Saturday Update

Happy Saturday, everyone!  Clark slept until 6:30 this morning, so I got to sleep in a whopping 45 minutes later than I normally do.  Woohoo!  It could be worse, so I'll keep my complaining to a minimum.  Anyways, we've made it through another school week, I don't know how though!  We're all running on empty around here, so we're struggling a bit!  Here's a look back at our week.

• While I was at work on Monday, Andy bought me a minivan!  Haha, I didn't even see it in person before he signed all the paperwork, but I was so over looking at cars at that point that I trusted his judgment.  Anyways, I love it!  I'll have another post on it soon.
• Cooper got all smiley faces at school this week!  Like I mentioned last week, he's good at school, then lets all of his energy, anger, frustration, and craziness out when he gets home.  It takes all I've got to survive him some days until Andy gets home.  I know my other nephews who started school are going through this too, so I guess it's normal.  I'm just thankful that he's being good at school.  He's also started sucking his thumb quit a bit since school started, something he NEVER did before pre-k started.  I don't if he does it to keep himself awake, a nervous habit, or what, but we're hoping it doesn't turn into a longterm habit.
• I keep thinking Clark will want to start potty training soon, but that baby has zero interest in that right now.  He'll sit on the potty anytime we ask him to, but nothing happens.  He doesn't care in the slightest to wear a dirty or wet diaper, and most of the time won't even tell me when he's got a dirty diaper (I honestly can't smell them, which makes for a bad combination).  I know he'll show interest sometime, but it'd be nice to stop buying diapers!
• I've made it to the Y four times this week, including one week night, so I feel like that was a successful week.  I've started swimming laps again, swim cap and goggles included, and it's so nice!  Don't get me wrong, it almost kills me, but it's such a good workout with no weight lifting (which my doctor has basically said no to with this spot their watching).  
• Andy's always been a huge fan of the TV show The Walking Dead, and I've always watched it with him.  I'm not near the fan he is, but I like watching it too.  Well, they started a spinoff called Fear the Walking Dead this week, and he sucked me into watching that with him as well.    I've started watching a lot less TV series lately just because we're so tired at night and don't have time, and have even cut out some of mine that I used to watch faithfully, so I really pick and choose what I want to watch these days.  It was good, but I had nightmares afterwards.  We'll see if I stick with it or not!
• I've ended up buying more maternity clothes this go around then I thought I would.  I knew I was a good bit smaller than I was starting out with the last two, so I needed smaller sizes.  Plus, my style has changed a lot in the last 3 years.  All the pants I wear now are skinny cut, so I had to stock up on those.  The thing I had the most trouble finding was khaki skinny maternity pants - I liked to have never found those!  Most everything I've bought is to get me through the winter at work, so hopefully I won't have to buy too much more.  If any of you out there are willing to share maternity clothes you aren't using though, let me know... I could use a few more cute tops!
• My birthday is next week, and I'm trying to decide what I want to buy with gift money.  I had a wedding scheduled on my photography calendar that I was going to buy a lens for, but it got cancelled/postponed, so now I'm thinking about clothes and shoes!  I've been wanting a pair of Hunter rain boots for about a year now, but I just don't know if I can spend that kind of money when rain isn't an every day thing around here.  I don't really want to buy maternity clothes with my money either, so who knows what I'll get!
• I've only been nauseous a few times this week, so that's been a relief.  I'm still so tired that I could come home from school, go to sleep, and sleep all night, but I'm hoping to get some energy back soon.  I'll be 12 weeks on Tuesday, and I'm really hoping we can find out what the baby is when I go for my 14 week checkup.  We don't care either way what it is, I'm just anxious to find out and get the baby named!

Alright, I've rambled enough.  I hope everyone has a good weekend!  I'm looking forward to getting through this work week and then having a 3 day weekend!  Our next break after that is in October, and I'm really looking forward to that because we're going to Hilton Head!

Baby Update

Today I went to the doctor for my tri-weekly checkup.  I'll be 11 weeks tomorrow, and everything looked good today.  My blood pressure was great (always a concern for me with my history), my weight was great, and the baby looked great.  I've got a place on my uterus that they've been watching since my first visit at 7 weeks.  The doctor compares it to a bruise, and thankfully it doesn't affect the baby, but it's still something they keep a close eye on.  The doctor told me most of these (it has a long, technical name) resolve/reabsorb by the second trimester, so I'm praying it'll go away soon.  I tend to read and research way too much, so my fears will be eased a lot once it's gone, even though my doctor assures me I shouldn't worry.  Since they're watching it though, I get an ultrasound at every visit, so that's nice.  I love seeing this sweet baby grow.  Even though the baby was only 4.5cm today, it looked just like a little human!  It was amazing!  He/she moved like crazy throughout the whole scan.  The heart rate was 180 bpm, and you could definitely make out the head, body, and limbs.  It was still too early to even have a guess on the gender, but we're hoping at my next visit at 14 weeks we might be able to tell.  Anyways, everything was great today, so I'm already looking forward to seeing this little peanut again in 3 weeks!  Below are some pictures from the scan today.

Friday Update

Happy Friday, everyone!  It's been awhile since I've been on here, but we've been exhausted lately.  Cooper and I have survived our first full week of school, but we're both about dead.  We're also in the middle of trying to find a new vehicle for me, so life has been busy and we've been going to bed early!  Anyways, here's a look back at what we've been up to recently.

• School is back in full swing now, and Cooper and I are both feeling it!  He's doing really well in pre-k.  He's had one day where he didn't get a smiley face on his note home, but other than that, he's been really good.  I don't know that I'd get any smiley faces from the way I've been acting at school, so I'm proud of him!  He refuses to nap at nap time, so he's exhausted when he comes home, so he tends to lash out at us a bit.  It's not fun, but I'd rather him take out his energy and exhaustion at home rather than school.  Anyways, we've been putting him to bed between 7:45 and 8:15pm every night, and he doesn't fight us one bit.  It's so nice!  We've been putting Clark to bed then as well because he usually gets up when Cooper does.
• I'm exhausted from school, too.  Thankfully, I'm not nauseous every day like I was a few weeks ago, but it's still coming frequently enough to make some of my school days pretty miserable.  By the time 3:15 rolls around, it's all I can do to gather my stuff up and get ready to go home.  Shortness of breath is a symptom of pregnancy, and I feel like I need an inhaler as I teach every day.  I've been getting in bed a little after 9:00 every night, and I'm about dead when my head hits the pillow.  I'm almost 11 weeks now, and I go back to the doctor on Monday for a checkup.  
• I haven't been to the Y in almost 2 weeks.  I'm so upset!  I've been walking almost every night at home, like I did before we got our Y membership, and even ran a little this week, so I'm still getting a good amount of exercise in.  I hate paying for the Y and not getting there though.  Between school, dinner, baths, and bedtime, I just haven't had time to get there.  I'm hoping we'll settle into more of a routine this next week and I can at least get there a night or two during the week and still do Saturdays and Sundays.  I knew this would happen, but I'm hoping things will calm down soon.
• We ended up at the doctor with Clark this weekend.  Last Friday, he got a bit of a runny nose.  Monday night he was running a fever, refused to eat, was a coughing a little, not sleeping, and screaming with his belly.  His biggest complaint was his stomach, so I just knew it'd be a virus once we got to the doctor.  Turns out he had bronchitis with some wheezing, so I'm glad I ended up taking him.  He's on his inhaler and an antibiotic, so he's been a bit crazy this week.  We're having an absolutely horrible time getting him to eat, so I'm hoping once the medicine is out of his system he'll start eating a little better.
• We sold my Civic on Monday, so we've been down to one car for almost a week now.  I'm driving Andy's truck, and he's been driving either a FedEx truck or a truck from his mechanic.  It's a bit crazy, so we're hoping we can find something this weekend.  We have a couple of different SUVs we're looking at, but who knows what we'll end up with.  I hate searching for cars, but the right one always seems to come along eventually.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!  We've got nothing planned except car shopping, so wish us luck!

Cooper's 1st Day of Pre-K!

Cooper (and Andy and I) survived his first day of pre-k!  He was a little slow moving this morning, but once he realized he got to wear his new shoes and Ninja Turtle shirt, he was up at at 'em!  I was weepy all morning, but pulled it together to walk him into school.  We got caught up in all the madness of first day of school traffic, but finally got him to his room and settled.  Of course, he wanted to play with everything he could get his hands on, but we finally got him to his seat and he started playing with the toys at his table.  At that point, I felt myself falling apart, so we quickly gave kisses and hugs, said our "I love you," and Andy and I quickly scooted out the door.  He never looked back, so that made us feel a lot better.  I cried the whole way to work, but once I got there, I was busy enough to keep me from falling apart.  

When I left school I called him, and he talked my ears off!  He loved it!  He first told me he didn't get in trouble at all :), then said nap time was his favorite time of the day, even though he didn't sleep.  He told me all about his teachers, his friends that he couldn't remember any names of, everything he did through the day, and everything he ate!  He told me even more once I got home.  He got a good note sent home on the highest color!  At dinner, he even prayed that he'd get to feed their pet fish tomorrow!  It was so sweet!  Clark was thrilled to see him, and followed him around everywhere once he got home.  Now, he was exhausted and pretty mean with everyone once he got home, but he went to bed early and easily.  He said he definitely wanted to go back, but he did ask me if it'd be as long as it was today, and if he would keep going every day.  We'll see how he feels about it when some of the newness wears off!  Thank you for all of your prayers for my baby and our family today - we definitely felt them!  Here's some pictures of his big morning!

Pre-K Anxiety

Tomorrow my baby starts pre-k.  I don't know how that's possible as it seems like it was just yesterday when that preemie was born.  I know that sound so cliche, but it's the truth!  He's ready to tackle the world, but I'm not ready for him to!  As I'm sure every mother does, I've got plenty of fears going into tomorrow.  I know I'll look back at these and laugh, probably next week, because I'm sure Cooper will love it, but I just can't let him go without being terrified of a few things.

Things I'm scared of:

• He'll wonder why in the world we've left him and think we're not coming back
• He'll be homesick
• He'll be scared because he doesn't know anyone
• He'll cry
• He won't make any friends
• He'll be mean to other kids and get in trouble
• He'll pitch a fit on his teachers
• He'll be shy
• He won't eat anything (I'm really worried about this)
• He'll be too scared to ask to go to the bathroom when he needs to
• He'll pull down his pants and go #1 on the playground
• He'll get distracted, wonder away from his class, and get lost
• He'll be so tired that he'll have no self-control/temper control by the end of the day

I could probably go on and on, but these are the main things I'm scared of.  I know it's all silly, but letting him go has been really hard on me!  I'm sure it'll be just as hard when Clark goes and the new baby, but at least I'll have already been through it once!  Wish us luck and pray for us!  I'm sure I'm going to shed a lot of tears tomorrow, and I'm hoping Cooper sheds none!

Big News!

As many of you may have already seen on Facebook, heard through the grapevine, or realized just by seeing me out in public, I'm pregnant with our 3rd child!  Andy, the boys, and I are all very excited about this addition to our family!  My due date is March 15, and everything seems to be going well so far, besides feeling sick as a dog and absolutely exhausted the last month or so.  My beloved doctor, Dr. Emberson, who treated me with both of the boys, retired, so I'm seeing his new replacement.  She's very young, but at my first visit she had NeedtoBreathe playing in her office when I went in to discuss my ultrasound, so I knew it would be a match made in heaven!  No, in all seriousness, she's been great so far, and I really like her.  I had an ultrasound at 7 weeks and another at 8, and everything looks great with the baby.  The first ultrasound the heart rate was 139, then at the second it was 179, so all over the place!  I go back in a couple of weeks and have another ultrasound scheduled, I believe.

The boys are really excited, but don't have a grasp on how long it's going to be until the baby gets here.  We've told them over and over that it'll be after Christmas, but at 3 and 4 they don't really understand how far away that is either.  Anyways, every morning they ask me if the baby is still in there, then look at my stomach and tell me how much it's grown overnight!  Haha, they really know how to make their momma feel good!  I showed quickly with Clark, so I knew it'd be the same with this one.  I really started showing this week (week 8), and have been wearing my maternity pants comfortably, even though they're still a tad too big.  It's amazing how fast your belly pops out after the first one, despite not having gained any weight yet.  I'll be 9 weeks on Tuesday, so I'm hoping all the sickness will go away soon!  I'm still working out 4-5 times a week, but not as strenuously as I was before I found out about the baby.

Anyways, we're thrilled to add another baby to the madness.  Here's some pictures of the baby and the boys' announcement.

Monday Update

Happy Monday!  This is my last Monday of my summer break, and we're celebrating by doing absolutely nothing!  I really hate that our summer is coming to an end... even if we aren't doing a thing, I love having this time with my boys.  The mommy time I get with them is the biggest bonus of being a teacher.  Our busy summer and the heat has caught up with us the last few weeks, so we've been taking more down time recently than being on the go.  Alright, here's a look back at our week!

• We've been trying to get the boys to bed earlier the last few weeks in preparation for pre-k!  I know Clark isn't going, but we like putting them down at the same time.  Cooper never fights us on going to bed at night because he's so tired from not napping, but Clark will stay awake forever once we put him down!  We usually have to go in his room at least once and make him lay back down and get settled in again.  He's usually up earlier than Cooper, too.  Once school starts, his naps are going to be shortened due to Cooper's school pickup time, so hopefully that'll help him sleep better at night.
• Clark turned three a week ago and had his yearly checkup at the doctor last week.  He weighed 27.6 lbs, which shocked me that he was that big, and was 37 inches.  He'd grown a lot in the past year, so Dr. Meredith was pleased with his progress.  He wasn't pleased that he still takes his pacifier and eats baby food though, so we've had to crack down on both of those this week.  Let me tell ya, it's been rough.  Getting him to eat table food has been harder than the paci.  He and I both have had some meltdowns this week.
• I go back to work on Wednesday, and Cooper starts pre-k the next Wednesday.  While I'm definitely not looking forward to either, it'll be nice for everyone to be on a schedule.  We seem to function better on one, and I'll be the first to tell you that I didn't do a great job this summer enforcing one.  
• I swam last week at the Y for the first time since April.  I kept my head up the whole time due to my ear, and I almost died.  It felt so good to be back swimming though, so I'm hoping to slowly work it back into my workouts.  
• I go back to my ENT today for a checkup on my bad ear, so we'll see where we stand with it.  It's been a solid 3 months now of issues, so I'm hoping to get some more answers today and see what the doctor thinks is going on.
• My photography business slowed down during the summer, understandably, but it's finally starting to pick up a little bit.  I had a shoot this past weekend, one on the calendar for next weekend, plus newborn photos this month and my first wedding next month!  I'm already thinking of some ideas for fall mini sessions too, so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things once the weather cools off some!
• Andy and I went on a date Friday night to eat and to Carmax to look at cars.  It was fun checking out everything they had, but vehicles are expensive... especially at dealerships!  We always seem to buy from an individual to keep the price down!
• We've got another NeedtoBreathe concert a week from Friday!  This one is in Nashville at a brand-new venue right on the river downtown.  I'm almost as excited about the venue as I am the concert!  I've already got my outfit picked out!
• I'm the world's worst about wishing for the next season during the current one.  I don't want to speed up time, I just want the temperatures to drop some.  Now that vacation is over and school is starting back, I'm ready for fall.  The boys love playing outside, but it's just been too hot to do anything outdoors.  I even slowed way down on our swimming trips the last few weeks due to the heat, as ridiculous as that sounds.

Alright, I hope everyone has a great week!  I'll be busy trying to figure out our new schedule and how to adjust to Cooper starting school... plus, I'll be an emotional wreck over it!