Happy New Year!

Jack has been an incredibly active baby lately. He and I apparently keep very different hours though... he likes to move when Mommy wants to sleep and vice versa. This is probably a preview of things to come. It's a good thing I'll have a little over four months at home before going back to work. That should be plenty of time to get him on a schedule. Whenever Andy tries to feel him move, Jack gets shy and stops all his kicking, but Daddy is being patient.

The holidays were great. We all got spoiled (especially Jackson) and are looking forward to next year when we'll have our little baby around. Tonight we're going over to Kurt and Carla's to ring in the New Year. I'm not sure I can stay awake until midnight (gestating is hard work) but I'll give it my best shot. Then, tomorrow Andy is working and I'm hanging out with family. On Wednesday, Mom and Patti and I are going to start my baby registry and all kinds of fun stuff.

We wish everyone a very happy New Year and an exciting and blessed year to come!

Baby Jackson

Yep! That's right! Our little baby is a boy! We're very excited and are eagerly waiting for our little Jackson Robert to make his appearance (just not too soon).

My Adorable New Nephew

Isn't he the cutest!?!

We thought about stealing him, but I guess we can wait for our own.

Upcoming Events

Just a quick note...

Andy and my ultrasound is on December 20 (also the day Andy proposed 4 years ago). We will be finding out the sex of the baby if he or she is feeling uninhibited. We will let you know what we are having when we decide to tell:)

Just another quick note...

We are soooo excited to be parents!

Busy gestating...

It has been a busy and exciting couple weeks around here. Kurt and Carla welcomed their third little baby, Anderson Dale, into the world on November 26. He is quite possibly the cutest baby I have ever seen. He just snuggles in and fits so well in my arms. I think I might borrow him for a while. They're lucky we have our own baby coming or we might do more than just borrow Anderson...

Pregnancy is going as well as can be expected. My back is killing me and the only way I can fix that is by sitting more. Unfortunately, I never sit down at work, so I have to make some adjustments. The only thing that makes it better is when Andy rubs my back (hint, hint).

Andy just made a bowl of frosting and has it all over his face, so I better go clean it up. See, I already know how to be a mom...

Only one baby!

Welp, we went to the doctor's today to have our regular checkup and our maybe ultrasound. Chitra said everything looked great, but Mom got us in for an ultrasound "just to be sure" that there was only one baby floating around in there. Sure enough, its just one baby ... one adorable, perfect, cute, skeletal baby that we are so excited to hold in our arms (yeah, I'm crying now)!

Week 15

Welp, pregnancy is getting a little easier. I'm in the rosy second trimester where I'm suppose to feel awesome and energetic...I'm still waiting on the energetic part. We are going to the doctor on Monday for a normal checkup, but Mom says I'm having twins, so we'll maybe have an ultrasound to prove her wrong (again--she called twins with Walker and with K and C's next baby and was wrong both times). Other than that, we're just anticipating the holidays and the crazy two-family rush around.

Andy has decided that he doesn't want anything for Christmas. He just wants to go out of town for a couple days, a new guitar, new Wii games, a new hoodie, and a bunch of other stuff. Coming from the guy who has everything (including at least five guitars already) that's a pretty big list. Santa is NOT that generous!

Baby would like a rocking chair to fall asleep in every night, gender-specific clothes, a dresser to hold his or her clothes, and a new house with more room to play. Can Santa fit all that on his sleigh?

13 Weeks

Week Thirteen

Your infant is about 2.91 inches (7.4cm) and weighs around 0.81 ounce (23gm) - This is about the same weight as 4 quarters.

If you could peek in again you may spot your baby as he begins to practice inhaling and exhaling movements

Eyes and ears continue to move and develop

Baby's neck is getting longer, and the chin no longer is resting on his chest

Her hands are becoming more functional - Your baby may find it comforting to start playing with her fist.

At this point all nourishment is received from the placenta

***

Me (to a ninth grade class): I'm giving you time right now to work on your homework, so I recommend you take advantage of it.

Boy #1: My mother told me never to take advantage of anything.

Boy #2: Especially girls!

***

Written on the bathroom stall: SERIOUS STAFF INFECTION IN SCHOOL

***

Staff member (at staff meeting): Are students allowed to wear shirts with "Pimp" on it or should we write them up?

My principal: Well, you know what they say... Pimpin' ain't easy... so write them up.

Quick Baby Update

We went to the doctor on Thursday and heard our little kiddo's heartbeat at 157 beats per minute (that's 20 times faster than a blue whale!) but we're pretty sure it's a baby person and not a baby blue whale.

Everybody is healthy and happy... (but Andy's just weird)

10 Weeks

It's very frustrating when none of my clothes fit and maternity clothes are still too big. When the only thing that is comfortable is flannel pajama pants, I really question if I want to look professional or not get poked by a safety pin all day. Usually, professional wins out and I live in fear of my zipper falling down because I can't button my pants. But, after seeing Carla's big baby belly, mine doesn't seem that bad:)

Other than the marathon work day on Monday, this week was pretty low key. I rationalized showing my students Jurassic Park for the past two days (it tied in with a short story) and I've been grading like a madwoman. My kids are so good! I like them more everyday.

Not much is going on with us right now. We're just working like crazy and I'm sleeping all the time. Andy is teaching guitar classes at Plain Local Schools on Saturdays and he had to turn in lesson plans. It was funny seeing him do teacher stuff and whine about it, when I do that kind of stuff every week (especially the whining).

Baby is healthy and getting bigger. It is supposedly the size of a lime (a small one) right now. We go to hear the heart beat in a couple weeks. I'll probably cry and Andy will just smile like crazy. Life is definitely good!

No more morning sickness! No more morning sickness! This past week was really good. I haven't been sick since Monday, so I'm pretty sure that whole phase is over. Now, I can get more things accomplished at work (including a mountain of grading I have yet to touch) and be a nicer teacher. My poor students were so good when I wasn't feeling well. I've got some good kids.

This week, I'm proud to report, I have not killed any small animals.

I was sharing my dead dog story with a class and I was telling them about karma (you do something bad, something bad happens to you. you do something good, something good happens to you) ((not that I really buy into the whole theory)) and I was explaining how I killed the dog and then got bit by a spider. One girl was giving me a really hard time and making me feel bad. She then got up to sharpen her pencil and on the way back to her seat swatted someone's planner off their table. As she sat down, she missed her chair and ended up on the floor. KARMA!

Tomorrow, I'm teaching all day then off to Stubenville for a meeting and I won't be home until 10ish. Maybe I should just get a hotel room in Carrollton and sleep in. Or, maybe I should just call off sick. Or, maybe I should just suck it up and do my job like I'm supposed to. I guess we'll see how I feel Tuesday morning!

Dead puppies aren't much fun!

I was driving to work today thinking what a good day I was going to have. I was wearing jeans and flip flops, I wasn't sick, it was Friday and going to be beautiful... It was dark and foggy at 5:45 as I was driving through Robertsville, when, out of nowhere (really, it always comes from somewhere, doesn't it?), a big yellow dog ran out in front of my car. Usually, I break for nothing smaller than a deer (the opossum I ran over earlier this week can attest to that), but I good-heartedly swerved as to miss the big yellow dog that was stupidly running on my road. Unfortunately, Big Yellow Dog had a small, black friend (a dog, not a person) that I savagely ran over. I immediately called Andy to report the fact that I killed a puppy, but, honestly, I don't feel very bad about it at all. The dog was on my road, running the direction I was driving, not wearing reflective clothing... he had it coming. So, Big Yellow Dog, where ever you are, may you live long and always remember the little black dog that took the bullet for you.

***

Student: Mrs. Wolfe, would you strangle a puppy to death for a million dollars?

Me: Yes, but running over them doesn't get my hands as dirty.

(Seriously, where do these kids come up with this stuff?)

Mrs. Wolfe, didya know that...

Student: Mrs. Wolfe, didya know that if you don't drink any caffeine when your pregnant, your baby will have ADHD.

Me: Really....interesting.

*In my head: About fifeteen years ago, 130 mothers stopped drinking caffeine and gave me my wonderful students*

***

Everything's been pretty normal. I had a couple days of feeling really good and it made me worry that something was wrong with the baby, so I ruined them. But, morning sickness is back with a vengence and evidently the baby is fine.

Andy and I went to Babies r Us on Friday and fell in love with a ton of little boy clothes with puppies on them. But, according to Patti, if this baby isn't a girl, we have to keep having them until we get one. We're going to end up with a football team...

Toothpaste can make you gag?

Not to be a broken record, but morning sickness sucks! Somedays are very bad (like yesterday) and somedays are okay. The okay days are what gets me through the bad ones. It's weird how just the smell of toast can send me running for the bathroom and the taste of my toothpaste makes me gag...ahhh, the joys of pregnancy.

Andy is being a great husband. He's patiently putting up with me being a sub par wife and not doing any wifey things. I partially cooked dinner tonight until the smell of the stove burner bothered me, so he took over. I don't think we have any clean underware, but we'll live. All the work will still be there tomorrow.

Another English teacher at Carrollton is pregnant. This makes three of us English teachers who will be going on maternity leave in April. She's about three weeks farther along than I am, but they weren't telling anyone until this week. I wouldn't dare drink the water in Carrollton if you don't want to get pregnant!

This weekend was the Constitution Day parade that goes right past our house. Andy's family and my mom and Carla and Walker came on down to sit with us and watch it. It seemed less exciting than usual, but I did get some good snuggle time with Walker. Poor Ellie was sick and Kurt would rather stay home with her than go to a parade!

School is going well. I finally feel like I know what I am doing and most of my students' names. Another one of my students told me he wants to be a sports writer when he grows up. He's going to the Notre Dame game on Saturday and sitting in the press box, so I offered him extra credit if he would interview a sports writer there. It'll be interesting to see what he comes back with on Monday.

Welp, I believe it's awfully close to my bedtime, so that's it for now. The baby is doing well and making me sick, so that's a good sign!

Spoke too soon

Well, I apparently spoke too soon when I enthusiastically reported that I felt great. Morning sickness has hit and has made my days interesting. It's not bad though as long as I have my soda crackers. My students always want to steal my crackers, the little punks. Don't mess with a pregnant woman's saltines:)

I've been teaching a class called Sports Writing and I've felt like it hasn't been going very well, but today things changed. One of my seniors told the guidance counselor that he wants to become a sports writer/broadcaster because he's enjoyed my class so much! I'm thrilled that I have these students fooled enough to think that I know what I'm doing with their class. We did play dodgeball today for class. I was teaching them how to take notes during a game, so we split into teams and half the class took notes while the other half played and vice versa. At the end we just had a massive game before the bell rang.

Only two more days to what is proving to be a very long week... I'll probably sleep through half of them. That's life for now.

Fun and Fireworks

This weekend has been really nice. Friday night, Andy and I went out to dinner and over to Patti's church to pick up the stuff he bought at St. Stephen's baby consignment sale (no, they don't sell babies there). Krystal and Robin, he didn't just take the initiative to go buy baby stuff, we talked about it. And, since it was all used, we got it for a really great price!

Saturday, we went over to my parent's house for a campfire and to watch the fireworks from the Constitution Day festivities. We had the best seats to see the fireworks in their backyard and the fireworks were awesome. Also, Ellie and Walker were really cute. Ellie couldn't get enough of her "Uncle Anny" and Walker dressed up in shoulder pads and a jersey and tackled anyone who stood still too long. They were great for the fireworks, too, no tears. It's hard to believe that next year there will be two more little babies at the campfire.

Today, we're just getting stuff done. We went to lunch with Bob and Patti (Happy Grandparent's Day!) and then started the laundry (boo) and watched Prison Break (yea!). Now, Andy is trying to teach the youth how to run the sound ("First, change the batteries in the cordless mic. Seriously, you need to change the batteries. Really, change the batteries first!) and I'm supposed to be working on school stuff...

I'm still feeling really good. No morning sickness or afternoon sickness or evening sickness. But, I keep falling asleep all the time and, apparently, Baby does not like Chinese food. Other than that, this pregnancy thing is a breeze. But, ask me again in a couple weeks...

Pregnancy in full swing...

This week has been pretty normal. It's strange that when I'm at work, it's business as usual, but when I go home it's baby baby baby. Another English teacher is pregnant at work (she's 12 wks) and we have fun talking baby stuff and pregnancy stuff and how our clothes are getting too tight. It's nice to have someone at work to go through all of this with.



I had my first doctor's appointment yesterday after school and I'm still pregnant, so that's good. It's weird having to take a urine sample to work with me...



Andy's already picked up a strolller/traveling system, a butter maker chair (the kind that vibrates and shakes the baby, therefore making milk into butter) and his parents got a crib, a Pack and Play and a butter maker. This baby is going to be sooooo spoiled.



We just found out that my Aunt Shirley and Uncle Mike had an explosion at their house destroying at least half of it. Please keep them in your prayers. I'm sure this is going to be a difficult time for them.

***

Kyle (to the Urine Sample Collector at work): Sorry, it smells like coffee... but it doesn't taste like it.

"It's 3am and I want to go to be-e-ed..."

So, apparently when you're pregnant, you get to experience the joys of the 3am-I -have-to-pee-and-then-I -can't-fall-back-asleep. I have to get up in an hour and forty-five minutes, but 3am is much more exciting.

***

Stacey: Seriously, who has an easier job than Pat Sajak?

Andy: Ummm, Vanna White? In a Vannaesque voice, "Yes, I turn the letters... but only when they light up!"

***

Exciting news!

Andy and I just found out that we are expecting a baby around May 9. We're incredibly excited and feel blessed beyond comprehension. God's timing is flawless!

On Thursday, I just wasn't feeling right and decided to take a pregnancy test to make sure it was negative so it would be one less thing to worry about. So, I picked the tests up after work in Carrollton and drove all the way home preparing my self for a negative result. I never wanted to let myself believe that maybe, just maybe it could be positive. Anyway, I did my thing and slowly watched one pink line appear and then another. I was in disbelief and beyond a little excited. We've waited for a long time to be able to have children, and it's hard to believe that this stage of our life is finally here.

After the longest hour of my life, Andy came home from work. Instead of surprising him in a really cute way, I simply held the test up and grinned like an idiot. My amazingly intelligent husband replied, "What's that mean?" Then, we both grinned like idiots and it hasn't stopped since.

Telling everyone has been fun and exciting. We still need to tell the rest of Andy's family today, and then everyone can tell everyone else. So now it's back to everyday life at Carrollton High and the KAG, but we're having a baby. God is good!