11 years ago...

So as I was writing the date on my board in my classroom yesterday, I realized that 3/11 was very special. Yes, there is a band called 311, but I am talking about something else. I immediately text Matt to see if he remembered, and of course he did. March 11, 2000 was our first date...11 years ago!

It is so hard to believe where we are now. I know that neither one of us saw that first date leading us to our lives now, but we are so blessed to have each other and our precious boy, and very soon another one! I have never made a big deal about any days/dates in our lives (neither Matt or myself are ones for big recognition and such), but I find it truly special to see where we have come in 11 years! Matt has made me a better person, and I like to think I have done the same for him! ;) I am so glad we went to Steak n Shake and to see Mission to Mars on that Saturday evening 11 years ago; without that date, prom a few weeks later, and so much more, we would not be where we are today! And now to think where the next 11 years will take us!

We are about 2 1/2 weeks from my expected due date, so we are busy trying to enjoy the time left, relaxing, and also preparing for the big change! I am excited and anxious, and I sooooo cannot not wait to see what God has in store for our family.

Now off to enjoy this Saturday....agenda: get Ethan's haircut, wash baby clothes, play outside, who knows what else....

Where has this pregnancy gone???

I am nearly 35 weeks pregnant and now going to the doctor each week! I can hardly believe it! I knew this pregnancy would go by much faster than my first, but WOW! I don't think I have really been able to enjoy being pregnant with the busy life I live of being a working mom with a toddler. I remember all the little and exciting things that happen when being pregnant (the first kick and the oh-so-cute hiccups!), but I seem to remember the feeling of exhaustion so much stronger!

Of course, there are still things that I want to get done before the baby comes, but in reality, there is only so much that you really need for the baby at home, and we have all that. At school, I am so not ready! I really need to prioritize my time there and get some stuff in order for when I am out for the rest of the year. I like things done a certain way, so I am not gonna lie...the thought of someone taking over my classroom kinda freaks me out! With that said, I need to do a lot of organizing and planning to make me feel more calm and at ease about it all. With Ethan, I did not miss any school; he was a summer baby. I don't like to think about when I might start having the hard and heavy labor contractions that will eventually lead me to the hospital. I really do not want to be at school when that happens. Some of my dearest friends are there, so I know they will take care of me, but it's not the same as being with Matt. It will be weird being at school one day and not the next.

I absolutely cannot wait to be at home for 4-5 months straight with my precious family. I will have nothing to worry about besides feeding the boys and changing diapers. These will be the days that I will remember forever. I will miss my friends at work, and some of the students, but I am ready for no schedule besides a baby schedule!

Just this week, I have started having cramps and my back will ache at random times. I can definitely tell that baby is getting bigger and that I am getting closer! I cannot wait to meet out new lil one, but I also get sad that it will no longer only be Ethan! But then the more I think about it, Ethan will be so cute with his baby brother and there will surely never be a dull moment around our house!

We may be having another boy, but this sure has turned into a different pregnancy!

I had a perfect pregnancy and for the most part, a perfect labor and delivery story with Ethan. My pregnancy with boy #2 has been just as smooth and easy. With either pregnancy, I never had any sort of morning sickness and nothing negative in any way. I almost felt bad when people would ask how I was feeling because it was always wonderful. Well, that has changed just a bit over the past few weeks, and it is only getting worse. Random things that have been occurring that I never had with Ethan:
*dizzy/faint spells--these seem to happen in the morning or when I change positions. Standing for a long period of time such as during the worship at church is quite a struggle. At school, I find myself sitting more and more on my stool when I am talking with the students; I used to walk around and stand.
*seeing stars--reaching down to get something. It's like I hit my hand really hard.
*veins standing out, some even raised. These better go away!
*little to no sleep at night. I am getting up to pee more and more, and then I have trouble relaxing again.
*extreme emotions--I get upset about anything and everything. My eyes will tear up about anything that upsets me, and I feel as if I cannot control it.
*any amount of constant movement such as walking gives me cramps in my abdomen and I have trouble breathing

Needless to say, all of these things are normal for being pregnant, but I do not like them! These are not the sort of things that are fun while being pregnant! I take it easy as much as I can, but there is so much to do at every moment! I cannot wait for our new little man to be here and to make us even more complete!

Sleepless night...

I have been up and wide awake since 4am. Good thing it is Christmas break, but bad thing that the next several days are say busy that I will not have time to even think about resting during the day. I got up to pee at 4 (I dread when this happens for many reasons!). Once I laid back down, I could not go back to sleep. I realized I was hungry, and then my mind began to race of all sorts of things (some stupid and pointless, while others quite crucial):
*why didn't I wrap the Christmas presents last night? Now I have to stress about getting that done with E running around and wanting to help!
*is it really gonna snow on Christmas and the day after? This could be dangerous yet interesting...
*what am I going to dress Ethan in over the next few days? Sure, it does not matter, but I want him to be somewhat festive!
*what am I going to wear???
*what are we going to do about the new baby's room/Ethan's room? Gotta get thinking on this one!
*a new bed for Ethan? another dresser/changing table?
*double stroller? van?? These really make me feel old and like a soccer mom in the making!
*what in the world will I be doing with my students when we return in Jan? Yes, I always think about school, lesson plans, and my students!
*what needs to get done in my classroom before I go on maternity leave? I have some organizing that I want to do, I need to be thinking about lesson plans (which really stresses me out cause I NEVER plan that much in advance!)
*when will our garage look normal again? Normal meaning all the random junk is gone.
*will I be able to stay home the rest of the school year? This question will be answered very soon once I go to the county meeting about my leave.
*what will we do next year with 2 little boys as far as childcare/school etc?
*why is it that as soon as I straighten/clean the house, you cannot even tell?? I know I should just get used to this with 2 little boys, 2 dogs, and a husband!
*how can I better organize the toys? I will surely wait until after Christmas for this one!


At the beginning of this pregnancy, I had a terrible time sleeping. It got better, but then over the past few days (maybe a bit more), I have not slept well. It is not the big belly. I just cannot get comfy, wind down, and get my mind settled enough to rest peacefully. I know that before long this will be my normal routine with a newborn baby, butI would really enjoy a good night's sleep! Napping during the day is imposssible; I try to sleep during Ethan's nap, but I never can fall asleep right away, and before I know it, we are up and at it again! I know I should go to bed earlier, but I am never tired enough, and that is the only time that Matt and I get alone. I was not like this before break. I suppose it is because I am so tired from being so busy getting stuff done and playing with Ethan, or it is simple because I am getting further along in the pregnancy.

I absolutely love being at home with Ethan and Matt, and I know they both love it as well! :) Me being here definitely messes up the routine; today, the only time Ethan napped was in the car. It was that way the day before too. With Matt, he is asleep at a certain time. Because of the nature of the beast, I have errands to run and things to do, and Ethan must go with me. Needless to say, being bundled up in a warm, moving car soothes him to sleep. It would me too if I was not driving!

I am so looking forward to the next few days of celebrating Christmas! Ethan actually knows what to do with a present, and it melts my heart to hear his precious voice squeal with excitement and saying, "Look!" (Ethan's trademark for sure!) Next year will be even more fun for him (and us too), and then of course there will be little brother crawling (maybe) all over the place. Our years of making special holiday memories and traditions are here, and it makes me so excited!

Well, I have been up for 2 hours now! I think I might go play a yahoo word game that Matt and I have recently gotten adicted too. I really wish all the presents were out and available for me to wrap, and that Ethan's room was not right down the hall! Before long, E will be up, and momma will be exceptionally tired! Hopefully Ethan will be so worn out from going to my mom's house for Christmas that he will go to bed even earlier than usual! I might actually have to join him as well!

Momma's little helper...so he thinks!

Ethan, as well as any young child, tries so hard to do everything just like a grown person. We love watching him do things as if he were so much older. But considering he is only 18 months old, he is doing pretty well! Here are some ways that he has "tried" to be my little helper:

*Ethan loves to sweep...always has. Since we have 2 big dogs, a toddler, and wood floors, there is a lot of sweeping going on! When I grab a broom, Ethan grabs one too and becomes a shadow of me. I use a small broom and dustpan to collect it all at the end, and Ethan has always enjoyed this task as well. He will often times walk around holding the small broom and dustpan, and he will even open the trash can to drop in his dirt/trash--which is nothing. Well, a while ago, the small broom went missing. We looked everywhere, and then gave up. We came to the conclusion that E most likely threw it away.

*Just the other day we were all upstairs watching TV, and Ethan of course grabbed to remote. We have duds of remotes for him to play with, but somehow he knows they do not work. All of the sudden, the TV had subtitles on the screen, and we did not know how to get them off. Matt was beyond frustrated, and I was looking on-line to find any help/hints. Ethan was only doing what he sees us do; hold the remote pointed at the TV and press buttons.

*I was in Ethan's room putting away his clean clothes when he begins to open random drawers and take stuff out. He then proceeded to throw and entire drawer of clean socks into his dirty clothes hamper. After all, this is exactly what he sees me do every day. Either I did not get all of the socks or Ethan did this again, because when I was doing his laundry, there were several pair of clean socks in the mix.

*I went to switch Ethan's clothes from the washer to the dryer, and as I was grabbing to damp clothes, I noticed a strange residue on many of the items. I then stumbled across a diaper that was hloding so much water that I was quite impressed with Luvs even more! Apparently my precious son had now tossed a diaper (don't worry, it was unused and clean!) into the hamper. Why he did this, who knows? In his little mind it made sense. The clear, sticky residue on the clothes was the inside of the diaper. I then had to re-do the laundry, and Matt and I still laugh about it!

*As I was cleaning the bathrooms yesterday morning, Ethan was so intrigued. He watched every step I made, and he loved sloshing the brush in the toilet. He did that for at least 20 minutes while I finished up the weekend chores. It was so cute!

What fun memories watching him mature!

sick toddler

Ethan has been fighting a cold all of last week, but he was not too fussy, and he did not have a fever. Saturday, he developed a cough. By Sunday night, the cough was more constant. I took him to the doctor this afternoon to discover that he has an ear infection along with a bad cold. Ethan must have a pretty high pain tolerance because he does seem to upset about any of it. He is definitely not himself, but things could surely be worse! After I got him home from the doctor and going on a quick grocery run, he ate some dinner, took a bath, and went straight to bed. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick right in and he will be healed! We do not want this cold and ear infection to turn into anything worse; we have had worse, and it is not fun...especially during this special time of the year!

Needless to say, I do not feel awesome either. I have been fine, until yesterday. Ethan and I both stayed home from church (mainly because of his runny nose and cough), but by yesterday early evening, I had a pretty bad headache and a runny nose. I still have it today, and there is only so much that I can do. I know that I should go to bed, but I do not feel tired enough to sleep. Perhaps I will just lay in bed and watch TV!

I am counting down the days until Christmas break! Matt and I are so excited to buy Ethan presents (big boy toys)! Nearly all of his toys are infant to 12 months, so he is actually in some need of more complext toddler-oriented items. Our Christmas celebrations as our precious family are only going to be more and more fun as the years go by!

No pink in this house!

We are expecting baby boy #2! We are excited; we would have been no matter what the gender. All we want is a happy and healthy family. We have not decided on a name yet. Before we knew what Ethan was, we had a girl name and a boy name determined. Matt and I have not been as decisive with this baby. We have plenty of time left to decide, and we are not stressing about anything. I have never stressed about all the baby stuff. After all, there is only so much that you really need at first when the new baby comes home!

I have this entire week off, and I am loving every minute being home with my boys! I surely needed the extra rest and relaxation! So far I have done several loads of laundry, graded essays, cooked many meals, and cleaned our bathroom...sure doesn't sound like rest does it?? As long as I am at home and not having to be somewhere, I am resting and happy! Ethan has loved playing with someone else besides Daddy and the doggies. He makes us smile every day! He melts both our hearts saying "Daddy," and giving his smushy kisses! Such a love boy!

Ethan is getting very independent. I know it is all part of him learning and growing. He wants to get his own cup out, do everything like we do, push his own car outside, feed the doggies, put on his own shoes....etc. The list goes on. He will get rather frustrated when things do not go according to his plan. If only he knew what the future will hold!

Pregnancy update:
weeks pregnant: a lil over 22 weeks

cravings: nothing in particular. I just feel hungry all the time.

maternity clothes: definitely in the pants! Some shirts, but many things look so frompy! I do not like it!

short-term goal: still need to finish Ehtan's baby book...I will have another to do very soon! We have finished the bonus room, so there is some organizing that needs to be done in the storage area; however, that is a goal more for Matt than me. :)

baby movement: all the time! It never ceases to amaze me!

What I look forward to the most: Seeing the new face of this lil man! I cannot wait to see Ethan with his little brother!