Last ones... for now!

There will be more added daily I'm sure, but here are the last of the photos that I want to share now! Luke has been so good with Mia - he keeps saying how cute she is! These are all from today - Tuesday. In the second one she's wearing her bear slippers from my friend Jenn - they were Mia's first baby gift!

Still more...

Here are some more photos - Mia in her first outfit, coming home from the hospital (Luke gave her the giraffe that keeps appearing in photos), meeting Molly, and napping with big brother.

More Photos!

Photos!

Technical Difficulties

My computer and camera system decided for the first time ever to have some serious problems and not let me get to my photos on the computer. Nice timing, huh? I have so many great photos I want to share, so don't think I'm just slacking and not getting them on my blog! I'm about to try the laptop and see if I can make it work there, so keep checking back for those photos I promised! Mia just keeps getting cuter in each photo too!

Mia Isabella

We just got home, so this will be short. I've slept about 6 hours since Friday night, so it's time to rest! But here are the basics... Photos will follow later today. Mia Isabella was born at 9:39 AM Sunday, March 11. She weighs 8 lbs and is 20 and a half inches long. She has some hair, and blue grey eyes. She's very pink and I think very perfect! She is also very quiet - barely cried so far, so I'm hoping she'll be as great as Luke was as a baby. I'm also doing very well. I'm a big fan of the 8 hour natural labor, versus 20+ hours of induced labor! Check back later tonight for lots of photos.

This Just In...

The TAKS scores came in yesterday for our students, and in third grade, we had 93% of our kids pass the test the first time, and 41% got commended, which means out of 36 questions, they missed 2 or less! I only had 2 not pass, and I knew they wouldn't - both have already been retained a grade and one came to me just 2 weeks before the test. And just to brag on my grade level a bit, the fifth grade students also have to take the test, and they only had 78% passing the first time, and 25% commended. Yay for us!

In baby news, Marc and I went to my appointment today, and the doctor once again pointed out that our family has stubborn cervixes, because nothing is happening. Unless a miracle happens the next few days, we will go in Sunday night at 10:00 to get induced, so we're looking at a March 12 birthday.

And yes, I'm still at work. Notice I said that "I'm at work", not "I'm still working." I'm here, but am questioning how much I'm actually working! :) Hey, it's the week before spring break, so even those not pregnant aren't doing that much work right now!

Just waiting...

That about sums up my life right now. Just waiting... I should say waiting, while very tired! I'm trying to use up time as much as possible. Last week I had an appointment and the doctor said this baby doesn't look like it wants to come out, and there's no more room in my belly. Cool. I'm still working, although each day gets a little longer and harder to make it through. Luckily, our big TAKS time is over with so teaching is more relaxed and fun these weeks anyhow. I'm not sure if I'm going this week still or not. I will probably go tomorrow, so I don't sit around all day thinking about how it's my due date and yes, I'm still pregnant. After that, who knows. This is a 3 and a half day work week, with a day and a half of inservice before Spring Break, so maybe I'll just grin and bear it and keep showing up each day! Yesterday Brenda and Carsyn met Luke and I at the mall (Marc had some training all day for work), and I managed to stay distracted with shopping and a pedicure for a few hours. Today mom and dad are arriving, so that'll add something new to my daily monotony! I go back Tuesday morning to the doctor, and he'll set up my inducement then if need be. So that's what is happening here. We are all ready to get this whole labor/hospital stuff over with and just be home with our family!

Thanks, Uncle Scott

Luke stayed at Carsyn's house last night, and had a great time from what he says. However, since he's come home today, all I keep hearing about is the new baby name Uncle Scott helped to think up... Poo Poo Head. So we have been discussing baby poo poo head all day. Awesome. At least Luke thinks it's a silly name, and didn't take it too seriously!

Happy Weekend!

I'm thrilled to have Monday off. I haven't had a day off pretty much all year, and each day at work is getting harder as I get bigger and closer to having this baby! My class has been very "trying" this year (teachers reading this, you can interpret my real feelings about my class I'm sure!) and they are just wearing me out! Tuesday is the much anticipated TAKS test day -the day my third graders take their big reading test that they have to pass to go to 4th grade. So lots of stress on me for that too. After Tuesday, I'll be ready any day to start maternity leave. This weekend has been fairly relaxing so far. Friday was Marc's birthday but he didn't feel well, so we just stayed home and everyone went to bed early. Yesterday I went to get my hair done - shorter, darker - and then we ate at Red Lobster for his birthday. I hate seafood, so that's my sacrifice once a year for his birthday. This afternoon is all about cleaning and doing little things, like I hung up some stuff in the nursery, cleaned baby bottles, wrote thank yous, etc. Nothing too exciting, but things that have to get done. I'm determined to fit a pedicure in my plans too!

Today I woke up and my whole face is puffy, not just the usual eyes. Nice. I have a photo of me that Marc just took, but don't be too critical! My belly has blown up the past weeks too. You may not be able to tell in the photo, but Amy, you need my shirt - it says "Rock Star" since you claim to be one with the guitar these days!

I feel like my cousin Jessica now -the photos I just added have a mind of their own, and I can't move them around like I usually can. So, here's what they are about... you are hopefully smart enough to figure which caption goes with which photo! Me, very pregnant, with 2 weeks to go. Luke sitting in a baby bathtub with his "cuter" - the day we pulled the tub down from the attic he sat like that for about an hour playing! Luke in the car watching a movie with his big headphones. And the one of Luke on the bench was just taken when Marc took my photo - he said he wanted his too, so there it is!

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Still going...

I'm still alive and trying to make it through each day! Three weeks to go. I've had so many comments from coworkers this week about how my belly just popped out. I thought it was already out! I'm glad people think I look like I'm ready to pop, because I'm really feeling it. I'm a bit jealous today because Marc's basketball assistant's wife had her baby this morning, two weeks early. I still think the 21st would be the perfect day - basketball should be over, and it's the day after the big TAKS test. And now that I think about it, the day before parent conferences. Who wouldn't love to miss those?? And I will say that we are very close to have a name for this baby, so stay tuned for that. I won't say anything for sure yet, but I think this weekend we're making our decision. Marc and I also are putting our bets down for the day of the actual birth... He says March 7, and I say March 8. It's sad that we don't even consider anything BEFORE the 5th, but hey, look at the history of babies in my family! I'll be sure to put another photo on soon, but not right now. Currently I'm squeezing myself into my Trimmier Elementary shirt, which is so not meant for a 9 month pregnant lady, but it's the only way I can wear jeans on Friday. Not the outfit I want to capture this stage of pregnancy in! I'm off to the 2nd to last basketball game.

Baby Shower

Today my third grade team had a baby shower for me after school. I feel very blessed by these great friends, and by all the things I was given at this shower. Even Luke got a few gifts! Here are some photos. A special thanks to my friend Katricia for taking the photos, but I must say, most of them qualify as the most unflattering photos of me ever! :) I've included a photo of my team that had the shower for me, and a shot of all the "stuff". I even ended up with $175 of Target gift cards, and most of you know how much I love Target! I will give $50 to the first person who can accurately name every gift in the photo... :) (Somehow I see Nancy as the one who would try!)

From the mouths of third graders...

Sometimes my third graders can be great for my self esteem, like when they say I look like Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, or think I'm 20. Then there are days like today. I started reading with my kids a little book printed off the computer about Harriet Tubman. On the front is a photo of her at about age 90, in a wheelchair. One of my boys asked "Mrs. Minatrea, were you born the same time as Harriet Tubman?" Seriously? I knowI'm not looking like I'm 18 anymore, but do I really look like a little frail 90 year old lady?

Pregnancy Must Haves

Last night I was laying in bed thinking about some of the things that I couldn't have survived this pregnancy without. Because I have nothing else to blog about, I thought I'd share my list!

1. Shoemaker Grey Wolves sweatpants and hooded sweatshirt - This is worn daily, as soon as I get home from school. I call it my "what not to wear" outfit, because surely, if Stacey and Clinton from TLC saw me in this outfit, they'd take me to NYC for a shopping spree immediately. But, it's the most comfortable, warm thing I have right now!
2. Slippers
3. Tums - The candy for pregnant women with hearburn. I also discovered acid reflux the past few weeks. Awesome.
4. Fruit
5. Eye makeup - To help try to hide the bags I've been carrying under my eyes for 8 months
6. Jenn - My coworker/friend who has taken my kids for me on several occasions of running late for school, not feeling well, etc.
7. Long, hot showers - I used to be a quick shower person, but now I turn the water on as hot as it can go and just stand there for at least 10 minutes.
8. Cold tap water, with lots of ice, in a plastic cup - This is unusual because normally all I drink is Ozarka, and definitely not cold. I can't stand ice in my water any other time.

So, all you moms out there, what things did you have to have in order to survive your pregnancies?

5 Weeks To Go!!

Hard to believe I'm down to just a few weeks of this pregnancy. Here's a picture of me now for those who asked. Let me tell you, I didn't enjoy having it taken, and I don't like it much, but here it is anyhow! It's good for the self esteem of those who read my blog - you'll feel so small after looking at me! :)

Just saying hi...

It's been a while again since you've heard from me, so I just wanted to check in and say hi. There's not much going on here - just more cold weather! We had a snow day (ok, an "ice" day if you want to get technical) on Wednesday this week. It was nice to get a day off, but down here you have to make it up later in the year - no freebie bad weather days! I managed to find some time for myself and do some scrapbooking and relaxing, which was much needed. Marc and I have been on the hunt this week for our definite baby name choices, and we're getting close to a girl name. I'm excited to have a busy but enjoyable day tomorrow. First I get to have another massage... ahhhhhhhh... Then I'm off to a baby shower for Marc's assistant's wife (due 10 days before me), and then to a basketball game that was rescheduled due to the weather. It's probably one of the team's most important games to win all year, and I get so into them, that it won't be a relaxing time for me but hopefully a good game with a good outcome! I'm still thinking I'll end up going into labor at one of his games due to how worked up I get at them! And for anyone else who is counting, I'm down to almost 6 weeks to go. My coworkers were talking today about where they want to go for spring break, like cruises and vegas, and they laughed when I said I just wanted to go to the hospital! I am ready to get this baby out. Hopefully everyone is doing great and keeping warm, whether you're in Ohio, Texas, or Poland!

Christmas Photos

Better late than never, right? I didn't realize I never put photos on from Christmas, so here they are. Thanks Aunt Barb for the blue light up thingie! :)

Updates

We have been very busy! When mom and dad were here, we did get a lot done, including the nursery being painted (thanks dad!!), curtains hung, etc. The room is very cute -lilac and pink, with little touches of lime green. Even Marc likes the color. Luke got a new bedroom set too, and he thinks his captain's bed is the coolest, because there's a door on the footboard and he can crawl under the bed and hide! And of course, the large boxes that the furniture came in were also a big hit! Today I missed work for jury duty, and was one of the very few that didn't have to stay for the week, so that worked out great. The baby has been going crazy the past few days. I'm really not sure what all she is up to in there, but I don't remember Luke being this hard on me, especially at night when I want to sleep! The countdowns are on - counting down to my kids taking the TAKS test (in TX, third graders have to pass the reading test to go to 4th, and it's on Feb. 13th already!), the remainder of basketball season (which also officially ends regular season on the 13th!), and of course, baby. Less than 2 months to go! We have everything ready except a name. Here are a few random photos of things mentioned in this blog. Don't mind the mess on Luke's bed -- and the nursery isn't ready - we just have things sitting in there now, so it'll look better when it's put together correctly! I just put out everything for the effect!






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Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a fun night last night. Marc and I saw a movie and ate dinner while mom and dad kept Luke. We were in by 7:30 though, and asleep by 11:15! I did see the ball drop, but only because we can see it at 11:00 here. We have 2 more days off of work, and I'm desperately trying to finish up my gigantic TO-DO list and maybe rest a little in the mean time. Right now one of the last on the list is being accomplished - dad is painting the soon-to-be nursery lilac! So if this girl turns out to be a boy, hope he likes purple! I thought I'd list everything I got accomplished this break so that I can feel like I have a reason to still be tired after having 2 weeks off of work!
1. Celebrated 6 year anniversary
2. Had 3d/4d ultrasound
3. Finished Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts
4. Bought new furniture for living room - Tv, tv stand, curtains
5. Rearranged rooms - cleaned out the spare room and moved things to either the study or garage
6. Shopped for and bought a new car
7. Celebrated 3 Christmases (Is that how you spell the plural of Christmas??)
8. Went to 4 basketball games
9. Bought and assembled Luke's new bedroom set and rearranged his room
10. Bought baby bedding and painted nursery (Ok, so I didn't paint, and this is still a work in progress, but it will be done hopefully!!)
11. Had several doctor appointments - for me and Luke (He has another new skin problem... Pityriasis Rocea... never heard of it!)

I'm sure I missed some other things, but that covers most of it! Nowhere in there did I get to scrapbook, which was supposed to be a priority. But, maybe with all of the big things done now, I can make some time the next 9 weeks to do some pages. Only 9 weeks left till baby!

These are a few of our favorite things...

This year, Santa was good to us all! The past two weeks have been filled with large gifts for us all! Luke's favorite is his new train table which he loves! Now we just have to find a place for it. Molly got some new bones, which you can see she really enjoyed! Marc got his flat screen LCD tv for an early gift, and he couldn't be happier! I got a great pink iPod for Christmas, and now that I finally figured out how to use it (Is there a reason it can't come with instructions? I didn't even know how to turn it on!), I am loving it. I am representing Marc by putting on some good Bell Biv Devoe and Run DMC songs as my first ones. I'm still frantically searching for his Vanilla Ice CD... And finally, yesterday we (ok, I!) got a new toy - my new car. We've been looking for a while, and finally I convinced Marc to check out the Nissan Pathfinders, and 5 hours later we came home with one - fully loaded with leather seats, DVD, sunroof, and really anything else we could have asked for. It's not much bigger than our Xterra, which Marc has inherited, which makes it very comfortable to drive, but having that extra seating and just being new makes it perfect!

Thoughts from daddy to be

Since learning we're having a girl, our discussions haven't been centered around names and nursery as much as this child not being allowed to wear head scrunchies. Marc is very against it, and lucky for him, I'm not a big fan. Today at church there was a little baby with one on, and after pointing it out to Marc, he made a comment that I felt was worth sharing... "I'd rather put a sign around my child's neck that says 'I'm a girl' than put a head scrunchie on her." Doesn't that sound like a Marc comment? :) But, I will say, that last night we did buy our nursery bedding and I love it!! So that's one thing to check off the list.

Meet Our Baby!!

Today we had our 3D/4D ultrasound, and it was a really neat experience. When I'd feel the baby move, I'd see it's hand move on the screen too! We saw fingers and toes, and a nose that looks just like Luke's! And yes, a very clear shot that tells us it's a pink baby! :) If you can't tell what you're looking at, let me know! Most of them have a hand up by the face, but the baby also had a foot all the way up there most of the time too. There's a shot of just the two little feet and toes that I thought was cute!

I am thankful...

Ok, I know it's not Thanksgiving season, but I just have to put a quick note on here about how thankful I am that today starts my holiday break! I have so much to do, and even after sleeping in today, I am still exhausted, so I am hoping a few days of this will help me catch up on some much needed sleep! I have tons to do today, including a doctor's appointment, finishing shopping for gifts, baking, making a few gifts, cleaning (yuck... that never ends. Maybe Santa will put a housekeeper in my stocking this year!), and hopefully getting my new car! But even with all that to do, at least I don't have to be at work at 7:00 am! I know most of my readers are feeling my thankfulness, even if you have another day or two of work, at least the end is in sight!

The past few weeks

Last weekend, Carsyn and Marcus came over to make cut out cookies, my favorite of all holiday treats, and then spent the night. I think every cookie Carsyn made was pink, and I'm not sure where more frosting ended up - on cookies, or in 3 year old mouths! But they did great, and seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. Luke's favorite was the Thomas train cookies. There's also a photo of Luke's gingerbread train that he and I had a lot of fun making a while ago. And, for those who want to feel skinny during the holidays (and who doesn't??), there's the most recent shot of my ever growing belly. And finally, just because he never makes it on here much, there's a photo from Marc's district opener basketball game last night, which they won, showing Marc hard at work.

Holiday Eating Tips

A friend of mine sent me this list today of helpful tips for holiday eating. Ok, so I know most of us can eat just fine at the holidays without these tips, but I thought they were worth sharing. And Nancy, the carrots just keep coming up... number 1 is for you! Hope they are helpful to you all.
HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table
knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave
immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly; it's rare. You can't
find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000
calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an
eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have
two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy.
Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed
potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or
whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an
automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control
your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other
people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's.
You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time
for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying
a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like
frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near
them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the centre of
attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind,
you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin. Mincemeat, have a slice of each. Or if
you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three.
When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory
celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.


10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or
get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live
by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and
screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"


Have a great holiday season

Another Chance

I am pretty excited, because today I scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound, and it's on our anniversary, Dec. 22. I've heard great things about it from some friends who had one. One girl even said that she could tell that her baby had her sister's lips! How crazy is that?? I can have at least 12 people in there with me too... any takers? OK, just kidding, that's a lot of people to be in there! But I'm really excited that Luke can go too, as usually kids aren't allowed at ultrasounds, and he'll get to see the baby. So we'll see if the third time is a charm, and if this baby really is a little girl! We are pretty sure it is already.