Quick Update

A quick update before heading to bed to rest up for my last week of work... that's right, whether she's here or not, I won't be working past this week. I know I have most things in order, but I still feel like I'm leaving my class and my kiddos hanging! I'm sure once Annabelle comes I won't hardly think twice about it though :). The nursery is set, last minute paper work and plans are done for school, and now we are just waiting. The doc didn't have much news for us last week, he said this coming week he will check me to see how things are looking. But baby is down and those "practice" contractions are coming more often, so it can't be too long now, we hope! It was an exhausting week last week with 80s and 90s every day also, but this week is already looking cooler, which is good news for me.

Here is a picture of the bird mobile that I made for Annabelle's crib. Well, I didn't really make the whole thing. I bought the mobile (which included that green fabric for the arm), took off the attachments, and made these birdies out of felt instead.

Matt made shish kabobs for me today!

I finally crocheted something for Annabelle, not until the last minute, but better late then never!

Green Light

Dearest baby Annabelle, you have a green light from mama to come anytime now!

I can't believe it's Friday already of our break, but I have to say that I am feeling pretty accomplished with my to-do lists! My sub plans and lessons are in order, my classroom is tidied up a bit and desks are rearranged for one last time, all of my grading except for one last thing (which I should get to this weekend) is up to date, and I got a fair amount of my paper work / professional documentation type stuff out of the way also. At home we have Annabelle's room as ready as it is going to be (all it needs is curtains, which my mom will probably be making when she comes out in a couple of weeks! and birdies for her mobile, which she won't be using for a while anyways), the carpets are cleaned, thank you notes are written, the car seat is in the car, birthing classes are finished, and the hospital bag is packed (or as packed as it can be aside from adding in a few last minute toiletries and items that I still need in the next couple weeks). So a couple small school items, and I am not quite as far on crocheting as I'd like to be, but other than that, I have conquered the to-dos and am now feeling good and ready for Annabelle to come whenever she wants :).

We went to the doctor on Tuesday but left with little more info than we had before. He hadn't received the report from the ultrasound yet, so he went off of what we told him and then did a quick check on his ultrasound also. He measured the amniotic fluid on there and said it was lower also, but just fine. He didn't really say a whole lot else or give any indication of her coming soon. I am hoping he does an internal exam to check me next week and give us something more to go on.

I am definitely more and more ready for her to be born! I don't have too much to complain about; I know that I have it pretty easy. I am not super big, don't have much swelling or water retention, I haven't been hardly sick at all, and can move around relatively well yet. But still... I am ready to be done peeing every 2 seconds, waking up several times a night to pee some more or hoist myself to turn over because my hips are sore, and having my ribs jabbed (so much sometimes that it wakes me up!). And I know, I know... please don't tell me, "You'd better get used to the not sleeping," because really, who gets used to that? And also, I would much rather get up to feed and cuddle my little girl than for no good reason at all :-P.

I am hoping to relax a bit more this weekend before school starts up again and soak up a little sun while I'm at it :). I sat out in the yard a little bit yesterday, and was going to today, but it was super windy! We had nearly 30 mph winds with gusts up to almost 40 mph... all with clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine... rather strange weather if you ask me! It's supposed to die off by tomorrow though.

Spring Break!

37 weeks, almost there!

I FINALLY made it to Spring Break! It felt like it was never going to come! Now I am in serious preparation mode... getting everything ready for Annabelle at home, and lessons and instructions in order for after break and for my sub at school, yikes!

Especially after our ultrasound last week, I am feeling like I need all my ducks in a row, and fast. Annabelle looked great; she's growing just fine. I was measuring small because I don't have a ton of amniotic fluid and because she's already very low and ready to go on my cervix. They estimated her weight to be 6 lbs 4 oz right now, and although that measurement can be up to a pound off... she said usually ultrasounds measure about half a pound big... putting her around 5lbs 12oz. The ultrasound tech thought 1.she won't be super big and 2.she will more likely be early than late with her position on my cervix. We see the doctor again on Tuesday, so we will see what he says about that all then, yikes!

Anyways, I have quite the To-Do list this week for home and school, and if I can just get through it all then I will be good and ready for baby to make her appearance anytime :).

Showers and Decorating and Doctors, Oh My!

It seems everything in our lives is already revolving around this baby girl :). OK, I guess I am still rather occupied with school a lot of the time, but everything outside of school, at least. On Saturday, my friends Rachel and Pam through the most adorable baby shower for me! They went off of the birds and flowers theme from my crib bedding and decorated with birds hanging from ribbons from the trees (it was outside) and birdcage centerpieces. We had the yummiest food, most hilarious games, and wonderfully generous guests :). Oh, and it was a beautiful 70 something degree, sunny day.

Pam and Rachel

Tee hee hee, so cute!

Yum!

How gorgeous is this?! And now Annabelle has one in her room!
I am a happy camper :)

We have SAT standardized testing for the first have of the day, each day, this week. But that meant for a lot less lesson planning on the weekend! So I enjoyed my shower, got all of the new goodies put away, ran errands, did 6 loads of laundry (including a load of teeny tiny Annabelle clothes, sheets, burp clothes, etc...), got some grading done outside in the sun, AND finished the decoupaged artwork that I have been working on for above her crib! I LOVE how they turned out! I used scrapbook paper coordinating colors with her nursery, then cut out bird and flower shapes, along with other angles and curves to put on a wood art painting square with mod podge glue. I made some last summer for our bathroom on art canvass, but this worked WAY better.

With all this sun and beautiful weather, my body is definitely reminding me that it is pregnant! With allergies being way worse due to all of the mucus membranes and sinus passages being extra full, to my fingers and toes getting hot and swollen (OK, I am truly blessed, they don't look very swollen at all, you can hardly tell... but when it's hot, I can definitely feel it by the end of the day!), to Annabelle living in my ribs on one side, to uncomfortable sleeping at night.... whew! Good thing we only have 4 weeks (give or take, of course...) to go! And good thing my husband is so very helpful! I was completely exhausted this afternoon, so he made dinner for me, love that boy!

We went to the doctor today and he said I am measuring a bit on the small side... which means... we get to find out how big Annabelle really is! He's sending us in for an ultrasound on Thursday just to be safe and we'll get to see our beautiful girl and learn how big she really is, I can't wait!

A Productive Weekend!

It seems there is just so much to do all the time with school, the house, and getting ready for baby that even though I know I get a lot of things done, it still never feels like I am getting anywhere! This weekend was the first in a long time that I felt like I got a lot done and made some progress, instead of just treading water.

Matt had to proctor a practice AP test at school on Saturday morning, so once I got going (which is earlier than I like these days due to not being able to sleep well anymore...) and got my coffee, I got some schoolwork out and actually did it :-P. I got the errands run, laundry done, meals for the week planned, groceries bought, and we got a vinyl cling tree and wood letters for her name up on Annabelle's wall. Today after church I made a yummy lunch (tried my hand at a Thai peanut sauce over chicken, broccoli, and rice noodles), went into school for a few hours, made brownies for a BBQ tonight, cupcakes for a dinner Monday night, then headed to the BBQ with our small group! Whew! I also finished a hat and got started on booties for Annabelle over the last couple days. It's a good thing too, because these next weeks are only going to get busier!

Matt has something cool up tomorrow (Monday). He had an old Calvin professor contact him a month or so ago who is doing some research into how Calvin teaches education students to teach science. He has a grant money to go and visit and observe different Calvin grads teaching science across the country for the study, and asked Matt to participate. So he is coming all the way from Michigan to observe Matt tomorrow and then return again, crazy!

This week Friday we have "Grandparents' Day" at school, which means the kids do a program, grandparents can visit their classrooms, and then we get out at noon. Then next week is our standardized testing week. So this week is going to be a crazy week with extra practices for the program, and then reviewing and practicing for testing next week. Bring it on... 2 weeks until Spring Break!

Busy Week!

My schedule this week

Monday - Dinner with friends
Tuesday - Do staff devotions in morning, Doctor appt in afternoon
Wednesday - Do chapel at school, meet with parent after school, birthing class 6-9
Thursday - One night "free" to catch up on the week and get things together (including field trip details) for Friday (My chiropractor appt was thankfully cancelled this night!)
Friday - Field trip in the afternoon, planning for next week, then FINALLY some rest!

Yikes! Then we only have 2 weeks of school until Spring Break... time sure is flying by! The doctor still said everything looks right on track and average when we went on Monday. We got to see Annabelle's sweet little face again :). Her head is down and getting ready for the big day already.

Here is my 34 week pic, this is right before we went to an auction last weekend with some friends. I also chopped my hair if you didn't notice!

Ups and Downs

I feel like I am asked several times a day, how I am doing. I often think to myself, "Do you want the short version or the long version? Do you mean right this moment? Today? This week?" because those could each have different answers! In general I am feeling pretty good most of the time, although the exhaustion seems to be increasing each week. On a day to day and throughout the day basis, things are very up and down. I almost always get through my school day just fine, but once I sit back down and the kids are gone, it's a gamble if I have lots of energy left or am running on empty.

For example, on Wednesday, I quickly got things finished up at school, left at 4:15, got some Jamba Juice with Matt, went for a 2 mile walk with him and Samson, got my haircut, made dinner, then had a great phone conversation with a friend for over an hour. It was SO nice having energy and things to use it on, all in the same day, along with pretending that I didn't have a million things to do and enjoying myself.

Then came Thursday... I always have more work on Thursdays to start with to get ready for missing homework sheets and end of the week things for Friday, but I was also already exhausted by the time school was out. Then I was there until 6. Thankfully, my wonderful hubby made dinner, but then I still had a little more work to do, boo. One day (or even one moment) I have plenty of energy, but tears of exhaustion can follow all too quickly.

We finally got some amazing sunny spring weather this week! The only problem is... my body is truly realizing that it is indeed pregnant, and has let me off far too easy thus far. Which means this week has brought on hot flashes, sleeplessness, and hot, achy, swollen feet and calves. Still, I think its' a worthwhile sacrifice for the fabulous weather, even if I don't get to enjoy as much as I'd like at the moment.

We are planning to paint Annabelle's room this weekend, so hopefully things will get up on the walls and pictures will be coming in the next couple of weeks as well! I am definitely entering nesting mode... I just wish I had the time and energy to do all of the things I am dying to get accomplished. I really want to get her room mostly finished in the next 2 weeks before my big baby shower, when there will lots more stuff to find places for (but I can't wait!).

OK, time to put these swollen feet up!