Homecoming

It's been a full week of excitement at home with our new bundle of joy and it's been a wonderful week of bonding.  For the most part, Evelyn has a great temperament and is adjusting well to a feeding and sleeping schedule.

Mommy has almost fully recovered herself, and it's a relief to finally see her being more independent and acting like herself.

We're both overjoyed and gladly offer you these pictures of our first week home.  Enjoy!

About ready to come home!

Home at last in her monkey PJs

Uncle Adam and Evelyn at the Christmas Party

Bath Time!

Evelyn Mae Kovac

Born at 3:11pm, weighing at 7lbs., 7oz.  19 3/4 inches long.

I know you only want to see pictures anyway, so here you go.

Should I Send This E-Mail to My Students?

Update: Thanks to everyone who commented on Facebook.  I've always used blogging as a way to help think through my own thoughts, and having additional perspectives from such wonderful people is highly valued and a blessing to me!  Here's the final product.


To My Precious Students,

I wanted to write this short message to you to let you know that I earnestly hope that we will never have to personally experience what happened last Friday in Newtown, CT at any of our schools.  As more details are being released about what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary, my heart breaks for the entire community of children, parents and staff that will have to endure this tragedy long after the last of the press and media leave.  However, please be reminded that without a doubt, our first priority at Vestal is to ensure your safety – and we would do so by the same means and actions that the staff took at Sandy Hook if necessary.

Personally, I and many other teachers entered the profession because we love working with you, our students.  As a result, this means we end up spending more with you than our own families.  It’s not always put into words, but that means is that we are not only here to educate you, but we also care and love you a lot as well – even as our own children.

If you are interested in having a conversation about what happened at Sandy Hook, I imagine many of the teachers would be open for dialogue, providing the appropriate time.  I would also be open for conversations with any of you outside class time when I return.  Additionally, you are always welcome to talk to any one of the guidance counselors this week.  They care a lot for you, too, even though you don’t see them every day.

Lastly, please strive to be kind to one another, and show respect for your fellow students as well as the staff.  Compassion is a virtue that heals hurting hearts.  And when you go home every day, make sure to tell your families that you love them.

I am sending this to all of my students, so please be sure to share this with your classmates.  Have a restful and peaceful vacation, and I’m looking forward to teaching you again when I return in January.

Mr. Kovac   

Chronicles of a Father-to-Be: Part VIII

On Friday, Andrea got some very exciting news and it seems as though Baby's arrival is very imminent.  But this entry isn't about baby's soon arrival.  It's about the final challenge to gain the title of fatherhood - fixing a flat tire.  

Let's be clear - I'm not mechanic and I have a pretty bad track record when it comes to fixing anything regarding vehicles.  Earlier this summer it took me 2 hours to change the battery because I dropped a screw into the heart of the engine block.  Usually when it comes to fixing something on anything I own, something worse has to happen immediately after that.  This trial would be no different.

As I hear the wonderful baby news on Friday afternoon, my wife also informs me that she was unable to get to her appointment today because Elaine (our mid-size Hyundai Elantra), had a flat right-front tire in our driveway.  At the time, I wasn't too concerned, knowing that we had a spare in the trunk.  After a few minutes of fooling around, I find spare tire and the jack.  Here I discover the first roadblock - no torque wrench (to remove the lug nuts).  You'll find this whole adventure is like that cartoon with Sylvester when he has the can of cat food but no can opener.

I go inside and do a quick research on torque wrench sizes, and go to the store in the other car.  When I return, it takes all my strength - and a bit of fancy legwork - to loosen the lug nuts.  I remove the flat tire, and proceed to using the car jack.  Crank, crank, crank.  As I'm about ready to install the spare wheel, disaster strikes.  The car starts slowly moving forward, removes itself off the jack, and the entire front end of the car kisses the driveway full of pebbles, dirt and concrete.  For a moment, I'm at loss for words.  I retreat to go consult my wife.

Andrea - at 38 weeks pregnant - is now watching me and providing moral support as I now have a second jack from our other car (Serena).  If I can use the second jack to lift up the car enough, I can retreve the first one which is currently crushed under the car.  This plan works and I now am in possession of both car jacks.   As I'm working both of these jacks, I realize the sun is now setting fast and its getting cold.  Working quickly, I raise the car high enough again to install the spare tire.  But just like last time, Andrea and I both see the car slowly moving forward, and watch in horror as it falls off BOTH the jacks smacks the ground a second time.  I exclaim loudly a swear.

With the car now at least 4 feet forward from its original position, Andrea finds an overhead light out of nowhere and we reassess the situation.  The jack closest to the axle is pinned under the car again, but the extra one is accessible.  "How about you turn on the emergency brake?" my wife kindly suggests; I feel like an idiot.  Repeat above process and I'm finding that on my fourth and fifth time using them, I'm quickly quite efficient at using car-jacks.  In less than 7 minutes, the car is suspended successfully and doesn't fall off.  I install the spare tire successfully.

I test the car to assess if any damage occurred when it fell.  In reverse, everything is flawless.  Driving a few feet forward we hear a dreadful, screeching noise.  I get out of the car and upon further inspection, we now conclude that spare tire is now flat.  All attempts to inflate the tire with our air compressor prove useless, and the evening concludes with bitterness and defeat.  An inflated tire must be obtained tomorrow.

Saturday morning starts with a meal of french toast and ends with me taking a trip to the closest tire store to see if they patch the original tire.  No dice.  So I order a new tire and pick it up 5 hours later.  I return with inflated tire, jack and torque wrench.  In 10 minutes I have the spare tire off, emergency brake on (haha, I learned!), and the new tire on.  Time for a test drive.  Silent when backing up, but screeching all the way down the block.  Frustrated, I turn to the Internet for diagnostics and advice.  Could be brake pads, bad rotor, or pebbles stuck in the rotor.  "Great," I say as I roll my eyes thinking how many pebbles must have gotten jammed into the rotor when it hit the ground TWICE.

Outside I go.  Jack the car, emergency brake on, new inflated tire off.  Flashlight and Leatherman tool in hand I start inspecting the rotor.  Surprisingly, no pebbles to be found.  However, I do part of the axle guard touching the rotor.  So Leatherman transforms into pliers and I bend the metal back.  New inflated tire back on, jack down, emergency brake off, and another test drive.

The car runs silently.

Upon realizing that after hours of labor, and strife, and grief, and cold and mud, and backache have achieved the goal at hand, I know now, undoubtedly, that I am ready to be a father.

For the final pregnancy pictures, see Andrea's Blog here!

Chronicles of a Father-to-Be: Part VII

Big news.  Sounds like Baby is currently "engaged." (Hopefully won't have to write that again until another 20-25 years!)  For my friend reading this who haven't had children or are unfamiliar with the term, in means the baby's head is in the pelvis and is basically waiting for contractions to start.  For us, this means we're looking at an early delivery - as early as next week.  *Gulp.*

Good thing we spent last weekend getting the hospital bags ready.  We have baby clothes, adult clothes, toiletries, slippers, card games (Go-Stop), favorite foods, a book, and few other things packed tightly together.  Turns out, as most things with pregnancy, it was a bigger chore than getting a suitcase ready for vacation.  But thankfully, the month long birthing classes that we took early gave us plenty of resources - including what you need and don't need at the hospital.

Writing this on Thanksgiving Eve, Andrea and I have so much to be thankful for.  Regardless of what happens at the end of the school year, we're both happily employed and grateful for the security of having a generous income.  More importantly, after going through all the showers, and seeing the generosity of friends, co-workers and family, that support our decision to start a family.  Of course the gifts themselves are helpful and practical, but the thought and confirmation behind them has been a comfort for both of us in the later stages of pregnancy.

We hope you have a lot to be thankful for as well.

Here are the four shadow boxes Andrea made.  I'll post preggy pictures next time.