Teaching

Back in September I was blessed to start a job that involved something I am actually interested in - kids! My good friend Emma was talking to me about her mom working as a preschool director for a school in Anthem, AZ. Her parents had just moved out here and her mom was getting settled into her new position. I started out by helping Nancy with odd end jobs to help her out and then when school started I became a teachers aide. At first I was moved around between 4 preschool classes and then they decided to keep me in one class all the time.

The teacher's name is Megan and she is very fun to work with. We have 19 four year olds Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It's been really fun and entertaining to say the least :) It's such a fun age, kids really do say the craziest things! After that class is over I work in what's called the extended care class for an additional hour or so. That class is the 2 year old class as well as a hand full of 3's and 4's that stay all afternoon. I work during the transition phase, lunch and recess. Working with 2's is much different then working with 4's! They are very cute and fun yet uncontrollable at the same time :) It sure makes having only 1 of my own sound like a cinch! :)

The school I work for is Called North Valley Christian Academy. It's a newer school and the building I work in is very nice. Here's a pictures of my classroom. Megan is asking the kiddos what they think Thanksgiving means. Most of the answers were food related, a couple mac and cheese answers, hah :)

I try and remember some of the projects we do, for future reference :) Like these cute little apples the kids made at the beginning of the year:

We have a Christmas play coming up in a few weeks and the one thing about teaching young ones is all the songs that get stuck in your head! Songs to welcome them in the morning, songs for cleaning up, songs for prayer, etc. One of the Christmas songs caught on with Levi and now I've heard him sing it a few times, haha.

"Come on, come on ring those bells, light the Christmas tree! Jesus is the king, born for you and me!"

Now he just needs to learn the hand signals and sign language ;)

Finding out we're having a. . .

. . . .A BOY!

At 20 weeks I had an ultrasound to check everything with the baby and me as well as to find out what the sex of the baby was. Literally from the day I found out that I was pregnant I had a weird feeling about it being a boy, mothers intuition perhaps? Before I had told anyone yet I remember when I was at Target looking for a onesie that said 'I love my daddy' on it to give to Levi when I told him. 9 out of 10 times when I'm in the baby section at Target (and most stores for that matter) I would be in the girls section. But the day I found out, I was lingering in the boys section and I thought that was odd because I never linger in the boys section. And while I'm on the topic, a week prior to finding out I was pregnant, I was shopping with my girlfriend Emily and found myself lingering in the boys section in a cute Boutique store. I remember thinking, 'that's weird, why I am in the boys section kind of hovering? I wonder if I'm pregnant and I'm having a boy? Huh.....' But regardless, finding out we are FOR SURE we're having a boy was still a big surprise, knowing that it's for real now. (If it was a girl, I might have been in a state of shock at first! But obviously I would love a girl, also :)

So back to the ultrasound. . .we actually were able to get a video of the ultrasound and the whole experience which I am soo excited and happy about. Now we have been able to show our families the entire ultrasound, which is so special for everyone to see.

The ultrasound lasted about 20-30 minutes. The second the picture went on the tv screen (yeah, it was hooked up to a tv so it was nice and big for us to see!) we saw the image of our son. I instantly had butterflies in my stomach and couldn't help but smile. There really is a baby inside me! It's so surreal to see a picture of him on the screen. He was pretty active during the whole thing, but we were able to get everything tested and also have some great looks at him and his features. It's amazing what they can tell just from looking at these pictures!

Everything they tested from the umbilical cord, the kidneys, bone structure, spine, facial immoralities, etc. everything was "prefect" as Denzell the technician said. Everything looked perfect and healthy and well developed. We are so thankful!

Denzell described our baby as having biceps already, long fingers, high cheek bones, chubby cheeks, big ears, and long arms. Haha. That sounds kind of like. . .Levi! Maybe he will look just like Levi, who knows! He was a few ounces heavier then the average 20 week old, but that is normal. Except if he is going to be anything like his father (a 10 pound baby!!) then that's right on target. (oh no for me :)

Here are some ultrasound photos:

clearly a boy!

Head and upper body

Umbilical cord being tested, all 3 veins were there like it should

During the ultrasound we didn't want to know the sex. I thought it was too impersonal to find out with a technician and thought it would be fun to find out together, doing something else fun. So while Denzell was checking for the sex, we looked away and then at the end of the ultrasound we had him write down was the sex was in an envelope.

Then we went to Sprinkles Cupcakes. We asked them to give us 2 cupcakes and to put either the boy or girl bottle on top of the cupcake based on what was in the envelope. Once we explained what we were doing and made sure everyone was on the right page, they were beyond thrilled to help us. The girls that worked there were so cute, they kept saying how excited they were for us and how fun it was to do this for us because no one has come in to the store and asked for something like this, before.

Then we took the cupcakes home, in their little box, sealed shut. It was kind of hard knowing the answer was right inside the box and it was just sitting there the whole time! Once we got home we finally opened it. . .

It's a boy! We instantly got so giddy, smiled and hugged each other. We finally knew what we were having and we were SO excited!!

My parents were actually just moments away from California, visiting for the weekend. what good timing! Once they got there we shared the news with them and then watched the ultrasound video. We also got to open up a box of cute boy clothes :)

A couple days later we went to Levi's parents house to do the big reveal with them. Debbie had us all gather around the fireplace and had the camera on the self timer when we were opening up the cupcake box for them to see what we were having. I don't have the photos from their camera yet, but here are a few from mine!

Levi's on TV!

About a month ago Levi got asked to a Cardinals game with some family friends....umm OK! They had seats right behind one of the end zones. I watched the game from home and didn't know if I could ever find him in the crowd - but there he was!. . .Grabbing the behind of a Cardinal. . .that's my hubby!

He's standing on the left next to our friend in the black #11 jersey

Look bottom far right. . .

Favorite Pregnancy Products (so far ;)

Prenatal Yoga DVD

I should probably do it more then I have been, but hey a little bit is better then none at all, right?!

Belly Oil

This was recommended to my by a family friend. I use it almost practically every day. It's all natural and doesn't have a strong smell. It's pretty oily, so I usually put it on when I am getting ready in the morning, before I put my clothes on. You can find this at any Whole Foods or Sprouts.

Mother To Be Tea

I gave up all caffeine so this tea is a nice alternative to what I normally have (green tea & caffeinated teas), plus it's good for pregnant women.

Belly Bands

These have been a life saver! My friend Emily gave me her's and if I didn't get them from her, I would have gotten my own. I have been wearing these for the last couple of months, at least. Even if your not that big yet, they are so comfortable, because your jeans suddenly become uncomfortable when your pregnant. It's nice to even use them as an added layer so you can keep your jeans unbuttoned and you don't have to worry about the zipper being seen.

Belly Balm

A friend gave this to me early on in my pregnancy. I don't use it as often as the oil I mentioned above but I still like it. It's just a little harder to apply since you have to rub your fingers on it and then onto your skin. But since you are covering a large area and even other areas, it takes a long time to apply. I would have never thought thought that, so it's good to remember future mamas :) The ones I have are from Target, but you can find them all over the place.

Half Belly Chop Jeans

These have also been a life saver! When you are prego, jeans or pants with buttons totally hide your belly, not to mention they get uncomfortable. It's nice for comfort and style to have pants or shorts with a band. I don't know why they don't make more pants like this regularly! They are so comfortable, it might be hard to go back to regular pants! :)

These are from A Pea In A Pod

Pregnancy Journal

My mom got this for me at the beginning of my pregnancy. I have to admit, I've have a hard time keeping up with it. But nonetheless, I still write in it and fill out all the info whenever I can. I am almost all caught up, so that's good :) It's cute and fun to have and I know I will love looking at it down the road.

Happy Birthday Mason

Mason's Birthday was in September - He got chicken AND beef with his dog food :) With a candle of course

North Carolina

Back in September my cousin Heidi got married. My whole fam went out for about 6 days to enjoy all of the wedding festivities and of course spend time with our family. We had such a great time and it was so nice to see everyone and spend some quality time together. Everything turned out great, and the wedding was beautiful!

Enjoy!

You know your pregnant when your bag is full of food! And healthy ones at that!

First Class! (Everyone needs to fly first class, at least once in their life! It's amazing!)

Welcome BBQ (I love the open backyards and all the greenery!)

Dish painting for Heidi and Jason. My cousin Katie and I made one of their popcorn bowls.

The big popcorn bowl (made by my mom and grandma) and their other small bowl with ours.

Rehearsal (My cousin Heidi and Uncle Clifford)

Rehearsal Dinner - so happy to be back with my cousins

Wedding Day - The boys had soooo much to do that day!

Finally getting to put her dress on. She was so excited :)

Before the wedding - getting ready to hand out the programs

The gorgeous cake

All the cousins together again!

Beautiful North Carolina! (One of my favorite houses in my families neighborhood)

When it rains...it poor's, literally!

About a month ago I was sitting at the computer getting some work done. I had the window open and was throughly enjoying the cooler weather! I could tell there was a storm brewing in the distance and I could even hear some thunder. The breeze felt so nice, it wasn't too cold, but cold enough to remind us that winter is approaching, and I was loving it. Within a couple of minutes, maybe 10 max, I started seeing some sprinkles in the street. Yeah, its sprinkling, I thought. It didn't seem like a lot or that it would be picking up anytime soon. Boy, was I wrong!

All of a sudden it got very dark and started raining. . .hard. The wind really picked up, too. I closed the window and kept working on the computer, wondering where this storm came from? Only a couple of minutes later is just kept getting worse and worse. Like, reallllly worse. It started hailing, the wind was so strong, the trees next to our house were banging against the windows, making me wonder if it was a bad idea to be sitting right here with the computer. And the hail - it was coming in like a freight train! All of a sudden I go into severe weather warning mode! Whenever this happens I grab the following:

Rain coat

Fishing boots

Camera

I've learning that when storms pass through Arizona, they don't give you much warning, they hit hard and leave before you know it. And that's what happened with this storm. This might have been one of the worst storms I've been in. The hail was hitting the house so loudly that I couldn't even hear Levi on the phone, and I was waiting for a window to break any second. I was pretty nervous being there alone, I wasn't sure if I should watch or run and hide. I choose to watch since it was happening so fast and it was pretty crazy to see!

It literally was over in 20 minutes. Once the hail stopped I went outside to survey the damage. Our spa cover got wrecked but that was it for us. Many people had uprooted trees, broken windows, and even Levi's mom's car had several dints from the hail!

Here's a video I took during the storm from inside the house

After. . .

Mason was a little hesitant at first

Some of the hail was HUGE!