Great last day of school

Today was our last day before Christmas break. Usually it is full of crazy kids high on sugar, teachers just trying to get through the day and counting down the minutes till we don't have to see teenagers for 2 whole weeks!!! Today at school was a little different. We have had 3 tragedies happen at our school just this semester and the assembly we had today couldn't have come at a better time. We had a group of teens from a group called Journey to Dream - Livin it Loud come and do a presentation for the whole school. Some of the performers are current students and also alumni of Hebron. The whole performance was about drugs, alcohol, suicide and different issues teens today face.

I thought the performance was excellent for several reasons. You can have adults, counselors, parents or coaches tell these kids till they are blue in the face about how their decisions can create horrible consequences but I think what really made an impact was that these were their peers, telling their story. Their testimonies were heart-wrenching.....but true. This group did such a good job of telling our students that they are not alone in their challenges with life and to demonstrate that, they had everyone stand that has battles with: divorce, alcohol, drugs, suicide or depression. Literally, everyone was standing in the auditorium and I think to some of these kids it was such a realization that there is always someone there to listen or help.

Probably my favorite part of the assembly (and I feel like only in the south this would be allowed in a public school because we are in the Bible Belt) was that all the kids that gave testimonies and the true message behind the whole performance that what saved these kids from their addiction or problems was their faith and getting involved with church and a group of people that truly cared and wanted the best for them. We had a kid talk about how he started with drugs and alcohol at age 11 only to find himelf in front of a judge ready to be thrown in jail by the time he was in 10th grade. He is now 20 years old, and looking to go into the ministry full time. I taught this kid and it just amazes me to see how his life and completely changed and you can see the joy he has and how he loves sharing his story with others.

On days like this.....I love my job more than anything!!!

Meeting Santa

 Thursday night, our YoungLife group put on free pictures with Santa at a local coffee shop. It was so fun to see friends and all the little kids but I was a little nervous about how Cole would react to this "Santa" character. :) We are bad parents and did not take Cole to see Santa last year. Last year Cole kinda went through that stranger-danger phase so we didn't even try. Cole is the easiest going kid so I knew this year would be better....hopefully.

So this is how the meeting went.......

First, Cole checked Santa out for awhile, he literally stood in that spot for about 2 minutes just observing.

 

Then, he realized this crazy guy looked kinda fun, so he lunged at him and let Santa pick him up. Yay!!! I was so excited!!!

 

At first he acted pretty stoic and didn't really know what to think and I could just see him saying, "I'm just doing this because my mom has the camera and she'll be bummed if I don't cooperate."

But then Santa started to tickle him and he was all smiles at that point!!

What a sweet child!!!
YoungLife did a great job of finding a great Santa and he was so nice to all the kids!! We definitely had a great first Santa experience!

AND, since Cole was such a great sport....Gigi bought him a couple donut holes that he inhaled! ha!

When you have a sick mommy....

First, let me start off by telling you about my fun day BEFORE I got sick. For my birthday, Nick's family gave me 2 things....Season 1 of Glee (which I've definitely watched already since I received the DVD's last Saturday night!) and a gift card to get some maternity clothes. I'm still kind of in that in-between stage of regular and maternity clothes, but I definitely needed some pants, so Wednesday, I took Cole to the mall and we did some shopping. It's getting a little harder to shop with Cole now because he always wants to grab at everything and not stay in his stroller. So, I thought I'd text Casey to save some time....
Me: "Casey, what size pants to you get at Motherhood?"

Casey: "Depends on the pants, they all vary"

Me: "You are NO help, I wanted to get through this shopping trip without trying clothes on"

So needless to say, I had to take Cole into the dressing room with me and I guess he stayed pretty entertained, laughing at me, pointing to my belly saying "baby" and trying to put some of the clothes on himself. He really was a good sport so I decided to take us across the way and get......

Yes.....CINNABON!!! One of the greatest things ever made. Look at that box of goodness, YUM!!!

Cole also enjoyed the roll, even after I threw the box away he kept saying "more more".

Now, almost every winter, I get the sinus crud. Wednesday evening I started feeling the drainage...yuck! I don't think I slept at all Wednesday night because I couldn't breath, my throat hurt and my head felt like it was going to explode. Normally getting sick like this is not a big deal, I take drugs and it quickly passes. It's a little different when you are pregnant! I know there wasn't a lot I could take and when you have to keep a toddler entertained but all you want to do is lay on the couch and not move because it hurts to move, it makes for an interesting day. So....this is how our day went....

I stuck Mary Poppins in and he was fascinated!!! I really didn't think I could handle watching Elmo or the Sprout channel all afternoon so I put in something that I like watching too.

I also had about 3 loads of laundry to fold that had been sitting on the couch for days so I sat on the floor and folded laundry. Cole wanted to help...although, his helping usually involves unfolding everything I've already folded.

He also thought it was funny to put my underwear around his neck along with Nick's pajama bottoms.

For dinner, I (for the 2nd time this week) popped in some Eggo waffles and didn't even bother putting him in his booster seat. He hasn't wanted to sit in his seat lately and I didn't have the energy to fight with him about it, so I let him sit in the big chair. However, I did threaten that if he got down before he was done, that he'd have to go back in his booster and he stayed till it was all gone! Good job Cole!

I did manage to go the store and get a few things to help me feel better. I got a Vicks humidifier which rocked my world last night!!!!! Sudafed (didn't help so much), tylenol (not sure if that helped either), orange juice (which made me want to vomit) and the greatest invention ever.....Kleenex WITH Vicks!!!

With the humidifier right next to my bed and those vicks kleenex that was stuck up my nose half the night (lovely, I know) I breathed so much better and actually got some rest. Granted, I slept with like 3 pillows propping me up but as long as I could breath, I'd be ok with whatever!

I still feel yucky today, like I just want to split my head open, scoop out all the junk and put my head back together. Hopefully it goes away soon and it doesn't spread to the rest of my family.

One funny thing that happened last night, I had been in bed since about 7:30, but around 11:00 I got up to use the restroom, I checked the video monitor to check on Cole and I noticed something funny.....I walked out to the family room and told Nick to check on him and sure enough, Cole had unzipped his pj's, gotten his legs out and taken his diaper off. Yikes, that could have been bad news had we not noticed it before morning! He has really been into taking his clothes off lately, maybe they need to invent pj's with the zipper on the back, ha! I told Nick that next time he needed to take a picture :)

We have a few fun things going on this weekend so let's all pray that our household gets and stays healthy!!!

16 Weeks, plus a couple days

16 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 16 weeks, plus a couple days

Size of baby: Baby S is the size of an apple, about 4.5 inches long

Total weight gain/loss: Gained 3lbs...right on track!

Maternity clothes: I'm definitely preferring my maternity pants because they are so much more comfortable, but most of my shirts are regular, just getting a bit shorter every day!

Gender: Not sure. We could find out next month but we aren't going to find out

Movements: I've definitely felt a few pokes here and there, especially if I'm holding Cole and my belly is being squished. With Cole I didn't feel anything till I was 20 weeks, so this is happening much sooner this time!

Sleep: Up until this week, I had still been sleeping terrible! Waking up every hour and just laying awake during the night. However, keeping my fingers crossed, I've been sleeping so good this week, let's hope it continues!

What I miss: Over the holidays, I definitely missed having a glass of champagne (my fav!) or a glass of wine. I'm not a drinker at all, but I love having a glass or two of these and with all the family in town and celebrating, I would have to say I missed that this week. Starting to miss sleeping on my stomach a bit.

Cravings: I've been eating cheese and mustard sandwiches on potato bread like they are going out of style! Weird I know! I also had crab legs the other night at dinner and it was SOOOOO good and now I can't stop thinking about crab, ha!

Symptoms: Still, most food kinda grosses me out, but it IS getting better. Again, keeping my fingers crossed, this week I've been feeling pretty good and more and more foods are sounding good to me. Oh Lord I hope this continues! Sometimes still have that terrible taste in my mouth but getting better. Not as tired, but I still go to bed pretty early.

Best moment of the week: Going to the doctor yesterday to find out I only gained 1lb, and that was over Thanksgiving!!

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday and everything was great. Heard the heartbeat and that is such a great sound to hear! Especially towards the beginning of the pregnancy when you aren't feeling the baby move too much, hearing that heartbeat is such a relief! I'm just looking forward to feeling more movements, then it will feel even more real.

My yucky-ness feeling has definitely lasted longer this pregnancy so thats why I'm staying optimistic that I have finally turned the corner. Even my students have said in the last couple days that I have more energy and I'm being more "fun". I know they thought I was the worlds worst teacher for awhile there because I felt like a bump on a log so luckily I'm getting some energy back and will be more fun to be around...haha!

Nick has tried to get Cole to point to my belly and say "baby" and he will, but he still doesn't understand what is happening. It's so weird thinking about what your second child will look like. You wonder if it will look like your first kid or if it will take after one side of the family more. It's all so crazy to think about. Obviously with your first kid you think about the same, but with your second, it's just so different. We can't wait to meet this little person.

We still are planning on not finding out the gender. A lot of people have told me that they don't think I can hold out, but that just makes me want to wait even more, just to prove it to them. We could find out at my next doctors appointment but we just think it will be so fun to wait. I'm having no intuition on what I think it could be. Some days I think it's a boy, some days a girl so who knows...what a fun surprise!!!