Jumping for Joy

Today I sent 23 first graders off to second grade! Yay! I am jumping for joy, not literally of course, but mentally. I have had quite a challenging year and I am so glad that it is finally over. I am very thankful that teaching allows you to start fresh each new school year. I will be starting my 6th year in August and I am hoping for a much easier and calmer class this next year without all the whining, tattle-telling, and extreme behavior problems. But in case that doesn't work out, at least I only have to endure it for about six weeks until Baby Seth is born.
I have one more work day tomorrow where I have to pack the rest of my things away for the summer, but I already have most of that stuff done thanks to a very productive half day of working after the kids left. I am going very minimal for my set-up next year seeing how I will only be there for a short time, so I will have more time to finish setting up the nursery this summer. I also have to do some major work on my thesis. I am going to have to set a strict schedule for myself to be able to stay focused on writing three chapters. I also have plans to do some quilting, some reading just for fun, and bargain hunting at consignment stores and yard sales. So with all my feelings of great joy right now in hopes for a nice long summer break, I couldn't be happier and although I can't jump, I think Seth is doing some jumps and cartwheels for us both.

20.5 Weeks

Here is our baby boy at 20.5 weeks. He looks like he has a cute button nose. He weighs about a pound right now and is definitely very squirmy which I love because I can feel all those little wiggles. He did stop for a few seconds for a few good pics.


Boy Parts

Another profile shot

This one shows his femur along with the rest of his body. He has one of his hands near his face.

We're Having a ... Boy!!!

Today we found out that we will be welcoming a baby boy in September! We are super excited and I am so relieved to finally know. I had a hunch that we were going to have a boy and Bryan had called it since the 7 weeks ultrasound. I think having a boy is so exciting and I can't wait to start shopping and getting the nursery ready for him. We are still not 100% sure on the name yet but hopefully we will be able to nail that down soon. Seth Bryan has been the choice since before we knew we were going to have kids, but we want to be sure that we don't like anything else better. A name is an important decision after all.

I will get the pictures from the ultrasound up soon!!

Mother's Day

Celebrating Mother's Day is a little strange for me today. I have been bombarded by people wishing me a wonderful day, but to be honest, I feel like I have it pretty easy right now and don't deserve all the comments. Next year on this day, perhaps I will feel the wish is more appropriate. I have been blessed to have several kicks and jabs today though which have been a joyous reminder of the little person inside of me. Tomorrow we will hopefully find out if we will be welcoming a baby boy or baby girl in September. I think that has been on my mind more than anything else for the past couple of days. Finding out the gender of our baby will definitely be a wonderful Mother's Day gift one day late. For those of you wondering, the old wives tales predict a boy, the Chinese pregnancy predictor indicates a girl, I change my mind from day to day, so who knows...

Unconventional Fast Food

Everyday I have a 45 minute commute from home to school and then from school to home. On Tuesdays I usually stop in Cave City to grab something to eat on my way to the Housing Authority so that I don't have to waste time eating once I get back to Bowling Green. There are a few fast food options in Cave City such as McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, Subway, and that's about all. There also happens to be few sit down restaurants such as er Barrel, El Matzalan, and a few others. Now I have eating in the car down to a science. I can eat just about anything and not make too much of a mess unless it is salt from french fries or crumbs from chicken nuggets. I usually do leave a salty mess on the seats and floor board. Other than that I do pretty well. Today I just wasn't feeling like I wanted anything in the fast food options. I had in mind that I wanted a nice meal from er Barrel. So what did I do? I walked inside placed my order and can you believe in less than five minutes I had a plate steaming full of chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, okra, and cornbread. Less than five minutes I tell you. Now that is pretty fast! As I was contemplating getting er Barrel I was a little apprehensive because I knew that I could be faced with quite a mess if I was not careful. I decided I would take the risk and boy did it pay off. er Barrel has the most nifty containers for easy transport. I was able to place the segmented plate of food on my left leg which also had the stability of the car's door handle and I was able to eat my food without any problems whatsoever on the Interstate drive back to BG. Although I will not be stopping by all the time for a quick on the go meal at the er Barrel because of the significant increase in price compared to other more traditional fast food places, I have to say it will be placed on my traveling food options from now on. It definitely hit the spot today and I was glad to find out about this unconventional fast food choice. I will add that it should probably be noted that if you go at certain times of the day it might not be a fast option, but it will still probably be a tasty one.

2 Views

As much as I hate sharing these, I know so many of you are dying to see. I was feeling cute today for a change and took some shots with the remote setting on the camera. Here are two different shots of my (almost 20 weeks) growing belly:

A Peek Inside

The office is almost complete. I haven't bought the curtains that match the color of the green chest (that I worked so hard on) but hopefully I will have them soon. Other than that and painting the doors bright white I am very happy with our newly redecorated office/guest room.

This is the view from the doorway coming from the living room.

This is the view from the other doorway.

Yesterday afternoon we made our baby bed purchase. Because I am using only the income I make from the Housing Authority, I have to buy things for the baby in increments. I bought the glider rocker first. The crib was second. I still have to buy the mattress which will come with my next check along with hopefully a used chest of drawers that can be used as the changing table. Then once we find out if we are having a boy or girl next Monday, the fun decorating begins. Thursday will be the half way mark and we are getting more and more excited as everything is starting to become more real. The kicks and jabs are becoming more noticeable and more frequent. I also signed up for several classes that the Medical Center offers. All of them happen to be in June, but that's right around the corner.

Here's the crib minus the mattress and cute bedding: