35 days from WHAT?

I looked on my baby counter today and was shocked to see that I'm only 35 days from delivery.  Say what?!  I know I have been terrible about updating my blog, and someday I'm sure I'm going to regret it.  This post is going to be random, because I've been putting off writing about 1,000 blogs.  Oh well, at least I'll have it journaled for posterity's sake. 

In preparation for baby, I was lucky enough to have not just one, but TWO amazing baby showers.  Everyone has been so kind and generous, and we are so grateful for all of the wonderful gifts we have received.  It has definitely removed a lot of the stress of getting ready for The Saucer's arrival. 

The first shower was given at the end of May by the English and Math department at the high school where I teach.  A math teacher is also expecting her first baby, and so they threw us a combined baby shower.  She is having a little girl, and she is due just two months behind me at the start of October.

This is our cake.  Aren't the angel babies precious?  The lady at the store asked the teacher who picked up the cake if the shower was for twins.  THANK HEAVENS it wasn't!

Some of the yummies at the festivities:

Opening one of the precious outfits I received:

Rebekah and me together; I am about 30 weeks in this photo (please remember I had spent the day with 90 teenagers before you judge my appearance):

My wonderful mother-in-law threw me a second shower at the start of June.  It was beautiful, and of course with Joy in charge the food and atmosphere were fabulous.  My mother-in-law knows how to throw a party unlike any other. 

Some of the people at the shower:

Some of the yummies:

Opening one of our gifts:  A travel system!!!  We were so excited!!!

As you can tell, Baby Reese was very spoiled:

We also started getting the nursery together.  The first step was choosing a wall color and painting the walls.  The nursery started like this:

We bought our crib off Craigslist for $50.00 because we're cool like that. 

We chose baby blue, and I love it.  I don't care if it is generic and expected.  I think it is precious.

Joy and Bruce offered to give us Cameron's old nursery furniture.  It had been used by Chad's cousins when they were little girls, and since then stored in a shed.  When it got dropped off at our carport, it looked like this:

Now, thanks to Chad painting the walls, and me refinishing the furniture, the nursery looks like this:

I bought the bedding on Ebay, because I fell in love with this Pottery Barn pattern.  The quilt was a baby shower gift, and I think it makes the crib so cute!

Lauren and I found this cute toy organizer at a yard sale for $12.00:

And, as you can tell, Baby Reese will have nothing to wear when he joins us in August:

It is still a work in progress, but we're getting there. 

I have been terrible about taking belly photos, mostly because I find them less than thrilling, but here are a few to appease my mom and grandma:

With some of my darling students the day of their final, at almost 32 weeks:

                                        

Me at 33 weeks, after North Lenoir's graduation:

Me at 34 weeks:

Pregnancy update:  At my last appointment it looked like baby is still in the breech position.  During our 4-D ultrasound at around 29 weeks The Saucer was definitely head up and the stubborn fella didn't really cooperate with the "photographer."  I do have pictures to post, but I don't have them with me, so that will have to be another post for another time.  We weren't too worried at that  point, because there was still plenty of time for him to turn.  At 34 weeks, it was a little more concerning.  Both the doctor and the midwife sill aren't sure if he is head up or head down.  I go in for my 36 week checkup when I get home for a scheduled ultrasound.  If The Saucer hasn't turned, I will go into the hospital so they can attempt to force him to turn.  If that doesn't work, I will be scheduled for a c-section, which I am less than thrilled about.  I am really praying this kid will flip before then.  If he doesn't though, I guess I will just be thankful that we can get him here safe and sound.   

I am devastated that I don't have a 35 week picture to post (OK, not really).  To tide you over, picture me 8 months pregnant, in a swimsuit, hiking through a river with my father-in-law and sister-in-law.  That is how I spent my afternoon; I kid you not.  Maybe tomorrow we will do it again and I'll capture the moment on film so you can all have a good chuckle. 

We are spending the week in the mountains and having a wonderful time.  The 85 degree weather certainly beats the 100 degree, humid days I've spent sweltering in my house back home (since our air conditioning has decided it no longer wants to function . . . during a record-breaking heat wave while I am pregnant and feel 10 degrees hotter than normal . . . but that is a post for another time).  Good food and good company are sure to make our vacation fly by much too quickly!   

Brick Roads . . . in Yellow and Red Varieties

I hate The Wizard of Oz.  I don't really know when this extreme hatred began, but I know it had something to do with an uncanny fear of Munchkins.  It's just not my favorite movie.  Nothing about Dorothy pining away for her Auntie Em ever thrilled me.  In fact, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," despite singing it on occasion for Junior Miss, doesn't really do it for me either (unless it's that fabulous island version--that completely redeemed it for me).  That is why when I first heard about this show, and its connection to the original story, I was somewhat skeptical: 

That was many moons ago;  I was in college.  Then I heard the soundtrack.  I have been dying to see this show ever since.  Well, last Thursday my fondest dream was achieved.  We went as a family to see the show in Durham, and it was all I hoped for and more (with exception of Fiyero being played by a chap who was just a bit too femmy to convince me he actually enjoyed kissing Elphaba).  Speaking of Elphaba, her voice was fabulous.  The star of the night though, was Glinda.  Hysterical.  We had a great time at the show, and an even better time listening to my father-in-law place our drive-through order at McDonald's afterwards. 

Here's the crew before the performance.  It was The Saucer's first Broadway show, and judging from all of the spinning around he was doing during certain numbers, I'm guessing he enjoyed it too.  (Although, I think he's already pure boy.  During Ironman II he didn't stop moving the entire time.)   

We've also been keeping pretty busy with home improvement projects.  Last year all of our time and money was consumed fixing up the interior of the house.  This summer, we've shifted our focus to the outside.  I'm hoping to eventually lessen our neighbors' embarrassment of having to live next door to us once all of the projects are complete.  It is definitely a WORK IN PROGRESS, but we've made a lot of progress thus far. 

Last weekend, Chad and I spent the morning moving pavers around the lawn, trying to round off our flower beds.  Our flower beds in the beginning were very boxy and close to the house.  I am LaVar's daughter, which means in my mind a straight line has no business in a landscaping plan: 

I know they still look awful, because we haven't brought in topsoil or planted anything yet, but I think it is already a vast improvement.  The house looks so much more cozy from the street.  I keep envisioning meticulously groomed flower beds (not sure who's going to be grooming them, since we're about to have a new baby and can't afford a gardener, but one can dream).  I am really hoping that by next summer people will be driving by in awe, stunned by the massive change.  

Maybe it was Wicked's reminiscing about the yellow brick road that got us motivated, but we also were able to finish our brick path this weekend.  This project made me feel two emotions:  extreme joy and extreme guilt.  Joy because it looks beautiful and I am in love with it, and guilt because I think there is a woman in Moses Lake whose yard probably looks a royal mess thanks to me.  When I was in high school, my friend David Price and I were hired to put in a brick pathway for a woman in our stake.  She is a saint, which makes this story even worse.  Neither of us had a clue what we were doing, but we were cheap labor, so there you go.  I knew we didn't know what we were doing then, but after working on our project now, I REALLY know.  

First of all, meet this little man:     

This machine floats across the sand after you lay it and vibrates a trillion-something times a second.  It's supposed to pack the sand and help level the ground, so the bricks don't become an uneven, shifted mess in a few years.  Yup.  Definitely didn't use one of those the first time around.  Come to think of it, I'm not even sure we used sand.  Whoops. 

Anyway, on a happier note, when you do your YouTube research, and ask a professional brick layer's wife for advice, you get the machine.  After the sand is packed, this is what it looks like (notice the landscaping fairy I mentioned in a previous post ready for action on the right):

This shot doesn't quite do it justice, but in my opinion my yard has looked like a piece of art you might view at the Tate Modern for over a week. Most of the bricks came from the original path. We dug them out and hauled them (I did a lot of that myself with the help of a Piggly Wiggly bag over Spring Break). We bought the rest for dirt cheap on Craigslist.  Notice all of the bricks stacked in obscure piles all over the yard.   Nice.  I'm sure the neighbors have been loving us, as has all of Kinston as they drive by our house.

Here's another source of guilt.  See that little yellow bar?  The one on top of the 2x4 that my husband and father-in-law are dragging through the sand?  You know, to make sure the sand is level, before we start laying bricks?  Hmmmm . . . don't recall using that the first time around, either.  I think we solely "eyed" things to make sure they were going well.  Her pathway looked nice when we were done, but I can only imagine what condition it is in now.  Oh, Sister Nelson, I am so sorry.   

Then, after leveling, sanding, and pounding, and leveling, sanding, and pounding again, it was time to start laying the bricks.  Despite the fact that there are no pictures of me working, I would like to inform you that I did participate in this entire process to the best of my ability.  You know you live in a small town, on a busy street, when your Nana-in-law gets a phone call telling her, "Your granddaughter-in-law is out there pushing a wheelbarrow and her pregnant self has no business working in that yard!"  I will say this about the baby belly:  it makes everything feel so much more difficult.  I am so thankful, though, that I've been healthy enough to still do so much.  I have been really blessed.   

By about six that evening, the gentlemen had finished the project, and I think it looks amazing.  Feast your eyes on our "red brick road" that now leads from our front door to our driveway:

Ignore the terrible state of the grass.  One step at a time, folks, one step at a time.

This pathway is evidence that my husband loves me.  This project was my idea, and it is what I wanted.  Chad's very valid point was that it would be less work, less money, and look fine to leave the path where it was.  Even though he wasn't thrilled with the idea, he indulged me (like he has done with so many of the projects we completed inside the house).  While I helped the best I could with the project, the majority of the work definitely fell to him and his dad.  My sorry, pregnant self couldn't do the digging and hauling that my non-pregnant self could have.  I am so thankful for the hard work he put into it, and for the help we received from Chad's family to unload bricks, dig, and finish the project.  Last night I kept peaking out my windows to look that beautiful thing.

Lastly, here's the project that we're in the middle of at Joy and Bruce's:    

This year we have planted a KILLER garden behind their back yard.  Bruce has been working like a crazy fellow.  Aside from helping with the initial planting, I am not going to lie, I haven't done much.  I think it looks beautiful, though, and I can't wait to savor fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. 

And, here I am, at almost 29 weeks:

My pregnancy is going by so quickly.  It's hard to believe that in another 11 weeks we'll have a new addition to our family.  I know our lives are about to change in a huge way!  As much as my changing body has not thrilled me, I am so thankful for the chance I have to be our little guy's mom.  Sometimes, when I watch the numbers climbing on the scale it gets easy to feel depressed, but then I remember how many times I cried and prayed for this opportunity.  I am so thankful, and feel so greatly blessed.

Prom Night

Chad and I were mistaken for high school students when we stopped by the grocery store on our way to chaperone the prom. To quote the checkout lady: "You are the chaperones?!?! I thought you were two of the kids!" Chad even neglected to shave, hoping the facial hair might add a few years. He was hoping not to be mistaken for a high school student. I guess it didn't do the trick. Neither, apparently, did my growing abdomen.

Here I am at two days shy of 27 weeks:


It was baby's first prom, and Chad's first prom (since he was super lame in high school and refused to go to his). I won't complain though, since I got to be his first prom date.

It was fun to see my students all dressed up and well behaved. Chad and I went out to eat with a bunch of folks from my department before hand, which was also fun.

I am so thankful it's May. Summer vacation's just around the corner!

Unsent Letters

Dear Mother Who Seems to be Fishing for Friendly Remarks about Your Demonic Son:

You won't be getting any from me.

Sincerely,
The teacher who doesn't get paid enough to deal with your child's behavior issues and whose pregnancy has made her less inclined to pretend that she does

P.S. Last time I checked, your precious, irresponsible cherub is in tenth grade, not second. I'm not sure exactly when he missed that memo. . .

Dear Lower Back Pain,

I suspect you may be Sciatica. The fact that I had to brace myself against a table yesterday while teaching (to stop myself from screaming in agony) kind of made me think so. When I had to limp to avoid putting weight on my left leg, it only solidified the suspicion. I will be discussing this with the midwife at my next appointment. I don't appreciate the stabbing pain in my lower lumbar. I get that I didn't have to vomit for six months like a lot of women do while pregnant, and I know I should be grateful that this is my only real burden to bear (although becoming pudgy has not been too pleasant either). Even so, I would appreciate it if you stayed away for awhile. Let's try to have more days like today, when I didn't feel you at all.

Sincerely,
The woman who has been forced to give up her heels for flats

Dear Mr. Shakespeare,

I am very excited to celebrate your birthday tomorrow. Just saying your name makes me long for an escape to the London theatre. Whether I am reading your tragedies, comedies, or sonnets, my thoughts and feelings for you never change.

Sincerely,
The woman who wishes she was in London buying tickets to your plays, instead of teaching high school English

Dear Carnation Instant Breakfast,

I really have learned to "love you in an instant." Thanks for saving my life this week. It makes it so much easier to get some calories into my empty tummy while running out the door when all I have to do is add a package of your chocolate-y goodness to a glass of milk and stir. While I know I have been irresponsible by sleeping until 6:45 every morning when I know I can't get ready in 30 minutes, I appreciate you standing by me.

Sincerely,
The epitome of the anti-morning person

Dear Recliner,

I apologize profusely for telling my husband I didn't want you. When he insisted you were the one article of furniture he wanted to inherit from his grandfather, I kind of thought you were . . . ugly. Or at least that you would look out of place in my house. I have seen the error of my ways. You are the only place I feel complete comfort while sleeping. After giving up sleeping on my back, being able to recline in your leathery, soft embrace is heaven. You have given me some of the best naps of my life recently, and for that I am grateful.

Sincerely,
A woman who is contemplating sleeping in you every night

Dear Wonderful Husband,

I am sorry that I woke you up at 3:00 in the morning when I shattered a water glass on our bathroom floor. Before today, stumbling around in the dark on multiple potty trips during the night has worked pretty flawlessly. Thank you for coming to my rescue with a broom and dustpan without being asked, and for not complaining once. I thought it was really sweet, heroic even. I love you.

Love,
Your Dish

Spring Break

Last Spring Break my family came to visit me. I spent my vacation falling in love with the city I would adore to someday call home (Charleston, South Carolina), paddling through alligator-infested waters, and devouring all you can eat crab legs at Captain George's in Myrtle Beach. This year, my family was 2,236 miles away, and I was here with no vacation plans and a rapidly growing belly. This was slightly depressing. I got most sad when I found out my aunt, uncle, and cousins were going to be in Salt Lake visiting my family at the end of my Spring Break. In fact, I think they're still there. This is how I feel about that:

(Photo taken today, at 24 weeks)

I even checked airline tickets in a state of desperation, thinking just maybe there was some $100 round trip deal from Raleigh to Salt Lake that could soar me out to the loving arms of my family.
About that . . . Didn't happen.

I wallowed for a few days but managed to have a relaxing vacation, and I even snuck in a little bit of near-home fun.

Chad and I shot a small wedding in Raleigh to kick off Spring Break. The bride is a coworker of mine whom I adore. She is a sweetheart and a half. The ceremony was very intimate, and the entire affair very casual. I think it definitely should go down in history as the wedding with the least amount of stress. It made photographing the event feel easy, and we had a great time.

We also started some projects around the house. I have been wanting to do something about my front door situation. If you don't know what a front door "situation" is, let me enlighten you. We live on a corner lot, and our house faces the corner. It does not face our driveway. You cannot see the front door from the driveway, and the "brilliant" landscape architects who owned the home before us chose to lay the brick path that leads to our front door not beginning at the driveway, but at the street. The busy street where no one would EVER possibly park. It was a brick path to nowhere, my friends. This means that everyone who ever comes to my house (the pest control man, the grandmother of the teenager who rear-ended us and wanted to check up on me, the person who I expect any day to come and tell me I've inherited a million big ones from some dead relative I've never met) comes not to my front door, which opens into my always-straight-and-tidy-living-room, but instead to my BACK door, which opens into my not-always-so-straight-and-tidy breakfast room and kitchen. There is nothing worse than having an unexpected guest show up at your kitchen door. Nothing like greeting someone with a sink full of dirty dishes. And let's face it, no one unexpectedly shows up when your kitchen looks great. It just doesn't happen. It's like an unwritten law.

So. Now that you understand the front door "situation," you understand why I wanted to move the brick path that leads to nowhere and have it lead to somewhere. People will probably still come to the back door, but at least we can try.

Enter my amazing father-in-law. Seriously. Have you MET the man? He is fabulous. He is like every daughter-in-law in the world's dream. I have complained about this path a lot, and he knew that we were getting ready to start landscaping our yard. I told him I wanted to move the path, but I needed someone to come help me map out what it should look like. He came to our house EARLY on a Saturday morning, and while we were slumbering in our beds, moved cement pavers from our flower beds (that we were going to move anyway, because they were stacked in an atrociously ugly manner--another of the "brilliant" moves of the previous owners) into a cute little outline for a brick path FOR me. I know, you probably think I am kidding. I am not. He didn't even wake us up, he just did it. It was like a little landscape fairy (a very masculine type of fairy, mind you) stepped in to save the day.

Then, he helped us move the bricks from the previous path, start digging the new path, and replace the grass with the sod we dug up (by me, I mean they. I have done no digging, but I did help move bricks.)

THEN, when Chad and I went to Raleigh to spend a fun day together at the Museum of Natural Science, he came to our house while we were GONE and dug some more. WHO IS THIS MAN? Seriously, I love my father-in-law. He is like a super hero. He is one of the most unselfish people I have ever met. He does nice stuff like this for us all the time. This is the progress we have made on the path thus far:

(Also, notice our beautiful, shiny black shutters. Chad and I repainted those a few weeks ago.)

There are going to be flower beds that will curve out around the house and meet the path. It's going to be really beautiful when it's all said and done.

In the spirit of home improvement, I went shopping with my mother-in-law (who is also amazing, like her husband, and treated me to lunch) and I bought these adorable plates to coordinate with our kitchen:


How fun, right?!?! Don't you just want to EAT something at my house, so you can use them? Come on over (just use the front door). I found them at TJ Maxs, which if you didn't know is a code word for the most amazing store ever.

I spray painted another free piece of wicker furniture, and put this baby in our breakfast room:

And I spray painted an old floor lamp (also free) and found a lampshade for $2.99 so we can have a floor lamp next to our recliner.

Perhaps it is because of my pregnant state that a lot of my vacation also involved food and feeling sentimental.

I was thinking about my Grandma Joy the other day, and I instantly wanted to make club sandwiches, so I did:

I know it's really silly, but I always remember my Grandma having amazing sandwich stuff at her house. If she made you a sandwich it was no bologna and processed cheese. It was a full-on cafe-style sandwich. When I was probably somewhere between 12 and 14 I worked for my Grandma helping her clean house. My great-grandfather lived with my grandparents and I remember eating sandwiches like this while I visited with him during my "lunch break." I love my Grandma and I miss her very much. She lives in Seattle, so I don't get to see her very often.

Then, in keeping with the spirit of Grandma memories, I baked bread over vacation, too. My Grandma Jensen always baked her own bread. I don't think I ever remember seeing store-bought bread at her house. I have always been really intimidated by yeast recipes, and it hasn't been until recently that I've really started to try to get better at baking things like bread and rolls. Whenever I have a successful encounter with yeast, I feel just a tiny bit closer to my Grandma. She died when I was a senior in high school, but I have a lot of special memories with her.

This bread is not one of my Grandma's recipes. It is actually one of my mom's, that I think she stole from Brenda Goodrich (that means it is good, people.) My mom used to make it when I was little. It's cracked wheat bread. I have been craving this forever, but I had no idea where to buy cracked wheat. Then, when Chad and I were in Raleigh, we went to Whole Foods and they had some. We bought a pound of it, and I came home raving about the bread and how I couldn't wait to make it.

About half way through the first rise, I started wondering if time had affected my memory about the bread. Maybe it was good, but not really amazing.

Time had done no such thing, my friends.

Even Chad had to admit that it REALLY was amazing. Bread is one of my weaknesses, so Chad is used to me raving about bread when he only finds it mediocre. This time, he said I was right. It was delicious. Man, looking at these pictures makes me want to go make two more loaves right now!

Then I made this little baby for Chad's Papa's 75th birthday party (which was a fabulous night filled with North Carolina-style barbeque--something I have craved incessantly during my pregnancy, which is weird, because I usually don't like it--and hush puppies):


There was no sentimental reasoning behind the cake choice, she just looked good. She tasted as good as she looked.

All in all, it was a good Spring Break. Although I think it would have been better if my family had flown out to visit me.

Remember that One Time . . .

When we talked about the wonder that is owning a food processor?

Yeah. About that. It turns out it also comes in handy in the beverage department.

While perusing my favorite cooking site, Our Best Bites, I came across this beauty:

What your eyes are devouring is a Raspberry Citrus Slushy, and it is divine. You can use your food processor to make the raspberry puree portion of the beverage. The recipe can be found here (as can the photograph, since I snagged it from their site so you could get a full mental image of what I'm talking about).

My favorite part of making them was when I got to the part in the recipe that says "Place raspberries, powdered sugar, and 2 T water in a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add a little more powdered sugar if it's too tart still. If you don't have a food processor you could probably just smash them to a pulp!" Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh how it tickled my heart to realize that it would not be ME mashing frozen raspberries with a fork. (Thanks again, Mom!)

I froze the leftover slushy into our homemade popsicle molds, so I'll let you know how those go over.

This frozen treat was especially wonderful today, because Spring Break officially began for me this afternoon. Today was a beautiful eighty-something degree day in North Carolina. Yesterday I realized that the dogwood trees are blooming. I think they are the most whimsical trees, and I love it.

Happy Spring!

Baby Bump

Due to the popular demand for the infamous "baby bump" photos, see below. Neither are the best photos of me, but hey, we'll take what we can get. This is for the benefit of future posterity.

I had planned to take a "belly shot" every week. Turns out my procrastination skills also extend into pregnancy. So, instead of 21 pictures, I have a whopping two.

Here is me, thinking I was showing big time at a little over 16 weeks:

Here is me, thankful for waist-expansion Motherhood Maternity technology, at almost 21 weeks (20 weeks and 5 days to be exact):

I am half way there! In another four and a half months we'll have a new Reese in the house.

I am starting to feel like I look a little more pregnant, but mostly I just feel like people look at me and think, "Wow, she's put on some weight. Maybe she shouldn't consume her body weight in school-fundraiser-boxes-of-Krispy-Kreme-doughnuts." Come to think of it, it's hard to know how much of this new found tummy of mine is baby, and how much really is Krispy Kreme coated lard.

Here are some of the fun parts of pregnancy for me right now:
--Feeling the little saucer spin around in there. He is getting a lot stronger, and it makes me so happy every time I feel him move.

-- Buying and receiving adorable baby things. It is so much more fun to look at baby stuff now that we know we're having a boy.

-- Feeling like I have 100 times more energy than I did in my first trimester. I have been extremely blessed, and I do mean EXTREMELY blessed, and have felt pretty terrific throughout my entire pregnancy. I felt a little nauseated during the first trimester, but for the most part as long as I had a snack every couple of hours I was good to go. I only threw up once. I know. Amazing. I really am so thankful. Most of my nausea was at night time, which was also great because I didn't have to stress with morning sickness while I wrestled adolescents in the manana. Even though I felt great, I was tired ALL of the time. I seriously felt like I could sleep all day and not sleep enough. The last couple of weeks that has gotten so much better. I am still really tired in the morning, but morning crankiness is nothing new for me, so I don't really think that's a symptom of pregnancy. Last week I started going back to the gym. I talked to my doctor about it at my ultrasound and he said it was fine. I had planned to keep working out throughout my entire pregnancy, but my first trimester fatigue changed those plans. I feel like I have so much more energy now that I am being more active.

Some of the stresses of pregnancy for me right now:
-- I can't wear my wedding ring anymore because my ring finger breaks out into an intense rash every time I do. That means if someone I don't know actually does suspect I'm pregnant (rather than an over-consumer of Krispy Kreme goodness) they will probably think I am an unwed teenager (I am still getting mistaken for a student at my high school) and give me the stare down.

-- What are we going to name this kid? Seriously. Have you considered the tremendous amount of pressure that comes with choosing the name someone will be called by for the rest of their LIFE? Add to that the fact that every name I love Chad isn't thrilled with, and every name Chad loves isn't my favorite, and what do we have? Disaster. I don't know if 4.5 months is enough time to resolve this issue.

-- Waking up in the middle of the night to use the "facilities." This has never been an issue for me, and interrupted sleep isn't fun. I guess this is preparation for when the little guy arrives and interrupted sleep becomes non-existent sleep.

Buying Blue

This is what I bought after our ultrasound yesterday:

This sweater is absolutely precious (and it doesn't have a spot on it, so obviously I did something wrong when I took this picture).

This is seriously the SOFTEST fabric. I am in love with it. It's so fun to think a little baby will be wrapped up in it soon.

It's a boy!!! While I must admit that the idea of buying hair bows and dance shoes was very appealing, I am beyond thrilled to know I'm going to have a little boy to cuddle in about 5 months. I always wanted to have a boy first, so my kids could have a protective big brother. I also don't think much can replace the precious look of excitement Chad had when he saw the evidence appear on screen that we are having a son.

We had quite the scare on Friday, when I got a message from the doctor's office asking me to call and reschedule my ultrasound appointment. It said they had an available appointment at 11:00 a.m., but funny how my phone is off all day and I didn't get the message until 3:00. My appointment was supposed to be at 4:00, and Chad had already taken off the afternoon so he could be there. I knew we weren't going to get to see our baby today, and I was so disappointed. When I called, the receptionist said if we didn't care which doctor did the ultrasound, we could be seen today. Um, HELLO! YES! So, tragedy avoided, we drove over to Greenville and got to find out what we were having as planned.

It was the biggest relief to see our little guy all curled up in there. Our ultrasound technician, and the doctor, both said that our baby boy is developing just as he should. So far, he looks safe and healthy. I felt the baby move for the first time this week, so that has been priceless and fun, too.

It was so fun to watch all of the little boys at the Kinston basketball game last night and think about how soon we're going to have one of our own.

Now on to the name game . . . and setting up the nursery. Any favorite boy names?

It's a . . .

Ha! Had you fooled, didn't I? That's not on the news agenda until tomorrow, remember?

In the mean time, let me tell you about a pleasant surprise from the teaching realm the last few days.

I have been incredibly frustrated this school year by my students' overall lack of ambition. While I teach a lot of lovely, exceptional folks, I also teach some who are . . . well . . . not lovely, nor exceptional.

I have always known I would not be an easy teacher. That isn't my style. I know I am a tough grader, and I have high expectations for my students.

My first year teaching, that really worked for me. I probably wasn't tough enough classroom management wise (a pretty typical thing for a beginning teacher), but I feel like I pushed my students to learn. I think students generally still liked me, and I had a good rapport with the kids. I miss Lehi High School a lot. In retrospect, things I complained about, I should be shot for complaining about. I had it pretty posh.

My second year teaching was interesting. The first semester I spent in immense culture shock, but I still loved my students, and very little changed as far as the way I pushed them academically. I feel like the year went well, once I adjusted to my new environment.

Enter my third year teaching. I am still the toughie I've always been, but I've been met with a lot of resistance this year. I don't know what is different, but something is. In the past, I've felt like students haven't loved working hard (we're talking about teenagers here), but I feel like they've known I am pushing them because I care, and they've stepped up to the challenge (obviously not ALL of them, but most of them). This year, I feel like I've been met with a lot of resentment.

I have a lot of students who would be content to do nothing. This hurts me. It's like there is absolutely no desire to learn. No spark. Nada. Nothing. Sadly, a lot of these kids are honors students (which don't even GET me started on that).

At the start of this semester, I had a student tell me she was scared of me.

This has made me sad.

I have always known I didn't want to be the easy teacher, but I also didn't want to be the "mean" teacher.

Well, this week I announced my pregnancy to my classes, and I have had a much needed self-esteem boost the last couple of days.

So many of my students from last year, and even from last semester, have come by to tell me how excited they are for me. Even the little girl from last semester who was mad about the C on her research paper stopped by my room to give me a big hug and tell me she thought I was going to be an amazing mom. Even my students from this semester have been really cute and excited. I know that this isn't really that big of a deal, but to me this was just a testament that I haven't completely desecrated my relationship with these kids, and that maybe they did have a positive experience in my class.

These are my favorite reactions to my pregnancy announcement:

"Oh, is that why you've been so moody?"
--Oh, if I could only tell you what has really been making me so moody. Most of it involves dealing with you.

"But, Mrs. Reese, if you're pregnant . . . why aren't you getting any bigger?"
--Should I hug you now, or later? Oh, how you've made my little heart soar with happiness.

"How do you know for sure that you're pregnant? Did you take a pregnancy test?"
--No, I just thought I would announce it to a classroom full of adolescents before I found out for sure.

They make me laugh. Despite how hard my job has been for me this year, days like the last couple remind me that I do enjoy being a teacher.

5 Days Away!

I love surprises.

I would much rather be surprised on Christmas morning than know what I'm going to get.

It's just so much more fun that way.

This is one time in my life when I don't want to be surprised. I am DYING to know what this baby is. If you are one of those people who didn't find out the gender of your child until delivery, power to you. I think you're insane, but that's awesome. I seriously don't have that much patience.

I feel like I can't do anything (i.e. choose a wall color, buy adorable outfits, start really looking at baby names) until that screen shot shows me if we have a male or a female on our hands.

You have five days left to vote, people. I am really interested in people's guesses. Chad's entire family thinks the saucer is a boy. Everyone at my work thinks the saucer is a girl. I am uncontrollably wishy-washy and don't really have any true feelings either way. I will be beyond thrilled, regardless. I just want to know if I should start buying blue or pink. On Friday I will be put out of my misery.

Heaven help us if this baby doesn't cooperate with the ultrasound tech. I think I will seriously go insane!

Kitchen Upgrade

From This:

To This:

To most people, these two kitchen tools probably have little to nothing in common. To me, they have everything in common. You see, the number one reason I wanted a food processor was so I could create these
with more ease. They are delectable truffles of the Oreo variety, first introduced to me by a woman whose cooking I respect and admire (that would be my dear friend, Wendi). When she gave me the recipe, she told me how easy they were to make. She was right. If I had a food processor. But for the last few years, every time I make this scrumptious treat I've had to break out the rolling pin and freezer bags and hammer away. It is a painstaking process to crumble 36 Oreos by hand into a fine powder.

My mom gave me a food processor for my birthday this year, and I tried it for the first time last night. A. MAZ. ING. Seriously. It took about 3 seconds to obliterate any evidence that the powder in the bowl had once belonged in a sandwiched cookie. (Note to self: never put finger anywhere near food processor blade unless machine is unplugged.)

I think I'm in love.

Not only that, but it turns out my new kitchen gadget is good for all kinds of other purposes. I think I will soon begin to forget what life was like before it entered my life.

And while we're on the subject of new things entering our lives, I saw these at the grocery store yesterday and about died:

They were that cute. They are baby bananas. I didn't buy them, because they were about a quadruple hundred times more expensive than regular bananas, but don't think I wasn't tempted. Isn't everything just CUTER when it's a baby?

Thank you so much for all of the congratulations and happy wishes. I am getting more and more excited for our little saucer to join this family of dishes, as is my tummy which is continually expanding. I'm still wearing street clothes, but I can definitely tell my body is changing. We find out on March 5th if we're having a boy or girl, so be sure to cast your vote in the poll.

Job Promotion

It may not be too much of a secret that I have been harboring some ill feelings about my job recently. Well, I have some great news! I got a job promotion! From what I hear, this will prove to be the hardest and the best job I will ever have. Here's the scoop:

More responsibility.

Longer hours, consisting of a lot of late night shifts.

No pay increase.

Home improvement projects will be necessary, consisting of some shade of pastel probably adorning our spare room's walls.

My new boss expects me to report for duty sometime around August 3rd.

I am thrilled to announce, after weeks of secrecy and silence (it's SO hard not to shout good news from the mountain tops):

Chad and I are going to be parents!!!