Lovies!

I won't bore you with all the excuses why I haven't posted in forever.
Here are some OLD pictures that show why I am SO excited to bring a new baby into my loving family.

And we're off!

We are 90-95% packed! In the morning after we get ready for school we will add all the daily necessities... make-up, shampoo, blankies... and we will be all set.

Adam and I get off work at around 1:30 on Friday.
We will rush home, pack car. Triple check house.
Pick up kids at school between 2 and 2:30.
Drive 90 minutes to Rockford.
Wait in Dinky airport with nothing for kids to do but has free parking for mom and dad.

At 5:35 CST we will be in the air, Orlando bound!

What made me decide to do this all in one day?
1. I am insane and not at all realistic sometimes.
2. It saved us over $60 per person to fly on Friday vs. Saturday.
3. Who wants to wait for vacation?

See you later alligator!

(singing off key)

Memories.... light the corners of my mind.... misty, watercolor memories... of the way, we were....

Today at lunch, we somehow started talking about proposals. One of my co-workers had this amazing proposal, something any girl would love! Her husband was waiting for her in her classroom when she arrived one Friday morning (she's a teacher). He said, you have a substitute on the way, write up your plans and lets go! They spent a romantic day, and night, at the beach and a nice hotel where they got engaged. The next night, they were supposed to have dinner with friends but he had another surprise-- an engagement party for all their family and friends.

What a great proposal!!!!!

And then in my wanderings today, I clicked upon this. I hope that woman loved her proposal too!

So I started thinking about my own proposal- the only one I ever plan on getting- and how I ruined it for myself!....

Adam and I designed my ring. I really loved this process and sure it took some of the surprise out but, I picked my own ring and love it as much today as I did over 10 years ago! WELL... on the day the ring was set to be finished, Adam was supposed to pick me up and we were going to go get the ring together. But when he arrived at my house, he told me he'd forgotten his checkbook at home, 45 MINUTES AWAY! I thought we would have to drive all the way to his house and then back again before getting my ring! SO- I started looking around his car for the checkbook. Adam is a notorious joker and I was sure he had the checkbook but wanted to joke around for some reason. I checked under the seat, I checked the glove compartment, I was turning around to check the backseat when he stopped me. He reached in the center console (which I had forgotten he had and I never would have checked there) and he pulled out a little white jewelery box. Right there, at the stop light at Book Road and Route 75, we got engaged. In his car. And we went to Subway for lunch afterward (also the site of our first date so slightly more romantic than it sounds).

Who knows what his proposal would have been, could have been, should have been.
But I still have a good story to tell!

stalling

I totally have work I should be doing....

• grading
• planning
• cleaning

I don't want to!

I've been sitting here reading back through old posts on this blog and thinking about all the things I'd forgotten. I mean, I remember the basics but when I go back and read the details... Shew! Especially Grant's first year! And I think about this little baby I'm growing and what it's first year might be like and WHY did I actively fight to have another one?

Then I think about my kids now... and how Grant tells me he loves me at least 10 times per day. And how Brianna is learning to read and wants to know everything about everything. They are so amazing, and wonderful, and loving, and perfect. And how can I not want more of that?

I like to take silly quizes!

This is what I do when I'm supposed to be working! Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

You Are Apple Juice

You're very likable and quite popular. It's hard not to find something to love about you. You are playful and fun. You try to bring levity to situations. While you are entertaining, you're not very hyper or mischievous. You are laid back, low key, and even a bit sensitive.

What Kind of Juice Are You?

Things I am happy about...

• I wasn't queasy or nauseous this morning.
• Grant and I are both feeling better and back at work/school.
• 4 more wake-ups till Florida!
• Brianna seems to have missed the flu boat even though we keep forgetting to give her the medicine the Dr gave us to prevent the flu.
• Adam seems to have missed the flu boat too.
• I'm not superstitious.
• One week from today I will be getting on a cruise ship with my hubby.
• I bought ice cream and chocolate syrup... yum...
• The project I LOATHE at work will be done tomorrow at 8:00pm!!!!

IT'S A GOOD WEEK!!!!!

Time goes by so fast...

Last week I had the flu. I missed 3 1/2 days of work, slept 16-18 hours a day, and had no appetite.
This week, Grant has the flu. He's missed 3 days of school, lays around all day, and has no appetite.

It's one thing to be the sick one. I can force myself to eat for the baby's sake. I can make myself sleep. No one misses me at work and quite frankly, I enjoyed the break.

I HATE that my little guy is sick. I HATE that my independent 3 year old has been reduced to wanting to be held and carried everywhere he goes and asking for help with simple tasks. I HATE that he doesn't understand why he can't go play with his friends and color and draw and have fun all day. If I could take his sick away and put it on myself again I would do it in a heartbeat.

I LOVE my parents. They are both retired and my mom stayed home with Grant on Monday. Both my parents are there today so he can stay home and I don't have to miss any more work. They are the most amazing people. Someday I hope I can do that for my grandchildren!

Good Grief!

1. We had a girls name all settled and now Adam isn't sure anymore. He wants a name that's foolproof to pronounce, but doesn't like/want any "classic" names. BABE- You can't have your cake and eat it too!

2. I have PILES of work that need to get graded and another pile is coming tomorrow. Can I make myself work... No. I sit during all my work time and look for cute cruise wear on e-bay or read silly blogs. I will be super frustrated soon and melt down but still, no working today.

3. Had a lovely weekend staying home, out of the rain, and reading a good book. Now I'm just an hour or so from the end and all I want to do is read it. I stayed up way to late last night reading and made myself sick this morning.

UGH!

HLOL!

Jenny: We use those child safety plugs all over the house to keep Hailey from jamming a fork in an electical socket but I don't really see the use in butt plugs. You think Hailey's going to jam a fork in her teacher's butthole? God, they freaked out when she just bit another kid in her class. Imagine the parent-teacher conference that I'd get if she stuck a fork in her teacher's butthole.

I have GOT to stop reading blogs while my kids (students) are working silently. The muffled laughter and tears coming from the teacher are SO distracting!

Sick of being Sick!

(My apologies if I've already used that title somewhere.)

I am 15, almost 16 weeks pregnant. That is 2-3 weeks into my second trimester; almost 4 months pregnant! I should NOT be sick anymore!

When the "morning"sickness started in late Dec. I was about 6 weeks. At that time, it was actually reassuring to be feeling sick. It meant that all the hormones were working and that little bub was growing! Throughout Jan. I was nauseous all day, everyday. By February, I got through it by chanting the number of days left till the end of my first trimester. When 13 weeks rolled around (last week of Trimester 1), I was overjoyed to feel the nausea lessening. I thought it would only be a matter of days till it was gone all together!

Here I am 14 days later, and I am still sick every morning and most evenings. I even have the joy of random puking! I am no longer reassured or willing to "grin and bear it"!

In related news, that might mean it's a boy. I was far more sick with Grant than I was with Brianna. It would figure... we had a boys name all picked out but now we aren't sure. We ARE sure about a girls name- we're just not sharing yet.

Blogs I adore!

This made me cry today. I treasure my children and my career and I feel so lucky everyday. I hurt knowing that others are sad and concerned. I wish I could help in some way!

This made me laugh out loud. Snarking is a great anecdote to sadness!

2nd Trimester

I am finally in my second trimester of pregnancy... officially. This means I am 14 weeks pregnant today. I am feeling somewhat better, the all-day/morning sickness is going away and I am not quite as tired as I used to be. I do still have my moments of both but it doesn't encompass my whole life anymore.

Now I have to wait for new things....
- Thursday I should be able to hear the heartbeat for the first time
- Within a couple weeks I should be able to feel the baby moving
- A couple weeks after that, other people who are crazy enough to touch my belly will be able to feel the movement
- in 6 weeks, we find out the gender and get ultrasound pictures!

I will have to see what my Dr. says at my check up this week but I'm pretty sure I've lost about 8-10 pounds in my first trimester. Given my overweight starting point, this is a good thing. It does not mean anything is wrong with the baby... keep your crazy comments on that one to yourself!

Happy Monday!

Old News...

If you are my real life friend, or found me through my facebook link, you probably already know but...

I'M PREGNANT WITH BABY NUMBER 3!!!!

I've never been good at secrets but I've waited and waited. I am now 13 weeks pregnant, the end of the first trimester. I've started feeling like a functioning human being again and to prove it, today I actually got a project done that I started before beginning morning sickness. I cleaned my room and reorganized part of my closet.

My other kids are thrilled about the news. Brianna has known since around New Years... Grant just found out last week but immediately began telling everyone he knows. Neither of them really understands how, why, or what will come next but they know that they will have a little brother or sister at the end of the summer.

My due date is Aug. 24. Not the best timing for a teacher...
Actually, that day is the first institute day for next school year. I will get to be hot and uncomfortable all summer and then miss 3 months of work with the newborn. If things had worked out more quickly, I was hoping for a May birthday. Clearly, my body had other plans. No regrets though! Better late than never!

I've added a link in my sidebar if you want to read more about what led up to today. That page is called, A Diary of TTC. However, since I can barely update one blog, let alone two, I will probably post everything here from now on. I will try and refrain from TMI.

SOOOOO glad to be out with the news! 6 months and counting... here we go!

Funny, Silly, Girl

Brianna has such a personality! Sometimes it bugs me and sometimes I have to hide the laughter behind a well timed cough...

Yesterday, she informed me that she had "The Cold". I said, yeah, mommy has a cold too. She replied with... "Mommy, I have the whole cold, you can't have any."

This morning, she was eating breakfast and drinking a glass of milk, a normal day. I heard her sigh, "Ah, this is my kind of milk!". (And she's right, we do keep 2 types of milk on hand. We call the soy milk "Grant's milk" and the skim milk "Brianna's milk".) It did sound a bit like a woman with her first glass of wine after a busy day.

I love that little preteen wannabe!

too busy to write

In the last 2 weeks, since posting...

Student teacher started working with me.
Trying to train her and do my job.
Wrote proposal for a "new job" within my school.
Quarter ended with subsequent piles and piles of grading.
Flag team practice just about every day with one 14 hour competition.
Lost competition but will learn from the experience.
Kids are fine, growing, changing, playing, etc.
Adam hurt his neck and now goes to Chiropractor 3x a week.

Is that all I did.... feels like so much more!

Will I ever get my work done?

I am about a week (or slightly more) behind in my grading. It's embarrassing, REALLY!

I can't get ANY work done at home with the kids around and wanting attention of all things.
I can't get any work done on my "plan time" with all the socializing to be done and stupid emails to be forwarded.

Available time at work is spent working on self-induced projects that have nothing to do with my students, planning flag routines and contests, cleaning my classroom in some vain attempt to convince myself that if my classroom were cleaner I might get more work done in it.

I keep hoping things will get better but I don't know how! Tomorrow, things get even busier for a while. Tomorrow, I begin working with a student teacher.... I'd like to start by saying it's an honor to even be chosen... Thank you to my fellow nominees, to my coworkers, and to of course my family... I couldn't do it with out you!

In all seriousness- I am very excited by this but it will change everything and while that seemed great a couple months ago when they asked me- now, I'm not so sure this is the best time. I won't regret it but I will be further behind (if that's possible) for the next few weeks. UGH!

E-mailtainment

This morning I forwarded a silly email to some friends. In less than 2 hours, 2 of my people responded one of which was Jamie. Jamie's friends then copied me on all their responses... still in that same 2 hours. It was a series of about 10 emails.

I just want to tell everyone I REALLY appreciate the e-mailtainment! My students are watching a movie I've seen about 100 times and I am procrastinating on SO much work! You guys are the best! Love it!

Back to School

There is something about being a teacher in which you never really grow up.

Remember when you were a kid and you had this sense of melancholy about returning to school after a break? On one hand you want to see your friends and socialize, on the other hand you don't want to actually have to pay attention and get up early.

It's the same for the teachers!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Thank you to my children for the WONDERFUL handmade cards, to my dear, wonderful, husband for the generous spa gift card and very sweet card, and to all my family and friends who have called or emailed with nice birthday wishes!

I got everything I wanted!

Feedback Please

A group of coworkers all agree that they want to do something together, say, sponsor a needy family or two. Then, one person becomes the point person. That one person is always the point person, but has made a point of asking for more help on previous projects. This project, she doesn't ask for help specifically, but hints at needing it. She gets marginal assistance, more than usual, so clearly the coworkers got the hint. She ends up taking care of every detail and planning point her damn self! No one even checks to see if it's getting done. They just don't ever think about it, or let her know they've thought about it.

Can she be mad?

If you scream at a tree in the woods, will it fall down on your least favorite coworker?