Cutie Pie

I'm back from my sonogram, and just as I suspected, everything looks fine. There's plenty of amniotic fluid, and they say the baby weighs 4.3 lbs, which is in the 54th percentile. (How can they really tell how much a baby weighs from a sonogram anyway? Oh well.) Apparently I'm just "hiding the baby well". Anyway, I thought I'd share the latest shot of our little sweetheart. In this one she's looking straight at the "camera" and sporting some BIG lips, along with wide eyes, a nose, cute chin and a fist. I think she's adorable, but I'm her mom, so I don't count. :)

Getting Bigger...

I'm at 32 weeks now, and I'm starting to get bigger. Despite this photographic evidence of my big belly, my students say I'm still little, and my doctor says I'm measuring small. I'm going in for a sonogram today to make sure that the baby is gaining enough weight. I'm not too worried. We have long torsos in my family.

Phew!

It's been one of those weeks where I've had a lot on my plate. We had a big joint activity for mutual last night that I was in charge of. Sometime yesterday afternoon I began to worry that I had bitten off more than I could chew. It was a missionary work activity, and started off with the youth receiving a "mission call" and entering the "MTC" (Relief Society room). We had an LGM (Large Group Meeting) introducing Preach My Gospel and the missionary purpose, and then they split into districts by language (we had Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Tagalog). They learned to introduce themselves and testify of the Book of Mormon in the language, and then they learned to teach a short first lesson on the restoration. Their "MTC teachers" were volunteers from the ward who had served in different parts of the world, and the full-time missionaries assigned to our ward. From there, they went to the "field" where they completed their To Do list of missionary tasks (sew a button, tie a tie/put on knee highs, find a scripture) and also went to their mission country (a table in the gym decorated with things from the country- we had the Philippines, Venezuela, France, Madagascar, Spain and Portugal) where they approached the "investigator" (volunteer from the ward), taught the first lesson, and sampled a food from the country. Once everyone finished this, they went "home" from their missions (back to the RS room) and a full-time Elder from the ward talked about how they can prepare for full-time missionary service and a member of the bishopric talked about things they can do to share the gospel now. Anyway, I was nervous because there were so many people involved, and so many things to get done in a short period of time, AND because our youth tend to be a bit unruly most of the time. When all was said and done, though, I think it went really well. The youth had fun (except for a couple who had decidedly bad attitudes and refused to fully participate---but that's something we deal with every week) and I hope they gained an increased desire to share the gospel and to serve missions some day. The volunteers and missionaries were awesome, and we never could have pulled it off without them. I'm glad we did it, and I'm glad it's over!

Today, I had my fourth and final observation (the department chair and principal come and observe me teach a class) for the year. I wasn't TOO worried, since the first three went well, but it's always a little bit stressful getting ready, and just praying that the students will be on their best behavior (since behavior issues tend to be my biggest concern). This observation was also of my largest and most difficult class. But the studets were (almost) angels and everything went off without a hitch. The principal and department chair were very complimentary, and (as I usually do) I felt like I was tricking them into thinking that I'm a good teacher. Oh well. I'm glad that's over too. Smooth sailing from now until the end of the year (knock on wood).

With those two "big" events and several other issues (including house-buying stuff- more news to come) this has been quite a week, and even though it's only Thursday, I am breathing a HUGE sigh of relief!

Talk About Productive

Tuesday was one of my most productive days yet. I started out by waking up early, reading my scriptures, making breakfast and heading to the bank before arriving early at work and getting some planning done. I taught my class and then headed home. I planned next week's joint activity and sent out emails to coordinate with those who will be helping. Then I made a batch of homemade bread, cleaned the kitchen, made some tortilla soup from scratch, and made chocolate-dipped strawberries and chocolate-walnut clusters. When Jon came home, we had dinner, washed the dishes, read scriptures together, and then I headed out to pick up my visiting teaching companion and visit one of our sisters. After our appointment, my companion and I drove by the house we made an offer on so that she could see it, and then I dropped her off at home. I headed to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up some things for projects I am working on and got home in time to watch the movie that had come in the mail from Netflix with my honey.

And that's not all!

I was even so productive as to quit watching the movie half-way through so that I could writhe on the floor in pain until Jon took me to the hospital where I was examined and given morphine, which barely took the edge off the torture of kidney stones. I stayed there for about 15 hours, during which time I eventually passed the stones (hopefully all of them!) and even managed to throw up every time I moved from my bed to go to the bathroom.

What did you do yesterday?

Baby Talk

We got a travel system for the baby from my mom. Thanks mom! I think it's super cute.

After we put it together, Jon came pushing the stroller into the kitchen and said "I have baby!" I looked in the stroller/car seat and this is what I saw...

Also, several people have given us baby clothes, and here are a few outfits that I think are adorable.

(thanks Lisa & Sue!)

(thanks Sue!)

(thanks Alisha!)

(Okay, I actually bought this one...it's just so TINY!)

Finally, I am at 30 weeks! Only 10 more to go (that actually seems like a long time...) Yesterday while we were sitting in church, I put my hand on the top of my belly, and I totally felt the baby's head! It was so cool! We felt it several more times throughout the day. It makes what has up to now been super abstract just a little more real. Anyway, here's my belly...

Top Ten Things I LOVE About Being Pregnant

10. Gaining a measure of empathy for those who suffer from indigestion/heartburn (things I had never previously experienced).
9. Feeling gratitude for my general good health during my non-pregnant life.
8. Buying tiny, cute articles of clothing.
7. Feeling the baby kick (as long as it's not in the ribs or the bladder).
6. Hearing Jon talk to the baby.
5. An excuse to refuse to wear clothing that is not comfortable.
4. Thicker hair...for real.
3. Something on my body finally sticks out more than my bum.
2. My students (and Jon) will pick things up off the floor if I drop them.
1. A good excuse to get out of absolutely anything I don't feel like doing...and to do whatever I want to, for that matter!

Awesome

So, I just found out that "up to 6 weeks paid maternity leave" actually means "as-many-unused-sick-days-as-you-have-saved-up paid maternity leave". I started the year with 10 sick days. I have about 6 left. Cool.

Medicine?

Earlier in my pregnancy when I was still having my love affair with nausea I was feeling really sick one time in the middle of the night. When Jon woke up due to my commotion, I told him I was feeling really terrible. In his half-conscious state the best comfort he could manage was to mumble "medicine?"

Tonight at our prepared childbirth class, we were practicing some breathing and positions for labor, and after about 2 minutes of practice (the dads were supposed to be comforting the moms), Jon whispered in my ear "Honey, I highly encourage you to get an epidural. I don't think we can take this much longer."

I'm glad he's so supportive!!

A step in the right direction...

We did it. We made an offer on a house (ahem, townhome)! It's in a great neighborhood, has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a deck and fenced-in back yard and a finished basement with a big family room, and office and a laundry room. That's the good news. The might-be-good-but-might-be-bad news is that it is a "short sale", which, for the non-real estate savvy of you, basically means that the seller is close to foreclosure, owes more on the property than it is worth, and has been approved by the bank to sell it (at a loss to the bank) before foreclosure actually takes place. This could be good because since the seller and the bank want to avoid foreclosure, we could possibly get a great deal. It could be bad, because since our offer has to be approved not only by the seller, but also by the bank, it could take a long time to go through (or could not go through at all)...basically the opposite of what you would think the term "short sale" means. So this is definitely not an announcement that we've bought a house, but simply that we have taken the first step in what is hopefully the right direction. This is the place...
We really like it, so keep your fingers crossed for us that everything will work out!

Roommate Reunion!

Awhile ago I wrote about my sophomore year roommates and all the fun we had. Yesterday, three of us got together to catch up and have some more fun. Lisa and her family are in the DC area for a conference Bill is attending for a few days, and Alisha lives just outside of Philadelphia, which made my place in Baltimore a perfect meeting spot. Lisa brought her three boys (Sammy and Michael, 3, and Ben, almost 1) and Alisha came with her three kids (Autumn, 5, Lincoln, 2 and Caeli, 3 months). So we had a total of six kids under 6 in our two bedroom apartment for 5 hours. And it was great!

(L-R: Michael, Autumn, Caeli, Lincoln, Ben, Sammy)

They all got along really well and played the hours away. We didn't even have to resort plopping them in front of a DVD, which, as a non-mom, would have been my first idea.

More importantly, it was SO FUN to hang out with the girls. I have really missed that living out here so far away from most of my friends and family. We looked at old pictures and had a good laugh at most of them, and then just mostly talked, with a little cooking, eating, feeding children, and cleaning up on the side. I loved watching them be moms! They are so good at it, and I learned a lot.

(L-R: Lisa, Alisha, Sarah's Belly, Sarah)

Thanks for making the effort, girls! We need to do this again sometime! And Chelle, Angela and Amanda...WE MISSED YOU!!!!

Hunting Help

For those of you who were wondering if Jon and I are planning on staying in MD for awhile, I thought I would let you know that we are house hunting. So, yes. We have a realtor (who came highly recommended, and so far does not disappoint), have been pre-approved for a loan, and have looked at several properties. And, just to clarify, when I say "house-hunting", what I actually mean is "townhome hunting". Around here, that's pretty much the only way to start out. The good news is, almost all townhomes have 3 floors (including finished basements), and generally run just shy of 2,000 sq feet. So, not quite as tiny as you might think.

As we all know, "it's a great time to buy", which, on the east coast means "it's finally somewhat affordable to buy". It's kind of depressing that we are probably going to have to spend on our first home (townhome) as much as, or more than what my parents spent on their current home. Five years ago. But, you do what you've gotta do, and we are actually seeing some things that, all things considered, are quite reasonable. It's exciting!

Neither Jon nor I are particularly "handy" (I always remind him that he's an engineer, and therefore, in my mind, should be able to fix just about anything...apparently an in-depth understanding of electricity, however, does not qualify you to, say, build a cabinet, install a toilet, hang dry wall, or even wire a house, for that matter...oh well). Despite our sad lack of abilities in this area, we are feeling ambitious enough to, say, strip ugly wallpaper and re-paint, or rip up old carpet and hire someone to put in new stuff.

That said, for those more experienced in this area than I (or those who have just thought about it more than I have...which isn't saying TOO much), what are the most important things to you about where you live? What are the must-haves, and what are the can-live-withouts? Which home improvement projects are probably over our heads, and which are doable? We can use all the advice we can get, so please share!

It's so beautiful...

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but no school is so delightful...