24 weeks

Wednesday, March 28th marks 24 weeks! Holy cow, 6 months!

Babycenter.com says:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

This week (by this week I am talking about the time between last week(23) and this week(24), so really should this info be posted on 23 weeks?!?! Hmm. Well since this is my blog, I will continue to do it my way.), we took a dive into the registering pool. Yeah. After 10 minutes I was ready to quit. Hubby even commented, "You are acting like I was when we were getting married. You're the nervous one and I'm not." You see, a good friend warned me about this... she went to shopping and saw people registering with their moms and thought to her husband, 'Pshhh, I don't need my mom. I've got this.' Then into her trip, she had the, 'I just want my mom' episode. Easy for her to say, she just called her. Unfortunately, I do not have that luxury. That was my 10 minutes in episode. Fortunately, my boyfriend for life is a trooper and just kept me going.

Registering for our wedding was totally different! I know what it takes for me to survive... dishes, towels, pans, etc. Registering for a baby?! Not so much! And there are so many options for everything! I mean, can't we just have one mattress to choose from? Who really needs 10 different options? Although we trudged through Buy Buy Baby on Saturday night, we left with only 12 things on our registry. Not bad for the first trip?! Sunday, we went to register at Wal-Mart. I have always loved me some Wal-Mart but I was none too impressed when they informed us that, "we don't have a registry gun. You have to do all that online now." WHAT?! I want to see, feel and examine the items I am choosing for my Snowflake not read about it online. Hubby called the Sand Springs and Sapulpa Wal-Mart too. They don't have a gun anymore either. Let's just say I was miffed. I was ready to swear off Wal-Mart for this inconvenience. Hubby said, "We should have done this a long time ago. I hate going to Wal-Mart and now you're pissed at them." Within the next couple days, I submitted a complaint about the issue online.

**update on the Wal-Mart status- an assistant manager called me from the Glenpool Wal-Mart. He didn't really seem that concerned about my disgust with the situation but I guess it was a nice gesture for him to call. And, at this point we will still have to register online.

Tuesday, March 27th, we went and purchased Snowflake's crib. Hubby was excited to do something manly and put it together promptly when we got home.

For safety purposes, he is actually scanning the instructions.

Tobie and I supervised the build

"Mom, are we actually going to keep this thing?!"

The finished product!

 We also stopped at Lowe's on the way home to look at paint colors. Here Hubby is prepping the wall. He was afraid the yellow would disturb the other colors.

While we were at BBB (buy buy baby) registering, we scanned a night stand to see how much it was... $325!!! We quickly took that off, as it would be ridiculous to have a night stand that costs that much. We decided to go to Sunshine Furniture, which is where our table, china cabinet and bedroom set came from, to see if they had anything better. 

We found this little beauty in the clearance section! It cost 1/4 of the price too! We haven't decided if we are going to try to stain it to match or paint it to match her room. Good thing we have a little time to decide.

Funny story from school- On Tuesday, March 26th, I was taking my class from the computer lab up to specials. I stopped in the hall to make sure all the kids were with me when all of a sudden...

Kid- Mrs. Snow! Your belly! The baby is getting so big! {as she starts to rub my stomach}

Me- Um, I guess so. She is supposed to. {as I am trying to laugh at her shock I all of a sudden feel her finger poke into in my belly button and she left it there for a good little while. Awkward.} While she was rubbing my stomach another little girl came up and started 'gently beating' me. By this time, our PE teacher had stopped too and told her not to hit Snowflake or she won't want to come out.When we made it upstairs to the gym, the first child said, "Ms. Maxwell! Mrs. Snow is having our baby!!" You know, like she will be a class pet. It was funny and cute all at the same time.

Speaking of belly buttons, during the week, I have noticed that Snowflake is starting to invade my belly button space. Random thought, I know but I guess I should have expected it since my little app said the top of my uterus has risen above my belly button and is the size of a soccer ball.

She is still quite the mover and likes to play hard to get with her Dad. :) 

This week we also bought Snowflake's dresser/changing table. It is still in a box in the garage. The next thing we need to shop for is a new desk since our office will be relocating to our guest room (also known as the Lakehouse). This also means that a new closet is being built (well, shelves are being added) to the Lakehouse so we can clean out Snowflake's closet. 

What can I say, we're a moving and a shaking around here! If you get bored, come by. We just might put you to work!

23 weeks

Wednesday, March 21st marks 23 weeks.

According to my phone app and babycenter.com: 

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. 

We last saw the doctor on Friday, March 16th. He said everything looks good and can feel the baby growing. Our appointment was at 10:00 and we were in the car leaving at 10:18. That meant that I pee'd in my cup, weighed, had blood pressure taken, was seen by the doctor, made a down payment, and scheduled next months visit in 18 minutes (give or take).

Since I am on spring break, I tried to convince Hubby to take Friday off so we could roam around looking at baby stuff. {he didn't take the whole day off but did tell them he would be gone for a while}So after our appointment, we went to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us. Talk about overwhelming! There are so many choices for EVERYTHING. We have started looking at furniture and bedding but as I said, there are so many choices! Did you know that online at babiesrus, there are 199 choices for bedding? And at Target, there are just as many. Yes, some of them are the same but it is just so overwhelming to pull it up online and see so many choices. Oh and that 199, is just girl options. I didn't even venture into the gender neutral stuff.

I have been battling allergies for a good week now, probably 2 if I sat down to think about it. I was given the okay to take some Claritin so hopefully, I can kick this snotty nose and cough. I am on spring break, so I will be doing lots of relaxing and snuggling on the couch with Tobie. :)

Tobie with her "Sweet Big Sister" toy

 Tune back in for this week's picture. We need a retake. :)

Spring Break!

It is officially the first day of spring break. Wait, I take that back! Friday was.

Anywho, I should be excited about this, right? Well, this is what I have seen all day...

That is rain standing in my front yard and some robin's thoroughly enjoying it.

It has been raining since Tobie and I woke up around 9 which just put me in a funk. I am glad we are getting a little bit of rain but we, Tobie and I, would have liked to spend some time outside too. So to this rainy day all I have to say is, "Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day."

On a positive note, the Math Mania! project that I posted to Donors Choose has been funded is waiting to be delivered! I also posted another project that is close to being funded as well. The Friends and Family campaign made both of those possible by providing matching funds! My kids are lucky to have great donors that want to help our classroom. 

Can you believe....

...it's 6 years since I married my high school sweetheart?!

How could I not fall for this hunk?!?!

Even though the first time we met was the summer before 7th grade, sparks didn't fly until 3 years later. We met up again at church camp and then started high school (which was the first time we actually went to school together).

Our first official, big time date was to the Winter Formal.

Years later, we made it through high school and we still liked each other!

Senior Prom 2001

Graduation

  There were ups and down all throughout college but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. 

We went back in time for an 80's prom

Several years worth of Quovadis

Many long nights with half of us passed out, sometimes in public...
I'll let you take your guess on who. 

Throw in a mud party or two

Then wrap us up for another graduation together

On March 18, 2006, I was lucky enough to marry my best friend.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I think this one shows each of our emotions. I was excited for this day I had dreamed about my whole life and he was scared to death. :)

Nothing was going to rain on my parade that day... except the rain.

Our little family of three

My boyfriend for life

Preston,
You make my every day. You take better care of me than I deserve. It has been the best six years of marriage that I could ask for. In this time, we have seen the world.. for real. Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Alabama, Florida, Mexico, Jamaica and Australia {just to name a few}. I know the little places we traveled to don't seem like such a big deal but I wouldn't have wanted to go to any of them with anyone but you. 


Thank you for loving me how you do. I can't wait for the next chapter of love to begin! Sweet little Snowflake is going to have a hard time finding a guy in her life that treats her as well as you will. All I have to say is she better take after her Mom and find him young! ;) 


I love you to the moon and back!

I even dressed our entry way owls for the occasion. :)

More Christmas Break...

So it is 3 months later but I just stumbled onto these pictures from Christmas Break.

One of the exciting things Tobie and I did was venture out to Hubby's new work place. He started it from the ground up and after several months we were finally granted access to see the place.

It was a lovely December day to dangle out the window on our car ride

Hubby checking on the guy in the whole trying to fix the natural gas line. Earlier in the day, there was a small fire at this spot.

Tobie checking it out with her Dad

Tobie and I running the equipment... well, not really but we look cute pretending!

Tobie testing out Hubby's office in the horse room

"Dad? You left us in the car?"

"Is he coming back yet?"

"Man, I'm getting hot waiting on him!"

There really wasn't a whole lot going on there so that is all the fun we had.

22 weeks

On Tuesday, March 13, Snowflake turned 22 weeks. According to babycenter.com:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, Snowflake is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but the irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

As for new news, I don't know that there really is any. Funny story? Yes!

I had to be gone on Monday, 3/12, to align our curriculum to new Common Core Standards that are slowly working their way into public education {meaning they won't fully take effect until like 2014}. When I returned, I was told that my kids thought I was gone because I was having the baby! Today, no one mentioned her but one girl did ask, "When is your baby coming?" When I told her she wouldn't be here until July and counted out 4 months with her, she said, "That's like really soon!" Apparently, we need to work on time some more in class.

I have been battling a case of allergies, which is no fun because I can't take any of the good drugs to help with everything that is in bloom. We go back for our monthly appointment on Friday so if this is still an issue, maybe he can give me some suggestions.

Snowflake has still been a little mover. I must say, it is such a strange feeling to know that someone is kicking me from the inside. And, it is always at such random times. There is no schedule to her yet, meaning nothing in particular sets her off. I think she just does it to let me know she's there and to frustrate her Dad. He will wait for a kick but I can definitely tell when he is getting impatient so I start poking where I last felt it. Well that makes HIM mad. "Don't poke her!"

Donors Choose

Today, I had a new project posted to Donors Choose! And for the next week there is a matching opportunity going on!

• You can find my project by clicking here.
• Set your donation amount and press give.
• With every donation, a portion of it is given to Donors Choose but if you want all of your donation to go to the project, choose edit. There you can change the percentage.
• Then choose check out.
• At the check out process enter this code BLOOM  for your donation to be matched!

I can say that my kids truly love all of the materials that have been provided through Donors Choose. Those materials would not be in my classroom without this great opportunity! Earlier in the school year, I had a project funded that provided new items for our dramatic play center. The kids absolutely love that stuff and have used it to play restaurant, doctor, vet and more!

Even if you can't donate right now, please share this with your friends and family. 

Job Well Done

On Thursday (3/8), my kids received their prize for filling the class marble jar.... Tobie went to school! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or the kids. :) They were all so surprised when I told the she was with me. Tobie was definitely glad when the bell rang to go home (even though that meant she had to have a bath at home). With little kids hands all over her all day long, I figured it would be best for a bath after visiting school. Now she is my little Fluff-apotamus.

To be honest, they probably should have filled the jar a long time ago but after the novelty of getting marbles wears off, I forget to reward them. They earned marbles with class compliments. Every compliment was worth 10 marbles and sometimes depending on the compliment they would get bonus marbles.

That Thursday was also the last day for one of my kids. I am now down to 18 students! It seems like such a small class since I started out with 24! Our school has such a revolving door that I could probably work my way back up by the end of the year.

On thatFriday, I passed a kid in the hall that is in the 2nd grade class next door. She commented to me, "Man, it's not fair that you guys had a dog in class yesterday!" I quickly put her in the right place, saying, "My kids worked hard to be able to have a dog come to school for the day. They made the right choices, treated each other nicely and didn't have people in trouble every day at recess like your class. Maybe you and your friends should try making better choices."

Spring Break start on Friday, March 16th! Then there are only 7 weeks of school left!!! Time sure is flying!! Before long, Little Miss Snowflake will be making her appearance. Ahhh!

Sh!t I Hear in the Teacher's Lounge

It's long overdue but time for another installment...

Many, many, many a days, the discussion is based around healthy eating. This may consist of what was eaten last night, what is going to be eaten, what should have been eaten, etc. In trying to help some friends out, a co-worker has provided little notebooks to serve as food journals. Goals are supposed to be set and food is supposed to be tracked to help see what is being consumed. 

When discussing goals, one struggled with giving up tasty little snacks the kids have. For example, the kids would eat cookies for snack so the grown-up would eat some with them. Another co-worker suggested taking an apple (or any other healthy snack) to have to eat when the kids had snack. The response to that idea is what made this post!

"Giving me an apple instead of chocolate is like telling a heroin addict, 'here's a Tylenol.'"

And there you have it folks.

If I Ran the Circus...

Well, I sort of do five days a week! Last week was Read Across America week. We also celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with lots of fun dress up days. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to document the fabulous things that were worn except for the small bit of my Wacky Wednesday outfit that is seen in Snowflake's cake picture.

Anyways, the point of this post is show our door decoration. I think it turned out great, especially since my lovely kindergarten assistant put it up and I didn't have to touch it. :)

We read 'If I Ran the Circus' by Dr. Seuss. Wikipedia's overview of the story is:

Behind Mr. Sneelock's ramshackle store, there's an empty lot. Little Morris McGurk is convinced that if he could just clear out the rusty cans, the dead tree, and the old cars, nothing would prevent him from using the lot for the amazing, world-beating, Circus McGurkus. The more elaborate Morris' dreams about the circus become, the more they depend on the sleepy-looking and innocent Sneelock, who stands outside his ramshackle store sucking on a pipe, oblivious to the fate that awaits him in the depths of Morris's imagination. He doesn't yet know that he'll have to dispense 500 gallons of lemonade, be lassoed by a Wily Walloo, wrestle a Grizzly-Ghastly, and ski down a slope dotted with giant cacti. But if his performance is up to McGurkian expectations, then "Why, ladies and gentlemen, youngsters and oldsters, your heads will quite likely spin right off your shouldsters!"

After reading, they were to draw what they would have in their own circus.

"My unicorn is roller skating on the ice cube."

"My dragon is breathing fire and juggling balls."

"The dog is jumping through the spotted hoop."

"A butterfly juggling 17 balls."

"The cat had a new fashion do."

"A cat is juggling 25 balls."

21 weeks

On Leap Day, Wednesday, February 29th, On Tuesday, March 6th, Snowflake turned 21 weeks in its little bubble.{the above is crossed out due to Snowflake's change in due date}

Snowflake now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like Snowflake is practicing martial arts as the initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to activity as you get to know Snowflake better. In other developments, Snowflake's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

We went to Target again on Saturday (2/27) to buy diapers and get a $5 gift card. Low and behold, we didn't have the right boxes again. It is getting old people. When the ad says any two super pack boxes, you should follow that. I wasn't in the arguing mood and Hubby obviously wasn't either so we went back to get different boxes. I did use my $2 off coupon! So we really saved $7 ($5gift card from previous purchase plus $2 off)

In some more exciting news, I have officially felt Snowflake! Saturday and Sunday (3/3and4) I was feeling like I was hit with an allergy train. I didn't do much either day. Sunday, Hubby tried to get me up for church but ended up giving up on me getting me out of bed {which I think was best for me to stay in bed and get some rest}however, I never really fell back asleep. While laying there snuggling my pup and snoozing I felt something so then I waited around to feel it again. When Hubby got home, I said, "I think I felt Snowflake." He looked at me and then came over to feel. He waited for a few minutes then got impatient and gave up. Later in the afternoon, he tried again. This time he was a little more patient but didn't really like when I was poking around to try and stir her but it worked! He was able to feel her too! Since then, I think we have both felt her everyday, well I know I have but I think Hubby has too.

Since finding out Snowflake is a girl, she already has 4 things hanging in her closet (that is filling up with diapers along with our other stuff that has not been moved yet) and her very own set of hangers.

This is the outfit sleeper I got Hubby when we found out Snowflake is a girl.
It says it is newborn size but I hope she doesn't come out that long!

Up close

We picked (mainly Hubby) this out the Friday after we knew she is a she

Hubby picked this out when he ran in to Wal-Mart one night (I think he felt bad for not doing this sooner :) )

From the Taylor's-- Garren did a good job! Go Cowboys!

The day after I told my students about Snowflake, one of them brought her a gift...

Isn't it a cute little quilt?!

There are several popular characters on it... Fancy Nancy, Snoopy, Minnie Mouse, Muppets, and Raggedy Ann