From our family to yours

(picture courtesy of Images of His)
Well its a little late, but we wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We had all of the family up to our house for Christmas. We ended up having three Christmases in all! Christmas Eve Jonathan's family came up and we had dinner and opened presents. Kylee got quite the lute and she's not even here yet. Jonathan's Grandmother got to come up too and it was really good to see her. We really enjoyed our time with them!

Christmas morning was just the three of us. We have never had Christmas morning at our house with just our nucleus so that was fun. We found Bryan sleeping by the Christmas tree. He said that he saw Santa and talked to him. I think he knows there is no Santa, but he still wants to believe. He found the special paper that I wrap Santa's presents in. He said, I guess Santa has the same paper as us :)

We all helped make breakfast: waffles, eggs and bacon and then got to open presents. Bryan got me some cards for playing nerts (I think he had a little help from dad). Jonathan got me a straightener for my hair, a birthing ball, a pedometer and lots of little goodies in my stocking. Bryan and Kylee got me a Crockpot. Jonathan was so sweet, he got a card from Kylee and wrote in it for me, isn't he thoughtful?

Jonathan got all of the Bourne series and a Star wars book, and money for ram and a graphics card. Bryan got him a hammer because he said he didn't have enough! Our big present to each other was our camcorder. We have enjoyed learning how to use it.

Then Christmas afternoon we had 20 people from my family here! I can't believe we all fit, but somehow we did and we all had a good time. Jonathan helped me get the house ready so now it is really clean. I'm hoping we can keep it that way until Kylee comes.

I hope all of you had a good holiday.

I need advice

So I have packed the bag, but I'm not sure if I have everything I will need for the hospital. My pregnancy journal says that I need to take diapers, wipes, cotton balls and diaper ointment. I always assumed they would provide that stuff. Any advice is welcome!!

34 weeks

I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that everything looks good. We discussed my anemia a little, but he said as long as I take my vitamins I should be okay. He said this is the waiting game part. If I do go into labor early they won't stop it and so it could happen anytime. He didn't give any guestimations, but he did say that I was having a braxton hicks contraction when he looked at my belly. I didn't know that I was. I thought they would hurt, but they are just tightening. I have been having them for a while now, but I just thought that Kylee was rolling up in a ball and putting pressure on my belly. I guess I should enjoy it while they don't hurt!

Tuesday was our anniversary. My mom came up and kept Bryan on Sunday so that we could go and celebrate. We went and saw "I am Legend" with Will Smith and then we went to eat at the Olive Garden. It was really good!! We enjoyed having some time to ourselves. Then when it was actually our anniversary I gave Bryan some pizza and put a movie on in his room so we could have a quiet dinner together. Jonathan got me a purple duffle bag to use for my hospital stay. For those of you who know how much I like purple, it is stapler purple!

When I showed Bryan my present, he asked if he could open one of his Christmas presents. We explained that it was our anniversary, but I don't think he really got it. Wow can you believe we have been married 7 years?

Feeling better!

I am feeling better. I have been falling asleep on the couch around 7:30 every night! I guess I am storing up rest for when the baby comes. Last night I actually made it through a one hour show after I got home.

Karen took our pictures over the Thanksgiving holidays. Didn't she do a great job? Here is my favorite belly shot. I think I was about 29 weeks here.


Here is a picture from the other day. I am 33 weeks, only 7 more to go!


On another note, it is concert week. Last night I played my flute with one of the MS choirs in Killeen. It was fun to actually get to play again. Our choir concert is in the morning for the school and Thursday night for the parents. I guess I better try and get some sleep. My alarm will go off in about 2 hours! Have a good night.

Feeling very pregnant

I have been feeling very pregnant lately....tired, big and emotional. Thursday I got up, worked out, got ready for work and was about to walk out the door when Jonathan asked me what was wrong. Well that turned the tears on, he is the only one that I cry around, poor guy. He insisted that I stay home and take the day off. I fought him, but he insisted, so I did. I called for a sub in tears, but luckily it is automated. I took it easy for the rest of the day. I took a morning nap, called and setup for a guy to come and put up our garage door opener, called and setup a time for the salvation army to come and get our broken car, had lunch with Jonathan, took an afternoon nap and read some of my baby book. It was a very good day. I really don't have an explanation for why I was crying-it was just one of those days.

Friday I did go to work and that night we went to order a rocker for Kylee's room. I have Jonathan's grandmother's rocker in there now, but it is not comfortable. I tried putting pillows in it, but it didn't help. So we found a reclinver/rocker at lacks that we really liked. I didn't want to spend that much, but I thought we could eventually put it in our room after we are done with babies. We have a nice recliner in our living room, but I don't want to always have to be covered up while I am breastfeeding b/c of Bryan so I will probably be in Kylee's room a lot. I came home and we started a movie, I fell asleep in the recliner at 7:30.

Saturday Jonathan had to work so Bryan and I cleaned the house a little and went to the grocery store. That afternoon we took a nap and some friends came over for dinner. We went with them to Salado for the "Salado stroll." Unfortunately it was about 75 degrees and kind of took away from the Christmas spirit, but we had a good time anyway.

I think I overdid it though, when I got home my hips and legs were killing me. I woke up this morning with a little bit of fever and a very sore body. I have stayed on the couch/bed all day. Jonathan has taken good care of me. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow because this is the week of our choir concert and I can't afford to miss any work. I was going to get a belly shot today, but I haven't changed out of my gown. I will take one soon. I hope all of you are doing well!

Its the little things

When Bryan came to live with us he brought all of his clothes and toys. He had a nice winter coat which he has worn for almost 2 years. He recently lost it at school or daycare and can't find it. Yesterday while I was at Kohls I looked at the coats and I found one that was on sale so I got it for him. When I brought it home he was so excited!! He said "Thank you SO MUCH Becca!!" He had never had a brand new coat before. He wore it through dinner, he wanted to leave the tag on, and he even slept with it.

We are so blessed!

I had my baby shower two Sundays ago and I felt very blessed. We got almost almost everything that we need. It was so sweet of everyone to come. My family came up from Austin and some dear friends came with them. I have an awesome church family and I can't wait for Kylee to meet everyone. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Well I tried to upload some pictures, but its not working!

We also had Bryan's b-day party that weekend while the whole fam was in town. He had a great time. We got him a trampoline and he really enjoyed that. We had cupcakes and hot dogs so the food was pretty easy.

We have Kylee's room all set up except for the nightstand. Hopefully Jonathan and I will have time to put that together this weekend. He is busy putting together his new computer. He got an end of the year bonus at work so we had Christmas early. Karen and I got up early and went shopping. We found a great deal on a camcorder so now we are ready for Kylee to come!

Bryan is spending the weekend at Grandma's so we have had the house to ourselves. We slept in late, went out to lunch, did a little shopping and watched a movie in front of the fire. I love having a fire place. We always go through a lot of firewood in the winter time.

We are hoping to fix up Bryan's room a little. He loves to go and sit in Kylee's room because all of her stuff is new. We got the faux blinds for her room and he said that we were rich. I think Jonathan and I are going to get him a dresser and some new blinds. He really wants to paint his room too, but I think we might just put up some border.

I hope all of you had wonderful Turkey days!

Busy weekend.

So I'm up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning, how annoying. I guess my body is getting me ready for when the baby comes. Jonathan finished painting her room and it is very purple. At first it kind of overwhelmed me, but I think that it will look very nice once the whole room is done.

Last night we had dinner with a couple and then they came over and helped us get all the painting tape up in Kylee's room. After that we watched Ratatouille. It was very cute. I only slept through the middle 30 minutes, so I can definitely say that the beginning and end are excellent.

Karen and Scott are coming up today around lunch time....I am so excited! We haven't gotten to spend any quality time together in a long time. They are going to help us put the furniture together and then we are going to go out for an adult dinner. We got a babysitter for Bryan!

Then Sunday afternoon is my shower and I am excited. Then Sunday night the whole fam will be here so we are having a birthday party for Bryan. Jonathan and I are going to get him a trampoline and I can't wait to see the look on his face. We are just inviting family because our family is so big, they totally make the party!!

I went to the doctor on Wednesday and he says that everything looks good. When he measured my belly I asked him if it was unusually large. People at work have been making comments about how big I am and that I look like I'm about to pop! He said, "Well you just tell those people to mind their own business. Your belly is measuring right on target." He is such a great doctor. I needed some encouragement after getting on the scale. That is the part of the visit that I hate. The first five months I had almost no weight gain and now I have had a lot. I told him I am exercising everyday and watching what I eat. He said not to worry and if I am doing those two things, there's nothing else that he can ask.

28 Weeks

Here I am at 28 weeks. She is really growing!

Kylee

My sister-in-law recently got a job at one of those 3-d ultrasound offices. So we went down yesterday and got our very own 3-d ultrasound! It was so fun. They projected it on a huge screen and the whole family could see everything. It took me a while to get used to the images, but I finally caught on. The first time that I saw her, I just wanted to hold her. She is so cute. She definitely has the Gondola nose from my dad's side! Isn't that cool that I can already see that?

Here is a picture of her being sweet. Isn't she cute?

Here is a picture of her with her mouth open.

Here is a picture of her sucking on her umbilical chord. On the video you can actually see her sucking! I know there is probably a way to post the video, but I haven't figured out how yet.

Shara also confirmed that she is in fact a Kylee and not a Kyle!

Shara said that overall she was a very cooperative baby.

Halloween

I hope all of you had a nice halloween. We had a party at church with our class and all of the kids dressed up. Here is a picture.

Bryan was a ninja! He was really cute. We all went to the funival at church. It was in lieu of Wednesday evening services. They had 20 booths set up and 2 of those blow up bouncy things. Bryan had a lot of fun and brought home a lot of candy. It was great because we didn't have to walk around for hours trick-or-treating. I think we definitely do that again.

Long Time

So it has been forever since I posted, I'm very sorry. My internal clock woke me up at 6 AM so I decided to finally update my blog. We have been crazy busy trying to get the house ready for the baby. We have been cleaning out the office and trying to find a place for all of the junk that we have accumulated in there over the years. Of course we have gotten rid of some of it, but some stuff we still need. For instance I have all of my formal dresses from college hanging in that closet and I'm not sure where I'm going to put them. Our house has no coat closet so all of our coats are hanging in our closet in our bedroom. Needless to say, it is pretty full. But I guess we'll figure it out.

We bought an armoire desk and put it in the entryway. It is no ideal, but it doesn't look too bad. That is one reason that I haven't posted in a while. Jonathan had to run the cable for the internet up through the wall in the attic and back down to the entryway. For some reason entryways are not equipped for internet, weird? LOL


We have made a lot of progress as far as Kylee's room goes. Jonathan put the crib together a couple of weeks ago and I had to put the bedding on it as soon as I could. Here is a picture. Bryan says that he is in jail.

We bought the paint for her room, it is a light shade of purple. Kim and Marj (my nieces) are coming up tonight to help Jonathan paint. I can't paint because of the fumes. Some people say that you can some people say that you can't, I am going with the people that say that you can't. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I will post a picture of the finished product on Sunday. Kylee is getting very big and so is my belly. She has been kicking a lot and she really likes to roll over. Last night our family entertainment was watching her roll over and seeing my belly contort to her motion. Even Bryan got into it!

We started our childbirth classes two weeks ago. They have been interesting. I have learned about dialating, efacement and that I can get my epidural at 4cm! That is the most important thing that I have learned so far. The nurse that is teaching the classes goes to our church and is very sweet. Hopefully she will be on duty when I deliver. We are going for a 3-d ultrasound this afternoon, I am so excited. We get to see what she looks like!!! And confirm one more time that she is a girl before we paint her room purple. I will post pictures from that as soon as I have them. I hope everyone is doing well!

Something is wrong with the blogger site and it won't let me put the picture of the crib when it is finished so I will have to do that later.

Fundraiser

Last week Bryan came home with a fund raiser. He showed it to Jonathan and informed him that he was planning on selling 100 items so that he could get the dvd player. Jonathan told him "Good luck!"

Then Bryan started bringing Jonathan toys from his room and putting them in a big pile. When Jonathan asked him what he was doing, Bryan said, "These are all of the things I want to sell." Jonathan chuckled a little and told him that he had to sell things that were in the magazine. Bryan said, "Oh I think I get it." Then he brought Jonathan a gold necklace (they have necklaces in the magazine). Jonathan set him straight and even practiced his selling bit with him. Bryan was ready when I came home. He went through the magazine and showed me everything that he thought I would like to buy.

On Sunday Bryan was showing the brochure to Pam (my mother-in-law). Pam found a candle that she wanted and Bryan told her that she couldn't order that one because Grandma had already picked it. I guess he thought there was one of each thing and that was it. Kids :)

My very handyman!

Saturday I noticed that the house seemed kind of hot. I have been a little hot natured lately, but I decided to check the thermostat. It said that it was 80 degrees when it was supposed to be 78 degrees! The air conditioner had been running continuously so I knew that something was wrong. Jonathan opened the a/c closet to investigate and found that ice had formed on the a/c. That wasn't good.

We let it thaw every time that we left the house and we made it through the weekend. Monday we left the a/c off for more thawing. The repair man came out to look at the system Monday afternoon. He said that the coil was dirty and it would cost about $400. Jonathan asked if there was any way that he could fix it. The man said to go and buy some cleaner from Home Depot and it should do the trick.

When I got home from work it was 87 degrees in here! I turned the a/c on and it did not get any cooler than 86! I was very worried about how we were going to sleep. After dinner Jonathan used the spray and thawed out the sheet of ice. We slept very well thanks to my very own handyman!

Up again

So I'm up at 4 AM. There is an infomercial on for a new battery powered duster. The lady is dancing around while she dusts. Who does that??

Our a/c is not working properly. It seems to be freezing up. We first noticed that it wasn't cooling down to the right temperature and running continuously. Jonathan looked at the inside unit and it had ice on it! So every time we left the house yesterday we turned it off so that it would unfreeze. It is still under warranty so hopefully they will be able to fix it soon.

We are teaching the 3rd grade Sunday school class and I still haven't even looked at the lesson so I guess now is as good a time as any. I hope that all of you are sleeping well.

I'm about to pop!

My belly button has gotten very wide! It hasn't popped out yet, but I know it will any day. Here is a picture of me at 21 weeks, sorry it has been so long.



So I have begun to love my crockpot. I remember how excited all of the ladies were at our shower when we got it, but I honestly didn't think that I would use it very often. Well now that I am a full-time working mom, I have grown to love it. I made pot roast and chicken in it last week and I am going to make King Ranch Casserole in it tomorrow. It is so nice to come home and have dinner made!

Tonight when I was putting the King Ranch together it smelled so good. It was hard to not eat it. We had scrambled eggs and pancakes for dinner tonight. When Bryan got finished he said, "That was a great breakfast!" I guess there is nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner.

Expressions

Bryan never ceases to make us laugh. Once when Karen was visiting she asked if we just laughed all of the time. I said yes and that it was God's way of helping us deal with the hard times. So Jonathan and I were talking the other day about something that happened at school. He said, "Well you were chewing her out." Bryan piped in and said, "What? Did you eat her?" I just laughed again thinking about it!!!!

Bryan is doing well in 2nd grade so far. He is switching classes and it seems to be going okay. One teacher does science and math and the other teacher does language arts and social studies. He has been in a good mood almost every day this year when we pick him up from day care. I think the kids are nicer to him now that his birthmark is gone. I'm so thankful that we got that done and that Medicaid took care of it for us.

I had another doctor's appt. on Wednesday. It was just a belly check. I asked him a couple of questions and we listened to the heartbeat. It was a lot slower than last time, but he didn't seem concerned. She is starting to get big enough to be uncomfortable now. Yesterday I felt full at work all day. It wasn't a feeling like I had eaten too much, but that my insides are smushed (is that a word?) She has been kicking a lot and I have been feeling her during the day rather than just at night when I lay down. I know I need to post a belly shot and I will as soon as Jonathan gets around to taking one.

Jonathan hurt his back at work the other day. He lifted a box wrong that was too heavy. He went to the doctor and they said that he must have sprained something and to take it easy. Then it was hurting so bad that he had to go back again. They gave him a shot of steroids and so now he feels fine. I just hope the relief lasts until after they wear off.

Are You Getting Pregnant?

I have told all of my kids that I am pregnant except for PK and K. I didn't figure that they would understand so I didn't see the need to tell them. Yesterday one of my kindergarters asked me, "Mrs. Tome are you getting pregnant?" I was wearing a dress that accentuated the fact so that was the first time that she had noticed. I said yes I am pregnant. Another boy asked, "Why do you want to be pregnant?" I said "My husband and I want to have a little baby." He said, "Oh!" I don't think he knew that pregnant meant that you are having a baby.

Today the same little kindergarten girl came in and asked, "Are you getting not pregnant?" I pulled my shirt tight and showed her that I was still pregnant.:) I also had a 5th grader who saw me in the hallway and said, "Mrs. Tome I see your baby, its coming out."

Bryan gave me a hug tonight and said that he loved me. Then he patted my belly and said, "I love you baby!" That is progress since he keeps telling me to just go to the doctor and tell him to take the baby out so that I can go skating, eat cookie dough and pick him up.

Good first week

I must say that this was probably my best first week ever. I know the majority of my kids because this is my 3rd year at the same school. I even have some kiddos in 1st grade that I had in PK. It is really cool to see how they have grown, but that their name still pops in my head when I see them. I have been very exhausted this week. I am teaching an extra grade level this year and it has made a big difference in my afternoons. I think it is going to be a good year, but I will be exhausted :)

Jonathan got to feel Kylee kick two times yesterday! He was very excited. I have caught him talking to my belly at night while I am asleep. It is very sweet.

Jonathan got the garage cleaned out yesterday and put the utility shelf together so that we can organize our junk. We bought a garage door opener two weeks ago so hopefully he will get that installed today and my dream of parking my car in the garage will come true. I think we are going to give our dead car to the salvation army this week so that Jonathan can park in the driveway again. I hope all of you are having a good Labor Day!

Baby Update!

We went for our ultrasound on Tuesday morning. The radiologist said that everything looks good and the tech said that she is pretty sure we are having a girl :) Jonathan still thinks that it still might be a boy. I guess only time will tell. But we have started calling her Kylee so she feels more real.

She has been kicking me more lately. But she only kicks once and then not again. Tonight Bryan actually put his hand on my belly after she kicked, but she did not kick again so he didn't get to feel her. That was the most excited that I have seen him about the baby. He was a little disappointed when he found out that he would have a little sister instead of a little brother, but I think he'll come around. I told him that maybe God will give us a boy next time.

I find myself rubbing my belly at school without even thinking. The whole school knows that I am having a girl and the kids have been requesting that I name her after them. Even the boys have made this request. They are so cute and so excited! The little ones don't understand and think that I have already had the baby. They ask me where the baby is and I tell them that it is in my belly. They then tell me that they can't see it.

I did get another picture from the ultrasound, but she was in the exact position as the first one. One hand was by her face and you couldn't see the other one. At least she is consistent :)

Update

Yeah for benadryl!!! One of my coworkers reminded me that I am allowed to take benadryl while I am pregnant. I took some last night and it knocked me out by 9:30 and I slept until 6! It was awesome and I went to work with a clear head and no headache.

First Day Back

Today was our first staff day back at school. I usually take a tylenol pm or something similar for the first day back because I usually have trouble sleeping...what will my schedule be, how many kids will I have, etc. But since I am pregnant I could not take such a pill. I went to sleep around 10:30 and there began the longest night ever. I hadn't had much to drink yesterday, so I was hoping my constant restroom breaks might be less frequent, but boy was I wrong. I think I went every hour until 12 and then every 30 minutes. Needless to say I was not getting any deep sleep. I woke up at 3:30 to eat and visit the facilities and I never went back to sleep. It was a very long day. I'm hoping that tonight will be better!

I decided not to take a nap in hopes that I will sleep through the night. We'll see.

Pictures

Since I haven't been able to load my pictures in a while, I thought I would take this opportunity to show you some pictures.

The first one is a picture of Bryan after his awards ceremony at school. Jonathan and I were not able to make it because of work so we took pictures when we got home. I think he looks so cute!


Next is another awards ceremony that we missed...baseball. The coach left a message on Jonathan's phone about the time and date. It was a Saturday and Jonathan's voicemail was messed up and he didn't get the message until Monday. Bryan took it very well, but I felt bad for him



Here is a picture of Jonathan and his sister at her graduation last weekend. Shara graduated from Virginia College at Austin with a degree in Sonography.



And last, but not least. Jonathan had his friends up from Austin one night for a James Bond-a-thon. They attempted to make martinis and took some staged pictures to be like the great James Bond. Notice that I am the sexy female holding the gun (Jonathan spray painted one of Bryan's water guns).

He found it!

Jonathan found the camera cord last weekend. As most of you know I cannot find anything even if it is right in front of me. He found it in about 5 minutes. So here is a picture of me at 14 weeks. I put on the maternity clothes b/c they made me look a little more pregnant. As you can see I was very sunburned. I took Bryan swimming and completely forgot to put sunscreen on my face. At least he had it on his face and I wasn't a bad mom!

I had my 16 week appt. Wednesday and we got to hear the heartbeat again, it was cool. He said everything looks good. He reviewed my blood work and said that somehow I missed my rubella/measles vaccination, weird. I don't know how I got to go to school. He said he would give it to me as soon as I deliver so that I don't have to worry about it. I hope all is well with all of you!

A Little Disturbing

Sunday night Jonathan went out with some guy friends. They went to their favorite restaurant, Bush's and then went to see Transformers. They had a great time and I fell asleep before he got home that night. I woke up to him saying, "Wow you sleep hard!" I was a little confused and asked him what he was talking about. He said that he rang the doorbell about 10 times and knocked on the bedroom window so that I would let him in (he didn't have his keys with him). But I didn't budge. He had to call Tim to bring over his spare key to our house so that he could get in. Crazy huh? Usually I am not a very sound sleeper, but I guess I have been extra tired lately. I'm glad he wasn't a burler or something, I probably would have woken up after it was too late.

Rewards

As a teacher I have always hated using big reward systems with my kids. The few times that I have, I feel very tied to them and I just can't escape. So when Bryan's therapist suggested that we use rewards to help correct his behavior, I was very against it. She listened to me and let me have my side, but every time she suggests it.

So I absolutely lost it with Bryan the other day. He gets distracted very easily while he is doing his morning routine. We have found him in the bathroom staring at himself in the mirror quite a few times. It sounds kind of funny, but its not when you are trying to get ready to go somewhere. I have been pretty lax with him this summer, but now I am trying to get him back in the school mode.

Jonathan and I have tried everything that we can possibly think of with him and nothing has worked. So the other day when he had been in the bathroom for 20 minutes and hadn't even brushed his teeth, I was very upset (He was supposed to be using a timer and done with the whole routine in 15 minutes). Like I said, I lost it. I had so much anger and frustration that I didn't know what to do.

So that's when I decided to try the reward system. I made a chart with boxes and bought him some car stickers. Every time he does his night or morning routines without needing to be reminded about a step, he gets to put a sticker on the wall. Let me say that his routines are hanging on the wall, he is not expected to have them memorized.

So far is has worked out very well. Now when he gets off task, I have a consequence. Instead of turning red and loosing it, I simply say, "Oh that's too bad I guess you won't get your sticker today." He filled up his first chart the other day and got to draw a coupon from the envelope. He was so excited because it said that we would have his favorite for dinner, pizza! I just popped the Red Barron's in the oven and he was happy as a lark. He got a reward that he could feel proud of and I didn't have to spend any money on.

On a funny note. Yesterday Jonathan was helping him get ready for church and Bryan told him that he couldn't find any brown socks to wear with his loafers. This was really stressing him out. Jonathan told him to go look in the laundry room. He was looking through the socks and looking very stressed. Jonathan said, "What's wrong?" He said, "I'm almost out of time, I've got to hurry." So I guess its working. It all goes to show you, I guess I should have listened to the therapist in the first place!

I'm tired, no I'm tired

I called Jonathan while he was on his way home from work tonight and told him that I needed him to be in charge of dinner. I started having night sickness again and couldn't bare the thought of cooking. He said no problem. When he got here he told me that he didn't feel very well either and had a really long day, so we had cereal. It was very good btw.

I fell asleep on the bed after eating and about an hour later Jonathan came in and said that he was going to bed too. Well that would have been no problem if we didn't have an 8 year old, but someone has to get him to bed. So Jonathan and I were arguing about who was more tired and needed to go to bed the most. Of course he said that I should since I am pregnant, but I am stubborn and made him go to bed since he had been at work all day. Man we are old!

We did take my first belly shot tonight, but I still can't find our camera cord. As soon as I do, I will post it.

Past tense

Last night Bryan and I were reading a story with a lot of past tenses. He likes to pronounce ed like the name Ed when it is at the end of word. He does it when he is speaking too, not just reading. Jonathan and I have been trying to be better about correcting him when he speaks incorrectly. We kept thinking that he might learn by osmosis, but that hasn't worked.

So last night as we were eating dinner we were drilling him on words and their past tenses. Work...worked, wish...wished, look...looked, etc. Well then Jonathan asked him what the past tense of shoot was. He didn't quite get it so Jonathan explained, "You know like if you were out shooting and you were done, what would you say?" Bryan responded, "Yay I hit it right in the middle!" We couldn't stop laughing.

On another note, we are officially a real city now. We got a Target. We took a family outing to Target last night. Bryan and Jonathan had a blast looking at the toy department, it is way better than Wal-Mart. I bought a book for the baby and enjoyed looking at all of the school supplies. It was just a regular Target, but it was so exciting because it only took us 5 minutes to get there. They will be getting a lot of my business now, goodbye Wal-Mart!

I have a bump

So I have officially outgrown my first pair of pants. It is not cotton and has no stretch so I'm not surprised that I have outgrown them. All of my other pants fit me fine because my bump is very small. I'm not looking forward to the part where my back hurts, but I do want to "look" pregnant.

Bryan has become very protective of me since I am pregnant. He tells me that I shouldn't carry stuff and when I do he says that he will remind me when the baby is "messed up" that I carried whatever it was.

The other day I was making chocolate chip cookies and as most of you know, I love to eat the dough! Well because of the raw eggs, I am not supposed to. I was telling Bryan how much I wished I could eat some dough and he said, "Why don't you just call the doctor and tell him that you don't want to be pregnant anymore. Then you could throw up the baby and the he (the doctor) could put the baby in Jonathan's stomach!" LOL!

Prayers

As most of you know Jonathan has been looking for another job for a while now. He had an interview in Georgetown at a helicopter place a couple of weeks ago and now they have called him back for a second interview. The interview will be next week, but he doesn't know exactly which day yet. They have to bring in all of the big wigs for the interview. They are opening another hanger and have three positions. Apparently there are 5 interviewees. Please keep us in your prayers. We are hopeful that he will get the job, but trying to remember that it might not be God's plan.

Happy Anniversary!

Jonathan and I got married in December, but since I will be as big as a house by then, we went to celebrate our anniversary this past weekend. We wanted to go to a bed and breakfast since we had never been to one. I found one in San Antonio that looked really nice so we made a reservation. We made our way down to Austin where we dropped Bryan off with Jonathan's parents (thanks Chris and Pam!) then we headed down to San Antonio.

We were going to out for a nice dinner, but the only thing that I could think about eating was tuna. I usually don't even really like tuna, but we made our way to Subway where we had a very romantic sandwich with some chips.

We slept in on Saturday morning. They brought coffee and breakfast to our door. The breakfast was beautiful, delicious and even included dessert. It is called the Inn at Craig's Place and I highly recommend this bed and breakfast if you are ever in the San Antonio area.

Then we headed down to the riverwalk. I go there every year for my music convention, but Jonathan had never really been on the riverwalk so we had to enjoy the sights. We ate, walked, saw a movie at the imax and then I took him to my favorite jazz club, The Landing. He loved it!


We had a great weekend and it was a good recharge for us. We have been running like crazy and hadn't gotten to talk a whole lot lately. It was nice to have no responsibilities and get to relax!

Baby Tome

I had my first doctor's appt. today. He did an ultrasound and I wanted to share it with all of you. The doctor said that everything looks very good. Jonathan and I finally feel like its real, there is a baby in my tummy. Jonathan didn't seem that excited when we were looking at the screen today, but as soon as the doctor left, he said, "Wow that was cool!" I guess he didn't want to look too excited. The baby is looking straight out on the picture. You can see his/her left arm very well and the right arm just a little bit. Baby Tome sure was squirmy while he was trying to take a picture. I can't believe it is already so active. I can't wait until I can finally feel the baby kick.

I go back on Aug. 28th to see if it is a boy or a girl. So I will keep you updated as soon as I know anything. I can't stop smiling!!

Explanation: I forgot to mention that we did hear the heartbeat and it was very strong. Its amazing how fast it beats!

The head is on the right and the baby is looking straight at us. The mouth is open and you can see the eyes above them. The belly is on the left. There are no legs visible, but the doctor assured me that it does have legs! I hope that helps

Wow!

We are in a little dinner club with some friends of ours. Every Tuesday night we get together with them and we take turns cooking. So I know that I only have to cook every 3rd Tuesday. We were supposed to go to Steve's house last night for dinner, but I was having a little morning sickness in the evening. I decided that I didn't feel like going so Jonathan said he would fix me something to eat before he left. I was really craving some steamed veggies and grilled fish. We didn't have any fish to cook so he made me some grilled chicken and steamed carrots and broccoli. It was delicious. I was so impressed with his cooking skills. The chicken was juicy and seasoned perfectly. I was so proud that I had to take a picture of his cooking. It looks like a restaurant doesn't it?

Update, I can't find my camera cord so I won't be able to post a picture.

Good Weekend

We went to Dallas this weekend to visit my sister, Karen and her husband, Scott. We had a really good time. Friday night we got there late so we talked a little and then watched a movie on their big screen projector. It was a good movie, but I can't tell you what it was called because I feel asleep about 20 minutes into the movie. Jonathan was the only one who made it all the way through, I guess we are definitely old!

Saturday I wanted to sleep late, but my eating alarm wakes me up at 7 to eat every morning. I guess I should be glad that my baby is already on a schedule :). So I went downtown to the lab with Karen. She had to finish up some stuff that she hadn't gotten done the day before so I sat there like a little kid and asked her about everything that she was doing. She was very patient and explained everything, but I must admit I did not understand most of it. I did get that this one chemical kept things from bonding and man did it stink.

Then we went home and fixed lunch. Karen and I took a small nap and the boys headed out to Fry's (something they do every time they are together). Karen and I went to Babies R Us to look around because I hadn't gotten a chance to show her what we have picked out. It was fun!

Then we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. We had planned to take Bryan to Six Flags but we had to cancel because of the rain. Bryan shared his tokens with all of us and we all had fun playing the games. It was definitely a good weekend. I always wish that I lived closer to Karen and Scott.

So Cute!

Jonathan and Bryan REALLY needed a haircut. So we went to Wal-Mart last night after dinner to get their haircut. I've tried other places to get Bryan's haircut and they charge $13 and only cut off his side burns. I wouldn't get my haircut at Wal-Mart, but the boys don't mind.

So anyway we get their haircut and then come home. Bryan says, "I think someone needs a haircut!" We said, "Who?" He said, "My animals, can I borrow your 'real' scissors?" So I got my hair clipper set out and let him go to town. He only pretended with the clippers, but he must have been occupied for about an hour. He put his animals on the kitchen chair and wrapped a towel around them. He made good money too, $30 in tips! Maybe I should switch jobs.

I couldn't take a picture because he gets embarrased if he realizes other people know that he's pretending. You'll just have to imagine a picture.

Who knew?

Who knew that pregnancy would make me not want to drink water. I have an unquenchable thirst, but water makes me a little woozy. I know I should be drinking a lot of it, but it just rubs me the wrong way. I got some flavored water the other day and it was awesome, but it had splenda and I'm not supposed to have splenda--too many rules!

I have been a little emotional lately. Sometimes when I'm hungry I cry. The other day Jonathan called on his way home from work to see if I needed anything, isn't he sweet? Anyway I told him I would like some gatorade, but that he didn't need to get dinner and we would just eat something here. Well about 5 minutes later I got really hungry and called him back and tearfully said, "Will you get me some chicken?" He was already in the driveway at this point so he turned around and got chicken. I cried the whole time I ate it, but once I was full the tears stopped. Weird huh?

I found a crib online that we are going to buy, I am so excited! I'm gonna go and get it next week. I can't wait until we know if it is a boy or a girl so we can start buying other stuff.

Yummy!

Bryan and I went to get a doughnut after his therapy this morning. We were on the other side of town from our house so we decided to give Round Rock Doughnuts a try. I used to have their doughnuts in high school when I lived in Austin. I remember they were always very sweet and melted in your mouth. They had chocolate glazed so Bryan was happy and they had an apple fritter for me. I grew up on Dunkin Doughnuts apple fritters, man they were good. This one was as close as I have had in years. It actually had big chunks of apples!

Bryan had his birthmark removed on Monday. I took him to a plastic surgeon about a month ago and he suggested that we just do it in the office, it was quicker and less trouble. I agreed and then went home to tell Jonathan about the appt. He pointed out that doing it in the office was not a good idea (I usually have to hold him down to get a shot)! So I called the office back and they scheduled minor surgery. Bryan was so brave. They were very kid friendly. He got to watch cable while he was waiting, they brought him his very own teddy bear to keep and they were all very reasurring that he wouldn't feel anything. He blew up a balloon to fall asleep and then they put in the IV, genius! He still has a bandage strip on it so I haven't gotten to really look at it yet, but it should come off by next week.

I will write more later about my weird appetite. I hope all of you are doing well.

Enjoying the Summer

Well it has been very uneventful so far, but I am enjoying my summer. I have been sleeping about a half an hour in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. But I have an excuse right? Every evening when Jonathan gets home I go over the list of things that I really did get done, even if they are small. I guess I feel that I have to prove myself since I have been home all day and he has been working. His response is always, "Your job is to make our baby, I don't care if you watch TV and sleep all day." Isn't he a sweet husband? But I'm sure I will continue to try and "prove" myself anyway.

We are getting cable today. The cable guy is here. We went with dish network becuase it is only $25 for 2 years! We get 100 channels and two DVR's. The set-up is free and so is all of the equipment. Jonathan and I talked about the threat that cable brings though-more time in front of the TV. We both agreed to make it a priority not to veg out every night. I think we will do okay.

Bryan had to watch the cable guy as he put the dish on the house. Then he got a duffle bag and began collecting tools around the house to make a tool bag like the guy. He just came in and said that he fixed his desk and it works a lot better now. How cute. Oh and one more cute thing, he has started sleeping in flannel pants with no shirt like Jonathan. :)

Hormones!

I have been waiting for the first outburst of hormones and it finally came last night. I picked up Jonathan from work and we stopped at Taco Bell on the way home. I have been really wanting chicken quesadillas lately. So that is what Jonathan got for me. When we got home, I sat down to eat and Jonathan said, "What's wrong." I looked at him and tearfully said, "It doesn't have any chicken." I knew it was the hormones crying, but I just couldn't stop myself.

I went to my ob nurse visit today, I still haven't gotten to see the doctor, anyway, she said that I have to take only mildy warm showers because I might hurt the baby. What a bummer, I love hot showers! Jonathan said he is going to turn the water down to prevent any temptation.

Big News!!!

I can finally blog about it! I am pregnant!! I took a test on my first late day and it was faintly positive. The next day I took two more tests, faintly positive. So I called the doctor and they gave me a test. After 16 hours of waiting, I finally got their results--positive!

So I started calling family. I called all of my family except for my mom and mother-in-law. Jonathan wanted to tell them in person, which I thought was a great idea, but it was hard to keep it in.

We went down to Austin Sunday night and I had to keep the secret until lunch on Monday when my mom came over. We wrapped up a newborn baby outfit for each mom and put a print out from my pregnancy test on top. We told them that we had a late Mother's Day gift for them and they had to open them at exactly the same time. Needless to say they were very excited.

I haven't had any cravings or sickness yet. I have had a reduction in my appetite, which worried me. But thanks to the internet, I found out that was normal. When I am hungry, I have to eat right away or I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am hoping to get to see the doctor by next week. I am going up there to set up the payment plan with my insurance today. Who knew that you had to pay for having the baby before you could even see the doctor?

By the internet calculations, I am about 6 weeks pregnant. So that would make me due around January 28th, but we'll see what the doctor says.

I will update more often now that I am home for the summer.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a belated Happy Mother's Day wish. I tried to write this entry yesterday, but my computer froze and I lost it. We will see if it works today.

Sunday we went to church and heard the traditional Mother's Day sermon, then we made Mother's day cards in our Kindergarten class that Jonathan and I teach. After church Jonathan asked me where I wanted to go for lunch and I decided that I really wanted Romano's Macaroni Grill. Since we live in a small town, we do not have one and so we were planning to go Austin for lunch.

Jonathan got called into work right after we left church and we headed over there so he could look up a part for a customer. It was a parts emergency if you will. Bryan and I got to drive a gator around. I let him sit in my lap and steer. He was doing very well and I complimented him. Then he said that he would get back in the passenger seat so we could turn around. He then told me, "See Becca, you're a good driver too!"

After we left John Deere my allergies were really acting up so I asked Jonathan if we could just grab Taco Bell and head home. I though maybe we could go out to dinner that night. While we were waiting in the drive through line Bryan said, "Since I am going to live with you forever can I start calling you Mother and Father?" We were a little floored and said that we would love it if he called us Mom and Dad. We assured him that he could still call his Mommy Mommy and that he was lucky because he had two Moms and Dads.

Jonathan and I were planning on talking to him about that exact topic later that day, God took care of that! While I was talking to Debi that afternoon Bryan overheard me talking about adoption. He said, "Oh man I have to be adopted." So Jonathan and I sat down to talk to him about the adoption that evening. He said that he though adoption was bad, but he didn't know why. He then explained that adoption meant that you had to go and live with another family--he would have to go and live with someone else, not us. :( We quickly explained that we would be the ones adopting him and he wouldn't have to live with anyone else.

Then we read him a kid friendly book about adoption and talked about it a little more. He was obviously a little overwhelmed because he was acting very silly. He did call me Mommy once yesterday. That had a nice ring to it!

A musical week

Monday was our choir field trip. We took the kids bowling as their reward, had lunch at a park and then headed to 2 nursing homes to perform. The kids did really well and all of the residents were very excited that we were there. Needless to say I was exhausted after Monday. The field trip wasn't all that stressful, but just knowing that you are responsible for 45 kids is stressful!

Wednesday morning we did two performances for our school. The kids did pretty well, but not as good as I had hoped. Thursday evening we performed for parents and friends. That was their best performance yet! I was so proud of them. I wish I could show you pictures, but I don't think I am allowed to without written permission from the parents, so you can just imagine me standing in front of some kids.


Today the Oklahoma Christian Band came to my school and played for our kids. We were the last stop on their recruiting tour. It was so good to see Heath and Fletch. I recognized one other person, but I can't remember his name. I got to play on Oklahoma ! and America the Beautiful. Wow it has certainly been a while since I have played!

MEDICAID!

I just checked the mail and we got approved for medicaid for Bryan! I am so thankful!!! It will only be until we adopt him, after that we no longer qualify, but 3 months of free therapy instead of $300 is great! I told Bryan that it is free for him to go to the doctor now and he asked if we could use the money to buy a skooter for him. Kids! :)

Progress is good, I think

Bryan is really having a tough time lately. He has really been acting out. The therapist says that as he starts to realize that he will be with us forever it scares him. He is kind of in a roller coaster as he starts to learn how to trust adults. We are going along fine and then all of a sudden he panics and "tests" us. At least this is not the normal "testing that kids do," but it is still challenging. Bryan is testing to see if we will love him even if he is really bad.

So in a weird way, it is a compliment that he is lying, stealing and being moody. The therapist, we'll call her Kate, said that he seems to be bonding with us at warp speed. He even hung on to our legs the other day like a two year old. It was very strange, but Kate said that he has to go through these stages to reprogram his brain.

He has been doing baby talk too. I told him that he could do it while we are at home, but in public it is not appropriate. He likes to call me "Boo Boo." So we are taking it one day at a time and we are seeing that he has made a lot of progress. Please keep us in your prayers.

Catch up continued

We went to the zoo over Spring Break with my sister and her family. We had a lot of fun. Here is a picture of the kids. Look how enthusiastic Marjorie is (lower left corner).

Bryan took most of the pictures so they have bars in front of them or fingers covering them. Here is a good one of a hippo.

Random picture: Bryan often likes to play with his clothes hamper when it is empty. Our friend Tim was over here one evening and all of the boys decided to play aliens with their hampers. It was probably stinky in there!

Bryan also had his first baseball game. Here are some pictures. He is on the Hawks. His team says a cheer before every game. I was explaining this to my mother-in law the other day, I said their cheer is, "Hawks, hawks see us soar!" Bryan quickly corrected me, "No, Becca its, 1-2-3 hawks, hawks, see us soar!"

Catch up

Well we have had a lot happen in the last couple of weeks. Jonathan's car died and we had to buy a new one in a weekend. Luckily we had enough savings to pay cash for the car and did not acquire a new car payment. It is a blue Honda Accord similar to the white one below, but the doors were not what was represented. We were really disappointed when we got there to buy the car, but we decided that somehow we could live with normal doors.

We will have to sell Jonathan's car. It has a cracked head and whoever buys it will have to know how to work on cars. I guess we will put an ad in the Thrifty Nickel or something.

We did have an Easter with snow and I finally have some pictures to show you. I had to wake Bryan up early on Sunday morning to play before it all melted away. Unfortunately we were in Austin during the snowfall so we didn't get to see that, but we did enjoy the drive home with all of the snow on the sides of the road.

Here is our snowman, notice the Easter candy that we used for the buttons and eyes and the branches with leaves for the arms.

Here is a picture of Bryan in the snow

New car

We got a new car this weekend. Bryan especially likes the cool doors.

Update

We have found out that CPS cannot offer any assistance with our adoption of Bryan, but we are still in good spirits. We feel like God has taken care of us through this whole process and he will continue to do so.

We talked to Bryan's mom about the adoption and while it was hard for her, I think that she understands its necessity. Jonathan and I are really ready to have everything finalized and we are hoping that it will be a swift process. From what I have read online, family adoptions usually have less red tape.

Please keep us, Bryan and my sister in your prayers as we go through this process.

We hope that all of you are doing well! I will post on Bryan's first baseball game soon.

Away

I'm so sorry guys. I'm so behind on my blog! I haven't even talked to my sister about her new puppy even though she called me 4 days ago! Please bear with me and enjoy this picture while I am away.

Spring Break

We had a very good Spring Break. I got to hang out with my mom Wednesday morning and evening. I got to see an old friend from high school and I am officially an adult because she helped me open a retirement savings account. I also got to hang out with my sister and her family while we all went to the San Antonio zoo. Then one of my nephews came back to Temple and spent the night. It was nice to have some one-on-one time with him.

I can't believe the week is already over and I am back to the grind tomorrow. I don't really have much to say except, yuck! I hope all of you had a nice time too.

Our Soma

Our preacher, Toby, was talking about "Brave New World" in his sermon. I read it in high school, but I don't really remember it. He was talking about the fact that these people were controlled by a pill that they called their "soma." They would work all day and then when they got off work they were handed a pill that made them happy. One day they were denied the soma and they were angry and didn't know what to do.

Toby brought a TV up on the stage and told us that in our society the TV is our soma. He challenged all of us to spend an entire week without the TV. He said that we needed to give God time to work in our lives and not just give him our leftover time. Jonathan and I haven't followed through completely, but we have reduced our TV time this week. Last night we went out to Jack in the Box for dinner then headed over to Wal-Mart. I can't remember the last time that we all went shopping in an evening during the week. It was nice that we didn't have to rush home to get Bryan to bed.

Then when we got home we turned on our new jazz cd's and danced in the kitchen. It was a blast. Bryan and I were fighting over a turn with Jonathan. Then Jonathan sat down with me at the table to try and figure out how to sew up the crotches in all of his jeans. He seems to always break the crotch in his jeans at work. I am tired of the holes, but didn't know how to fix them. I have a sewing machine that my mom got me (Thanks Mom!) but I haven't used it a whole lot.

So Jonathan and I started by figuring out how to put some more thread on the bobbin and put it back in. After a call to Mom and consulting the manual, we figured it out. Then we started on the first pair of jeans, the needle broke. So we got to learn how to load a needle. We were successful and we sewed up the first pair of jeans. It doesn't look really pretty, but I think it will work.

Little League

So I know that it has been forever since my last post, but Spring Break starts tomorrow and I have some free time on my hands so here goes. Bryan started little league baseball last week and I quickly discovered that Belton is serious about baseball!

We went to the parents meeting for our team and the coach was talking about how he would always play every single child in every game because he felt that it was important. He said last year some parents took their kids off of this team because they thought that the bad kids should sit on the bench and let the good kids play, what is this, the major leagues?

I am very thankful for our coach. He is a very nice man and seems to be a man of God. He is very kind and patient with the kids and he seems to really know what he is doing. They did drills the whole practice that I was at and there was very little time when the kids were standing around. He even invited Bryan over on tomorrow to practice hitting. I think that this will be great for Bryan socially. Oh and God answered a prayer. There are a total of 16 teams in his division and out of all of them, his best friend ended up on the same team as him. God answers prayers!

The flu shot doesn't always work

I have been getting the flu shot every year since I became a teacher. I do work with a lot of snotty-nosed kids who are sick a lot. Not their fault I know, but its the truth. Well I have been struggling to get over a sinus infection for 2 1/2 weeks and Tuesday night I started running fever. I was shivering so much that I couldn't sleep. So I went back to the doctor and he said that I had the flu on top of my sinus infection. Great!

So my experience with the flu has been all sleeping. I slept off and on for about 30 hours before I started to feel better. I am still a little tired, but I am up and around and even cleaned the kitchen this morning.

Jonathan has been absolutely wonderful while I have been sick. He wouldn't let me get out of bed because I needed to rest. He made 2 trips to the grocery store after he has worked a 10 hour day and picked up Bryan from daycare. He fixed me soup and eggs. What a great hubby.

Precious

Tonight I came home and did not feel like making anything special for dinner, so I pulled out a voila meal and VOILA! It actually turned out to be really good so as Jonathan was putting his bowl in the sink, he said, "It was really good babe, thanks for slaving over the stove." Bryan piked up and said, "Yea Becca thanks for sleeping on the stove." Jonathan and I laughed so hard!

On another note: We got new living room furniture today. We got a loveseat, chair and entertainment center. We had to get the loveseat because the couch was way too long and we finally decided that our living room is just really small. But it looks nice so we will be happy. Pictures to come...

I found out that I was "annoying" :(

I am posting for Scott. He sent me a text message yesterday telling me that Karen's birthday had come and gone and it was time for me to update. So here goes.

Random thoughts:
The headband! I recently rediscovered the headband, I know its from the 80's, but it is very sensible. I can simply put some mouse in my hair, throw a headband on and I'm ready to go! It did make me realize that I have a big head though. Monday I wore one all day to work and it gave me a headache because it was a little tight. I had to make a run to Wal-Mart to buy the extra large size.

Bryan is starting to expand his vocabulary. He has been using some big words. Here is an example of a recent conversation.

Setting: Becca and Emily are sitting in the living room talking about her quilt when I hear:

Bryan: (yelling from the kitchen) "Becca you are annoying me!!!"

Becca: "How am I annoying you?"

Bryan: "I have been yelling your name and you didn't even listen!"

Becca: "Oh you mean that I am ignoring you."

Bryan: "That's what I said."


Last night I got to go to a tupperware party at one of my friend's houses. So Jonathan had her husband and some other guys over. Jonathan just got a new surround sound system for Christmas. His wife really loves him. This would have been the perfect opportunity to show off his system to the guys. But unfortunetaly he had to unhook it last week because we bought a new entertainment center and we had to clear the area (Our TV is sitting on our coffee table, its a nice look). But because of ice and other complications we have still not recieved our entertainment center and it was not here for the guys night. Maybe next time. I could tell this morning when I got up that guys had been in my kitchen. Everything that they had used was left open. I'm glad that we don't have ants.

Well those are all of my random thoughts, I hope you enjoyed them!

Happy Birthday Karen!

Today is my sister's birthday! Her blog is linked to the right if you want to check it out. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday Karen.