The "catch-up" everything in one blog

I have to admit, I was not thinking about blogging those last 3 weeks of school. It took all of me just to get through them and I am so glad that's behind me. Since summer began, however, I haven't really rested or sat still, I should say. I have been very busy. Dad came to visit so that he could help me with my classroom (packing/moving) and with painting the nursery. Then, I flew back with him to NC for a week and 2 baby showers. Since I"ve been home, it seems there's been one thing after another with church activities, dr appt, workshop for school, etc. Now, it's Friday and we leave Sunday to go to Alabama for about 10 days. When we get back on the 6th, i have a dr. appt the next day at which time I'll start going every week. Then there's also cooking club, a trip to Schlitterbahn, a baby shower with our church family, church, breastfeeding classes at the hospital and the list just doesn't seem to end! I am glad that I have the freedom to do all these things; teaching is hard, but this is one benefit that sure makes putting up with 10 months of crap worth it!


Anyhoo, I am 33 weeks now. And, like I mentioned, I will be going back to the Dr. at week 35 (July 7th) and then I'll be going every Thursday until Aubrey decides it's time! What a thought!

Here are a few photos from the showers I had and from Aubrey's room that is coming along:

Cinco de Mayo

So I've been studying Cinco de Mayo with my 8th graders at school all week. I decided to try to make some homemade "mole" sauce for them to try, so Aaron and I experimented tonight for dinner! It wasn't too bad...more chili flavorite than chocolate this time. Next time, I'd tone down the spiciness just a bit and add more chocolate, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out! Here is everything before I started:

Here's what it looked like in the pan while it was simmering:

And here's Aaron enjoying the finished product:

I actually took what was in the pan and blended it to make the sauce. I'm gonna let my kids at school use tortilla triangles to dip in the sauce tomorrow, just for the experience! We ate ours with chicken and jasmine rice. I'll let ya know what the 8th graders say :)

The last of the crafts...for now

Our last 2 weekends have been pretty busy, so I didn't get any crafting done. However, Aaron had a church meeting tonight so I was able to spend some time finishing up what I've started. Here is a picture of the actual wall art that comes with the bedding we picked out:

And here's a picture of the (almost) finished ones that I did. They lack a few touch ups and the ribbons they will hang on:

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I don't think I'll ever know the difference!

Here is another small project I did. Found this as unfinished wood at hobby lobby. It is a mirror that'll look cute in a little bookcase, I think:

Sunday, Aaron and I put together Aubrey's crib. Someone found it for us at a yard sale, and it is really cute, though needing a good cleaning and a little touch up paint. I like the idea of fixing the nursery up piece by piece, but I need to get busy finding the other pieces!

Finally, it has been very strange but a few people in the last 2 days have asked me how the 1st trimester is going. Huh? I feel huge, but obviously don't look like I'm almost 26 weeks. When I tell them I'm about 2 weeks away from the 3rd trimester they are very shocked. I guess I will take this as a compliment and hope it stays this way as long as possible :) Here's a few makeshift photos (again, Aaron's not home!). Please excuse the bathroom, haha!

So what do you think? Do I look ready to start the 3rd trimester in a few weeks?

Busy weekend!

Whew! I feel like we are soo busy, but I really do not mind! I know that it is making time pass more quickly. Closer to June 3rd (summer begins!) and closer to late July/early August...our Aubrey arrives. (Is it wishful thinking to hope we might have her early??)

This weekend was no exception to the busy-ness. Friday was even a test of faith, for me at least. Our church has challenged each family to do 3 weeks of sacrifice where we choose a monetary thing to give up for the 3 weeks leading up to Easter, and then we donate to missions the money we would have spent to that "thing." Aaron and I decided to sacrifice eating out, and it has been so difficult! Friday nights are usually our eat out nights, which have become sort of a date night just to get out of La Vernia and relax, talk, explore, etc. Staying home the first Friday night was not too bad because I had already planned what to cook for the week, including that night. This past Friday, however, I had a craving for ribs! All you pregnant ladies present and past know that cravings mean serious business! As bad as I wanted to just give in and go out to eat, we didn't. And...as late as it was already, I decided not to cook anything major, but we both just made some ramen noodles and ate PB&Js. The funny thing is: that food made me full just like ribs would have. It was just a matter of will power. I'm pretty proud of myself. But, I will have ribs soon :)

I was so exhausted that I fell asleep around 8:30 or 9:00 Friday night. The exhaustion is slowly coming back, but I keep reminding myself that I only have 7 more weeks of work to get through. Since I got so much rest, I was up and ready Saturday morning to go into San Antonio looking for baby stuff. We went mostly thrifting for furniture, but didn't find any. I found some cute outfits at a consignment store called Kid2Kid. Here are a couple of the things we found:

Saturday night, we were invited to go to the "Fiesta Flambeau" parade in downtown San Antonio. It was a lot of fun, though really long. I got uncomfortable sitting for that long, but the cultural experience was priceless. Here Aaron and I are waiting for the show to start:

 

Today, Sunday, was another good day of rest. I decided to work on some of my craft projects again and actually finished a few things. Here are Aubrey's letters for the wall in her room, all of them together and some close-ups:

 Also, I finished the first canvas in the 3 piece wall art I'm making that goes with her bedding. The pink and green look very neon in the pics, but they are more subtle. Her "toy bag" came in so I am able to match up colors and everything looks great so far!

Finally, here is my 23 weeks picture. Pardon my lazy Sunday clothes, but I did put on my Carolina t-shirt, in honor of everyone in NC, especially Johnston County, that were affected by the tornadoes that came through. It is scary to be so far away and see the pics of the debris and damage. I am praying for NC!

Til next time!

Sunday Craft Day!

I spent a lot of time on Sunday getting started (and finishing) some ideas that I had in mind for Aubrey's room. Once we decided on the bedding, my creative juices started flowing! The bedding we chose is called "Poppy" from a designer - Cotton Tale. They sell it at Babies-R-Us. Here is a photo with a black crib, we'll be using a white one:

When I got started looking, I noticed that the canvases in the 3 piece wall art look very simple to make! So, I have all the supplies and have started this project, but not finished quite yet. I want to take my time so that they look professionally done, not rushed through. More pics to come of that later. Here are all my supplies that I started with:

Hobby Lobby was out of the letter "y," but convinced me that they would be getting more in this Thursday. Another project I wanted to do was a homemade hairbow holder. I started with a wood plaque, paint, and ribbon, and here's the final project. I really hope the colors match up:

Lastly, I decided to leave the letters white, with her room being painted green (we are thinking). So, I'm adding ribbon and flowers, which takes a little longer than I had imagined. So here's the letter A that I've gotten done so far:

Wonder what I'll come up with next?

21-22 weeks...deciding on a name!

This past Friday night (yes, this is over a week late) we went out to eat on the riverwalk. I love spending Friday nights as kind of a "date night" with Aaron. It's pretty much my favorite time of the week because it means I don't have to get up early the next day! We ate at a place called "Iron Cactus" which was a GREAT Tex-Mex kind of place. Food was excellent, conversation even better; that night I think we actually finally decided what we would name our daughter. We didn't tell that night, but we did soon after. If you haven't heard...her name is going to be Aubrey Madison. We thought about it quite a bit...I wanted it to be special, of course. She will have the same initials as Aaron - AMS. Madison, a name I've always loved, also means "son of Matthew," also tying in Aaron's middle name. I am glad that she will have those things in common with her daddy. :)

18 weeks, but not a baby post!

Today I am 18 weeks! 2 weeks from tomorrow we'll find out if Baby S is a girl or boy. I really have no inclinations, but I can't wait until that milestone is here so we can really start planning!

I wanted to post today, though, to write about my wonderful husband. He left early this morning to start a day's worth of travelling to end up in Haiti, he thought. Long story short, the group won't be leaving until tomorrow morning...and I have cherished these extra times to be able to talk to him; once he's international, we will be savoring 50 texts until he comes back to Florida on Wednesday. Maybe you are all laughing at me by now about how mushy and sentimental I'm being, and I'll admit pregnancy has me a little bit emotional, but I've had such a hard time with him leaving. I cried 3 times, including saying goodbye this morning. And...as I sit and write this I am fighting the urge to tear up again! I KNOW! The week will go by so fast, especially with me being in NC starting Saturday. But, here's what God has shown me through this...

I love that man so much! We all often take our loved ones for granted. I don't know what I'd do without him though. He's my soulmate, my spiritual leader, and my best friend. We are about to take one of the biggest steps forward in our lives as we attempt to raise a child together! And I'd rather do that with no one else! Don't get me wrong - we're not a perfect couple, and we fight and get on each other's nerves enough! I am proud of the way he is spending this week serving, and how excited he was is about it. To sum it all up, I don't want to live life with anyone else but him.

Sometimes, this life we live is hard. Ministry is hard. We're so far from "home" and we've been burned so badly in the past that it'd be easy to quit. But, we stick it out. We've made some good changes, and we're happy! And I've realized that "home" is wherever he is.

Ok, enough lovey dovey! Just wanted you all to know how awesome my husband is. Be jealous!