Memorial Day Weekend: "The Best Weekend Ever!"

"This is the best day ever!" said Gwen, as she picked the dirt from under her finger nails and snuggled her new moose, Nala. I agreed.

We spent Memorial Day weekend riding bikes, jumping on a trampoline, meeting new friends, going on adventures with Grandma Julia and Grandpa Pete, and getting dirty! Corey's mom and step-dad were so gracious to have us in Prairie Du Chien this past weekend, and it was an incredible trip. It was the first weekend in a long time that we got to relax and catch up on our rest. Gwen stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in their camper (she made sure to let us know that was the plan every night-- "I'm staying with Grandma and Grandpa!"), so we got to sleep in a little more than normal. Corey got to ride in the big hills and beautiful landscape that Prairie Du Chien offers, and we even got a little sun and shopping in! We arrived around dinner time on Friday afternoon, huddled around the fire and roasted smores, and retired to bed so we could have an early day. Saturday was extremely sunny and warm (I even got some new freckles! A big feat), so Corey got up early and went on a bike ride while Gwen, Grandma and Grandpa and I hung around outside playing, making new friends, and riding bikes. We kicked a ball, played with dolls, jumped on a big trampoline (that was Gwen's favorite part of the weekend), and later went on a boat ride and did a little fishing. Gwen asked Grandpa many times if we could go fishing, so he made a point to take us on the boat. Gwen even touched a worm! If you know Gwen, that's pretty impressive for her! I touched a worm, too. It was gross.

We had smores again after dinner that night, and headed to bed sun-kissed and exhausted. The next morning it was raining, so Corey skipped his bike ride, and we headed over to the other camper a little later than normal since Gwen was still zonked out! Julia made pancakes, which were delicious, and we ended up heading into town to do a few things. First, we went to the Cannery, which is a really great little shop with a ton of goodies. Gwen ended up getting a moose she named Nala (thanks, Grandpa!) because she'd been so good. She really was awesome all weekend--she had great manners, a good attitude, no melt-downs, didn't whine at all, and was just awesome. We've worked really hard on a lot of these behaviors, and we are so proud of her! Nala was well deserved. Here are a few fun pictures from the Cannery.

Oh! We also went to the CUTEST fabric store! Julia had some awesome fabrics all picked out already for our baby quilt, but we needed a few more, so Julia and I hit up the fabric store and found a few awesome additions. I am so excited! I think it's going to be incredibly cute and it also helps give me more of a vision for the nursery. We're going between green and yellow for the walls, and are mixing maps/traveling, books (we have a cute old book mobile for above the crib and some cute book prints for the walls), and biking. This first picture is a picture of the front of the quilt (well, roughly some idea of it) and the second shows a dark, feather material that we're going to use for the back of it!

We love it so much! I'll post more pictures of it at a later time. After the Cannery, Julia, Gwen and I went to the cutest book store that had some really unique books. Corey and Pete went across the street to Old Man River brewery/restaurant. At the book store, I let Gwen pick out a book for herself, and she chose a big book with little stories for girls. When she first saw it, she opened to a page and saw a Mermaid. She was sold. Then, she picked out a book for the baby, a little Pig bath time book that came with little plastic pigs to play with. She was positive the baby would like it. I also found two other books for the kids. One is called "The Beard Book" and each page has a different beard (from the nose down) and a little rhyme that accompanies it. There's a little spot on the spine that lets you hold the book up to your nose so it looks like you're wearing the beard--Gwen loved it! We also got a book called, "DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!" (I think--something along those lines.) She loved that one, too. It starts off with a King who has his scribe tell him a story, but the scribe has lost the pages to the story, so they go on a quest to find it. The King gets mad at the reader a few times for continuing to read even though he told them to stop since it wasn't done. By the end of the story, we hear the tale of the Princess and the Pea (which Gwen loves). She really loves the page where the King gets mad at yells at us :) There's also a little Gingerbread Man in it who says something like, "This is so crumby." I tried to teach her the meaning of "double entendre," but I'm not sure it stuck ;) We'll work on it. We had a late lunch, and headed home, and before we knew it, it was time for bed again. We left around lunch time on Monday, but not until Gwen jumped once more on the trampoline and said goodbye to her "new best friend!" (She met a little girl named Kiley and they played SO well together on Sunday and Monday morning.) Corey and I grabbed a Pete's burger for lunch on the way out, and Gwen and Corey found two geo-caches before we drove home! Here Gwen is looking ragged and exhausted, but very happy :) She crashed on the ride home, thankfully, and went to bed pretty early so she could be ready to go for school yesterday.

She was sluggish a little bit when she woke up yesterday morning, but had another great day at school (we've been working on a few behaviors and have a rewards/consequences system set up, and she's doing very well with it). She has had six good days in a row! Last week, after she had five (that's been our goal for a while), she got to pick a prize from the Dollar Store. She chose a weave. Atta girl, Gwen. :)

I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and that went really well. Baby and I are both measuring on track, and everything looks good! We had two ultrasounds in a row because last time she wasn't able to get all the images she needed, so we got a few extras and captured this one yesterday. We're dying over the cuteness :)

Corey and I are still working on framing/hanging Gwen's pictures in her room, so we'll still post that once it's done. We're out of town a lot, so it's taken us longer than we'd like. We're headed to Kansas City this weekend, and then to Cedar Rapids next weekend for Aunt Ashley's baby Sprinkle! School is winding down and we only have 5 more days total. I'm in a fury of grading and getting in final grades. I'll have several trainings this summer, including an AP week-long training in Iowa City, and a few trainings for a new position I have for next year (I'm still teaching, just also taking on another role), so we should be on the go a lot. We are so thankful for what life has given us at this point-- an incredible family, a GROWING family, the means to enjoy our hobbies and fun, and a wonderful support system of friends. We are very lucky!

I Have a Chandelier in my Room!

It's not even summer yet, and I already feel overwhelmed (in a great way) with all of our plans. I'm also overwhelmed with this big ol' belly getting in the way! Today I mistakenly wrote on my stomach three different times, and while in the computer lab I accidentally rested it on a girl's shoulder while helping edit her paper. Embarrassing. If this belly doubles in size (which it might since I'm only 6 months), I'm going to have to wear bright orange to warn people of my impending girth! Here I am-->

Recently, Corey and I spent one of our last free weekends of the spring/summer painting our spare bedroom into a BIG GIRL room for Gwen. We asked her if she'd like to keep her current room, or switch and get new paint/re-decorate, and without hesitation she decided she needed a BIG girl room. She chose pink and aqua marine for her walls, and one weekend when she was gone, we painted the spare room, added a glitter overlay (from Walmart's Disney paint collection--it was wonderful!) to the pink wall, and assembled and hung a chandelier. The chandelier was Corey's idea, and I'm so glad we went with it because it literally makes the room and it is all Gwen wants to talk about. I also created a little "reading nook" next to her bookshelf since she loves to read. It took me forever to decide how I wanted to do it. I wanted it to be comfortable, but without a lot of pattern (since her bedspread is pretty busy). I went between a bean bag chair, kid-sized papasan chair, and a ton of huge pillows, and nothing quite worked. Finally, I got the idea to use a dog bed for the bottom since it's so soft, and found a perfect plain gray one. I then found some pretty gray, slightly patterned pillows to go with it. It turned out so nicely, but I felt kind of sheepish that I used a dog bed. Corey and I both thought it didn't really matter because she wouldn't even know it was a dog bed (it doesn't look like it). The FIRST thing she said when she went in the room was, "I HAVE A DOG BED!" with great delight. Haha, fail! But she loves it, so that worked out well. Here's a picture of the reading nook (in the left corner), her bookshelves, and Gwen's "maternity pants." By the way, it's a new dog bed--not used!

On Wednesday of last week I moved Gwen's dress-up closet that Corey made and assembled her new bookshelves in her room. My back was killing me after that, so I had to wait until Corey could help to do anything else. Yesterday he took apart her bed and moved it into the new room, and last night was her first night sleeping in it. This morning she told me that she tried so hard not to stare at her chandelier at bed time, but couldn't help it. It was so cute. I told her she was welcome to stare at it, because it was all hers! She is such a great sleeper, and crashed really hard last night. We're hoping to get her pictures on the wall and do some final touches tonight and tomorrow, so I'll post another entry with some before and after pictures so you get the full picture. Let's rewind a little bit to Friday. This weekend my mom and Russ got married. It was such a fun occasion and great to celebrate with them. We love both of them incredibly, and got to see a lot of family. Corey and my brother played golf all day on Friday, while Gwen and I hung out with my mom, sister-in-law Angie, and nephews Titan, Jett, and Colt. Since my mom and Russ live right on the golf course, we got to see the boys go by a few times and even got to root for them on the hole behind my mom's house. Here are Corey and Gwen getting their golf on :)

Colt even had to get in on the golf action (in his PJ's!)

The kids had a great time playing in Grandma's back yard and racing bikes around the fire-pit. Even cranky Jett Thomas cracked a smile! They had fun hanging with one another, and especially with Grandma Sonya.

We ended that first night with a bonfire before the big day! My Aunt and Uncle from Ohio made the trip down, so seeing them was especially exciting. Gwen immediately decided my Aunt Marcia was her new best friend. At the wedding, they played chalk and bubbles, and Gwen is thrilled that the zebra painting my aunt did for me will now be in her big girl room. She's an incredible artist and is currently working on a piece for the baby's room! Here is a picture of my brother, mom and Aunt Marcia.

And here are just a few more (I didn't have time to take too many, but I'm sure more photos will surface as time goes on).

We made it home around 8:00 and put the kids to bed while we spent a little more time chatting. I'm pretty sure I was the first of the adults to head to bed, and I'm glad because Gwen and I were both up at 6:00 AM! We hung out a little bit more that morning, and got back to Des Moines around 12:30. Corey and Gwen went downtown to check out the bicycle art show we missed, and they got ice cream, played at a park, and spotted a chandelier the gazed at for a while :)

We had a lot of fun celebrating my mom and Russ, and feel so fortunate to have such a great family support system. Next weekend we are headed to Prairie Du Chien to go camping with Corey's Mom and step-dad. We went last year, too, and it was so beautiful that we had to invite ourselves to go again! :) Corey's excited to ride his bike, Gwen can't wait to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa, and I'm excited to do whatever everyone else wants to do!

It seems like there is so much to update each week, and I hardly know where to start. I begin writing in my head, but by the time I sit down to put the endless narrative in writing, I've lost it all. It always seems to happen that way for me. Here goes anyway: Last week, I picked Gwen up early from school and we met Corey at the doctor's office. Apparently Gwen had been telling her teacher all day about seeing pictures of the baby, so all her friends wanted to ask me about it when I got there. One of her friends, my favorite one, asked me where the baby was. I told her it was still in my belly, and she said she couldn't see it (as she squinted at my belly). Then she started asking me if I wanted a boy or a girl, and asked when we'd find out. She's like a miniature adult; I feel like soon she's going to ask me to go get coffee sometime. As I was leaving she said, "Well good luck at your 'pointment! I hope you have a girl!" This is the same little girl who told me last spring that she liked my face, especially all the polka dots on it. She's the cutest. It's adorable and scary how these little toddlers are mini-people and imitate adult conversations and behaviors. It makes me painfully aware of my behavior and words! For example, several months ago while visiting Grandma and Grandpa, something happened and Gwen laughed and said, "Awww, Suckas!!!" Oops. I then explained how it wasn't kind of us to call people suckers, even if they were ;) Just kidding. I told her her that people are suckers, but we don't always have to point it out. Again, parent of the year here. I told her that it wasn't right for me to say that, and she shouldn't say it either; it might hurt someone's feelings. Leave it to the little ones to display your flaws for the in-laws. Thankfully, they were gracious :) Anyway, we had our 20 week ultrasound and got to see and hear the baby. We didn't get a lot of exciting pictures, but Gwen loved it and saw the baby "wave" to her :) The baby then threw up the peace sign, so I'm afraid that my students are already rubbing off on this child. They do say babies can hear in the womb, you know. This baby is going to know a lot more slang than is necessary by the time he/she is born. Speaking of slang, a common phrase used among my students now is "on fleek." For example, "Dang, girl... your eyebrows is on fleek!" Translation: "Wow, friend. Your eyebrows really look sculpted and spectacular and perfect." Anyway, please pray this child doesn't come out of the womb calling me "Shan" or "Big Dog" or "Girl." I fear it's inevitable. Because of my uterus shape (it's bicornuate, or heart-shaped), and because of the position the baby was in, there are a few measurements of the baby the ultrasound tech was unable get, so we'll have another one at our 24 week appointment at the end of May. Here's a really thrilling image of what my uterus looks like (because I know you're THAT interested):

One thing we were able to see was the heart as it was beating, and the four chambers of the heart. It was incredible to see how intricate the heart was at such a early point in pregnancy. That was probably my favorite part. Gwen's favorite part was seeing the fingers. I asked her what she thought the baby looked like, and she said a boy; I'm pretty sure it's a monkey. A student recently asked me what I'm looking forward to most about the baby, and I told her it was finally knowing if it's a boy or a girl, and what it looks like. Sometimes I feel like I can't take not knowing, but so many of the best things in my life have been unexpected or unknown (my job, Corey and Gwen, being pregnant, etc!). The sweetest things in all my life have had some element of mystery and waiting to them, so I know I'll be happy I waited it out. I met with my doctor for an appointment afterwards. Imagine Jane Lynch with brown hair, and that's her. She cracks me up, but is a wonderful doctor (and far more appropriate than Jane Lynch generally is). She told me that the baby was measuring slightly big, and after commenting about how my maternity pants were "WAY UP THERE" (rude), she measured my stomach and said I am slightly smaller than I should be. At this point, she said it was nothing to worry about, but said we'd watch it. She then explained the Glucose test I'd have at my next appointment, but said since I was "so cute" I wouldn't need to worry about it. Hopefully cuteness wards of diabetes. Just kidding :) It wasn't really a necessary comment, but with all the body changes I've been experiencing, it was much appreciated in the moment! We then talked some about weight gain and nutrition. Essentially she said, "If you don't want to gain too much weight, lay off the carbs." Oh. Are Sour Straws a carb? *Insert sheepish grin* This past Friday, Corey, Gwen and I packed up the car and Corey's bike to visit his dad and step-mom in Belle Plaine. We got there around Gwen's bed-time, but she spent a little bit of time snuggling with Grandma and reading "I'm a Big Sister!" before she went to bed. The next morning, Gwen and I were up at 6:00. During the week, I generally wake Gwen up around 6-6:10 to get her ready for school before I have to leave around 6:30, but on the weekends, I ALWAYS wake up about 10 minutes before she does. It is the strangest thing--it could be 7:30, 7:00, or 6:00, but I'm usually lying in bed for a solid 10 minutes before she comes in to wake me up. Weird. We woke up early, got ready for the day, and hung out with Grandma and Grandpa while Corey went for a quick bike ride in Cedar Rapids. Joni, Gwen and I went garage sale hunting in the morning as we looked for a dresser to change into a baby-changing table. We didn't find one, but we did find some cute clothes for Gwen (thanks Grandma!) several prom dresses Gwen really wanted (we didn't get those), and I got a stool for my classroom. I was pumped. It sounds dumb to be so excited over a stool, but I've wanted one for years, but didn't want to spend money on it. I got this one for $5. Because of the large number of students I have and their incredible ability to avoid work and do everything except the one thing I ask them to do, I never sit at school. The only times I sit are when I'm eating lunch, or during my plan. As I get bigger, I know I'm going to need to sit occasionally, but I hate sitting in a chair because then I can't see what's going on over their big ol' heads (cue double entendre!). Problem solved for $5. We headed home and ate some lunch,and put Gwen down for a nap. While she was napping, Corey's brother (Travis) and sister-in-law (Julie) came. They recently had the cutest little baby girl, Kenna, and everyone wanted a piece of her! When Gwen woke up, she was excited to see them, but seemed pretty disinterested in Kenna. We were all relatively surprised, but later when she got a chance to hold her, she did NOT want to let her go. It was the sweetest thing I've seen Gwen do, and she's a sweetheart as it is! She was lightly touching her head and nuzzling her face, and Kenna let her. She looked concerned a few times like, "Who is this little person holding me?" but she never cried or fussed. We are all enthralled with her.

It was so fun for me to watch Corey with her; he's such a natural. I ran downstairs and came back up and Corey was making her dance on his lap (while he was all alone). It was adorable. There is just something about men and babies. I feel pretty lucky when I think about the kind of man he is :) Kudos to his parents for what they did to make such a sweet guy! We had a great evening, a great meal, and spent time chatting, laughing, and passing baby Kenna. After Gwen went to bed, the rest of us sat around the bonfire and made s'mores. I had to be cut off. The next morning was spent coloring, kicking a soccer ball, resting, admiring Kenna some more, and eating several breakfasts. That afternoon, Corey had a mountain bike race, so Julie, Joni, Travis and I left the two little girls with Grandpa Dave and went to Williamsburg Outlet Mall.

Corey did so well during his race--I was sad we didn't get to see it (it was raining all morning and was in the middle of a forest-y area). He was racing with his fat bike (when most had their mountain bikes) and even raced a category higher than he usually did. Plus, he finished in the middle of the pack! It was a very successful day for all of us. I hadn't laughed like I did when shopping in a long time. It's been a blast getting to know Travis and Julie, and I'm so looking forward to our kids growing up together. Gwen talks all the time about Aunt Julie and Uncle Travis, and counts down the days until we see them. Our shopping trip was full of great deals. I even found a swim suit, which had seemed impossible until that day. Phew, so thankful to get that out of the way. We made it home, spent some time in the sun, and headed home. We got back around 8:00 last night still smelling of bon-fire, spring, and gas station Nachos (ok, that last one was just me). We put Gwen to bed and started an endless pile of laundry. It was hard to wake up this morning, but with the knowledge that it will soon be summer came a little motivation. The weeks seem to fly by, and so does the school year! I can't believe school will be out in four weeks! My students have so much work to do on this multi-genre research paper, and I've got so much to do over the summer for school. I'll be attending an AP training for a week for my AP Language and Composition course next year; I have a Standards Referenced Grading training for a few days, and if I get some additional positions if applied for, I might have more training days. Plus, I have to get together with my long-term sub and fellow co-workers as I prepare for maternity leave in the fall. Oh, not to mention spending summer days with my favorite side-kick swimming, reading, practicing kindergarten skills, and dressing up! Starting May 16th, we have every single weekend booked (with family, trips, bike races, trainings, etc) until the first weekend of August. Phew. I hope we can do it all.