small groups, the children researched specific aspects of firefighting, became experts on their topics, and created posters and murals detailing what they learned. Then, best of all, Laurie and her teaching assistant took video of the children explaining what they had learned—hence, the Voicethread! Please take a moment to watch some of these kindergarteners’ videos, and leave a comment if you feel so inclined. They’d LOVE to hear your feedback.

My favorite part of this Voicethread project was the way Laurie got her students’ families and our larger school community involved in the firefighting research. She understands that inquiry-based learning in its truest sense involves everyone! It has been amazing to see comments from children’s moms, dads, other teachers, our principal, etc., all sharing what they have learned as a result of going out and conducting  research themselves. Oh, what we can learn from our little ones (and our master teachers!)

Paperless Post is an invitation and stationery site created by two twenty-something New Yorkers that far surpasses anything I have seen before. It offers many, many invites and stationery for free, but it also has designs and additional features that are available for purchase. Users can also earn “coins” that enable features like designer paper, liners, envelopes, and logos; coins are earned by inviting friends to join Paperless Post, linking the PP account to a Facebook account, etc.  The site states, “At Paperless Post, we seek to redefine the tradition of paper stationery so that people can send custom, personalized invitations and announcements with the same thought and care as previous generations, but the way we communicate today: online.” Genius.

Here are some of the features I find attractive:

• Gorgeous designs. This is the one I sent out for our family’s Thanksgiving dinner:

• Customizable layouts with lovely fonts, like these:

• Easy importing of contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.
• A user-friendly tracking feature that confirms delivery of invitations, allows the sender to see when recipients view their invitations, and collects RSVPs.
• The diversity of products offered: birthday, bachelorette parties, Christmas, children’s parties, weddings, birth announcements, football parties, etc.

Check it out, and if you like it as much as I do and decide to sign up, maybe you could use this link to do so?

In order to control amount of love in the room (and the silliness), I pre-selected clipart from an amazing set of 800,000 images that my hubby got me a few years ago; this one, actually. Best nerdy gift ever! I had to remove the kissing cartoon people, the naked cupids and cherubs, and the more suggestive images, of course, but I ended up with almost 550 images for the children to choose from for our valentine project.

Because I wanted to make sure this was more than just a spend-an-hour-in-the-lab-being-silly project, I decided that I would deliver our finished valentines to an assisted living home near my house. A Valentine’s Day service project. I began each class period reading Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox and talking with the children about the difference young people can make in the lives of others. We discussed elements that make a strong letter (greeting, body, salutation, correct spelling and grammar), and we brainstormed questions and statements that would be appropriate to include in a letter to whom the recipient is unknown: questions like, “What is your favorite Valentine’s Day memory?” and statements like, “I hope this Valentine’s Day is your best one yet!”  I just have to share some of my favorite snippets:

“I hope you are doing great, but if you are not, think about your friends. They will make your Valentine’s Day bright.” -Will, 3rd Grade

“You may be small, you may be big, you may be tall, you may wear a wig, but just know that violets are blue and someone will always love you.” – Chase, 3rd Grade

“Although I don’t know anything about you, I think you are cool.” -Huntley, 3rd Grade

“I love astrology. How are you? Do you like astrology? What is your sign?” -Dylan, 3rd Grade

“It is a great pleasure to write to you. Oh, let me introduce myself…I hope that you do not mind if I tell you a few things about myself…I love working with soup kitchens and homeless people. As you can see I love charity. Enough about me though, what about you?” -Barrett, 3rd Grade

“My favorite type of dog is a dorgi. I love the color orange and prefer the beluga whale about any other marine life.” -Kennedy, 3rd grade

“Dear Someone Special, Think of the best Valentine’s Day in your life and take a moment to think about it and think of it happening to you right now.” -Veer, 3rd Grade

I can’t wait to deliver these gems to the residents of Delmar Gardens. Kids are so awesome. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Our first graders just celebrated Chinese New Year with a wonderful parade which they really enjoyed, so I wanted to continue to push their thinking and grow their interest in the topic within the walls of the computer lab. BrainPOP Jr. and CultureGrams Kids Edition, two subscriptions provided by our library each year, helped me do just that.

At their individual machines, my first graders logged into BrainPOP Jr. to watch a movie about ancient China (using our school’s unique username and password), pausing the video periodically to jot down notes in their China notebooks.

Once they completed the video, they pulled up a CultureGrams link that I had previously loaded and then minimized on their machines. Through this link, they accessed information about China’s land and climate, holidays, food, transportation, etc. By the end of the class period, we had notebooks that looked like this:

I learned that there are deserts in China. I learned that there are more people in China than in any other country.

I learned that the Great Wall of China is 4,000 miles long. They made kites. They made the compass.

CultureGrams is an online database that contains information about different cultures around the world. Editors update the database twice per year, and the individuals responsible for writing the information about each country are native to the country or are long-time residents of the country. I have found the information through this site to be in-depth and comprehensive. Some of my favorite features are the biographies, interviews, photo slideshows, and videos that accompany each country. The CultureGrams photos and videos are free to use through secure school intranets as long as they are accompanied by the proper citation. In my opinion, the Kids Edition is appropriate for grades 2 and up (unassisted), but children as young as first grade can use the site with teacher assistance (which is how we handled it in the lab for this project). Take a look at how the Kids Edition looks:

BrainPOP & BrainPOP Jr. Prices

24-hour student access to BrainPOP Jr. (appropriate for grades K-3) costs $1,200, and school-hour access (7am-5:30pm) costs $825, per the subscription page. One benefit of the school-hour package is that teachers can still access the site 24/7. The School Combo package which includes BrainPOP (grades 3+), BrainPOP Jr., and BrainPOP Espanol accessibility during school hours costs $1575, with 24/7 access to all three sites costing $2095. A subscription at any level is quite an investment, but in my opinion it’s a worthwhile one!

It has been 13 incredible months since we were hunkered down at Piedmont Hospital waiting for our little man to arrive, and it dawned on me that since several of our friends and family members are now expecting their own little ones, maybe I should add my list of hospital essentials to the blog so that it could possibly be helpful to another expectant family. I know it will be handy when God blesses us with #2, #3, #4…I kid.

When I was pregnant, a friend forwarded me a list of essentials for the hospital and early days at home, and now that I’ve been there and done that (and hindsight is 20/20), I’ve modified the list and made it my own. So without further ado:

• Socks, socks, and more socks. The hospital floor is yucky and cold, and I was glad to have my own comfy socks.
• Non-slip shower shoes–I didn’t have them and I was reminded of my days in the sorority house when I worried about what was growing on the shower floor.
• Going home outfit for Baby
• First photo shoot outfit for Baby
• Carseat insert for Baby; s/he’ll be tiny and probably won’t fit in the seat snugly without a cushy insert. I hope that makes sense! (Like this one: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2967790)
• Comfy underwear–we’re talking serious granny panties. Wait til you see what the hospital gives you-HA! If you’re like me, the grannies will become your favorites.
• Yoga-type pants, but not super tight ones. Think comfort!
• Maxi-pads (the thick ones you haven’t used since you were in middle school; you bleed a lot, but not in a scary way. You’ll be sore, but it’s completely manageable.) The hospital will give you plenty, but throwing in a handful of your own won’t hurt.
• A comfy, full coverage robe
• Your pillow, a pillow/blanket or sleeping bag for hubs, and extra pillow cases
• A nursing pillow like the Boppy or Brest Friend
• Nursing cover
• Lanolin for sore ta-tas
• Breast pump–boil the parts before you use it.
• Nursing bras or those spaghetti strap shirts for nursing. I like the ones from Target & Old Navy and continued to use them until I stopped nursing.
• A comfy outfit to ride home in (for you)
• Motrin, in case what they give you wears off. I was told not to take Advil while nursing.
• Snacks–granola bars, crackers, etc. (the hospital food was good, in my opinion, but when we got our bill, I wished I had just sent B out to Chick-fil-A or something) When I was up nursing in the middle of the nights, I snacked on granola bars. It helped my milk come in!
• Propel or Crystal Light packets–the amount of water they want you to drink is insane, so I needed to spice my water up a bit.  Also, B was constantly going to get water for himself and they only had tiny cups, so a collapsable cooler with bottles of water might be nice for the hubs. Or maybe a Bubba Keg?
• Your Cord Blood Kit, if you’re banking Baby’s cord blood  http://cordbloodregistry.com/
• Any pre-registration paperwork and your pediatrician’s name, address, and phone number
• A journal (at the hospital we kept a list of his feedings, stools, wet diapers, directions from the doctors, etc.), continued when we first brought him home, and are still using it to jot down his milestones and “firsts.” B also wrote the birth story in the journal, so it’s pretty special!
• Camera with extra batteries and memory sticks
• Phone charger
• A book you’d like to read to Baby–it’s never too early!
• In case they don’t take credit or debit, you might want to bring cash to pay for parking when you leave the hospital; we jotted down our parking spot in the journal since neither of us were in a mental state to remember where we had parked.

Also, take anything and everything you can before you leave the hospital (diapers, wipes, creams, Neosporin, etc.) We LOVED the little hospital shirts with mitties they put H in, so we grabbed a few from his “crib” before we left.

Our family is looking forward to a baby-filled 2012. We’ll be welcoming Baby Girl Bullock #3 (niece & cousin), Baby Sophia Rose Buice (friend), Landon Jeremiah McNabb (friend), Baby Moeller (cousin), Baby Williams (cousin), Baby Meyer (cousin), Baby Meseck (cousin), and Baby Boy Hieber (friend), Baby Bullock #2 (friend). Yay!

13 months!