Happy but torn between mom-hood and work....

The new semester has begun and Jason and I are back to the grind and life seems a bit hectic. I am teaching 3 days/ week now - basic biology (200 students) and ornithology (60 students) and ornithology lab (15 students). I took my lab students out on our first field trip this morning to a local river spot and had a great time. It was 20-some degrees and felt like teen-something. I had told the 15 students the week before that they were 'not allowed to complain' and that if they give this getting up early thing a chance this one semester of their lives that they may actually enjoy it! I try to be enthusiastic and fun and it payed off. We froze our butts off for > 2 hours watching birds and learning how to use binoculars before the sun was anywhere near high. We saw ~30 species and everyone was so engaged. It was awesome. The students actually cheered when we got back to campus and said how awesome it was!

I have also been getting positive feedback from my students in lecture and feel so much more comfortable than last semester. I am becoming more certain that this is what I want to do. It is currently a ton of work for WAY too little pay, but hopefully that will change and I will get a 'real job' here soon.

The worst part is being away from Alder for 3 days/week. I obviously enjoy my job, but the other half of me wants to be home with him all the time. I certainly can't imagine working 5 days/week right now nor could I imagine staying home 5 days/week. I also want to be able to be home as much as I am now when baby #2 comes along...no time soon, I promise!! so, for now I will enjoy our situation and try to remember how I am getting the best of both worlds - I am getting to be a mom and a professor.

so, thanks for reading and here are some recent photos of Alder as a reward for your interest and attention. He has officially cut one of his top center teeth and the other is not far behind. He has really begun to purposefully roll around to access toys and is close to scooching on his belly some too. He experienced his first snow last week. He absolutely LOVES sweet potatoes (and tofu and egg yolks and green peas and peaches and banana and....mommy's milk, and...). And he still loves bathtime with dad and drying off by the woodstove (sorry for the nudity).


Here I am up late night preparing a lecture...

But I'm not stressed b/c I have this handsome trio to entertain me....