back to school, back to school...

So I'm in my second full week back to school.  And this is my 4th year teaching.  However, I've got one of those classes that make me feel like a first-year teacher again.  They are causing me to pull out all the tricks I have up my sleeve, plus run to other rooms and beg for guidance at any chance I can get.

My dear blog friend, Leigh Anne, just started her first year in her own classroom (head on over and give her some love!) and her posts have made me start thinking about the delirious comedy that comes from the beginning of the school year for teachers.

So if y'all don't mind I just need to do a vent/brain dump of the thoughts and things going on right now as a 3rd trimester pregnant, 4th year, teacher:

-My only adult interaction during the day is a quick "hello" to a passing coworker as I speed walk down the hall to yet another bathroom run or to make a quick copy because for some reason I am one short. (Oh, wait, one of the kiddos just didn't realize he had an extra copy.  I find this out when I return from my hallway sprint.)


-I check the clock 5 gozillion times as I scarf down my lunch that was thrown together in exhaustion the night before just to make sure I'm on time to pick up my kiddos.  (Enter 3rd trimester indigestion.)  Make that maybe a 20 minute lunch at most after I've dropped them off (most days someone needs my attention for something before I leave them) and pick them up on time.


-Hubby actually offers to do laundry right now.  I guess after waiting a week or so he needs some clean work clothes.


-I often use the massage feature on our shower-head to relieve the tension built up in my neck.


-I come home with a headache.  Whether it be a tension headache or a hungry headache because I've forgotten to stop and eat a snack due to my busyness.


-I'm using the baby as an excuse.  "It's really not good for the baby if Mrs. G has to put your chair up at the end of the day so please make sure to remember that part of our afternoon routine."  (And they buy it! :)


-Referring to the last one...I'm constantly referring to myself in third person.  Why do we do that as teachers?!


-I've heard Jack Johnson and Enchanted songs hundreds of times already (they are used for each of our transitions in the classroom)....Adeline is going to love those songs because she hears them so much.


-Every day on the playground another little one notices I'm pregnant and is overjoyed.  (Yep it's taken until 29 weeks for some of them to get the memo.)


-My body feels as though it's just come out of the boxing ring when I get home in the evening and when I get out of bed in the morning.  Whew carrying a baby around all day long isn't easy.  (Yes, I know...it's only the beginning!)


-Feet massages feel like pure heaven right now.


-Our restaurant budget amount is definitely not being followed.  Who has energy to cook in the first few weeks of school?!


-I have said, "I love the way______ is _______" about a million times as positive reinforcement.  Maybe so many times I've started to use the lines on Justin and Boone at home to reinforce their positive behavior.  I'm sorry...it's habit right now!


I'm sure I could keep going!  On. And. On. (If you're a teacher, or have been one, please tell me you can relate!)

Feel free to add your own beginning of the year thoughts in your comments....would love to hear them! :)

miscellany monday

I'm linking up with Carissa on this Monday.  My brain is exhausted and miscellany is about all I can pull together! :)

 

I so miss sleeping in with this cutie every day like I did in the summer!

 

 Just when I didn't think I could love Target any more...I had a discovery...

Cup holders!! IN the Target cart!!

I have two different Targets I go to.  The one I usually go to isn't a new Target and therefore they don't have the cup holders.  The new Target I get to at times, do.  (I realize I may be way late in the game on this one.)  When I walked in and found these, I thought I might squeal from excitement.  I've said that carts need cup holders forever.  And now two of my favorite things go hand-in-hand--a cup holder and Target. Mucho love.

This is the lovely glider we found for sweet Adeline's nursery.  Yet another awesome piece found at our local antique/flea market.  I'm not only in love with the way it looks, but also the deal we got! This only cost us $39 and had recently been reupholstered! Be still my thrifty heart!

bump at 28 weeks

How far along: 28 weeks (I'm in my 3rd trimester now! Crazy how time flies!)

Baby size: Eggplant

Total weight gain/loss: 12 pounds up from pre-pregnancy...this was according to my doctor visit this past week.  She's happy with my weight gain and told me my absolute max would be 30.  We'll see if that happens. :) And she as happy with the measurement of my belly and said it was right on track.  Yay!

Sleep: Can't complain! Just wanting more of it now that school has started! :)

Movement: It's constant and so entertaining! It's all over my belly and both high and low...but mainly low.  I still haven't felt her up in my ribs.  That's a good thing, I'm sure. :) Her movement is definitely more powerful.  She still moves the most in the evenings, but I do feel some activity throughout the day now.  It's also almost like clockwork that she starts to move on my way to work after I eat breakfast.  It's a nice reminder of why I'm heading to work and to start my day off thankful for God's blessings!

Food cravings/aversions: I can finally say I'm starting to have what is probably cravings.  Salt and vinegar chips! I also woke up thinking about Fall and caramel apples.  Haha.  I still have a pretty strong aversion to authentic Mexican food...but I enjoy Qdoba.  I also just realized today that in pregnancy I haven't wanted to chew gum at all.  Usually I'm a huge gum chewer.  Weird.  Also, I'm thirsty all the time.  Milk, orange juice, and ice cold water are tasting best.

Pregnancy Symptoms: So far, my 3rd trimester has been by the books.  Exhaustion and fatigue again? Check.  More frequent trips to the bathroom again? Check.  (I can also thank her for those random, hard movements that push on my bladder.  Whew!) My appetite has definitely picked up.  Leg cramps have picked up and so has the indigestion.  Occasional overall uncomfortableness.  Beyond that I can't complain.

What I miss: Being able to drink things with caffeine without worrying about how much or how often I am.  Nothing major really.  I wouldn't mind to just feel "normal" again. :)

What I'm looking forward to: Completing the nursery and meeting her!

Milestones: For me-- glucose screening test is behind me! I didn't get any news from the doctor and no news is good new.  I'm also on the two-week plan for doctor visits.  For Adeline--she's getting more fat on her now and her lungs are developed to a point that she would most likely survive if she was born!

Best moment this week: Whew with it being my first full week back to school, it was a whirlwind and I was exhausted.  I'd probably have to say the weekend getting here!

Moments with Justin: I really should have titled this part "Brag on my husband" section, because that's all I feel like doing throughout this pregnancy.  He's been beyond patient with me.  Even when he's exhausted from a long day (and putting in some extra hours after work with some side jobs) he still rubs my feet or my back when I ask.  He also does what he can to keep me comfortable and happy....even if that means going to McDonald's while I'm getting ready for church to satisfy my breakfast craving. ;)

out of the mouths...

The school year is in full-swing and boy do I have an eclectic group.  Already, I've heard and read some of the funniest and sweetest things in my classroom.  Seriously...it's these kinds of things that keep me going on the rough days.

First, I gave a little survey to my kiddos at the beginning of the year to give them an opportunity to tell me a little bit about themselves. (Excuse the incorrect punctuation and spelling at times...just keepin' it real! :)

One of the questions said:

Is there anything else you want to share?

One response:

Yes that I'm looking forward to a great year!

(love her enthusiasm!)

Another response:

I have 6 people in my family.  I have a big black dog.  I wanted you to be my teacher.  Love, N
(too sweet!)

Another question asked:
Do you have pets? If you do, tell me about them.

Response:
I have 4 dogs there all crazy but not our old dog Happy.  2 cats that KILL ME for food and my humble hedgehog.
(I had no idea hedgehogs could be humble. :)
__________

Another funny quote came during a work time as the kiddos were working at their tables.  Somehow the conversation at one table turned to talking about God in school and who goes to church.

Boy:  I don't go to church.

Girl:  Well that explains a whole lot.

(Haha.  Can you tell it any more like it is?!)
__________

When grading beginning of the year pre-assessments for math, one of the questions stated:

Explain how you solved Problem 5c.

Response:
Out of pure nervousness!

(Gotta love the honestly.)

life lately.

I thought it was time to finally update the blog since it's been a week and a half.  So here goes a brain dump on what's been going on in our life lately...

First of all, as you can tell from the lack of posting and reading other blogs, I've started back to school.  Let's just sum it up by saying this.class.exhausts.me.  Whew.

We finally sold Justin's car, which means a car purchase is now in the works for this momma-to-be.  Yay! I love our truck but I'm ready to hand that over to hubby and have my own (smaller) SUV to drive.

Hubby decided to get sick on me right as I was going back to school.  Poor thing was pitiful for about a week! It started with what we thought was an infected bug bite on his leg...turned out to be a form of staph.  Boo.  He got a prescription cream and an antibiotic.  (Doctor visit number one in a week.) Good news was the staph quickly cleared up.  Bad news...he started running a high fever a couple days later.  (Doctor visit number two in one week.)  He went to doctor, was told it was a fever virus and he'd be sick with it for 3-5 days.  He was pitiful and miserable...and I hated it for him. Now fast forward to a couple days later.  He wakes up with crazy/intense hives all over his body. (Doctor visit number three in one week.)  Turns out he's allergic to the antibiotic he was give for the staph.  He's now on his final days of a steroid to clear up his hives.  Thankfully they cleared up after a couple days.  Whew...what a whirlwind! Little Adeline better not be as high maintenance as her daddy. ;)

Yesterday was the lovely glucose tolerance test. Yummy.  The nasty stuff tasted like a Sprite with three times the sugar and minus the carbonation.  Thankfully my momma took me because I did get really light-headed and felt like I was going to pass out like they warned.  (I've never done well without eating breakfast...and pregnancy is definitely not an exception!) Hopefully everything comes back ok.  It was also exciting because my mom got to hear Adeline's heartbeat for the first time...and boy was the sweet baby hyped up on that sugar!

Justin, our brother-in-law, and Justin's dad finished up our master bath project....turning our tub only into a shower/tub combo.  I'm beyond thankful for this! (Our only shower was in our basement.)  Now I don't have to go downstairs!! Whoo hoo.

We continue to make progress on the nursery.  We now have baby girl's crib (it was given to our nephew when he was a baby by Justin's grandma that has passed away...so we are blessed to have such a sweet sentiment in her nursery that was passed on to us).  We have all the major furniture.  I have sketched out my final plan for the nursery and I have my painting planned for one of her walls.  I love progress!

That's all for now.  Hope to be back soon more regularly! Have a blessed rest of the week!

bump update-week 26 and 27

my view--notice Justin's soccer shorts--they're a must-have on my wardrobe list right now :)

*I will update with the normal bump picture soon...we've been slacking in getting those taken! Oops!

How far along: 27 weeks

Baby size: Eggplant--(I wrote that last week but I read the wrong week.  Oops! Average length is a little over a foot and weight averages vary from 1 1/2 to 2 pounds.)

Total weight gain/loss: Almost 12 pounds up from pre-pregnancy

Sleep: Still going well.  I have added a pillow now to support my back too.  So that makes two pillows under my head, one behind my back, and then my long body pillow for in front of me...4 pillows total.  So far there's still room for Justin and Boone in the bed. ;)

Movement: Lots of movement! I read that this is peak time for movement...now and the next couple weeks because she's at a size where I can feel her really well and there is plenty of room left in the womb for her.  After that, with her size increase, there will be less and less room...hence, less feeling of movement.

Here favorite times to move are still late at night and early morning.  I do get an occasional feeling of movement during the day.  Many times the movements are strong.  It has also turned into full-on body rolls that make my stomach move and groove.

This morning I had a funny moment.  I started feeling this poking on my lower stomach.  It was hard and persistent enough to wake me up...and in my fog, I was thinking Justin must have rolled closer to me and had his elbow against my belly.  I woke up and Justin wasn't close to me in bed...it was Adeline that had poked me until I woke up.  Justin and I laughed about it, being that it's the first of many times I'm sure she'll wake me...whether it's by crying early in her life or poking me when she's older.

Food cravings/aversions: Ice cold drinks, especially water are tasting good.  A Tumbler was delivered to my home this summer from one of my sweet kiddos from last year and I have been keeping that filled with water all the time.  Fruit is also tasting good.  I'm noticing that I can't eat much at all in one setting.  It's like she's taking up all the room and there isn't any for food.  I'm just trying to eat very small meals more consistently throughout the day.  I'm also starting to wake up in the middle of the night hungry.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Minor cramping still due to round ligament pain.  Also that constant full feeling.  It's like she seems to grow much faster than my belly wants to stretch.  Some heel pain when walking a lot.  Other than that, I'm still feeling good!

What I miss: Being able to lay on my back in bed or on the couch.

What I'm looking forward to: Starting our classes at the hospital, going to the Open House at our pediatrician, getting my glucose appointment over with, and continuing to work on the nursery!

Milestones: For me--nothing major.  I'm seeing less and less of my feet when I look down. ;)  For Adeline--she has brain movement now that can be read.  Her heartbeat is strong and loud enough that you can possibly hear it by placing your ear on my belly.

Best moment this week: Enjoying more and more entertaining movement.  Picking out our first cloth diaper! Justin and his dad getting one house project finished!! The next one on the list is the wainscoting for the nursery!

Moments with Justin: In a conversation about cloth diapering...which Justin has been understandably unsure about for a while...I finally asked him what his biggest fear of it all was.  He finally got serious, looked at me, and said..."There's going to be poop in our washing machine."  It cracked me up.  His nerves over it are settling and we're working out the kinks to our diapering plan while meeting in the middle. ;)

summer list

For some reason I just haven't felt as productive this summer as I have in past summers.  Maybe it's because my list was more daunting due to getting the nursery ready.  Maybe it was just being tired a lot of days.  I don't know...and I don't like to make excuses.  However, I had a great moment today!

This great moment was when I found my list of to-dos I had made at the end of the school year for what I wanted to get accomplished over the summer (some projects, of course, involved Justin's help big-time).  I made some lofty goals and just got everything I could think of off my mind and onto this list.  I was so excited today to pull this list out (yes, I hadn't even looked at it this summer after I made it) and found that I was able to cross off and/or label most things as "in progress".  Here's what is looks like on what is my last official day of summer vacation.  Overall, I'm pleased with what I have accomplished because on days I wasn't doing something off this list, I was either traveling or spending quality time with special people in my life.

blurry iPhone pic

*crossed out=accomplished
*bold=in progress
*italics=see note about how I changed my mind on this

• exercise 3-4 times a week
• daily quiet time
• get nursery ready:  paintings, find fabric, sew curtains/bed-skirt, wainscoting for wall
• register
• clean out office
• clean/organize basement
• find new recipes to try
• make things for Etsy-changed my mind on putting time into this right now
• organize photos/back-up on CDs
• read books
• have a yard sale-scheduled for end of August
• organize kitchen cabinets
• bathroom (turn into shower)
• organize bathroom cabinets
• get office set-up in extra bedroom
• find extra kitchen chairs
• find chairs for living room
• find table crates for supplies in classroom-decided to go with individual supplies again to promote responsibility instead of having table/community supplies in the classroom
• help mom organize her office-she got industrious and did this one on her own...I worked on cleaning my old bedroom out more and organizing that for her instead
• research a business adventure-changed my mind a bit on this, but have another idea up my sleeve!-I will share as it becomes more pulled together :)
• Ebay work for Mom & Dad

Things accomplished I didn't put on the list:

• found some awesome bargains on nursery furniture (changing table and glider)
• got involved in a Bible Study at church that I really enjoyed
• classroom was pulled together in less than two days! (thanks to the hubby for his amazing help!)
• Justin got three huge trees cut down in our backyard with his dad's help (they were a little too close to the house for comfort)
• Adeline's closet is cleaned out and organized
• sketched out my plan for decorating the nursery (huge deal to this visual gal)
• cleaned out my closet and Justin's again to get rid of gobs more clothes
• sold books on Amazon
• pulled together a blog that our church family loved for our Youth Mission Trip
• DIYed some flip flops
• traveled to Cincinnati, Nashville, Hartselle, Alabama, and Fort Myers, Florida
• researched cloth diapers a ton and decided on the ones we will use
• got my first two weeks of school planned, including all of our Open House night things

I'm sure there's more...this is just what came to my mind right off. 

Whew, that feels good! :)

photo book love

If you remember back in October, hubby and I took a vacay to Disney World.  Amazing. 

What was so fun when we got home was to document the trip by making a photo book from Shutterfly! You can find the post about our photo book here.

I'm crazy about memories.  I love taking pictures.  What I don't love is going to get gobs of photos printed out and have them hang out in the closet forever as I promise that one day I will put them in an album.  It just doesn't happen.  Photo books are perfection when it comes to dealing with this issue.  They wrap all the memories and photos up into one neatly organized book.  Our stack of them started with this book and you better believe that with a baby on the way, the stack will only continue to grow! My next photo book adventure--pregnancy!

I take it upon myself to be the "memory keeper" of our family.  It just fits my personality and my new upcoming role as momma.  It's a big role to take on, but one I do gladly in order to preserve the precious moments I have with my sweet family and friends.

Shutterfly has gobs of options to help with this and I have quickly grown to love Shutterfly over the past year that I have been using them!

I've made photo cards that the recipients have gone crazy over!

I got a fabulous deal on our Christmas cards that I was so happy with!

I just recently, I created some thank-you cards for shower gifts using Adeline's pictures from our ultrasounds that I can't wait to see how they turned out! (Thanks, Ashleigh, for the great idea!)

And I can't wait to create our sweet Adeline's birth announcements on Shutterfly when she makes her debut this Fall!

How have you used Shutterfly?

I wrote this post to promote Shutterfly's photo cards in exchange for a free photo book.  But I would praise them anyway, because I just like 'em! ;)

a blank canvas

Right now this blank canvas sits on my art easel in our living room...just waiting for the creation I decide on for Adeline's nursery.

There's something about a blank canvas that soothes my soul and gets me excited.  Maybe it's the unknown of what will be placed on it.  Maybe it's the relationship I develop with it as the artist.  Maybe it's the simplicity.  Maybe it's the fresh start.

Getting this canvas ready today and looking at it struck me as an "ah-hah" moment and related so closely with scripture Justin and I were looking at last night before bed.

When I came to bed, Justin was reading Matthew 25: 14-30, The Parable of the Talents.  It's a scripture we had both read before.  (I love verse 23...)

"His Master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master's happiness!"

This is a verse that often creeps into my mind (thank you Holy Spirit!) when I find myself freaking out getting a little stressed over something that's placed on my plate.  I'm reminded often that God is giving me opportunities...He wants to be able to say these exact words to me when I meet Him face to face.  And I believe, that even before that time comes, He longs to whisper this verse in my ears as I am an obedient servant of His.

So back to this blank canvas.

Later in the parable (verse 29-30), it gets a little tricky and makes you cringe a bit.  You know how parables make yah think!

"For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Yeah, read it a couple times--better yet, go and read the entire parable--it makes you stop and infer.  The Bible is good like that.  Well, the Author is good like that!

This is where our discussion began last night...what exactly this meant.  It was a verse we'd both been quick to read over and not really think too much about.  After discussing and using those awesome footnotes in our bibles, we realized that Jesus was talking about bearing fruit here.  That we shouldn't play it safe and hold onto that gift of Grace that comes through believing that Christ died for our sins and having a personal relationship with Him...but that we should bear fruit.  We have to spread the word, live it OUT LOUD, so that there is something produced from our lives as His servant.

This is where that blank canvas comes in.  His mercies are new every.single.day.  I'm thankful for a blank canvas of my heart that only comes through Him.  This blank canvas means I have a new day.  A day to be productive in my walk with Christ.  A day to create a masterpiece out of His love for me.