The bump -- 14 weeks and 4 days

Today I tried on some maternity clothes at Kohl's.  I also decided it was time to start documenting my stomach. (Doesn't that just sound weird?)

Keep in mind that I've never had a flat stomach, so the bump isn't nearly as large as you might initially think it is.  But it's definitley bigger.  My pants don't fit so well, and I'm wearing the Bella Band pretty much every day.  This week I feel good.  I didn't even succumb to a nap today (I can't say the same for yesterday, or the day before, or...).  But I'm still tired a lot...probably because I wake up once a night (or, like last night, twice).  And because I'm still mastering the art of sleeping on my left side.

Another favorite things challenge!

What is your favorite scrapbook manufacturer?  Really, I just couldn't answer this question.  I more or less like them all.  So I included a nice assortment of products on this page.  I don't think I've ever used this many different papers on one layout! 

Join us, won't you?  :) 

Fun things from blogland.

Long story short, I've been really bad at reading blogs lately.  But I've gotten very good at starring the interesting items and coming back to them later. 

• A tutorial about how to make your own reinforced tags.
• Elsie's recent post on how to buy the correct size in vintage clothing.  Very informative.
• Breakfast cookies.  These look so yummy!
• A nice how-to on making over an old bike.  Mike has plans of finding a cruiser for me after the baby is born, so this might be helpful later on.
• Really cute, imaginative baby photos. 
• Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find a recipe for chocolate mug cake.  This look ridiculously easy. 
• Cutest crochet mod-wig ever! 
• I really want this coffee mug.  And coffee, while we're on the subject.  :)
• And I want to make this.  And, again, coffee would be nice. 
• A crochet Minion pattern...must make this!  (And if you would prefer to knit, the pattern is here.)
• A DIY floating vase.
• Adorable crochet slippers.
• A recipe for mini-strawberry pies.  I love a good strawberry pie!

Potential baby name? :)

I got the cutest drawing in the mail from my brother's girlfriend, Amanda, today.  How perfect is that?!  :)

Maybe we can use Skype as a middle name instead.  :)

He/she is already being spoiled. :)

I wanted to share with you some of the very sweet gifts the baby has received. 

Our friends Jed and Amanda gave us this Germany soccer shirt.  (Mike and Jed are both German enthusiasts.)  It won't be able to wear it for awhile, but since they also bought one for their son, I can't wait to see them together in matching shirts one day!  :)

Today, I got a wonderful surprise from Julie, who sent the baby this painting by the ever so talented Melonie!  Isn't it adorable!  I hear there are more like this little guy in her etsy shop.  :)  Julie, thank you so much for this gift.  It means so much that it's both from and by some of my favorite scrapbooking gals! 

Mind-numbed.

I'm sitting here without a clue of what to blog.  I was in a training until 7:30 tonight, and I think my brain is a bit wiped out at the moment. 

At least tomorrow is Friday.  And jeans day. 

On the plus side, I did scrap tonight.  But I can't show you anything until the next TAAFOMFT challenge goes live.  Which will be very, very soon.  :)

Game night

Since we decided we couldn't beat the cheaters at trivia night (and since midnight is way too late to still be awake on a school night), we decided to institute game night.  Jon and Alisha brought Quelf, which I had never heard of before.  It was lots of fun.  Think really goofy Cranium.  I think we may need to add this to our game stash.

Just to give you an idea of how goofy it was, I was wearing the metal part of a Pampered Chef round stone pan as a necklace, we had to end every sentence with "izzle", and Mike had to give an Oscar-worthy monologue while pretending to ride an ostrich around a beached whale.  Oh, and my game piece was named Mrs. Picklefeather.  :)

By the way, thank you for the prayers.  The full moon has not been as bad as originally feared.  Let's hope it stays that way!

Today I learned...

• that it's cool to have a pet cricket named Jeffery.
• that my students think it would be awesome if I went into labor at regional competition...then they would finally have an excuse to push that tantalizing emergency button in front of the building where competition takes place.
• that the happy medium between "emo" and "goth" is purple.
• that you can't convince the kid playing Willy Wonka in the school play that bringing you candy everyday will get him into character.

(Just a little list of things that went on at school today.)

A quick baby list

• I tried out my Bella Band today.  I figured it would be best to give it a trial run while I still have the option of buttoning my pants.  Turns out I didn't need to be so cautious -- it worked great!  I love that all my pants can now be fat pants.  :)
• I think I found the stroller.  Love the yellow and grey color combo! 

• Speaking of grey...the week before I found out about being pregnant, we painted the upstairs bedroom (soon to be the baby's room) grey.  I really don't want to deal with painting it again.  Do you think this will make our child a sad little emo kid? 
• Julie and Jill -- I think there's something to the theory you mentioned in your comments yesterday.  Seriously, I wake up most mornings around 3:30.  It doesn't matter how early or late I go to sleep.  I don't have much trouble falling back asleep, but it's so annoying to be reminded that I only have two more hours of sleep left. 
• I made it though the work day with plenty of energy.  I was very proud of myself.  Then I came home and my energy ran away.  Don't worry.  I took a nap and found it!  :)

Busy weekend

I have not had a weekend this busy in a very long time!  Saturday started out easy...I would have slept in had I not woke up sometime around 6am.  For no reason, of course.  We went shopping for a couple of hours.  I realized this week that I was in need of a Bella Band.  (Yes, my dressy work pants are getting a wee bit tight.)  And somehow as we left Target, I managed to talk Mike into a quick trip to Babies-R-Us.  I'm still not sure what made him agree.  It was definitely overwhelming -- Mike thinks it would be best to set a budget, then let Mom and I make all the purchasing decisions.  :)

When we got home, that's when the busy part started.   Our church held a Back to School Block Party for kids in the area.  Inflatables, face-painting, food, stilt-walkers.  You could call it four hours of crazy.  :)  I was at the refreshments station for most of the party, except for when I was taking photos.  (Last year I did face-painting, but decided being that close to little kid germs was not the best idea for me in my "delicate condition"...lol).  Mike, Forrest, and Ashley were there as well.  I thought I was going to dream in lemonade that night.

After the block party, we went to Leono's and I had the most amazing mini pizza I've ever had.  And I've had many Leono's mini pizzas.  The perfect amount of cheese, the crust was made just right...it didn't hurt that I was super hungry after the block party, either. 

Today our Sunday School class had a baby shower for Kristin.  She's having a little girl on Friday! 

Side note: I picked up a plain pink bag from Target yesterday.  No intention of coordinating anything.  I woke up extra tired this morning, with what I thought was very little creative energy.  I realized that I did not have a card to go with Kristin's gift...I pulled out one of my standby yellow-with-white-dots note cards from the Michael's and happened upon a matching label.  I then realized that I had matching yellow tissue paper (good thing I'm a tissue paper junkie!) and pink MLS letter stickers that matched the bag.  The creativity is coming back...slowly, but it's starting to show itself.  Hooray!

Tonight, it was our Sunday School class' turn to served dinner at the church park.  The biggest job was keeping the flies away.  They were beyond ridiculous tonight!  My arms are tired from all the shooing.  But we got everything set up, served, and cleaned up, and that in itself is a lot! 

As I pulled into the driveway this evening, I noticed a nearly full moon.  Prayers for teachers this week are welcome.  :) 

Lola's opinion: A dry bathtub is a happy bathtub.

Lola is a huge fan of the bathtub.  Not a big fan of water, though.  (When she was a kitten, she had this habit of jumping into the empty bathtub.  Except one night it was full.  And she jumped.  Mike said you could see the realization hit her before she ever hit the water.  We spent the rest of the evening babying a very wet, sad-looking kitty.)  She has definitly learned to look before leaping.  Mike snapped these really cute pics of her the other night. 

One down, two to go!

As of today, I am officially in the 2nd trimester!  I've started browsing maternity clothes online -- it's fun!  Here are some of my favorites from Motherhood Maternity.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Today was one big headache.  In the most literal sense.  Nagging sinus pain, all day long.  I couldn't remember if I was allowed to take any otc medicine for it, so at lunch I called the nurse line at my physician's office.  Of course, my lovely phone company didn't give me access to the voicemail from the nurse until I got home from work around 4:00 (even though she got back to me within 10 minutes of my call -- they're really awesome over there).  So I took a generic Tylenol and a 2-hour nap.  Then another Tylenol.  Then a two-mile walk with Ashley.  My headache was still going strong (I'm thinking sinus pressure, because a lot of people seemed to be having the same problem today) -- on top of that it was making me a bit queasy -- so I did something that might make you not so proud of me.  I had some Pepsi.  I have no intention of making this a regular habit.  I just felt so yucky, and that usually helps.  And it did.  So I can't say I regret it, because I feel better.  But for the sake of accountability, I thought it would be best to confess my bad deed to all of you. 

Forgive me?   :)

Trivia night

We're on our way back from trivia night. Sadly, this might be our last one for awhile. Too many people looking up answers on their cell phones. But, we can sleep easily tonight. :)

Good radio day

While on my way to work out with Ashley, I heard a couple of songs on the radio that I instantly knew belonged on my iPod. 

Plain White T's.  First of all, they're great.  And they have a new song.  "Rhythm of Love" is great.  And super sweet. 




And "Glitter In the Air" by Pink.  Am I the only one who wasn't aware that she could sing like this?  Great song.




What songs are you loving these days? 

A few randoms.

Today I felt really good.  I stayed awake all day.  Dished out some advice to a former student getting ready to head off to college on Saturday.  Had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner.  Walked two miles with Ashley.  Enjoyed the cooler, less humid weather on the porch.

Does anyone have advice for keeping a Charlie horse away?  I woke up last night with leg cramps again.  I bought some bananas today, hoping that might do the trick.  (Well, eating them...just buying them won't do much...lol.) 

Oops!  I really should have mentioned that the Starbucks drink in question (from two posts ago) was a Strawberries & Creme Light Frappaccino (with a little whip cream, making is a little more than light, I'm sure).

What's your favorite day of the week?

That's the question we're asking over at TAAFOMFT.  Personally, I'm pretty fond of Saturdays.  It's the only day of the week I get to sleep in, and get caught up on all the things I've neglected through the week (which, believe me, is a lot!). 

I used a lot of vintage goodies that Andrea sent me a few weeks ago...the file divider, the journaling tag, and the vintage floral wallpaper.  I love how it all came together!

I found a thrifty find!

I went to the Peddler's Mall today for no real reason at all.  I had $5 in my purse.  I came home with this lovely (and a little leftover change).

Isn't she beautiful?!  Mechanically, she is in perfect condition.  Ribbon-wise -- not great, but not horrible.  It was worth the $4 I spent to see if I can get her up and running.

And I have a new Starbucks treat.  I've given up caffiene (which surprisingly, wasn't all that difficult).  But today I found myself still wanting Starbucks.  So I got up the nerve to try a new treat.  Julie, I think this is one of your favorites, right?  :)  Loved it! 

Heartbeat :)

Last week Mike went with me to the doctor.  We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time (funny -- he heard it before I did).  Mom wanted me to get a photo of Mike's first reaction to it...I opted for being in the moment, but after the nurse stepped out and we were waiting on the midwife to meet with us, I took a few fun pics of what his reaction might have been. 

Which one is your favorite?  :)

Btw, the heartrate as of 11w 0d was 176.  And no, he didn't really have any of those reactions...lol.  We both thought it was pretty amazing.  Also, we were relieved to know that yes, there actually is a baby in there.  (Pretty much the only downside to feeling relatively good...you start to wonder if it's all in your head.)

Things that make me happy.

• Friday.  Summer makes me forget how awesome Fridays are. 
• A Saturday with no plans.
• A great first week of school.  So far.  Knock on wood.
• Pineapples.  Juice, tidbits, fresh...you name it.  Hmmm...now I think I want it upside-down in cake form.  :)
• Air conditioning.
• Students who say "thank you" when I hand them a worksheet. 
• A good night's rest.
• Trips to the Mennonite grocery on the way home from work.
• A surprise party this weekend.
• My new scrapbook subject.
• Lola's ability to sense any cuddling that goes on in our house.  And her need to get in on the action.
• My awesome readers.  I love it when you leave comments. :)
• Hacking my way through a long list of unread blog posts.  I'm getting there, slowly but surely.
• And going to bed...right...about...now. 

Right now I'm...

• listening to "Gone" by Jack Johnson, and "Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole on Pandora.
• relaxing, because I think I've settled into my grove at work.  (Seriously, I have a great schedule this year -- my first four classes of the day are all different, then planning, then two repeat classes.  I feel like I might be very good at using my planning period this year.)
• not taking a nap, because of a huge lightening strike that scared me.
• staring at the rain drops on the window pane.
• feeling extremely tired.  So much so that I'm skipping out on trivia tonight.  Last week, I think I was in denial about how much this week would wear me down.
• kind of excited to hear that Rhys Darby (Murray from Flight of the Conchords) has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Steve Carrell on The Office.   I can see this working...
• waiting for Mike to get home.  (Okay, he came home while I was writing this post.  Yay!)
• smelling the bacon he's making for dinner. 
• checking out ticket prices for Idina Menzel in September.
• feeling happy about a good day with students.  Hoping for another one.

Baby Q&A

I thought it might be fun to share some of the questions I've been asked since we started sharing our big news.  These questions range from popular, to weird, to completely random. 

How are you feeling?
By far, the most popular question.  On Monday alone, I think this was asked at least 20 times.  Probably more.  But the answer is, really good.  No morning sickness!  I've been tired, but that's to be expected.  Actually, up until this week, that hasn't even been much of an issue -- I've had all summer to nap whenever I felt like it.  Which means, yes, I've been super tired this week now that I'm back at work.  Fortunately, I've found that as long as I'm moving around (which I normally do at work), I can avoid feeling draggy.  Let's see...other than that, I've had a few middle-of-the-night Charlie horses, heartburn, and indigestion.  Nothing too awful.  I've been very fortunate.

How far along are you?
My best guess is 11 weeks and 4 days, as of today (8/10/10).

Are you going to find out the sex?
If our child is cooperative, then yes.

Was it planned?
Um...this one is always awkward.  Not because of the answer (it's really not a big deal for me to say that we weren't preventing this from happening), but because it's always the nicest people who ask this very weird question.  Not something I think I could ask.

I have a full bottle and a half bottle of Dreft in my van.  Do you want it?
That stuff is expensive, so yes please. :)  So so happy when one of my coworkers asked this yesterday!

Are your pants too tight? (Inserted randomly in the middle of a converstaion about mundane beginning of school things.)
No.  Not yet.  Just wearing a loose top.  I needed a couple of new late summer/early fall tops, so I figured they might as well be a bit roomy.  But...wow...thanks for the concern about my waistline. 

Congradulations! try to control the cravings! I found out the more you eat the bigger the baby. ouch! My sis is the true example of this theroy.
While I realize this isn't a question, it was definitely the congrats from FB that took the cake.  Seriously?  Congratulate someone by telling them not to eat so much or face even more excruciating pain?  Um...thanks...I think?  (Also, please pass the spaghetti with meat sauce.  Yes, this is what I crave.)

So now that you're pregnant, are you going to become one of those people that only blogs about the baby?  Because I really liked your blog, but now I probably won't be able to relate.
Okay, so this is actually the question that pops into my head whenever one of the bloggers I follow makes this announcement.  Probably because I've seen so many bloggers go this route.  Which is fine...it's their blogs.  But I've always found it hard to relate, and ususally stopped reading, because I got tired of hearing about every aspect of pregnancy and baby, with little to no mention of any of the things that originally drew me to their blog.  I am going to try really, really hard not to change the tone of my blog to "baby blog".  I mean, I still have other things going on, right?  Trivia night, Peddler's Mall trips, TAAFOMFT, along with lots and lots of other nifty things.  I plan to remain the same blogger I've always been.  Like it or not.  :) 

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By the way, the first day of school was excellent!  I'm very happy with the way things went today.  Keep the good days coming!

Opening day.

It's that magical time of year again.  The beginning of a new school year.  I'm feeling surprisingly calm about it for some reason (probably because my freaking out is being directed elsewhere at the moment).  But today was opening day -- the day before students arrive.  We had our district "Appreciation Celebration".  Great idea, except I was seated with elementary and middle school teachers who felt no need to socialize with me (well, one of them finally did...during the keynote speech).  So, it was a boring two hours.  But the district provided breakfast, so I can't complain too much, right?

After the Appreciation Celebration, I worked in my classroom until 5:30, and then went to Wal-Mart so I could pick up a few things I needed for tomorrow.  Then I came home, did some housework, and made curtains for my room.  They are quite adequate, if I do say so myself. 

And now I'm exhausted.  No time for a nap today.  No time for a nap all week, I imagine.  Can I call it a rude awakening if it makes me want to fall asleep?

PS -- Thank you for all the sweet comments from yesterday's post!  They mean so much to me!

That secret I really wanted to tell you, but didn't...until now!

Two days before my 30th birthday, we received the most amazing surprise! 

I'm due February 25.  :) 

Some hipstamatic prints from today.

I took a few minutes to take a walk around the yard this afternoon and take some photos.  Enjoy!

Yay! Firepit!

Tonight we invited several friends over for firepit night.  We grilled out and watched lots of great YouTube videos.  Like this one.  And this one.  Which, of course, had to be followed up with this one. 

Good times.  Good times. 

I love trivia night!

Last night was trivia night.  I think this is now a weekly thing for us.  We slacked on thinking up a great team name throughout the week, so we chose "Your Mom" at the last second.  Based on some incorrect answers, we have decided that next week our team name should be "Walt Whitman and Scarlett Johanssen Have a Romanian Baby in the Leaves of Grass".

So can you answer some of our questions?  Highlight the blank space to see the correct answer.

Which character on Friends -- who was not one of the 6 main characters -- made the most appearances on the show?  (Answer:  Gunther)  Ashley and I were super, super proud of our mad trivia skills on this one.

Which film features Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles, and Topher Grace?  (Answer: Mona Lisa Smile)  Funny, because this came up while we were trying to figure out the highest grossing film featuring Scarlett Johansson (which btw is Iron Man 2).

According to Nielsen, what male artist received the most radio airplay from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009?  (Answer: Tim McGraw)  We're pretty sure the table full of teenagers was being a tad unethical...I don't see how they managed to get this one without a cellular device.  We debated Justin Timberlake and Usher for quite sometime before settling on JT. 

At the end of two rounds, team "Your Mom" held first place.  After the final question round, we received third place, a $10 Applebee's card, and the clear conscience that comes with not cheating.  Also, the drive to defeat a table full of teenagers next Wednesday night.

Vintage goodness to share!

Just wanted to share with you the awesome packet of goodies that Andrea sent me.  I didn't know this much goodness could fit into one envelope!

Mike and I really enjoyed looking through the old Highlights magazine.  I loved those things when I was a kid.  And how perfect are the German flashcards in the last pic?  Oh, and you really should check out Andrea's etsy shop...I think she still has some of these kits up for sale!  I'm working on some layouts right now, and I'll share them soon.

Post-It Note Fashion Show 2010

Today was my first full day of work for the new school year.  No students, just lots of training.  I am super, super tired.  But, I thought it would be nice to share some photos from the Post-It Note Fashion show. 

Our team found out about the deadline about two weeks too late, but there's always next year, right? 

Time with the family

My parents and brother came in for the Art Walk.  (My sister was exhausted by the first two weeks of her "big girl" job, and stayed home.)  It was great to spend a little time with them.

Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast at Family Fare.  I had hashbrowns and was a happy girl. 

Then we headed across the street to the history museum.  The city model in the last two photos is of our little town of Cynthiana. 

Before they left, they bought me a chocolate molten lava cake.  Amazing.