Fall is here...but not in the air!

I guess I skipped blogging this Summer...oops!  It's Fall now and the signs are all here - school started, we have football games again, baseball season is over - but somehow the weather seems to have missed the memo.   It's still hot and we are still suffering from this awful drought!  Hopefully we will get a little cooler (I will never be ready for COLDer) and wetter weather soon.

We celebrated Andrew's first birthday in August!   Aunt Lisa gave him his first haircut just before the party.   It's so hard to believe the first year is already over!  He's such happy boy - he loves running, playing "Peep-eye/Peek-a-boo", eating, throwing his toys, playing in the water and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  We're still waiting for him to start sleeping through the night and talking.  We love to kiss, hug and cuddle him :)

Still a lovely Spring

I am impressed with and loving how long we are having a real Spring! So often we go from Winter to Summer with just a few mild days in between. No matter how warm the temperature gets though, I will always take Summer over Winter :) We enjoyed the mild weather a couple of weekends ago to pull out some of the original landscaping and put in some new plants. It was a lot of hard work, but the cool temperatures made it rather fun!

Before

After

Although some of the plants are now smaller and we have to wait longer for the fuller looking landscape, we really had to change out some plants that were not conducive to their placing and some that were scrawny and dying. We hope to add some color with bedding plants later to finish it off.

Another reason we are enjoying Spring is that baseball season has started! We've watched the first 3 Astros games, and even though they lost them all I am optimistic because at least this season they're scoring runs early in the season!! :) We are planning to go to College Station to see an Aggie baseball game once we get our new van.

Yes, we are purchasing a minivan - something neither one of us ever thought we would do!! We are getting a 2011 Honda Odyssey when the dealership gets our color in this month. Once we finally decided that it was the most practical choice for us we got very excited about it and are anxiously waiting for it to get here!

Andrew has now cut his two front bottom teeth and has the top two getting very close to coming in as well! He loves to stand in his crib and chew on the top rail. Because he only has his bottom teeth, the inside of the rail is all scratched up! I need to get a protective cover before the top teeth come in!! He is continuing to practice pulling up and balancing - he is getting pretty good and can actually stand for a couple of seconds without holding on to anything before he carefully lets himself down! He always amazes us and keeps us smiling :)

Spring Fever

As a person who does not do well in cold weather -at ALL - I am so grateful for this beautiful Spring we are having this year! We enjoyed a trip to the zoo last week on Danny's day off. Andrew loves being outside - it usually makes him so calm. In fact, he slept much of the time at the zoo :) I'm hoping to take him to the neighborhood playground soon. We'll see if he like to swing!

Houston Zoo

Andrew is now 7 months old and such a sweet boy! Danny and I weighed and measured him yesterday - not an easy task! He was 20 lbs. 3 oz. and 28 in. long. We are continuing to introduce new foods and he likes most everything. He doesn't care for peaches (at all) or bananas. I'm hoping he will like them better when he is able to eat fresh fruit. His favorite foods are carrots, sweet potatoes and peas so far.



He cut his first tooth last weekend! He did a lot of drooling and was a little fussy for a few days, but it wasn't too bad. I think his next tooth should come in very soon! I can't wait until the teeth show up in pictures :)

Growing pains!

With this beautiful spring-like weather I decided my blog should match that feeling, so I found a background that almost makes me hear birds chirping :) I am hoping to keep up with my blog a little better than I have been - we shall see how it goes!

Not long after learning to crawl, Andrew figured out how to sit up. Once he could sit up his toys became more interesting to him and he learned how to reach up a little when he wants picked up. The latter is probably my favorite new thing so far! :) It melts my heart every time...



He recently went through a growth spurt that had him fighting sleep day and night. He just didn't want to go to sleep - or stay asleep, as he would wake up 2-4 times a night!! He was eating constantly, so we decided to begin adding a little solid food into his diet. He took to it immediately. It didn't help with the sleeping problem right away, but I think a growth spurt was more to blame for the problem anyway. The growth spurt seems to finally be over because he is now behaving more like he used to when it comes to sleeping and how often he wants to eat. Thank goodness!!!

I have been enjoying getting to work on a little digital scrapbooking lately. Here is my latest creation:



I hope you enjoy this wonderful weather!! I think we will enjoy it with a trip to the zoo soon :)

Nearly half a year!

Well, we made it through the holidays and new year! It was nice, as it always is, to spend time with family. We are lucky that we live near enough to our families that we can spend the holidays with both sides and so far haven't had to alternate. It's especially nice now that we have Andrew - I want him to know and enjoy spending time with all of his extended family, as well as having them get to see him grow up :)

Facebook has been really helpful in allowing us to keep family and friends updated with photos and videos. It is so hard to believe that Andrew is nearly 6 months old - just a couple of weeks away!! In some respects I want him to stay my cute little baby forever, but it's also so much fun to watch how he grows and changes and learns new tricks!! I am always curious to see what new thing he will do each day, whether it's something brand new or just perfecting things he's been learning. He keeps us on our toes for sure - a "corral" will be very handy as soon as we get our hands on one - as he has finally figured out how to crawl!!!

Now to see the difference time can make - a picture from newborn and then 5 months!

So much to tell...

As you can tell, I haven't posted on here for a LONG time!!! There are so many things that I could tell, but there just isn't that much time available to me these days :) I'll just mention the most important...

Our lives were changed drastically on August 17!!! Andrew Daniel was born and we fell in love instantly! He keeps me on my toes as he is constantly learning and doing new things. I am learning how to get things done around the house between feeding, changing diapers, and rocking little one to sleep. One of the biggest challenges is the spit up - Andrew must take after me because Mom says I spit up until I was 10 months old. I'm really hoping he doesn't take that long to get over it!!! No matter how exhausting or difficult it can be at times, I wouldn't change my new job for anything! We are so very blessed with a precious and very easy-going baby!



As you can see from the first picture to this one, Andrew is growing and changing very rapidly :)



We also had another big change about 2 months after Andrew was born. We bought a new house in Humble and moved in October. It is so nice to have more room and a bigger kitchen, but the best part is that Danny cut his commute by more than half! I love having him home earlier so he has more time to spend with the family :) We have met a few of our new neighbors and so far everyone has been very friendly!

We enjoyed spending time with family for Thanksgiving and are really looking forward to Christmas! Even though the house is decorated and Christmas music plays most of the day, it is still hard to believe that Christmas is less than 3 weeks away!!!

New beginning

As of June 4, I ended one career so that I could begin a new one. I spent the last couple of weeks in May working very late at school in order to get everything cleaned out and packed up. Danny, my in-laws, and my mom came up to help me get everything out in time, so now our garage is pretty full of school stuff with no room left for the car. It has been really nice getting to relax when I need to these last couple of weeks. I have been able to get some things done around the house that I just had not had time to get to before now.

We found out that there was a little hold up on starting the new house, but after Danny had the company do some checking around they figured out their mistake and gave us a start date of June 21 (today). We are still hoping that the house will be ready in September. I'm not exactly looking forward to the actual moving part, but I am ready to get settled into the new place with a little more room.

I am now a little over 32 weeks and baby has been moving like crazy! Our midwife said he seems to be head down already, so I'm hoping he stays that way. We have been trying to get some of the necessities ready before he arrives, so the guest room upstairs is beginning to get a little crowded :) And we still have 3 more baby showers left! Luckily, we already have most of the big stuff.

We have a couple of months left, but I am ready to begin my new career as 'Mama'!

Life is busy!

I'd say I don't know why it is so hard for me to post on here more often, but I actually do know why!! :) Life has been so busy and I have been super exhausted trying to keep up!

My body has been working overtime trying to grow Baby, fight horrible allergies, keep up with job work and housework. To top it off I have had low iron levels. I was taking iron supplements, but had to finally double it since my iron level had not changed at my last prenatal visit even though I had been taking supplements. Things will slow down soon as there are only 18 days of school left...all I have to do after that is clean out my classroom!! I turned in my unsigned contract last month, so I will officially be a stay-at-home mom :) I have been looking forward to that job for so many years it is hard to believe it is finally here!

Danny and I went to register for baby stuff yesterday and it was really overwhelming! We have more stuff to add today since so much of what we picked out is only available online. I'm ready to have one more thing checked off our list :) We bought our first big baby purchase while we were out registering - the crib and mattress! We will get the matching dresser later as it was out of stock. We were able to get a good deal since Babies 'r Us was having a 20% off bedding and furniture sale!

Danny finished his classes last weekend and has loved not having homework...I have loved having him home more :) His graduation ceremony is Friday and I know he is looking forward to it. I am so proud of him!!!

It's a Boy!!

I can't believe how long it has taken me to post this! Life has been so busy lately!

We went for our second ultrasound about a week and a half ago and found out we are having a boy! After the first ultrasound Danny and I both thought baby was a girl, but we were wrong :) Danny's reaction was so cute...he covered his mouth and practically jumped when she told us he was a boy! We are both very excited to welcome our son in August. Only now comes the hard part of trying to pick out a name...

We have been doing a lot of house searching online for a couple of months trying to figure out where we want to buy a house. We started getting really serious about looking the last couple of weeks - internet searching and visiting neighborhoods and builders has kept us very busy on the weekends! We visited a couple of neighborhoods in Humble this past weekend and finally decided to build a house in a subdivision there. Danny's commute to work will go from 45-50 minutes to 15-20 minutes and he won't have to pay any tolls! The house won't be ready until the summer so we are going to have a lot on our plates :)

Beautiful Baby...

We had our first ultrasound last week and it was so exciting! Baby was moving and kicking on the screen :) I haven't felt the movements yet, but I am hoping that isn't too far away! Baby's heart rate was 150 and everything is looking great. We have pretty much decided that we are going to find out the baby's gender, so we go back in March for another ultrasound. I have now gained about 4 pounds and my clothes are beginning to drop out of 'wearability' one by one. I ended up getting a few maternity clothes last weekend, so hopefully they will be more comfortable!

Danny has finished his busiest term - he was taking 3 classes, so he was gone 3 nights a week - and is now in the downhill stretch! Just 1 more class and then graduation in May!! We are both very ready for him to be out of school for good :) I am very proud of all the time and hard work he has put into it!

Changes

This week has brought about more changes. I finally seem to be over the nausea (thank goodness!!!) so I am hungry more often. I am developing a bump, but have only gained a couple of pounds. This means I am still able to stay in most of my normal clothes so far. I know it will still be a while, but I am anticipating getting to feel the baby move :) We have our second prenatal visit next Wednesday and our first sonogram. We are really excited!!

Danny has been really busy with school and work right now, since he is taking 3 classes at the moment. The good news is he only has 2 more weeks with the heavy workload. He will go down to 1 class for the remainder of the term. Graduation is in mid-May...just around the corner!!!

Once Danny's plate is a little lighter, we plan to begin looking for a house. One of those things we are looking forward to, but nervous about at the same time! House hunting is a lot of work and a really big decision!

Entering week 11...

I can't believe it has already been 11 weeks! And then I remember I still have almost 30 more to go...

I am beginning to show a little, though most people can't tell yet. Luckily I haven't needed new clothes yet, but I have a feeling that I will pretty soon. Danny mentioned that he sometimes finds it hard to believe we're having baby :) I guess I do too, until I remember all the symptoms I have!! I think the sickness is nearing the end (at least I hope it is!)...I do fine on work days because I have a pretty set schedule for when I can have my snacks and lunch, but on the weekends my schedule is so off that I tend to get sick again. Despite all the yucky side effects, I love being pregnant and know that it will all be worth it!! We have a sonogram scheduled 3 weeks from now and are very excited about getting to see the baby and hear the heartbeat!

Happy New Year!

We wish all of our family and friends a very Happy New Year!

We celebrated our 1st anniversary, but we had to postpone the nice dinner Danny wanted to take me out for since I have spent the last 2 weeks dealing with all-day morning sickness! We hope to go out for that nice dinner soon :) I actually felt very good today and ate more food than I have in a while...I hope this is a sign that things are getting easier :)

We both started back to work today. I was surprised at how easily I was able to get up this morning after so many days of sleeping in!! Danny had a busy day and got home a little later than usual. I had a workday today so there were no students yet. It's a nice way to ease back into work after a long break.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is finally here! We are off to celebrate Christmas Eve with Danny's family this evening and then we will head over to my parents' house for Christmas Day in the morning. We are looking forward to spending time with both families!! I don't know about Danny, but I am ready to play some games!

Pregnancy update: I have been battling "morning sickness" almost all day lately. I got some advice from family and friends to eat/drink sour stuff and use Preggie Pops to help alleviate the nausea. So far, the Pops and lemonade have helped a bit. Unfortunately, the situation makes it difficult to eat, so I've been eating ramen soup, pretzels, popcorn and tuna casserole. I hope I don't get tired of these too quickly :)

Changing the subject back to Christmas, we are both so very thankful for all of God's blessings this year - two of the most notable being our 1st anniversary on December 28th and expecting our first child! We hope and pray that all our family and friends feel God's blessings also!! Merry Christmas to all!!!

More symptoms...

Well, it's been a couple more weeks and I am now experiencing more symptoms of pregnancy. Along with a few changes in my body, I am hungry often and have even begun to experience a little nausea. I am not so fond of the last part, but I'm dealing with it the best I can! Danny has been very helpful when I'm not feeling well and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband! We are both looking forward to our first prenatal visit with the midwife in January.

So excited!!!

I got up on December 3, just a regular Thursday morning, and debated on taking a pregnancy test even though I really didn't have any symptoms. I decided to go ahead and take the test...very glad I did because it turned out positive! It was really fun getting to wake Danny up to tell him :) He wanted to have confirmation so he asked me to get another brand and take one more test on Friday morning. Well, I got to wake him up with another positive test!

Now one week later, I am beginning to have more symptoms and it is so exciting!!! It is still a little hard to believe, though :) It is nice having such a large and wonderful support group to go to for advice and help. We look forward to sharing the journey...

Holiday Season is here!

Wow...I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post!! Life has been moving at an incredible speed! I am so glad that it is finally the holiday season. Why do I love this time of year so much?

1. Time spent with family
2. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners!
3. A&M/tu football game
4. Time off of work for a little relaxation
5. Round-the-clock Christmas music

And my new favorite reason...

6. My 1st wedding anniversary!

I have been blessed with, and am so thankful for, a wonderful husband!!!

College Football Saturdays!

College football and cool weather...what a great combination! It is so nice to spend a relaxing day on the couch with Danny watching and enjoying the NCAA. Of course our favorite games to watch are the Longhorns (Danny) and Aggies (me), but we will also watch any other games that are really good. I'm so excited that the Aggies have earned tv time for the last couple of games and again tonight. We aren't subscribed to the channel they are on tonight, so we'll be heading to Danny's parents house to watch my Aggies btho Kansas State :)

Now that Danny's game is over, I will need to spend some time grading papers before heading out tonight. Despite the fact that it is Saturday and supposed to be one of my days off, I still have work to do...it never seems to end. On a more positive note, I was able to get myself almost completely ready for next week before I left work Friday, which is the first time all year! I am usually starting the week out behind and feeling like I have to play catch up all week, so I'm hoping that starting the week out ahead will make for a better week!

Busy...

Okay, it's kinda sad how all my posts are about school! It just seems that school is all I have done in the last month! It is getting slightly easier as each week passes, but there is still way too much stuff to do with 23 kids. My students still need so much one-on-one time to really understand and do the work, but there isn't enough time in my day to do that, individually TPRI test, individually do a couple of graded assessments on every student, do reading groups, and whatever else there is that I'm not yet aware is coming up!!! Whew...I'm tired just thinking about :)

I did go to Walmart yesterday to get a few things that will help me to further organize my way of grading. I also spent a little time thinking about ways that my team can organize our home reading program to be more efficient. I find that it sometimes requires a little extra time and effort at the beginning in order to make the rest of the year smoother. Once this initial round of testing, parent conferences, etc. are done I really think it might be more manageable.

Danny is looking forward to October because he has a 3 week break from classes. It will be nice to have all our weeknights together without school or homework :) We have been talking lately about our options for when/where to buy a house. We like the area we live in now, but we need to do some research to find out what neighborhoods are in the vicinity, what we can afford, and what we really need in a house. We probably won't do any serious shopping around until at least January, but it's fun to start thinking about :)

Life in the fast lane!

Well, after my last post things have NOT slowed down! :) With my first ever set of progress reports, I had to stay at work until late this week (last night was 10:30!) just to get things done. It has been a real challenge to learn all the new things I have to teach, ways to grade, and so on, but I am still holding on to the hope that it will get easier! At least I have teammates that are always willing to listen to my questions and help me out when I need it.

Today I cleaned upstairs, did some "hand-wash only" laundry that I had been putting off, played on Facebook for a while and now am planning to spend a little time fiddling with PhotoShop before heading back upstairs to get myself ready to go to the store :)