I am One Lucky Girl!

Tonight, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! I just got through putting away ALL the baby gifts that my wonderful friends and family showered me with tonight! Lesley, Stephanie, and Jessica gave me the most awesome "surprise" baby shower that anyone could ever ask for! I put "surprise" in quotations because I did accidentally catch wind of the whole thing Wednesday night. However, I asked no questions after finding out that a shower was being planned. I didn't know where it was or who was coming. Last night Lesley told me that I needed to show up at Mariah's by 6:15 tonight, but that was all I knew. I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing. Most of my most dear friends were all in one room tonight to honor me and my new baby boy...how humbling. The most special part of it all was knowing that each of those special people had prayed for me and this little miracle! I was pretty emotional about the whole thing! :-) We had a wonderful time laughing and talking with each other. I got so many nice gifts, but the greatest gift was just spending time with all of my wonderful friends and family!

Here are a few pictures from the night. I'd upload more, but my computer is running at snail speed and I'm exhausted!

My gorgeous cake...by Mrs. Donna!

Katie, Emily, Andrea, and Jessica

Aunt Rhonda, Jen, and Mom

Denise, Amanda, and Susan

Robynn, Fu-Yung, Katie, and Jessica

Alicia, Staffanne, Brandie, and Sandy

DeeAnna, Lesley, and Brittany

Melissa, Valerie, Jessica, and Stephanie

Regina, Sharon, Erica, and Whitney

Opening a gift.

My "Bowling Green" friends.

Valerie(due Oct. 20th), me, and Brittany (due January '10)

The Duvall girls!

I was so surprised to see Jen! I had no idea she was coming!

The culprits behind it all...my besties!

Lesley, me, Steph, and Jess

I've Always Known He was a Star!

This was Evan's fourth week of Kindergarten and was it ever special! He was chosen as this week's Star Student. This meant that he got a bulletin board that was all about him, to lead the line everywhere they went, a special seat during rug time, and to bring in a special Show and Tell on Friday! I can't tell you how excited he has been every day about his special week. I've always known he was a star, but I'm so glad that he got to feel like one this week!

Here is a picture of the bulletin board in his classroom.On Tuesday, Grammy came to eat lunch with the Star!
She also read a story to the class!

He brought in his red Corvette for Show and Tell.

Showing his car to all of his classmates!

Evan and Mrs. Lesley

I have to stop and say how thankful I am that Evan has Mrs. Lesley as his teacher. I was just telling Lesley how funny I think it is that he loves her so much. I only say that because we are with Lesley and her family on a weekly basis. He has known and loved her all of his life; I didn't expect their relationship to change once he was in her room. However, he just sees her differently now. He comes home every single day and tells me (almost word for word) the conversations that they have had throughout the day. He can't wait to get to school every morning and I know it's because he has such a great teacher! I didn't think I could love her more either, but somehow, seeing her with my baby every day has made that happen!

On a completely different note, I went to the doctor yesterday. After telling him about all the pains I've been having over the last two weeks, he decided that maybe he should check to see if I was progressing at all. At 34 weeks, I have started to dilate. I was in somewhat of a panic, but Dr. Gass assured me that everything was fine. He said that he didn't expect Elliott to arrive for a few more weeks, but that he also didn't think he'd wait til October to arrive. I'm still having lots of contractions and get tired very easily, so I'm going to try and take it easy and hope that Elliott doesn't make his big arrival until he's developmentally ready. We go back next Friday to see if there is any change!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Making Room for Baby!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated my blog. To say that I am exhausted now that I'm back working full-time is the understatement of the century. Braxton Hicks contractions are in full swing now, and honestly, most days, I have no idea how I can possibly hold out for 5 more weeks. Don't get me wrong...I am not complaining. There has never been a pregnancy that was any more wanted or prayed for than this one. I just don't know how much longer I can handle the aching back, the pressure in my stomach, the insomnia, etc. It's been so long since I had a baby, that I think I had truly forgotten how grueling the end can be. The good news is that I think we're finally ready for Elliott's arrival!

As you know, we've spent the last several weeks getting Evan's new room fixed up so we could turn what was our nursery back into a nursery for Elliott. I am happy to report that today, we are finished! YAY! We've had the big stuff done for a couple of weeks, but my friend-of-a-friend, (who also happens to now be my friend too) Elizabeth, came today to paint the mural in Evan's room. I must say that it far surpassed my expectations. Evan's face was worth it all when he saw it for the first time, and he constantly tells me that he loves his new room! Thanks Elizabeth!

Since I included some pictures of Evan's new room, I thought it would only be fair to show you the nursery too. It's almost exactly like it was when Evan was born, but we've made a few changes.

Enjoy the pictures!

The diaper wreath that Jessica made for Elliott's door!

Our 9 Year Anniversary

Today Shaun and I are celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary! He is still out of school, and to my surprise, he showed up at my school today with a dozen roses and lunch for the two of us. How sweet is that?

My gorgeous flowers!

Eating our "romantic" lunch in the conference room at school! :-)

I swear, it seems like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating #8. As I think back to last year when I wrote this post, I realize that at that time I had no idea what this last year would hold for us. I didn't know we'd suffer a second heartbreaking miscarriage, that we'd have our dream family vacation to Disney World, or that God would bless us enough to be parents again, but those are just a few of the highlights of our 9th year of marriage.

Shaun and I laugh all the time because we've literally been together for half of our lives. We started dating 15 years ago...and believe you me, we've learned a lot about each other in those 15 years! :-) Over those 15 years, and especially over the last 9, I have learned that I am lucky enough to be married to my very best friend. Shaun is the one person in the world that knows every single thing about me...the good, the bad, and the ugly. He is the one person who really gets me. We've been through a lot of good times and a lot of hard times in the history of our relationship, and I can honestly say that the most important thing I've learned over the last 15 years, and especially over the last few years, is that Shaun is always the first person to rejoice in my happiness, and the last one holding me through the sorrows of life. He truly is my rock...in the good and the bad. And, even though I realize that today, as I write this, I do not know what our 10th year of marriage will hold, I do know that a year from now, we'll be able to say that we got through it together!

I love that song that Brad Paisley sings that says "I Thought I Loved You Then." It does seem that just when I think I can't love him more, I go and fall even more in love with him. I am so thankful that God put us together. He is a wonderful husband and an even greater Daddy! My boys and I are very lucky to have him in our lives!

And, just in case you wanted to see wedding pictures...here you go! :-)

August 5, 2000

P.S. Sorry to be so sappy. Remember, I'm really pregnant! :-)

My Baby is in Kindergarten!

Today was Evan's first day of Kindergarten. He was so excited about going to school, so I think that made it a little easier on Mommy! In fact, at one point, he asked me when I was going to leave! :-) I had to get to work early this morning, so Shaun had planned to get him up and bring him. Just as I was walking out the door, I heard those sweet feet hit the floor. He came running through the house and said, "Well, today is the day...Kindergarten!" My heart melted. I got to give him a goodbye kiss before I had to rush out the door. Shaun did a great job of getting him ready and bringing him to school!

He is in Mrs. Lesley's class, with LOTS of his friends. It is such a good feeling knowing that he is in one of my best friend's class, and also knowing that he has such good kids in there with him. I looked around the room today and there were very few faces that I didn't recognize. I know the years ahead for all of them will have lots of hills and valleys, but I also know that good, Christian friends make everything a little easier. I'm just very glad that he has so many of those good kids around him, and that Shaun and I have their families to help us raise him!

On a lighter note, Lesley has already shared her first funny story with me. She said as the kids were lining up for recess she was telling them all the fun and neat things they'd get to play with outside. She said Evan's hand shot up immediately. She said, "Yes, Evan." His reply, "I like you!" How sweet is that?

Here are some pictures from the day! Hope you enjoy them!

I'm not sure what that face is about!

Getting a drink from the water fountain.

What a big boy!

Evan and his wonderful teacher!

Evan and Jarrett

Evan, Jarrett, and Noah...I can only imagine the trouble these three will get into before they graduate from high school! :-)

Bowling with the Boys

I know...two posts in one day! What can I say. I'm fixing to go back to work, so I'm trying to get everything done! On Wednesday, we decided to take Evan to Bowling Green and let him choose what sort of fun activity we could do as a family. He is getting to be such a big boy! I think knowing that his days of having our full attention are coming to an end make us want to do more fun things with him. And, since he's starting school soon, we are trying to squeeze in as much as we can!

On our way to Bowling Green, he decided that he wanted to eat at Long John Silver's (if we promised to let him ring the bell when we were done) and then go bowling! So, since it was his special day, we did just that!

He had such a great time bowling with his daddy! Mommy decided to sit out since my belly would've gotten in the way! :-) That didn't stop the boys from having a blast though. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Our Little Pirate!

This hat began a lunch jam packed with Pirate jokes by Shaun and Evan!

Evan in action!

Evan and his daddy!

Evan and Mommy

Can you tell that we think this little boy is one special guy? We are so blessed that God chose us to be his Mommy and Daddy!

Elliott...in 3D

Hi everyone! Okay, first things first. We went for our 3d ultrasound yesterday and got to see our sweet Elliott! I couldn't believe how big he was! The last time we had an ultrasound (10 weeks ag0), his whole body fit on the screen at once. Yesterday, only his head could fit in the screen. It was amazing to lay there and watch him move and realize that this really is happening. You'd think I'd know that by now, but I swear, this is still all so amazing to me, that sometimes I can't believe that it's really happening. She got the best profile picture of him. Right after this, he turned toward us and opened his mouth...precious! Have I mentioned that I can't wait to hold him?

When she started to switch to 3d, she told us that only one in four get a good 3d ultrasound because the baby has to be face up and there has to be a fluid pocket in front of the face for it to work exactly as it should. As you can guess, Elliott was face up, but the fluid pocket wasn't where she wanted it to be. She was only able to get partial shots of his face. She was highly disappointed about this, but Shaun and I were still thrilled with what we were able to see. We never got to have a 3d ultrasound with Evan, so this was all very new to us. I don't have a scanner at home, so with some coaching from Lesley, I took a picture of the picture to put on here. You can see fingerprints and a little glare, but hopefully you can also see my handsome little guy. In this picture, he is actually smiling! I know, doesn't that just melt your heart?

Elliott is already in position and appears to be measuring about a week ahead, so he will be here in 10 weeks (or less). I can't believe it! The good news is, the rooms are coming right along. Shaun painted Evan's new room last night and the floor is being put down Monday, so hopefully by next weekend Evan's room will be complete and then I can start working on getting Elliott's ready. His will just be a matter of getting the crib down, and baby-proofing it all again!

I can't blog without saying something about Evan. He is really getting excited about school starting. I hope he stays that excited when he realizes that he has to go to bed and get up early! He's also getting more excited about Elliott's arrival. He kisses my belly a lot and loves to feel him moving. I can't wait to watch my boys together! Hopefully they'll grow up to be the best of friends!

Finally, I'm not sure if you know it or not, but I have a new job! If we are close friends and you hadn't heard that, please don't hate me! I've only known for a week, and I have lived at school since! I am the new Curriculum Coordinator for South Edmonson. I will be working with all students on assessment, and closely with teachers on what is being taught, assessed, etc. I am VERY nervous about this transition, but also very excited! It was one of the toughest choices I've ever had to make. Room 203 has been my "home away from home" for 7 years, and it wasn't easy to walk out of that room, or to realize that I wouldn't have my own class this year. But, I also realize that it's so easy to get in a rut, and I don't want to be that teacher that always does the same thing because that's what's easiest to do. I will return to teaching at some point, but I think this opportunity is one that will only make me a better teacher when I'm ready to go back to the classroom!

Okay, that's it for now. I've got to get busy on laundry and cleaning the house. We're taking Evan to see G-Force tonight! :-) I hope all of my dear blogging friends have a wonderful weekend!