Big Baby

That's what the doctor called this boy inside of me. BIG. Since the day my husband told me he was around 10 1/2 lbs when he was born and broke his mother's tailbone, I've been praying that our sweet little babies will take after their 7 lb 11 oz mommy. Sadly, it's not to be so. The doctor guessed yesterday that he's over 8 lbs already. She then informed me that if he can't get out of me easily, they'll move straight to a c-section. What?! That wasn't part of my plan!! I guess I'll just have to make sure he sticks to my plans and follows the rules once he's out-- maybe he'll take after his mommy in that way! ;-)

Forgery

The other day, one of my little girls (we'll call her Suzy) was jealous that another 1st grader got to stay in to read during recess. I explained that the student got to stay in because I had gotten a note from her mom. The next morning, Suzy handed me a sheet of red construction paper. Here is what it said:

"can suzy stay in from shana (her mom- though that's not quite how her mom's name is really spelled) Love Mrs. Nye"

It was written in made-up cursive and decorated with 4 hearts and 3 stars. Hmmm . . . all I have to say is that's one creative mother! =)

Negative Nancy

I'm embarrassed to admit that my pregnancy can mostly be summed up as 9-month long bad mood. Case in point: I tried to take pictures each month so I could see the progression. Now, as I look back on those pictures, I had a scowl on my face in almost every single one! Isn't that terrible?! BUT as my pregnancy is getting close to the end . . . I'm determined to enjoy this time in my life and find the positives. Hence, this post! Here are some of the things I "love" about pregnancy:

#1- Expectant mother parking at our local grocery store. I can't even tell you how much I'll miss that parking spot!

#2- Everyday when I drop my 1st graders off in the lunchroom, one of my cute little boys says, "I'll miss you. I hope your baby has a good lunch."

#3- Cashiers, bank tellers, and perfect strangers who give me a huge, knowing smile and ask me when my baby's due. They give advice, tell me their pregnancy story, or just ask me questions. I know some people get annoyed by this, but I think it's sweet how caring an absolute stranger can be.

#4- Baby clothes. Seriously, there is nothing cuter than a teeny, tiny pair of jeans or set of pajamas.

#5- Being excused for every stupid, ditsy (sp?) thing I might do. Every time I make a fool of myself, I hear someone say, "It's okay . . . you're pregnant!" Soon I'll have to go back to being ditsy and people thinking I'm just an airhead!

#6- My sweet husband. Of course, he's always sweet- but since I've been pregnant, he's done more laundry, dishes, and household chores than ever. And I'm never allowed to carry groceries from the car to the condo when he's there-- unless it's a bag of marshmallows or something ridiculous like that. =)

#7- And finally, I'm trying to be grateful for all the other things people tell me I should be appreciating right now-- like getting more than 5 hours of sleep in a night; feeling the baby move; being able to travel light (no carseats, diaper bags, etc).

I'm a week away from my due date and we're dying to have the baby here. But hopefully I can appreciate these last few days enough to make for the past 9 months of moodiness!

Me, trying to look happier at 9 months =)

Baby's Name

We've chosen a name! Actually, we chose it months and months ago . . . but I'm sure you've noticed I haven't been the most devout blogger. =)

~ PORTER ~

The middle name is mostly decided; but we're still talking about a few other options, so I'll let you all know that one later.

Only 17 more days! And we can't wait for him to come! We've got the carseat in the car, the hospital bag is packed, the nursery is completely furnished, and now we're just waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting. Luckily, Brian and I both start school/work again this week and we'll be busy enough that the waiting won't be so unbearable.

I'm Turning into Santa!

I have the cutest little girl in my class. She's like a mini adult trapped in a 1st grader's body because she always has the funniest, wittiest things to say. The only problem is that she talks nonstop and often gets into trouble for it. Today was one of those days.

With my new pregnancy brain, I've found I don't remember things very well. So when I talk to a kid at school about their behavior, I usually have to make a note for myself. Today I kept this list in my pocket. But I had so many well-behaved kids today too that I told them I was also going to write down kids' names on a "good side" who would get an extra sticker on their chart at the end of the day.

My little girl came in to see me at recess to talk about her behavior (at my request- since I had the note to remind me!). We chatted and came up with a consequence- she would write the rule that she had broken. But as I was turning to get back to work, this is what I heard . . .

"You know what's kind of funny Mrs. Nye? You have a good and bad list. AND your tummy sort of looks like Santa Claus' belly."

That made me laugh so hard! But the funny thing is-- that's not the first time I've been compared to Santa this holiday! According to my little brother and sister, my pregnant belly shakes when I laugh "like a bowl full of jelly" as well.

This Weekend

**plus exclusive, never-before-seen photos of super-sized, prego Dana.

Spent Friday night at Macaroni Grill catching up with good friends- some I haven't seen for years & years.

Spent Saturday watching this beautiful girl get married! She and I grew up together. It was such a beautiful wedding!Unfortunately, I only really got one photo of her before my camera battery died-- and her hubby's eyes happened to be closed. =(

My favorite part of the weekend was watching Brian play with my friend Juliann's baby all day long at the wedding & reception. He's going to be such a good dad!

Pet Peeve

My husband likes to come home at night, sit on the couch, and remove his shoes & socks there in the living room. Pretty normal. What's not normal is that he shoves his dirty socks under the coffee table!

I decided a week ago that I was tired of getting on my hands & knees to retrieve his dirty socks . . . so I decided to wait. I lasted a week. But when we were having company over yesterday, I refused to let them see the dirty socks. So I got down on my hands & knees once again. And this is what I found:
Seriously?! Who goes through that many socks in a week?! Apparently my hubby does! I'm thinking I'll pass laundry duty over to him for awhile!

And while I'm posting . . . look at this cute dinosaur one of my students' moms gave me today. She MADE IT for our little baby boy! I am so impressed!

Yesterday

Woke up at 2am-- threw up twice. Paced the house, drinking 7up & eating saltines to calm my tummy down.

Fell asleep on the couch. Woke up late with a pounding stress headache.

Sobbed in the shower because I was so overwhelmed with everything that I needed to get done that day.

Got to school-- still planning the day when the bell rang. As a result, nothing ran very smoothly at all.

School's out- tried to write sub plans in 1 hour. Didn't make it-- I took 1 1/2 hours- and the plans weren't very good.

Cried as I drove to my Reading class (I was 1/2 hour late).

Fought back tears as I tried to focus on class & not think about the hours of unfinished homework due in my ESL class the next day.

After Reading Endorsement class, ran to primary presidency meeting (I'm the new 2nd counselor!).

Got home . . . and suddenly everything was better: Our baby bedding had arrived in the mail! Brian had all the boxes set up with a loaf of pumpkin bread (one of my favorite treats). I smiled for the first time that day as we set up the bedding in our crib, admired it for about 2 minutes, ate a slice of pumpkin bread . . . then sat down to work on our homework before going to bed.
I'm doing much better today. =)

Silly Brian

Yes, that is a giant pile of sunflower seed shells.

My husband loves sunflower seeds--- specifically, Zotes Salt & Pepper-flavored sunflower seeds. He orders them by the case from the manufacturer on a monthly basis. (On a sad note, they just went out of business-- but that's another story).

Anyway, about 4 months ago, Brian came up with this brilliant idea-- instead of throwing away all those shells that he goes through, he should save them!! Yes, he should save them in gallon-sized ziploc bags! And then, when he's saved all he can, we will go to the drive-in movies and dump them out by our car. The best part of this plan was the knowledge that some guy will come the next day to clean up and say, "What the heck?!"

Of course, being the super-supportive wife that I am, we saved and saved. At first, he kept the bags in our pantry and I became a little less supportive. Then the bags were moved to a storage closet. By the end, he had 8 gallons of sunflower seed shells. It was time.

We went to the drive-in movie on Friday. It was a double-feature, but we only stayed for one. Before we left, Brian dumped his collection out by our car. We took pictures and jumped in the car to go home. I was feeling sad that Brian could only imagine people's reactions to his 4-month project. BUT we were blessed. As we were pulling away with our windows rolled down, a teenage girl walked by staring at the pile open-mouthed and exclaimed, "What the heck?!" There it was. Totally worth it!

It's a . . .

BOY!!!

We are so excited! Immediately after our ultrasound, we went shopping-- nothing huge, but we were just so excited that we could finally start buying gender-specific items!! Here are the beginnings of our new baby boy's wardrobe: