26 weeks

At 26 weeks ...

- my daily pregnancy emails tell me the babe is about 2 lbs and can almost open his eyes!

- my body is still changing: I've noticed more earwax (yep, TMI) and bright blue veins showing through my skin everywhere. My eyesight has worsened and just yesterday I noticed my feet/ankles were pretty swollen.

- this child already has several nicknames: Cam, the Nugget, Babe, Trout, Little Guy, Baby Simms, etc.

- he already has quite the extensive wardrobe. And it's all uh-dor-a-ble. He's gonna be stylin right from the start! Here's the latest addition:

Thanks Great Grandma Jippy!

- I still feel like I'm carrying super low. Honestly, it doesn't look like the cute, round bump I was expecting.

- babe is the size of an eggplant.

- emotions are still running high. As if it weren't hard enough to create a human life, we also decided to have a new place to live, two new jobs (well, soon), and a new state. You can imagine the turmoil this creates for someone like myself with a very organized, type-A personality who likes to have everything planned in advance. I keep trying not to wish my life away, but I am so anxious for about 6 months from now! It's all in God's hands ...

- I'm thankful for hand-me-down maternity clothes since I've only had to buy a few pieces. I've gotten lots of compliments, especially on this top I got from Mandy/Laura:

Sorry for the awkward pose ...

- I'm getting really excited for my showers! It will be so fun to get together with family and friends.

- it's becoming laborious to dress myself. Socks and shoes are especially difficult and I'm thankful that my third trimester will be warm enough to wear flip flops. 

- I've been getting lots of smiles from complete strangers. People are so nice to pregnant women!

- his Daddy is his #1 fan (well, after me obviously) and can't wait for him to be here. He's so protective and keeps telling me things like I'm squishing him if I lay the wrong way. He can't wait until he's just here and safe!  I keep reminding him that baby needs to cook a little longer and he's not allowed out yet.

- I had a little run-in with a migraine headache. It started after completing my 7th hour supervision duty of walking the halls with a walkie talkie. I'm supposed to check that no doors are propped open and that there's no funny business going on. I usually have time to rest during my rounds but I thought I should get some good exercise and pushed it the whole 52 minutes. Lots of stairs and huffing/puffing left me exhausted and seeing blind spots on my way home. Then I struggled through writing some bills (which I'm glad I didn't mail because there was a major error) then got into bed. My right hand/forearm was asleep and tingling for longer than I'd ever thought possible and I eventually dropped off. Rob came home soon after and I started feeling better, especially after pizza. :) This morning I was dangerously close to throwing up after breakfast and I've had a slight headache off and on all day. Gosh, I'm a pansy and people who deal with this all the time are pretty tough!

- every day I'm reminded that "pregnancy brain" is a real thing. I was certainly skeptical but not any more!

- I'm already outnumbered. At Dick's Sporting Goods today Rob picked up a size 13 pair of baseball cleats, held them up to my stomach, asked the nugget if he liked them, and promptly told me it's two against one. He'll grow into them. 

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful ...

- that my car is paid off! I feel like such an adult, which I guess is good considering I'm about to bring a child into the world.

- for this surprise I found on the counter when I got home tonight:

So fresh and Spring-y! 

- that I haven't seen our neighbor's yippy little rat dog in quite a while! Seriously, it's the worst. I've thought about leaving a note on their door, or maybe a phone number for a dog trainer. I've also considered just buying them a shock collar. 

- for the monthly staff social today in the library. Milk and cookies - what a great idea! 

- for this surprise I found in our mailbox:

Why is getting (good) mail so amazing?!
I'll show you what was inside in my next post :)

- for the opportunity to create some new documents for school. I totally geeked out about my flashcards and (self-created) lesson plan notebook this afternoon and didn't end up leaving until around 5:20. I'm not sure why I love creating these documents but it really brings me pleasure. Especially when I share them with coworkers who gush over how great they are. :)

- for the sunshine which melted quite a bit of snow. I still can't believe we got 8+ inches last weekend and it's definitely time to move on to Spring!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This picture pretty much sums it up:

25 weeks

At 25 weeks ...

- I'm still feeling great!

- I tire more easily which is a little embarrassing, especially when I'm totally winded after climbing a flight of stairs. Maybe I should be exercising a little more. :)

- I could really use a tan. I'm not lookin' so hot lately and it's not just the big belly.

- I've finished What to Expect When You're Expecting with the exception of the remaining weekly chapters. Lots of information and I'm definitely on overload! I still have yet to convince Rob to read chapter 19 which is the measly little section devoted to fathers-to-be.

- I've now moved on to reading A Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. TMI to its fullest. It's good stuff to hear but  yikes. Thankfully my closest girlfriends (my sisters) have told me not to worry about half that stuff. Now about that other half ...

- Baby Simms is more active than ever! I notice it most when I lay on the couch in the evenings. He's getting stronger and stronger and his daddy could not be more proud.

- Rob is already brewing up ways for him and the nugget to gang up on me. Sometimes he even lays down on my belly and whispers secrets to him as if it's a No Girls Allowed club or something.

- Heartburn is still my enemy. I've been munching on punishing the salsa I made (from a packet - don't be impressed) even though I know it's going to hurt later.

- I've been making lots of to-do lists lately. Things to pack in our apartment, stuff for my hospital bag, what I need to blog about, etc.

- I'm tackling my classroom to-do list little by little. I'm so thankful to have 2 more than capable labbies to help me create several documents for next year. I'm trying my best to organize my things perfectly so when I open them (last minute) in my new classroom they'll be exactly as I want it.

- I've been more forgetful. Hence the necessity for all my to-do lists!

- We're getting closer to deciding on a name! I think we're down to a mutual top 4 list and I can't wait to stop calling him Trout! Which I have yet to do, for the record.

- Rob is still actively searching for a job but to no avail ... yet. He has a conference lined up for April 8 where he'll hopefully do lots of networking. I'm not very good at being patient sometimes and it's rubbing off on my dear husband.

- The nugget is the size of a rutabaga. Because that's a normal item to use for comparison. Come on, daily pregnancy emails!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for ...

- the one lonely bud I spotted on the tulip tree outside my classroom. It's been a pretty miserable Spring Break weather-wise, except last Friday ... heLLO 80°. I'm just so anxious for the trees to be in full bloom!

- the possibility that I might now deliver at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. I was planning to deliver at Overland Park Regional Medical Center  because my OB office is attached to it, but SMMC just opened their crazy new $45 million Birth Center and I feel like it's worth a look. We have tours scheduled at both places in mid-April. Yippee!!

- ice cream with a NuVal score of 99. That's a misprint, right? If not I'm going back to Hy-Vee to buy 10 containers RIGHT NOW.

- a long-overdue trip to Glenwood. The last time we were there was Christmas! Rob is sooo anxious to see his pup. And family, obviously. But seriously, he misses his pup. :)

- free time. Spring Break is the BEST, and it might be even better spent at home! Then again, I could just be saying that because I'm not on a beach in the Caribbean.

- this jazzy t-shirt I got in the mail this week. Go jags!

- a successful tonsillectomy that Cory had yesterday. I know I give him a hard time (almost like a brother/sister relationship... weird) but he's one of the toughest dudes around. I can't imagine going through the struggles he's dealt with over the past few years. Keep him in your prayers, friends!

- accomplishing some things on my to-do list, but not too many. Rob is the king of relaxation and I've tried my best to balance my go-go-go with his couch-couch-couch this week.

- catching up with old friends. Laura W and I have a good time when we get together and I'm hopeful that we'll have more hang-out in the near future. Also, having lunch at a trendy spot downtown had me feeling ... well, super trendy and downtown-y. Soooo, I headed to explore a nearby attraction: Union Station! It was totally worth the detour. Check out the gorgeous architecture:

- After wandering around a bit I discovered another attraction I've been dying to visit since I moved to KC: Crowne Center! Apparently they're connected via skywalk which gave me a great view of Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. Score!

- indulging. I know you're supposed to eat even healthier when you're pregnant, but it's nice to enjoy a few more treats than usual. And strawberries are healthy ... so take that.

Name suggestions

I've made no secret of the fact that choosing a name is incredibly difficult and unfortunately Rob and I still haven't narrowed down our list. Mostly because he's stuck on names like Trout and Kilimanjaro. Get outta here!

Well, the good news is that we've had plenty of suggestions! Kael and Kylee each made a list for boy and girl names for us and I've gotta say, there are a few gems in there! Have a look-see:

I also got suggestions from each of my students at my party. I warned them a day ahead of time and knew I was in for trouble when one of my angels asked me very loudly if I wanted an African American name for my baby and proceeded to list off names like Tyriq, Shaniqua, etc. Then he followed it with the statement, "I know someone that named their kid watermelon. For real!" Oh, dear.

Thankfully many of them took this challenge seriously and I received plenty of legitimate suggestions! Here's my list from each class:

1st hour boy: Azulico, Ibrahim, Jabari, Davonica, Chazz Michael-Michaels, Simba, Sybastian, Mason James, Skylar, Alex, Bill, Martan, Christopher, Andrew, Michael, Braden, Liam, Anthony, Noah, Soren, Zachariah, Lenard, Damian, Chandler, Keenan, Blake, Dakota
1st hour girl: Hannah, Allison, Le-A (luh dash uh), Autumn/Summer/Spring/Winter, Cossette, Cinderella, Amelia, Natalie, Ashley, Autumn, May, Sicelia, Rose, Annabella, Sophia, Audrey, Lucie (or Lucia), Lauren, Nicole, Hallie, Ankia, Shakira, Trinity, Shaquisha, Catalina, Stefani, Tystan Layne, Payton, Macy

2nd hour boy: Ender, Tobi, Atticus, Edric, Bacon, Braden Michael, Jacob, Caleb, Alex, Brad, Oliver, James, Milo, Jake, Jason, Cedric, Will, Aiden, Percy, Nathan, Xavier, Jack, Vincent, Nathan, Ethan, Jordan, Miles, Ashton, Merv, Chase, Cayden, Aidan, Tyler, Zach, Nathan, Jonathan, Owen, Finn, Nate, Noah, Jacoby/Jacobie
2nd hour girl: Charlotte, Charlie, Samantha, Jordan, Kaylee, Alexa, Genavire, Rossanne, Francine, Olivia, Lydia, Kaya, Geneviere, Phoebe, Ilya, Juliana, Angela, Madison, Madelyn, Summer, Jasmine, Anastasia, Alyssa, Kaija, Sarah, Megan, Penelope Rose, Lelani, Tate, Jordan, Anna, Madison, Madeline, Jenna, Melanie, Annie, Tara, Anna-lynn, Julia, Skyler, Anna

3rd hour boy: Juma, Aki, Natsume, Mitsuki, Sebastian, James, Jayden, Ryan, Brandon, Logan, Bernard, Vinko, Daniel, Charlie, Chandler, Juan, Carlos, Julio, Romerez, Aiden, Ezequiel, Damien, Justo, Eliseo, Jordan, Stephan, Hamish, John, Robert, Chandler, Xavier, Q, Murtagh, Doug, Brett, Matesuiz, Austin, Mario, Jhonton, Matthew, Danny, Carlos, Edgar, Anthony, Brandon, Jameson, Antony, Caleb, Jared, Oscar, Casey, Jacob/Jake, Ragan/Reagan, Colin, Jaguar, Daxon, Conen, Santiago
3rd hour girl: Ami, Luna, Bo, Kyoko, Hime, Jennifer, Sarah, (Val)entina, Yvorie, Kendall, Kylee, Victoria, Nia, Cecilia, Q, Blue, Sophie, Madiline, Rosa Lynn, Sofia, Chloe, Cozette, Jimena, Leena, Marina, Brielle, Sophia, Angelina, Jacqueline, Jane, Kaitlyn, Sabrina, Katarina, Juliana, Isabella, Annette, Anylise, Crystal, Kiya (Ky-ya), Carly, Brooke, Livia, Calypso, Zuylma, Dariela, Yohanna, Zelma, Patricia, Zoe, Amelie, Midnight, Dawn, Salimu

4th hour boy: Mathis, Remy, Joshua, Simba, Simon, Elijah, Gabriel, Keller, Michael, Tristen, Isaac, Xavier, Clayton, Milo, Will, Derek, RJ, Tanner, Seth, Zack, Chad, Seth, Stuart, Matthew, Bailey, Aiden, Colton, Payton, Bentley, Liam, Niall, Cole, Grayson, Ryder, Gaige, Harper, Levi, Parker, Charlie
4th hour girl: Ava Jane, Lili, Aspen, Alexa, Rachel, Ava, Taylor, Mara, Hadly, Raleigh, Riley, Marley, Marie, Kinlee Addison, Kendall, Finley, Mallory, Ashlee, Kaitlyn Kaylee, Alison, Angelina, Emilynn, Adara, Mia, Crystal, Skye, Raelee, Ferrah, Alena

5th hour boy: Liam, Blaine, Niall, Harry, Zayn, Louis, Jededia, Rashawn, Ryan, Brent, Trevor, Ben, Danny, Johnathan/John, Ben/Benjamin, Alex, Martin, Boone, Braden, Jacob, Mason, Bentley, Layton, Bob, Joe, Billy, Ben, Ian, Bradley, Danny
5th hour girl: Hannah, Maryliz, Piper, Korbyn, Molly, Lola, Melody, Charolette, Claire, Carson, Haley, Anna, Elena, Amy, Perrie, Elounor, Danielle, Lux, Lily, Emily, Laila, Macangie, Precious, Unique, Dora, Hope, Estrella, Lilly, Lesly, Abby


So, which is your favorite? Any suggestions?

Weekend Wrap-up

Happy Hotel Weekend!

This weekend took some major planning and it finally happened! It was a Christmas gift for my Mom and we had so much fun. We always have a good time when we get together.

Friday was an early out for me (yippee!) and Ankeny didn't have school so Laura, Kael, Kylee, Kase, and my Mom met up for lunch at José Pepper's. Delish!

Then I got to show off our "new" apartment and the kids were SOOO excited (like always) to see Uncle Rob :) After that, off to the park to enjoy the 80° weather - gorgeous! My Dad and Kent got there just in time for us to take a dip in the pool at the hotel which is always the highlight. It's an indoor-outdoor pool and even though the water was pretty chilly, the outside temp was warm enough for us to spend some time outside! I wasn't super jazzed about being in a swimming suit at 5+ months, but at least people around recognized I was pregnant and not just full from José P's. ;)

Dinner was Drury food and snacks, then we all went on a little walk around the neighborhood. Obviously that turned into ice cream at McDonald's! Bonus: there was a crazy convention somewhere nearby and we got to see lots of people with dyed hair, fishnets, and body jewelry!

Saturday morning I got up bright and early and headed to the hotel for breakfast. Bonus #2: no traffic at 6:15 on a Saturday! I hung there until it was time for me to go for a walk with Kristen. Her boyfriend, Keith, was planning to propose so he needed her out of their apartment for an hour or so. I'm so awkward that I thought I would for sure give it away but it was a success! She had no idea. :) The excitement of St. Paddy's Day might have helped distract her. She's a big fan!

By the time Rob and I headed to the hotel, the Vogels were almost to KC. We all had pizza together and spent some time swimming which the kids LOVED even though it was freezing. It took a while for the littlest ones to enjoy it but eventually they were all smiling and not wanting to get out. I wish I could've gotten all the way in the hot tub but after Kael's reaction I was content with dipping my feet in.

Late afternoon we headed to Fritz's Railroad Restaurant which was a blast! The food is delivered by a train which the big and even bigger kids thoroughly enjoyed.

Saturday night we just hung at the hotel and the girls chatted about baby stuff while the boys played cards. Typical. :)

Sunday morning I woke up to Rob standing over me, fully dressed and ready to walk out the door. "Hello! It's 7:15. Are you ever going to get out of bed?" Umm .. excuse me? It was Freaky Friday-ish. Once I was ready we realized we were matching (it was St. Paddy's Day after all) and had to change. I feel like this has been happening more and more lately and I'm worried about what it's going to be like in 20 years...

The Pattersons and Vogels took off mid-morning then my Mom and Dad headed back to our apartment so we could send some stuff back to Ankeny with them. We loaded up their car then enjoyed a nice lunch and some basketball on TV at Coach's.

I spent all afternoon enjoying the fact that I didn't have to drive and even took a little snooze! I must have been off my game because I never nap. Oh, and anxiously awaiting Kristen's phone call! 

GORGEOUS, right?! Congrats Kristen and Keith!

24 weeks

At 24 weeks, I feel pretty darn good. People don't always have a lot of positive comments about pregnancy, but I think it suits me quite well. :) The more I talk to my Mom and sisters, the more I'm thankful for good genes! And even more so after reading my 5+ daily emails and browsing a few forums.

I do, however, resent my nightly post-shower lotion routine. I mean, this is ridiculous! Face lotion, eye cream, anti-stretch mark lotion for my belly, and fragrance free body lotion. (I've steered clear of my favorite scented varitey because I think it was the culprit of my Christmas break rash.) I suppose it does make me thankful that I don't have dry skin and only have to do this when I'm pregnant!

The little guy is still moving around like crazy and I love to feel him in there! He seems to like being way up on my left side and most evenings after dinner you can spot a big bulge on my belly.

I've been eating fairly normally. I haven't really had any cravings except the other night I really wanted some guacamole. It's probably because I saw a commercial for it, but I still haven't gotten it. I guess I didn't want it that bad. Also, I haven't been super excited to eat our weekly chicken meal, but that could be because it's really not that tasty and I've just gotten sick of it. I keep trying new recipes but haven't found one yet that's worth the effort. Aaaaand, there's the ice cream. In the summer I'm an ice-cream eating fool, but I usually take a hiatus when the weather changes. Mandy advised me that it's a good way to cool heartburn and I have certainly been following her advice. :)

The only other noteworthy comment is that I'm still wearing regular clothes. I've gradually worked in several maternity items but the jeans I'm wearing right now aren't. They're pretty low-rise which makes all the difference, but people keep commenting on how small I am for 5+ months along. Anyway, tonight I went through the stash of maternity clothes I've inherited. There are definitely a few gems that I can't wait to work into my rotation! Also, I packed up quite a few regular clothes that are out of season and/or too small. It was no huge spring clean but it did feel refreshing!

Baby showers at school

Have I mentioned how great my students are this year? Honestly, I'm so thankful to have the group I do during this stressful time and I only pray that my situation will be similar next fall when I'll really need it!

Ever since announced I was expecting, my students have been dying to throw a party in class. Mostly because they want to avoid having class for a day, but also to honor me with a shower of sorts. :)

So, I decided that the day before Spring Break would be perfect. Especially since it's an early release and classes are only about 35 minutes long. I made my Spanish kids take a vocab (spelling) quiz first and my French kids had to correct their homework, but after that was done it was party time!

Jessica (Adriana) came in before school and put up lots of streamers and balloons, color coded for each side of the room. Students had to sit on the coordinating side of the room: blue for boy and pink for girl. First hour was fairly evenly split, but second hour was totally lopsided: all the boys (+1 lonely girl) on the boy side and all the girls on the girl side! Third, fourth and fifth hours were pretty packed on the boy side. I think word had gotten out ...

She also brought two mylar balloons and that's how I announced in most of my classes. I held up the blue balloon but in one class I faked and held up both. You should've seen their faces! Of course I said I was just kidding but they were genuinely shocked for a split second!

In third hour, Ryan (Alphonse) brought some music (Les Mis soundtrack) and also prepared a little baby game for the class. I certainly surprised that he was so excited and now that I think of it, pretty much all of my male students were pretty into it!

In fourth hour, Jaime emailed me ahead of time and baked a gender reveal cake! I missed the moment so I made them re-create it. Kendall (Reina) is looking a little fake, but excited nevertheless. :)

In fifth hour, Caroline (Carolina) brought two rolls of ribbon: one pink and one blue. She went around and had each student cut off the length they thought would correctly measure my waist. Hope (Esperanza) got it almost exactly!

I gave each student two sheets of paper and requested that they give me name suggestions. I was impressed that most of them took it seriously and gave me some legitimate options! In second hour somehow bacon was brought up and of course it was suggested that I just name the baby bacon and I said that my husband would probably go for it since he loves bacon so much! So, as expected almost half of my students wrote bacon along with their real suggestion.

I also showed my sonogram picture to a few classes which, in hindsight, was probably weird but I gave a fair warning! The girls all oooooh-ed and aahhh-ed and the boys were all surprised that it looked like such a real baby when I was hardly showing at all.

I even got a few gifts from students which I was totally not expecting. Brigita (Brigitte) made me a very genuine hand-written card and made sure to make it extra colorful since she knows I like that. Jenai gave me a little gender neutral 3-6 month onesie. I'm doubting it was brand new but I was so shocked that she went to the effort of getting me a present! Meilene (Rosa) gave me the cutest little wooden train toy with a sparkly blue bow (how did she know?) and clearance tag from Wal-Mart. :) Honestly, have I mentioned that I have the best students ever this year?

Oh, and I can't forget to mention the FOOD! Usually students flake on bringing what they sign up for, but I think most everyone brought something. I was outrageous. And delicious.

Overall, the parties were hugely successful and I'm so thankful to have such a great group this year. :)