Margot Takes A Stand

Margot stood completely on her own (though holding firmly on to her toy), for about 10 minutes this afternoon. Go M!

Measure Of A Society

It's hard to believe that it's been four years since the last presidential election. 4 years ago...seriously?! With the Republican convention having just passed and the Democratic convention coming up, Tucker and I have been reminiscing about where we were fours years ago at this time. 

Was it really 4 years ago?

Here we were in Denver, CO at the Democratic National Convention. 

I saw Michelle Obama speak... (the sign still hangs in my closet!)

and Hillary Clinton. She was amazing.

Tucker and I watched Obama accept the Democratic nomination. 

Since these pictures were taken,  a lot has changed for me personally. I settled into my career path, got married, became a home owner, and of course, a parent. I also became a member of NEA - go educators! The past 4 years have generally been good for Tucker and me, though I know this hasn't been the case for many Americans. 

What hasn't changed since this convention is my belief that the true measure of a society is how we treat our weakest, poorest, most vulnerable citizens. I know I'm not alone in thinking this way, but especially when times are tough, some people lose perspective and see the government as meddlesome or enabling. The truth is, the reasons for why people need government assistance or support are just not that simple. I wish I could share the stories of the families I work with with more people so they could see with their own eyes how unjust our society still is. 

My work with under served children and their families has emphasized the truth of this statement for me. When I think about the merit of politics and policy, I literally think about how legislation will effect the students and families I know. I think about welfare reform,  federal subsidies for school lunch programs, the DREAM Act and the profound impact it could have on my students lives.  

This is how I have come to be a voter who confidently leans to the left.

The four years that have passed since 2008 have also taught me to understand why people believe in policies completely contrary to mine. Just as my experiences inform my choice, the same is true for people who see things differently than me. I get it. At the same time, casting my vote in November will be easy.  There are some things that I wish had happened differently in the past four years (i.e. Wall Street bailouts), but I'm thankful to be able to vote for a candidate who brings a voice to some of the people who mean so much to me.

Cooper Thomas Carney

Welcome to the world, Cooper Thomas Carney! 

Our friends Caitlin and Chris Carney welcomed their son, Cooper Thomas, into the world on August 30th in Birmingham, AL. Cooper weighs 7 lbs 11 oz and is 21 inches long. We can only imagine how excited his big brother CJ (Christopher Thorman, Jr) is to have a little brother to rough house with! 

Congrats Chris and Cait!

Lighthearted Moment

Margot braces herself as she tries to stand up.

8 (and a half) Months

  At 8 months, Margot is a girl with an agenda. Lately, she has been more determined than ever to move herself around. Rather than crawling in the traditional way, Margot has developed a creative interpretation of the concept of crawling. She wiggles, kicks, rolls, and throws herself into baby down-dogs, with her little bum high in the air. Sometimes she'll lie on her side with one leg in front of her and then quickly tuck her legs under her belly and attempt crawling on all fours again. 

 Like I said, creative interpretation.

Margot has also been practicing standing (with help, of course) and seems to be getting more and more steady.  While it's fun to see her discovering the strength of her legs, I hope she takes her time with this one. We're in no rush to see our little baby move any faster than she already is!

Garçon! Garçon!

Tonight, as Margot got ready for her dinner, she decided to use her spoon as a drum stick. You see, she was protesting the slow service chez Bistro McDonald.  The wait staff leaves much to be desired, apparently.

 Over the past few months, Margot has expanded her culinary horizons to include gourmet options such as tomatoes, carrots, spinach, potatoes, peas, apples, peaches, bananas, yogurt, prunes, all types of squash, avocados, and of course SWEET POTATOES! 

(This seems to be a popular choice among the <1 year set.)

After dinner, Margot is saying: "Victory is mine!"

Happy Soul

Tuesday was a big day for the McDonald family. We had been looking forward to it for months; basically since Margot was born, actually. We met with a team of doctors across four different departments to discuss how we should proceed in repairing Margot's cleft palate.  After we met with the doctors/specialists individually, they all met together and shared their opinions about Margot's development with one another. We'll get that report soon, though we already know that Margot is healthy and right on the mark developmentally.

I had fears that something unexpected would happen; that we'd developed a false sense of security thinking everything was ok. Thankfully, every doctor we saw had positive things to say about Margot, and our fears subsided. We scheduled her surgery for November and will work on weaning her off the bottle between now and then.

This experience is introducing Tucker and me to a new dimension of parenthood.  We knew that Margot's well-being was our responsibility, but to have your baby endure surgery and an over-night hospital stay is pretty tough, to say the least. The recovery period is expected to be about two weeks and we're making arrangements for Tucker or I to be home with M during that time. It's nice to have some time to prepare ourselves!

It's hard not to be constantly asking myself how this all happened, and wonder what went wrong. As I told some ladies in my running group, this is yet another lesson in learning that no matter how hard you try, sometimes there are things in life that you cannot control, especially as it relates to your child. I know I did my very best in carrying Margot, and I have to leave it at that.

We're so thankful that Margot's palate is repairable. She truly is the most gorgeous, bubbly, and sweet little person I know.  One of the nurses said Margot was a "happy soul", and I couldn't agree more. We are so blessed.