Christmas

We had a fantastic Christmas! It's funny to think that Christmas will be completely different next year with our little girl. On Christmas Eve we just cooked out at home. We were both feeling a little under the weather and tired, so it was nice to just relax in our PJs. We grilled out ribeyes, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. It was delicious! Then we spent the night watching Home Alone (one of our favorite Christmas movies).

This year Tom and I decided to only do stockings for Christmas. We are trying to save money, so we didn't want to go overboard with Christmas gifts. Here is a picture of our stockings on Christmas morning...

We let Riley get his gifts first. He got two new toys (to add to the 100 he already has...spoiled?) and some new treats. He was very excited and started playing with his toys right away. Here are some pictures...

Riley always gets us gifts too (isn't he the best dog?!). Riley got me a lap desk that I can grade papers on...very exciting! He got daddy an alarm clock that he can hook his IPOD Touch up to. We were very impressed with Riley's gifts. :)

My stocking was fantastic. I love all the little stocking stuffers. The biggest surprise was Tom got us new phones for Christmas (which I thought broke the rule of a stocking stuffer gift, haha). We currently have AT&T and we can't use our phones in our house because the reception is terrible, so he switched us to Verizon. We each loved our stocking stuffers and enjoyed omelets for breakfast and just hanging out together.

We went over to Tom's parents to celebrate Christmas with them, his sister, and her kids. It was very nice. They were very generous and even got Emma Christmas gifts (how cute!). My favorite gift was an insulated little Vera Bradley cooler that matches the baby bag Aunt Patti got me for my birthday. I can use it to put Emma's bottles in. Here is a picture...

His mom made a fabulous late lunch and we enjoyed hanging out with family. We came home and played some old-fashioned board games. It was really nice just having time together. We realize this is our last Christmas of quiet, but also are very excited about what the next year of our life will bring. We realize that we are very blessed and can't wait until Emma makes her appearance, hopefully on St. Patrick's Day! :)

My parents, sister, niece, and nephew are coming down on Monday to celebrate Christmas with us. Also, my godparents are coming down on Tuesday. They have a house in Tampa and we are all going to celebrate New Year's together. We are also going to get a 4-D ultra sound of Emma with the family. I can't wait for that! I am getting a lot bigger and she is really moving a lot more lately. I can't even imagine how big I'll be in 11 weeks, when I'm due!

7 months!

Today I am officially in my third, and final, trimester! I can't believe that it's gone by so quickly. All of my friends tell me that it slows down during the 3rd trimester, so we'll see. Tomorrow I have my 7 month check-up with the doctor. Now I go every 2 weeks, rather than once a month. Here are some pictures of my EVER expanding belly :)! The pictures in the red pants are 6 months and the pictures in the green pants are 7 months. I wanted to show how much I have grown in one month!

Baby Bag and Riley

Today I took Riley to the groomer. He looked so cute, that I had to share some pictures. I love the Santa scarf--it's so festive!

For my birthday, I got a "Vera Bradley" baby bag. I absolutely love it and the colors are perfect to go with Emma's stuff...here are some pictures....

Great Weekend!

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE my birthday. I usually make December my birthday month, instead of just celebrating one day! I think it has to do with always having to compete with Christmas, so I want people to know that my birthday is a separate occasion. I had a fantastic 28th birthday! My birthday fell on the last day before winter break, so I also get two weeks off for my birthday. At school, my awesome room mom brought in a yummy piece of cheesecake and had my kids sing to me in the morning. It was so cute and thoughtful! They gave me a basket that included soda, candy, popcorn, and a movie--which is perfect for relaxing during break! Tom got me a "Tom-tom" GPS, so I can find my way around Tampa without calling him for directions :), flowers, and a Barnes and Noble gift card. I can't wait to get books to read during the break. He also made dinner reservations at a place that we have never been before. It is called Boizao Steakhouse. It was a neat atmosphere and a lot of great food. It is a Brazilian Steakhouse. People come around with different cuts of meat and it's all you can eat. It also includes a salad bar and sides. Tom's best friend, Ricky, and I share the same birthday so the three of us went together. Tom also invited my friend, Rebecca, and her boyfriend to meet us there. The five of us had a great time! It was funny not being able to drink on my birthday. Everyone was enjoying Brazilian beer, and I had my water, but it's all worth it! :)

On Saturday, my best friend from high school and college came over. UCF was playing in a bowl game in St. Pete that her boyfriend was going to, so he dropped her off at my house. It was the first time she got to come over to see our house. We went to dinner, shopping, and just hung out. It was great catching up!

On Sunday, we went on a tour of the hospital. It was neat to see the different rooms, and it made it feel real (not that my expanding belly doesn't make it feel real, lol).

Today was the first day of winter break. I went Christmas shopping with my friend Rebecca and out to lunch. We had a great time! I am done with shopping. I bought all my family's gifts before Thanksgiving so that I could bring them when we went home and didn't have to mail them. Tom and I are only doing stockings, because we are trying to save money for when I am on unpaid maternity leave. I still have a few little things to get him, but other than that...I'm done!

Tomorrow I will be 28 weeks (7 months)! It's crazy how fast this is going by! I'll post new pictures tomorrow.

What a day...

Today I am officially 27 weeks pregnant! I can't believe how quickly it is going by! Next week I will be 7 months and begin my 3rd, and final, trimester. Craziness!!

I read this book to my kids at school called "Alexander and His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." I love the book and I use it to show them that just because you have a bad day doesn't mean you can't turn it around and have a great day the following day. Well, today I am taking my own advice. It has been one of those days. I woke up this morning and everything that I put on just made me look gross. After I changed outfits about 10 times, I finally decided just to get dressed and go. (I guess this is one of the benefits of getting to school an hour early every day, I have time for days like this). My day at school wasn't terrible. I love my kids and teaching. It's just that the children are very excited about the upcoming holidays, which makes them very chatty and hyper. Then on my way home, this lady pulled up next to me to inform me that my back tire was flat. I pulled over and it was indeed very flat. I called Tom who came to my rescue, but I had to wait for him to get there (and for a pregnant woman who had to pee, that thirty minutes seemed like forever, haha). Thank goodness I have a husband who would drop everything to come help!

I got home and had another mean parent email. I don't know what it is...but this is the year for parents and rude emails. In my six years of teaching, I have had the occasional "unhappy" parent, but this year tops the cake. I have had five parents who consistently email me and complain about things that I do. Thank goodness the other sixteen are very supportive and nice.

My team is baking cookies for the office staff. Tomorrow we all have to bring in 2 dozen cookies and then we are making a platter for the office staff for the holiday. My first thought was to buy cookies, just because it was easier and faster. But then I remembered how much fun I used to have baking holiday cookies with my mom when I was a kid, so I decided to bake them. I need to learn now so I can bake with Emma :) Here are my sugar cookies with homemade icing (it's ok if they look like an eight year old made them, they are yummy!).

I'm sure that tomorrow will be a much better day. Only three more days until our winter break (and my birthday!).

Doctor's Appointment/Glucose Test

Today I had my 6 month check-up. They pushed it back two weeks, so that I could do my glucose test at the same time. My 7 month check-up is in two weeks, and then I start going every two weeks for check-ups. I can't believe I am almost in my third, and final, trimester! Wow, time sure has flown by!

The glucose test wasn't that bad. I had to drink this orange sugary liquid. The worst part was I had to drink the whole bottle in 5 minutes. Then I had to sit around the doctor's office for an hour until they could draw my blood. I will get the results later in the week. I hope I passed because a few of my friends had to take the 3 hour test, and it was not fun!

The doctor visit was very quick, like usual. She said my blood pressure and weight are right on track. I've gained 18 pounds, which seems like way too much to me, but she said it's normal at 26 weeks. It's a little scary I still have 14 more weeks to gain weight, aghhh!!! She measured my belly and said I'm measuring right where I need to be and the baby's heartbeat was 140, which is perfect!

After the doctor's appointment, I met Tom for lunch. It was nice to have that luxury during the day rather than trying to eat and get things done in 20 minutes before I have to pick up the kids from the lunchroom. Then I came home and relaxed with Riley. It was nice to relax mid-week. Only 7 more works days until Winter Vacation--wohoo!! After we get back in January, I only have 10 more weeks of school until baby is due! :) Craziness! Plus, that stretch is so busy with "FCAT prep" that I'm sure it will fly by!

I Love Christmas Time!

December is definitely my favorite month of the year! This weekend we decorated our house, put up the Christmas Tree, and put the lights up outside. Here are some pictures:

Then...and now

I was looking through my computer at pictures and stopped at the picture I took of my belly the day that I found out I was pregnant (July 3rd). I compared it to the one I took yesterday (6 months pregnant). It's so crazy to think how much my belly has grown and how much it is still going to grow. I wonder if it will ever look like that again? LOL! The funny thing is I never thought I was that skinny, and now when I look at it...I'm like WOW, I was so little! :) I can't even imagine how much bigger my belly is going to get. I already feel huge, haha!

Thanksgiving, Belly Shots, and more...

It was really nice to go home for Thanksgiving. I hadn't been home since last New Year's. It was nice seeing my family and some extended family. We do two Thanksgiving dinners each year. My dad's family came over for lunch and my mom cooked an excellent Thanksgiving lunch. Then for dinner we went over to my grandma Haug's house for dinner. Tom and I both tried to not over eat at either dinner :). On Friday, Tom and I went shopping with my mom and bought baby Emma all kinds of clothes. I swear she has more clothes than Tom and myself, haha. On Saturday, my grandpa Gatlin was taken to the ER because he was having seizures. It was a scary day, but they are running tests and hopefully will figure out what is wrong with him. Overall, we had a fantastic visit and I really enjoyed the time with my family.

Here are some belly shots...I will be 25 weeks tomorrow. In my weekly email, it said that she grew 1/2 a pound last week, which is a lot because for the first 24 weeks she was only ONE pound total. She is really starting to move a lot, which is so exciting! I feel her every couple of hours and especially when I am trying to go to bed at night.

Every year my mom buys us personalized Christmas ornaments. I love them! It's so fun every year to go back through them and remember those special moments in our life. I can't wait to decorate for Christmas--probably next weekend! (I'll post pictures). I just wanted to share our newest ornament that my mom got us...it's so cute

(if you double click-you can see it bigger)

Our Anniversary

Today is our one year wedding anniversary! I can't believe a whole year has passed since our wedding. We decided to stay the night at the Tradewinds (where we got married) to celebrate. It was funny, because a few of the staff told us that they remember our wedding (can't forget a Haug party-lol). There were three wedding going on last night. We went to dinner at Salt Rock, which is where we went for our anniversary when we first moved to Tampa. It was so yummy. Then we walked down the beach and just relaxed. It was very nice! Our cake was delicious. I think it was as good as on our wedding day. Here are some pictures:


We were walking
around and saw the
swans just chillin'

We were laying

on a hammock

Tom eating

our yummy

cake

mmmm

The top to

our sand

castle cake

Us @ dinner

(Saltrock Grill)

We love

this place

Tom out

on balcony

Me showing

the baby

bump

The view

from

balcony

Our room

Us trying to

take a picture

of ourselves

Outside

the

hotel

23 weeks

Here are some pictures of me today at almost 23 weeks. Tomorrow I will be 23 weeks.

Letters for above the crib

Here is a picture of me from Haley's (Tom's sister's daughter)Birthday party. My belly is looking so big in the picture. It's funny how it looks different in different outfits. Next week, I'll be 24 weeks which is 6 months.

Riley

Cutest dog ever? We didn't want to forget our lil' guy with all the "new baby" posts. Riley will always be our first child, haha. He is getting so old. He will be four in March. He has really calmed down and likes to just chill now. Ever since we decorated the nursery, now we can find Riley sleeping in there sometimes, which is so cute.

Almost 22 Weeks..belly shots

Here are some pictures of me at 5 1/2 months pregnant. I think that my belly is really starting to "pop" out. Now, people who don't know me are starting to realize that I'm pregnant. I had a little girl at school, that I didn't know, come up to me and ask me if I had a baby in my belly. Ha-ha! I like that I finally look pregnant rather than just like I've gained weight. I can wear cute pregnancy shirts now, instead of trying to hide my belly. :) On a side note, I finally got my H1N1 vaccine. Thank goodness! There have been quite a few cases at my school, and I was getting really nervous. My OB-GYN wasn't offering shots until women reached their 3rd trimester, but I guess I made a good enough fight with being a school teacher and having asthma. It was a big stress relief. I have my 6 month check-up and glucose test the week of Thanksgiving. I can't believe how fast this is all going by! I have really started to feel her move. It is honestly the coolest thing! Tom is sad that he can't feel it from the outside, but I'm sure that is only a little bit away. I haven't felt any kicks, at least not that I know of, but I do feel movement.

In other news...Tom and I are staying the night at the Tradewinds in two weeks for our year anniversary. I can't wait! Then we are going home for Thanksgiving. I am so excited! I haven't been to Niceville since last New Year's. I think that is the longest that I've ever been away.

New Emma Pictures--20 weeks

Today Tom and I went in for our 20 week ultra-sound. It was amazing! They check the entire anatomy of the baby. They started with her head and measured it and looked at all parts of her brain. Then they look at the baby's heart and check all four chambers of the heart and which way the blood is flowing through the arteries. Then they count to make sure she has 10 fingers and 10 toes, which she did. They also check the bones in the legs and arms. It was honestly the coolest thing ever! They looked at her spine, stomach, and belly size. Everything was measuring perfectly! Her heartbeat was 137. I thought it was neat that they could check the amount of amniotic fluid she is in. The last thing they checked was the blood in the umbilical cord to make sure enough was flowing through. On Friday, I go back to see the doctor for my 5 month check-up. Here are some pictures of Emma:

Yes that is her foot next to her nose :)

She is sitting "Criss-cross" here. I guess she heard me say it enough at school. (haha)