So the secret is finally public knowledge… Brent and I are expanding our wolfpack. Yep, our (my specifically my) ego is preggo. As this news comes as a shock to many, including us, I thought I would take some time to address some questions that I have been getting asked every time we tell someone.
Were you trying?
Actually, no we were not. I hate to go all “16 and Pregnant” on everyone, but we were definitely not trying. See if you can follow me….we were talking about when we would start thinking about seriously talking about trying….We came up with sometime in the next 10 years and apparently the big guy upstairs only heard part of the conversation and he thought we said “Yeah, now would be great…” After a few days of total shock and freaking out, we could not be happier and we feel extremely lucky! We are smart enough to know when we have been given a blessing and this baby will be one of the most amazing gifts we will ever receive.
Are you going to find out the sex?
We are going to try really hard to put aside the curiosity and wait to find out what flavor Baby Castillo will be. Brent and I agree that it is a really awesome surprise to look forward to and let’s face it, what surprises are really left in life???? Also, knowing me and my lack of pain tolerance, having something to work for might come in handy come delivery time. Either way, boy or girl, we will be happy to have a healthy little nugget!
Do you have names picked out?
Yes and no, we have some names that we like and we have middle names picked out for a boy and a girl. First name seems to be where we are hung up a little bit. Both of us want an easy to pronounce, semi-traditional name for Baby Castillo. I think because we have both had to go our whole lives spelling out and slowly pronouncing our names for people, it is even more important for us to have a “normal” name for our little nugget. That being said, I don’t want my kid to have the same name as 50 other kids in his/her class either….ahhhh, the parenting dilemmas begin!
Are you going to quit your job?
In a word, NO!!!!! I love what I do and I can’t imagine my life without my work. I know that it is going to be REALLY REALLY hard at the beginning and that I am going to have to make some MAJOR adjustments to how much extra work I take on. Personally, I really think that in order to be the best mama I can be I have to be the best person that I can be and for me, my work and scholars make me a better person every day. My company provides a nice amount of maternity leave, so I am going to enjoy every minute of being at home and then begin navigating the world of being a working mama!!!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
I was doing so well.....
So I was off to such a great start, 3 blogs in a row and then life picked up and the blog got left behind. I could make excuses or try to quickly re-cap the past few weeks but it would take forever. So for those of you who were curious, here are my thoughts on 2 of the highlights of the past month! (Crazy as it seems, neither one has anything to do with my job....)
1st Anniversary! Brent and I have officially been hitched a whole year. I can't say it has always been perfect or with out complications but I think we did a pretty good job of working together to make our first year pretty great! We were together for quite a while before getting married, (almost 4 years) but we did not live together prior to being married, so naturally we had some bumps along the way....(ie: my tendency to hang a bag full of recycling on the door instead of taking it to the garage and Brent's refusal to make the bed even though he is the last one out of it....) All in all, I would not trade what we learned during this first year for anything and I can honestly say that we love each other more today than we did a year ago. On the actual day of our anniversary, Brent and I were talking about how lucky we are to have such a strong support system. This was evident in the weeks leading up to our wedding, when people went out of their way to help us prepare. Again, on the day of our wedding when people traveled and gave up their time to celebrate with us and in the year since as we've been blessed with family and friends who love and support us as a couple and always point us back to each other when we vent frustrations. We are extremely fortunate! As for how we celebrated our Anniversary, Brent was able to make a childhood dream of mine come true.....James Taylor, live in concert!!! Seems kind of strange I know, but you did not live in the Aaron household and not have an appreciation for James Taylor!! We also were able to spend an entire Sunday relaxing at home, just the two of us! (This never happens!) All in all a GREAT day!
B.Sass Bridal Bash!! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE hosting parties! (I am my mother's daughter!) So I was so excited to co-host the bridal shower/ bachelorette party for one of my roomies from Northwest. Brooke and I have been friends now for the better part of 10 years now and I just can't imagine my life with out her (which is a good thing, because she is marrying my hubby's best friend from college!) B.Sass and I are so opposite in so many ways that sometimes I'm shocked that we were able to live together for so long! I'm opinionated and a control freak, she is laid back and easy going. I'm loud, Brooke is quiet. Brooke prefers not to be the center of attention and I don't have a problem putting on a show!! Brooke is the type of person you can trust with your secrets, I blab everything I know! She is such an amazing person in so many ways and I am so excited for her and Casey. I was so glad that we were able to gather up all the gals and celebrate her last days as B.Sass!
Something that I absolutely LOVE about my girlfriends is that no matter how much time passes or what new adventures we find ourselves experiencing, we are ALWAYS able to seamlessly fall back into each others lives. In some ways it's like we are still 20 years old, drinking too much, staying out too late, and then heading home to eat pizza and recap the craziness of the night's events. But we also never fail to be there for each other for the big stuff, loss of old loves and the start of new ones, graduations, new jobs, weddings, new homes, babies...We've been partners in crime for a long time and I just feel lucky every time we get together! The relationships between women can be complicated; We don't always get it right, nothing is ever perfect, we've hurt each other before and might again but the one thing I know for sure is that I am better person because of my girlfriends and I only hope that they could say the same about me. I love these gals and I can't wait for B.Sass's reception.....everyone knows that the RFL's LOVE a good wedding reception! (Hopefully, I will have another post before then but who knows?)
1st Anniversary! Brent and I have officially been hitched a whole year. I can't say it has always been perfect or with out complications but I think we did a pretty good job of working together to make our first year pretty great! We were together for quite a while before getting married, (almost 4 years) but we did not live together prior to being married, so naturally we had some bumps along the way....(ie: my tendency to hang a bag full of recycling on the door instead of taking it to the garage and Brent's refusal to make the bed even though he is the last one out of it....) All in all, I would not trade what we learned during this first year for anything and I can honestly say that we love each other more today than we did a year ago. On the actual day of our anniversary, Brent and I were talking about how lucky we are to have such a strong support system. This was evident in the weeks leading up to our wedding, when people went out of their way to help us prepare. Again, on the day of our wedding when people traveled and gave up their time to celebrate with us and in the year since as we've been blessed with family and friends who love and support us as a couple and always point us back to each other when we vent frustrations. We are extremely fortunate! As for how we celebrated our Anniversary, Brent was able to make a childhood dream of mine come true.....James Taylor, live in concert!!! Seems kind of strange I know, but you did not live in the Aaron household and not have an appreciation for James Taylor!! We also were able to spend an entire Sunday relaxing at home, just the two of us! (This never happens!) All in all a GREAT day!
B.Sass Bridal Bash!! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE hosting parties! (I am my mother's daughter!) So I was so excited to co-host the bridal shower/ bachelorette party for one of my roomies from Northwest. Brooke and I have been friends now for the better part of 10 years now and I just can't imagine my life with out her (which is a good thing, because she is marrying my hubby's best friend from college!) B.Sass and I are so opposite in so many ways that sometimes I'm shocked that we were able to live together for so long! I'm opinionated and a control freak, she is laid back and easy going. I'm loud, Brooke is quiet. Brooke prefers not to be the center of attention and I don't have a problem putting on a show!! Brooke is the type of person you can trust with your secrets, I blab everything I know! She is such an amazing person in so many ways and I am so excited for her and Casey. I was so glad that we were able to gather up all the gals and celebrate her last days as B.Sass!
Something that I absolutely LOVE about my girlfriends is that no matter how much time passes or what new adventures we find ourselves experiencing, we are ALWAYS able to seamlessly fall back into each others lives. In some ways it's like we are still 20 years old, drinking too much, staying out too late, and then heading home to eat pizza and recap the craziness of the night's events. But we also never fail to be there for each other for the big stuff, loss of old loves and the start of new ones, graduations, new jobs, weddings, new homes, babies...We've been partners in crime for a long time and I just feel lucky every time we get together! The relationships between women can be complicated; We don't always get it right, nothing is ever perfect, we've hurt each other before and might again but the one thing I know for sure is that I am better person because of my girlfriends and I only hope that they could say the same about me. I love these gals and I can't wait for B.Sass's reception.....everyone knows that the RFL's LOVE a good wedding reception! (Hopefully, I will have another post before then but who knows?)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Flash Mob.....KSI Style
You have to be living under a rock if you are from Kansas City and you have not heard about the recent unfortunate events that have occurred on the Plaza. Let's just say that when I first saw the story on the news I was fairly certain that I would be able to see the face of a former or current student on the news footage if I looked hard enough, so I just turned it off all together. I figured, why ruin a perfectly good Sunday worrying about how I would address this with my kids on Monday. Well, as soon as I knew it, Monday came and I had to figure out a way to talk to my kids about the incident. Let me first just say that I have the honor of working with some of the MOST amazing, insightful, brilliant young people in Kansas City. I am often left astounded by the wisdom and maturity that I see in my kids, (although I will admit that some days it is hard to remember that when they act like typical middle schoolers....) I shared with the scholars that what bothered me the most about the incident is how people would inevitably judge them as a result of the actions of their peers. I feel like we work SO HARD to change the perceptions that people have about inner city youth and that stuff like this crap on the Plaza takes us backwards.
Professionally, I have spent my brief career devoted to empowering young people to make choices to protect their futures. I challenge my kids to rise above the stereotypes, labels and reduced expectations that society has for them and a lot of my kids work their butts off to accomplish this. The ones who don't are the issue. As an organization we have tried to impress upon our scholars that they are different, they are not a statistic, they are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of others and that they can achieve whatever they dream of with hard work and dedication. In teaching this difference we hope to make our scholars understand that they will sometimes have to stand alone against what might be popular and that it will be really hard because, lets face it, at the end of the day they are kids. They want to have fun, they want to be popular and they don't WANT to be different. Furthermore, how do we make society (and the media) understand that these kids are different!! There are AMAZING young people living amongst the degenerates who were featured in the stories in the news!!
Needless to say, I was frustrated and feeling a little disgusted with the whole thing! Then I remembered that I had to work that weekend. I'm sure you are thinking, "how could that possible make you feel better?" Well, last weekend just happened to be our annual community service day. Our scholars and their parents spend the day helping us host a carnival type event that is free and open to the public. We also raise some form of donation for a charity organization (this year it was food for the Haiti earthquake victims.) I have always loved doing community service, it just makes me feel good about the world. However, as a teacher, watching my kids do for others gives me a sense of pride that I just can't put into words. While I was watching my scholars pay such careful attention to the little kids as they moved about the carnival I could not help but think that it was just what I needed. The absolute BEST part of my day was when one of my kids turned to me and said, "You know Mrs. AC, if we could just get a flash mob of kids to do something good like this every once in a while, the world would be a much better place." All I could do was give her a hug and tell her that I thought she was right....I then excused myself to the restroom so she would not see the big fat tears of pride that were about to stream down my face. Later, when I got in my car to head home after a really long day, I could not help but smile and think that maybe one day at a time, one kid a time we are making a real difference and for me... well I just could not ask for more.
Professionally, I have spent my brief career devoted to empowering young people to make choices to protect their futures. I challenge my kids to rise above the stereotypes, labels and reduced expectations that society has for them and a lot of my kids work their butts off to accomplish this. The ones who don't are the issue. As an organization we have tried to impress upon our scholars that they are different, they are not a statistic, they are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of others and that they can achieve whatever they dream of with hard work and dedication. In teaching this difference we hope to make our scholars understand that they will sometimes have to stand alone against what might be popular and that it will be really hard because, lets face it, at the end of the day they are kids. They want to have fun, they want to be popular and they don't WANT to be different. Furthermore, how do we make society (and the media) understand that these kids are different!! There are AMAZING young people living amongst the degenerates who were featured in the stories in the news!!
Needless to say, I was frustrated and feeling a little disgusted with the whole thing! Then I remembered that I had to work that weekend. I'm sure you are thinking, "how could that possible make you feel better?" Well, last weekend just happened to be our annual community service day. Our scholars and their parents spend the day helping us host a carnival type event that is free and open to the public. We also raise some form of donation for a charity organization (this year it was food for the Haiti earthquake victims.) I have always loved doing community service, it just makes me feel good about the world. However, as a teacher, watching my kids do for others gives me a sense of pride that I just can't put into words. While I was watching my scholars pay such careful attention to the little kids as they moved about the carnival I could not help but think that it was just what I needed. The absolute BEST part of my day was when one of my kids turned to me and said, "You know Mrs. AC, if we could just get a flash mob of kids to do something good like this every once in a while, the world would be a much better place." All I could do was give her a hug and tell her that I thought she was right....I then excused myself to the restroom so she would not see the big fat tears of pride that were about to stream down my face. Later, when I got in my car to head home after a really long day, I could not help but smile and think that maybe one day at a time, one kid a time we are making a real difference and for me... well I just could not ask for more.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Life Just Keeps Getting Better....
For as long as I can remember, I have NOT gotten any money back from a tax return. While other people were getting new computers, ipods, vacations, etc... I have always had the distinct pleasure of paying the state of Kansas exorbitant (in my opinion) amounts of money, simply because I choose to live in Kansas and work in Missouri. This year I literally wanted to vomit at the thought of filing my taxes, mostly because half way through last year I got a new job and a substantial raise. Lets just say that I was braced for the worst. My ever so level headed husband kept telling me not to freak out and that we would just deal with whatever the almighty Turbo Tax told us. So I sat on the couch next to him, silently waving goodbye to the hope of spending Christmas in Jamaica. 2 hours went by, Brent diligently put in all the information, and the magic numbers on the top of the screen went up and down, my emotions followed. The last time I remember being that nervous was when the Jayhawks were playing Northern Iowa...and we all know how that one turned out. I feared that this tax situation would have the same ending. Then the end came. I swear, I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes....we are getting money back from the Federal Government AND we only owe Kansas $34.00!!!!!!!!! Not to mention the great state of Missouri OWES us $13.00. Some kind of voodoo magic about getting married, saving for retirement and being in grad school!! (It also helps that some smarty at my work noticed I live in Kansas and signed me up for whatever it is that takes the taxes out for me...needless to say, someone is getting a hug AND a seashell from my Jamaica trip!) So what did I learn from all this??
1) I am married to the absolute perfect person for me. Even if he gets nervous, he never shows it. (Let's face it, I'm outwardly nervous enough for both of us.)
2)I need to work on worrying about things that I can't control.
3)The possibility of having a tan in December just went up like 50 Bazillion percent.
4)Next year, I'm fighting to get an adoption credit for dogs.....I mean seriously, we adopted Atticus and he is pretty much like a human. Lord knows he is as needy as one. (Brent rolled his eyes for about 20 minutes when I brought this up but he knows better than to argue with me about it...if I get serious enough, he knows I could make it happen!)
1) I am married to the absolute perfect person for me. Even if he gets nervous, he never shows it. (Let's face it, I'm outwardly nervous enough for both of us.)
2)I need to work on worrying about things that I can't control.
3)The possibility of having a tan in December just went up like 50 Bazillion percent.
4)Next year, I'm fighting to get an adoption credit for dogs.....I mean seriously, we adopted Atticus and he is pretty much like a human. Lord knows he is as needy as one. (Brent rolled his eyes for about 20 minutes when I brought this up but he knows better than to argue with me about it...if I get serious enough, he knows I could make it happen!)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Things I Should Have Been Doing All Along....
When I first started teaching, one of my mentors gave me a lot of advice. Most of it I took and held as gospel because she had been teaching urban youth for 5 years, which is practically retirement age for most teachers who start out in the Urban Core. She taught me all about how to break up a fight, how to stand my ground with crazy parents, how to make certain that the security guard and vice-principals like you and want to help you with nutty kids and how to make 1 box of copy paper last all year when you have 110 students. Of all of the things she taught me, the one thing that I did not listen to and looking back I really should have was keeping a journal. She told me to write down all the funny stuff, the sad stuff, the crazy stuff and everything in between. Unfortunately, 5 years later, I don't have the journal and occasionally I find myself really wishing I could look back and see how far I have come. I know that I am a totally different teacher today than I thought I would be 5 years ago, I think I always expected that to happen. What I did not see coming was how much I would change in 5 short years. I know that I am no where near done growing, (hopefully) I have a lot of life left to take on but moving forward I want to use this blog as the journal that I should have started years ago. I want to share more than just stuff about teaching because if there is one thing that I have learned it is that who I am in the classroom is a direct result of who I am out of it. So this blog will be my attempt to make sense of (and keep track of) life. Life as a wife, a daughter, a dog mom, a sister, a friend, a teacher, a mentor and everything else in between....and if any one cares to read it, well than I guess that is just icing on the cake!
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