33!

Paul turned 33 in January.  It was a busy, busy birthday for Paul with his schoolwork.  So we had to SQUEEZE it in.  Haha, I'm afraid I made it like a kid's party with the balloon and star candles, but he was a good sport and I think he enjoyed it:)  Happy birthday to my hunky husband!

Burp Rags

Yes, a post about burp rags.  I never could have dreamed burp rags could make me SO HAPPY!

My good friend Summer and I dedicated an afternoon to sewing some burp rags.  She is due in February with a girl, so we've already had 2 baby girl dedicated activities together.

We went and got material at JoAnn's.  The employee that cut our fabric- her name was JoAnn.  That's when I knew this activity was going to be magical.

 Now, I always require direct supervision when doing crafts and especially sewing.  So of course Summer was my mentor and the sewer-extraordinaire.  

 This is what Levi did while we sewed.  (He was watching Cars.)

Here's how they turned out:  I LOVE them!!

:)

21-Week Belly

We are officially halfway through pregnancy!!  This is very exciting.  What I've learned so far:

• I should have started maternity pants sooner.  Hello comfortable!
• I cannot shop in more expensive stores like Baby Gap.  I was able to restrain myself the first time, but I'm not sure I could do it again.  Luckily, there are lots of cute buys for cheaper:)
• Baby girl has transitioned from light prancing and dancing to Tae-bo and kickboxing.  This is fine, but when she is kickboxing my bladder, I've learned to just adjust positions until she stops!
• Related to my last bullet point, nothing makes me smile more than feeling her move:)
• There are about 300 things you can buy to correctly swaddle/wrap a baby, 3 million crib options, and 3 billion stroller options.  I don't know where to start!
• Many expectations I had of pregnancy were SO off that it's kind of funny.  I pictured morning sickness going away right after the first trimester, I pictured exercising 5 times a week, I pictured being able to eat all the time with everything tasting so wonderful!  Haha.
• Slip on shoes are fabulous when you're pregnant!
• Cocoa butter really helps the tummy itches.  And then I get to smell like a chocolate bar all day too!  Bonus!
• It's very difficult to do non-baby-related blog posts.  Seriously, I've tried since I got pregnant.

Okay, here's the belly at 21 weeks.  Two different outfits because I swear every outfit makes the baby belly look different.

So fun!

Baby girl is already very spoiled, and has received some fun things in the mail from some of her "aunties"  :)  Yes, that's what I'm calling you guys.

So this is how I started smelling like a chocolate bar:  I texted my dear friend Summer (also pregnant with a girl right now) about how my tummy was so itchy and she showed up the next day at my door (I know, she's SO nice) with cocoa butter with a bow on top.  She has basically saved my life.  

:)

Christmas 2011

Paul and I got to go to Tennessee for Christmas.  It was perfect!  Both of my brothers were there, and it was our first Christmas with Paul as the newest member of our family.  We went and saw the lights at the Opryland Hotel, saw the Egyptian exhibit at the Frist Museum, ate at my favorite Mexican place twice, had our annual Christmas Eve fondue, went baby shopping, and much, much more.  Thank you to my mom and dad for a wonderful week!  Here's us in our Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve:

Family friend and photographer extraordinaire Angie took some family pictures of us in our backyard the day after Christmas.  Here are some of my favorites:  

Wow, I really have no clue how this new picture placement thing works on blogger.  Oh well!

Happy 2012 to everyone and hope your holidays were wonderful and yummy!

Girl Power!

So, we found out tonight that we will be having a daughter in May.  (By the way we are so excited about this!!!!!)  This means that both Paul and I failed our first test of maternal and paternal intuition:

She is healthy and everything in the ultrasound is exactly as it should be!  I have felt her kicking since 2 weeks ago (16 weeks along) daily, so I was not surprised that she was healthy and happy!  We feel so lucky and are ready to start getting some girl stuff and thinking of names!!

Guessing Game!

Paul and I are keeping a tally of boy vs. girl guesses on our fridge.  Boy and girl guesses are currently tied.  If you'd like to make a guess, leave a comment here and let me know what you'd like your name under.  There are no prizes or incentive involved- it is purely a somewhat self-centered endeavor so that I have somewhere fun to put my anxious energy until Thursday.  AaaaaaahSoFun!!

And, we are sure it's not twins, so no need to go there.  ;)

Love to all!

Gym Class

I'm the newest substitute teacher here in Cheyenne.  I got my first job on Friday.  PE for 5th graders, 2nd graders, and Kindergarteners.  The teacher had warned me in her substitute notes that the Kindergarteners were "especially challenging" but little did she know how much they all would challenge me:)

When I was partway through practicing basketball dribbles with the first 2nd grade group, I realized I had a choice.  I could either be stressed or I could just laugh.  So I laughed!  Because it was hilarious!

The 5th graders played the age-old substitute trick- confuse the substitute during attendance by having multiple people claim to be Jimmy.  I was totally ready for this one.  Every time I just said "I guess I'll go ahead and mark Jimmy as absent because I know there are not 5 Jimmy's in this class."  The kids would get really upset and point to the real Jimmy.  Mwa haha.

I think that was my only success story from the day.  I was totally planning on being a nice, cool substitute that all the kids loved.   Right.

By the last Kindergarten class, I had completely lost my voice.  Both the teacher's aides were gone because they had taken kids out for bad behavior.  I had sent about 4 kids to the principal's office (the teacher I was subbing for asked me to use a 2 warnings, then you're out system), and I sent 3 kids to their teacher's room per teacher's request if any misbehaved.  One boy defaced school property by writing on the gym wall during our jumping lesson.  I had the last class line up for their teacher at 3:20 as directed and I totally turned into Mean Scary Substitute.  5 kids would not line up and I had to chase them around the gym, I grabbed their arms rather harshly, looked at them meanly and said, "You stay here in line, that is enough."  I could see the fear in their eyes and they stayed.  (Well except for sweet Down Syndrome girl who was hiding behind the curtain on the stage- but I couldn't leave everyone to go find her...)  

Did I tell you that I have a lot of respect for teachers?