11 days old

Here's what's been going on:

• Eat, Sleep, Pee & poo - we've got about a 3 hour cycle going with these activities & it repeats 24/7. John has names this item "The Poop Snake" we've emptied the diaper genie twice so far...
• Other activities Jack seems to like: hanging out in his swing, going for walks with Mommy, Daddy, & Lucy, cuddling, trying to catch his hands/fingers as they fly by his mouth (he's only been successful at getting a thumb in once, but often sucks on his fist or random fingers).
• Jack doesn't cry often, but makes fussy noises when he needs/wants something.
• He stays awake a little more now & spends the time looking around & attempting to gain control of his hands.
• He is very verbal & makes tons of different sounds & noises.
• He picks up his head a lot when you hold him over your shoulder or put him on his tummy.
• He has a love/hate relationship with being swaddled - either he calms down & sleeps awesome b/c he's not bonking himself in the face with those crazy hands, or he's grunting & stretching trying to break free. It's kind of funny & after a few days we started calling him Houdini because he seems to have the ability to escape any form of swaddle if he so desires.
• He seems to have an every-other-night thing going with sleeping in 3 hour chunks between feedings, or keeping us up all night (last night was the latter). As you can see, even Lucy is worn out today!
• His umbilical 'stump' fell off & scared me to death before I realized what happened.
• We're still getting settled & getting used to being a little family.
• We're grateful for all the love, support, & food we've received from family & friends!

I've been meaning to post...

Well, lots of stuff. So today you get the shoulda-coulda-woulda of posts: 1. Vanity

• I never knew how much I loved my feet until they left me & got replaced with trunks. I mean, as a girl, no matter how insecure you are with your body, you can always put on a pair of great shoes & feel fabulous. I love to go shoe shopping even though I don't even buy anything most of the time. It's like dress-up for grownups! Anyway, it's no fun right now & I'm down to 1 pair of flip-flops & my tennis shoes that still fit my swollen sausage feet! Oh yeah, and the days I wear my tennis shoes, I have to wake John up to put them on for me!

2. Start of School

• It's been great! The first 2 days were rough & I was wondering if my body was going to cooperate, but we've been blessed with cooler temps & that has helped a LOT. Just getting out of the 100 degree weather everyday made a huge difference.
• I love the newest group of 5th graders! I already have tons of stories of their funny comments, stories, questions, etc. They crack me up!
• Anxious - if you know me, you know my students are 'My Kids' & it's really really weird facing the fact that I'm about to turn them over to someone for so long. My goal is to finish off the lesson plans this weekend...we shall see...
• I love my co-workers! I have the best work family & they have kept me laughing even on the days when late pregnancy has not been kind (i.e. days when tired, whiny, always burning up Katie shows up at work). I'm so thankful for the support, genuine care, & hilarity they provide on a daily basis.

Jack is Almost Here!!

• Surreal. We're about to have a new little person here with us & my mind refuses to wrap around that.
• People keep asking if I'm miserable & there are some rough days, but I would classify them more as uncomfortable than miserable. I'm still feeling pretty good considering I'm 8 & a half months now. I haven't really had anything to complain about with this pregnancy because everything has gone so smoothly & for that I truly thank God!
• Since my due date is a little more than 2 weeks away, I go to the doctor every week. Everything is normal & he seems to be happy where he is. We just scheduled a sonogram for next week to check Jack out. I think they want to get a better idea of how big he is, etc. since there's been no sign of any action so far. I already told my doctor (and pretty much everyone else) I just know he's going to be late. I could be wrong, but that's my feeling about it!
• Maternity pics - My friend Dori took some AMAZING pics of John & me & my tummy. I put them on Facebook and added some to the slideshow at the top of the blog. She is so gifted & I love the pics! You can check out her work here!
• We've pretty much got everything ready for Jack & I've been working on packing for the hospital & getting things ready for my maternity leave. John is simply amazing & has been keeping the house clean, getting the laundry done, and helping me out while trying to get ahead on his work stuff too. I am completely spoiled by this man (and couldn't be more thankful!)

I think that should catch me up for now - yay for long weekends!

It's July! (AKA: June Wrap-up)

I can't believe how fast the summer is zooming by! I've been meaning to update the blog, but I just haven't taken the time to sit down with the computer. So, here's a quick run down:

• We spent a week in lovely Breckenridge, TX with about 80 junior high & high school kids. It was our annual youth mission trip for church & we had a great time seeing God work in and through those around us. It was hot hot hot & I wasn't even on a worksite! I had to rest a lot & keep my feet up whenever possible, but overall it wasn't too bad! I rode around with John & helped take pictures & video of the different worksites. The teams did everything from mowing, painting, and trimming bushes, to building wheelchair ramps, porches, rebuilding a bathroom, and roofing an entire house. They worked so hard & I know their clients felt the love of the Lord through their service & conversations. John made a ton of videos & this was the first year he put them up on youtube throughout the week. Pretty cool! You can view them here. As always, I'm so proud of my talented man!
• Over the last couple of weeks I've also gotten the chance to reconnect with different friends (and family). I think pregnancy made me a little reclusive for a while & I'd almost forgotten all the wonderful people God has put in my life! I'm thankful for the pool time, lunches, movies, deep conversations, and laughter we've shared!
• We've spent the last week really working on our house. It's been a wreck ever since we got new carpet & painted 3 rooms. At some point you don't even notice that you have to step over a tool box, printer, and pile of extension cords to get to the kitchen! In other words, there was just stuff everywhere, nothing was in its place, & it was just overwhelming to me. John & I finally tackled it together & now it is at least to a manageable state & I feel like I can work a little everyday to get it where it needs to be.
• We've also been working on Baby Jack's room. It's so exciting! John put in a new ceiling fan & put up the curtains & wall decor this weekend. I'll post some pictures soon!
• Speaking of Baby Jack - we made the final decision on Father's Day that we wanted to honor our fathers (not to mention grandfathers & brothers) through Jack's name, so he is officially Jackson William! The name William is all over both sides of our families, so it was a perfect fit. Also, did you know Jackson literally means "John's son"? Like the name John, it also means 'God is gracious'. Amen to that!
• Lastly, I'm at 29 weeks which puts me into the 3rd trimester. I'm definitely having those surreal moments & I can't believe Baby Jack is going to be here so soon! I can't wait to meet him! Lately he has made a home for himself in my ribs - at least it feels that way. He seems to like to push on my bottom right rib all day long. Now I see why 30 years later my mom still remembers me doing that to her! He is super active all the time now, & John & I spend a lot of time watching him move around. I'm trying to enjoy every minute & not take this time for granted.

That's it for June! If you made it to the end of this, I commend you! :) You have some serious stamina.

Summer Wrap up

Now that August is here, it's time to think about the upcoming school year (not that educators ever really stop thinking about it! ;o) So...before all the craziness really kicks in, I thought I'd sum up my summer. So, here we go: I LOVE summer! I think the thing I love the most (besides comfy clothes and flip flops) is the flexibility. Every day when I wake up I can just decide, totally last minute, what I want to do. So here's what I've been up to:

• Staying up late & sleeping in - woo hoo!
• Working out - I'm determined to keep this up even when I go back to work!!!
• Cleaning out closets - a necessary (yet gratifying) evil.
• Ranger's games - I'll admit, I used to think they were boring, but now I love going!
• Hanging out with friends & their kiddos.
• Sitting by Jana's pool. :o)
• Reading
• Shopping
• Church stuff - young adult girls biblestudy(with Lucy's favorite people), singing & having fun with the praise band, leading Kid's Connection on Sunday mornings, Jr. High mission trip, kidnapping church staff members for lunch...
• Family time with parents, siblings, nieces & nephews, cousins, aunts & uncles...it's been so great to see everyone!
• Quality time with John - we took a last minute trip to Galveston just to get away, but other than that, we've had fun running errands, working on the house, building stuff for the Jr. High mission trip, and being lazy together.

I think that's about it! It's been a wonderful & relaxing couple of months!