Day Off

We have a school day off today- Hurray!! This year has gone well so far, but it has just been crazy busy. I'm exhausted once I get home from school (could be a pregnancy thing, but I'm not sure- I was tired in the past as well). Anyway, I got to sleep in a little this morning and I'm going to go visit an old friend today that had a baby recently. I do have to do some school work, but I think I will start that tonight maybe (while Jim is at work). He doesn't usually have to work on Friday nights, so that is a bummer.

Anyway, as I've been reflecting about the first 9 weeks of school (that have already flown by), I've decided to make a list of things that are going better this year than in past years. Here goes:

• My room is staying cleaner (more organized, the kids are cleaning up after themselves better than other classes I've had). Anyway, this is making a big difference in my sanity because things are a little more organized in my class.
• My book organization system is *so* much better than the past years. I'm so glad that I took the time to do this because the kids are able to 1.) find books easier that interest them and 2.) return them to the correct location (again this has helped with things staying clean and organized).
• I'm bringing home less to do this year. This is with the exception of the weekends. I do lesson plans 2 weeks in advance on the weekends (a lot of copying and pasting and posting onto our software system that the school uses). But, on an average weeknight, I'm not bringing home things to grade or looking over lesson plans for the next day. My friend, Kerri, shared some of her ideas with me and this has helped me a lot. I just stay at school a few extra minutes in the afternoon and look over everything at the end of the day that I will be teaching the next day. I used to bring every teacher manual home and look at this at home. With being pregnant, I've learned that I need to cut back on all the stuff that I'm bringing back and forth to school.
• I feel a little more relaxed about my teaching and being with the kids this year (not sure why). It could be because this is my 4th year there, but things are going better this year than ever- what a blessing!
• I have an awesome assistant (thanks Lesa) and she is a tremendous help and asset to 2nd grade:-).
• We have been doing Dream Dinners, so meal times at night are a little bit easier than they used to be. Jim cooks, but I hope that it has helped make his life a little bit easier. He also helps Josh study and checks over his math homework, so I don't have to worry about that like in the past!

The only thing that I tend to be struggling with a bit is all of the grades that have to be entered into the computer. It is becoming overwhelming because we are accountable for giving a certain number of tests per subject. Hopefully, the second nine weeks will go better, but then I will be out on maternity leave during the third nine weeks. I worry about someone else coming in and having to worry about all of this. I guess I'm just going to have to learn to let go! Well, this is long, so I will stop here. One day, I will post some pregnancy pictures (as much as I don't like to see myself bigger:-)

Answered prayer

I have been praying for a friend of mine that is pregnant. She had an appt. today and got back a good report- praise! I just continue to pray for this baby to be safe and continue to grow! I'm so excited for them!

Wow, I have a parent that is also expecting. It seems to be kind of going around these days. At least I won't be the only "big momma" around:-) I am starting to feel very self concious about the way I look. This is why I don't do the whole pregnancy thing well. I have lost my weight right away both times, but it is just hard to not be in control of my weight right now. Speaking of weight, I've probably gained 4 lbs. in one week. I don't even know for sure. I am trying not to be too obsessive like the other 2 pregnancies (and get on the scale every single day). I do tend to gain a lot at this point in my pregnancy. Not sure why because the baby is not growing all that much.

I'm still feeling pretty good other than fatigue. Jim and I have been walking 3-4 times a week, so I'm hoping this helps control the weight gain a little. We were able to go out on a "date night" Saturday night- thanks to our church. The neat thing was, they gave out gift vouchers for all the married couples to go out (the series has been on marriage and intimacy). What a nice way to help couples put this into action, especially during these stressful times with the economy. I'm tired of hearing about the economy- I get depressed when I watch the news! Anyway, I'm hoping that we can continue to make time to go out- at least on a once a month basis.

Update... It's a...

BOY"! I know that it has been a while. Life has been busy. I will be 20 weeks pregnant this week. The ultrasound went fine- they want me to go back at 32 weeks and take another look at the kidneys.

School has been good- the kids are great for the most part. Little things are starting to "bug" me though, but I think that is normal pregnancy behavior:-) I'm spending a *lot* of time on lesson plans because we have a new computer system.

I cry at the least little thing these days. My life isn't so bad, but I guess when you're pregnant everything is blown out of proportion. This will be one thing that I don't miss about pregnancy (actually this will be one of many things that I don't miss about being pregnant). Can you tell I don't really enjoy being big??

Sorry to be negative- I am thankful for this baby, but I'm also super, super self conscious right now- I guess I need to just get over it:-)