Lunch Meeting

I have wanted to chat with our Pastor for quite some time about "baby stuff" - Dedication vs. Baptism mostly, but all three of our schedules have been crazy lately. Today we finally were able to nail down a time -- on my lunch break from work. We got an hour (it was an inservice day). We never get an hour, so I had to take advantage of it! We met at the Green Mill for some yummy lunch pasta. Mmmmm. And had some excellent conversations! I love our Pastor. He's the guy who married us and he is just so... so... real I guess is the word. As someone who grew up Catholic, it was important for me to be clear about the committment we were making and what it all entails. Pastor P. (not to be confused with Mastor P), gave us good advice but encouraged us to go home and chat some more about what we wanted to do. He mentioned that Easter would be a perfect time for the Dedication or Baptism, but I felt that we would probably be in my hometown for Easter and we would maybe want it more personal. So, we decided on the weekend after Easter.

Oh, and we are seriously back up to like 15 people we know who are preggers. A gal at work had her baby Friday via c-section and was roughly four weeks early. Baby and Mommy are doing well from what I hear. I thought I'd give them a few days to settle in at home (should be going home tomorrow) before I bop by.

Some quick updates

Here are a few details of my life to get you caught up : )

1) When we were in my hometown after our big winter getaway with my family, we bought a van! Woohoo! And JJ is even excited about it! Yes! We bought it New Year's Eve and we feel confident that it was a good deal and the right one for us. It's white and has the stow-and-go seats in the back, which we didn't even realize we wanted but absolutely adore now that they're there!

2) I donated my hair to locks of love again! Whenever I'm growing my hair out (which is often - this is like the 6th time I've donated) I always just get to a point when it is TIME. This happened again when we were in my hometown, so I booked an appointment at the school run by a family friend and viola! Two hours and 10-inches later (sorry JJ who was waiting... the schools are NEVER quick, but I didn't expect TWO hours!) we were on our way.

3) We officially have a baby room! Well, it really still is a multi-purpose room, but at least it's mainly a baby room! When we left my hometown, my parents loaded our new van! with tons of stuff they had been collecting for us - a beautiful crib, a blankie my Mom made, the small cradle my Grandpa made me when I was a baby for my dolls, an antique rocking chair my parents and Grandpa refinished, a play area - with stuff overhead for the baby to lay on her back and play with, some clothes, some dolls, and a swing (that sadly enough did not actually make the complete trek - when JJ was unloading, it fell apart. We decided it was better now than when we set our baby in it!)! So, you can see how the room is coming together!

4) I am officially addicted to the computer. I would sit in our "command center" after school and get up at like 9pm. It was honestly causing a strain on our relationship. JJ was mentioning it to family (like AJ), etc. So. I put myself on a computer ban for after school Friday and all of yesterday. It was great! I made favors for the upcoming baby shower with my upstairs neighbor, I read a ton, I cleaned and organized, etc! It was a good thing (thank you Martha). Now I'm *trying* to really limit myself. It's a reality that computers are a part of our lives, but as a soon-to-be Mommy, I want to refocus my life! So, along with some computer limitations, duh duh duh duuuuuh.... #5

5) We completely changed around our living room! JJ is wonderful! I told him that I needed the computer to not be such an easy time waster for me. I didn't want it by the big comfy chair. I didn't want it facing the TV. I wanted it to be a place for quick reference or email/facebook/blog update. Almost everything got moved. In the process, JJ helped take the time to vacuum and I cleaned areas that probably haven't been touched since we moved in (the heat registers behind the couch for example. Yuck!) and JJ even re-scotch guarded the furniture. It's fabulous! We went to friends' last night and when we came home, JJ commented again, "It's like we've moved to a new place!"

A side bonus of the move is before the mouse and keyboard often rested on our big comfy aforementioned chair and because our town is so stinkin' dry, the mouse and keyboard would sometimes get zapped (which JJ claimed ONLY happened when I was by the computer). Now that *shouldn't* happen anymore!

Uffda!

I'm so glad today's over. It has been way too emotionally draining for me! I don't think the freezing cold weather is helping either! It started with finding out my student who is basically in a self-contained room for anxiety had another meltdown at home and wouldn't come to school. The VP went through the steps and the police officer for our school was notified. She was going to the house when she could. Because of that the IEP we had scheduled for today was postponed. Then another kiddo came late and was thrown off. He did little work in many of his classes and was rude to a para who was trying to help him. Another "emotional" kiddo was picking fights and being a bully. Still another kiddo didn't have her homework done and is failing her functional math class (which is at her level). Sometimes I just get frustrated that there aren't enough hours in the day. I set up some meetings. I called a Mom and we set up a date. I asked if her husband would be joining us and she said, "Well, I don't know, have you heard?" I was like, "No..." She went on to explain that two nights ago her husband just up and left and said he was done. Her kiddo wasn't in school yesterday and I thought she was sick. Poor thing!

I had a meeting after school and one of the gals didn't have her work done. Again. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. She never has her stuff done and is the one who before Christmas said, as the life skills teacher, "Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been swamped!" Then I got home and found out that our sink blew up. On my way home from school I called and JJ described it as a circle of hell opened up in our kitchen. As I walked towards our door, the carpet outside the kitchen was soaking wet. Not a good sign. Good thing we can just call maintenance and don't have to worry about it at all. It's just that our kitchen is a bit torn up at the moment. JJ also had met with an advisor and had some new plans for the next few years as far as classes he'd like to take. Phew!

I think I'll just stay on the chair in front of the TV the rest of the night....

Sick x10

Oh no! I may not have just had bad food like I originally thought. Poor JJ was up last night...twice... and again this morning. Yikes! Poor guy! It was B-A-D.

Now, some of you know this about me. And it's really embarrassing. But, I have a bad reaction to people in pain. Sometimes I laugh. I know, isn't it terrible?!? I'm a horrible person. Well. It seems that these maternal instincts are kicking me in the butt, because this time when JJ was sick I started bawling. I was like, I did this to you. I brought this to our house. Oh you can't have anything left in your stomach! Oh, oh, oh! Blubber, blubber, blubber. And then I started gagging because of the bawling and it certainly was not helping anyone, let alone poor JJ. And now I have to go to work and I feel just terrible leaving my sick hubber behind.

Sick, sick, sick

I have had a terrible cold for about a week. I thought pregnancy was all about heightened immune system. Whatever. I have had trouble sleeping because I have so much "stuff" that drains wierd in my head and does NOT feel good. Last night my stomach felt fuller than usual. At about 12:30 I woke up with terrible stomach pains. I went into the bathroom and nothing came up. It HAD been a while since I had eaten so I didn't think anything really would. I went back to bed. No comfort. I tried drinking a little juice to aid in the throwing up process just to get it over with. Finally I threw up and it was so painful. Yuck! Twice. Ick! I know this is what you wanted to read about today. You are SO welcome. My husband is the best husband ever, too, because he heard what was going on and came in and rubbed my back and got me water. When I am sick, I love being babied. When JJ is sick, he tends to want to be left alone. It has been tough for us to learn this. I guess I just always lean towards what I like. I would baby, baby, baby JJ and he would be like get away! And he'd leave me alone and I'd be like what the heck I'm sick here and making all these sick noises and he just leaves me alone! I actually had to sit down with him and tell him what he needed to do when I was sick. The lesson obviously payed off!

The J's

Na-na-na-na-na all you other relatives out there. We got some more BIL AJ and SIL LJ time this weekend! : ) We loved it when AJ and LJ moved closer to us (only about an hour away compared with about 5ish when they lived in R and then 5ish again when we lived in WC). AJ and LJ are always gracious hosts and LJ is one of those people who has a stocked guest bathroom and delicious meals prepared. I love that. : ) JJ and I joked that this month has been fabulous on our budget because we kept eating other people's food. First with my family and then with the J's and back to the J's this weekend! We have only been to the grocery store once!

So anyways, back to this weekend. LJ hosted a scrapbooking night. She is a former CM consultant and as she put it, old habits die hard because the night was even complete with snacks and prizes! We started around 7 pm and had a blast chatting and working. I am proud to say that in total I finished 10 pages! I have taken us from last winter to this 4th of July! Woohoo! Because of my diligent efforts, I was rewarded with a pack of little papers in purples. So fun! Everyone knows, or everyone who has spent 10 minutes with me knows that I am competitive, so rewards work for me! We went strong until after midnight. I don't know exactly when we stopped, but I slipped into bed about 1:15 am. I have been having trouble sleeping lately - partly due to my cold, but also my pregnancy makes laying down for long periods uncomfortable at times. I woke up wide awake at about 6:30am. After trying to go back to sleep unsuccessfully and then being a total butthead to JJ (said in a very sad voice): "Psst! Honey. I'm awake-y." "I think I'm going to just go scrapbook since my stuff is still all laid out." So I did. heehee LJ and BJ were up watching cartoons and eating cheerios.

After everyone else slowly made their way to the main level, LJ, LJ, BJ and I went to Target while the boys (JJ, AJ and a friend TJ) went crosscountry skiing. LJ called AJ once and he reported that JJ had mortally wounded himself. I braced myself for a major injury, but found out it was more of a groin pull. JJ said it was a lot of fun, but he is still having some upper leg pain. He said that they all fell at least once - AJ said JJ had a slow-motion take down as he tried to right himself.

Travel for Trips

OK, so back to our Christmas vacation. Friday afternoon on the last day of school it started snowing and snowing. We got nervous about driving and headed out as early as we could. JJ drove, thank goodness, and we made it fine for about an hour and a half. Then it turned nasty. We had trouble seeing, well, anything really. CPJ helped us figure out if we should keep going or not and later if there were any hotel rooms in another town. My Mom added an extra leg onto our train trip and we ended up staying with my family in a hotel room Friday night. It worked out just fine, but because of that we missed out on heading to WC and seeing JJ's family there. The next morning the training was running behind, but not too badly. The train ride, however, took quite a bit longer because of the snow and cold. I was just so thankful we didn't have small children this trip because the delays and longer times would've worn them out!

Zambies LJ and BJ

Na-na-na-na-na all you other aunties and unc's out there. We got some more niecey LJ and nephew BJ time this weekend! : ) I just love the read books, play games, and an occasional horsey ride thrown in. Uncle JJ, on the other hand, gets the kiddos all riled up. They play a game about zombies - made up by the kiddos (AJ and LJ what do you let them watch anyways?? ; ) ). Actually, this weekend niecey LJ accidently said, "zambies" and it stuck. So the kiddos were zambies. They ran around trying to "eat" uncle JJ, who had secret powers of being able to wrestle them down to the ground. He also has a super-growl that has scared even me! By the end of Saturday, niecey LJ had it down that she was a "zombie-alien-lion with ninja skills". It was quite the process. She would say, "I'm a lion! RAWR!" And JJ would say, "You're not a lion with ninja skills are you? Those are the worst kind!" And she would respond, "YES! I AM! I AM a lion with ninja skills!" Then she would attack and JJ would say, "You're not an alien-lion with ninja skills?? Because they are the scariest!" This went back and forth for quite some time. Oh, and one of her superpowers? (Seriously guys, I can't make this stuff up.) Toot-power that when she tooted, a cage shot out of her bum and immobilized her enemy. Quite the imagination that girl has! The game did end in a few tears as BJ defected to Uncle JJ's side and LJ said, "Uncle JJ you're only my buddy when we wrestle and you don't wrestle me back!"

School done for Christmas break

Life was crazy before break. JJ had finals (blegh), but did very well on them. In fact, he had his best semester of his college career. And that's with crazy science classes, folks. I have to remember that an A in Neuroscience is noncomparable to an A in Teaching Little Kids to Do Art. But don't let me get started on my education or career choice or we could be here all day. His spring semester will start next week, so poor guy, all week he's had an endless honeydo list. BUT, I also know he's gotten some quality guitar hero and movie time in as well as a few late wake-ups, so don't feel too badly for him.

Since my maternity leave is looming in the near future (afraid to start counting the days because it is coming SO quickly!), I have been focused on meetings, meetings, meetings to get them all done before I leave. Oh yeah, and preparing for a sub, as well as keeping up with my job. Let's see, added to that, one of my kiddos is headed for foster care. Can we say "emotionally draining"? And certainly it is a bit understandable why the child is thinking school isn't so important.

And these are the days of our lives. . . . .

Upcoming Topics

Here's a quick, quick update of our lives for the past three weeks or so. I hope to make each topic a future, separate blog post.

*School done for Christmas break
*Travel for trip
*In Whitefish!
*Snowboarding, shopping, crafting, cards, ETC!
*More travel, more weather
*The Bizzo
*Haircut
*NEW VAN!
*New Year's with the J's!
*CRIB UP!
*Back to school, back to school, jiggity jig
*Fun with JAP and GJJ
*Preggers update

Just need to get started!

fjdksla


There. I did it.

Phew! I have so much to write about but haven't had a) computer access, b) time, c) motivation or a combo. of them for quite some time! Ok. Just needed to get started. More to come! ; )