Spring (almost) Update

I'm certain I'm not alone when I say that we have been loving this winter/spring weather! I can't remember a time when our winter was this mild. I don't even mind the snow, knowing we've had so many warm days, and I am wishfully thinking that they are on their way again. I'm also pretty excited to get out of school in May this year (due to no snow days). The past few weekends we have spent playing outside and running around with neighborhood friends. When we get home every day Crosby says, "Ousside? Ousside?" and then cries if we have to play inside. Bless his heart; he really does love to play. He also loves to RUN. You have to keep an eye out for him, because despite his chubby stature, he's QUICK. He loves to run up and down the sidewalk and wear Gwen's old (purple) helmet. I'm certain he'll keep me on my toes this summer! We have been amazed at how much Crosby is growing verbally the past few months. He says so many words that we can't even keep track. He surprised us yesterday by saying, "App-o." He loves his fruit! He is also a pretty greedy eater. He always wants to try what we're eating. He loves books and will bring book after book to us to read to him. Right now, his favorites are Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, and Pat the Bunny. He loves to read at bed time, too. Bath time is always a fun time for him. He climbs in the tub many mornings when I'm getting ready in the bathroom and plays with his bath toys (without water). At night, if I say, "Do you want to go swim?" He'll run to the bathroom and try taking his pants off :) I'm hopeful we might have two future swimmers on our hands!

Corey has also been taking advantage of the weather by doing some home improvement projects. Recently, he has been working on getting us more storage in the garage and he has built these awesome hanging storage... things... out there. When we begin moving things out of the basement to finish it, we'll have so much more space to store the important items. Speaking of cleaning out the basement, we have so. much. stuff. When we got married, I moved all of my things to our current house, but the majority of it went in the basement. I love to clean and purge, so I can't wait for the day that the basement is FINALLY cleared out.

Gwen had her spring conferences at school on Tuesday night, and we are so proud of her. We knew she would do well in school, but even I was surprised by how much she has grown and mastered in such a short time. I am stunned by what kindergarten teachers can accomplish with so many little ones (and some of them are quite needy) at one time. We are so grateful for Gwen's teacher and school. Her report card indicated that she has mastered most of the kindergarten skills and is well on her way to mastering the others. She even had several "E's" which mean she was already exceeding the standard. The goal is that they master the standards by the END of the year, so if they had a "P" which means progressing, that's still a good sign because it means they'll likely master it by the end of the year. Gwen had mostly "M's" and "E's." Both Corey and I were SO PROUD that she had the most "E's" in math! She has always been a little ahead verbally and in reading, and she has always loved books, so we both assumed that is where her strengths would be, but we were so happy to see that her math skills are thriving, too. In terms of reading skills, she is ahead of grade level in her lexile and comprehension, and can read so many different texts now. She works hard at de-coding and sounding out complex words. We're so proud of her. Daddy is especially proud of her math skills. She definitely takes after him! What we are most proud of, however, is that she is kind, respectful, and a good friend. We want our children to succeed in school, but even more so, we want them to be kind and respectful. Gwen has many friends and absolutely loves school. She is proud to do her homework, and even recently signed up for a leadership role at school. They find out this Friday if they got it or not. She signed up to help the janitors (Yuso and Drake--she talks about them all the time) keep the school clean and environmentally safe.

I have very little to update on me. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and the baby is doing great (had a high heart-rate of 174 because he/she was moving around a lot. I'm in good health and I feel great (maybe a little tired, but that's mostly due to life :). School has gone really well this year. I teach English IV (seniors) and AP Language and Composition (juniors). My students are wonderful, and I really enjoy my job. I am, however, drowning in grading. I currently have some 300 essays that need graded. I love teaching AP, but the amount of writing we do is insane, and for students to grow and learn, I need to give feedback. I am usually more on top of it, but I have fallen behind! I should be caught back up by next week, though.

This spring break Corey and I will pack up the car and both kids, and will drive the 12 hours to visit my grandma in Ohio. We are so excited, and so is she. Because of her age and health, she wasn't able to travel to our wedding a few years ago, and when my grandpa died, I was very pregnant with Crosby... so we couldn't travel there. We haven't seen them in several years. She has actually never met Corey, Gwen, or Crosby. We chat with her on the phone, and she sends them wonderful gifts, but it isn't the same as being together in person. We plan to do the trip in two days so we can do some fun things with the kids along the way (and shop at H&M :) While I dread the long drive (because I pee pretty much every hour), I can't wait to see my grandma.

We are already planning for summer, and because both kids love to swim, we plan to spend a lot of time at the pool! While Gwen is timid and safe in the water, Crosby is an animal. Last summer he would crawl in the water until it came up to his face, and if I didn't grab him, he'd keep going! The kids are excited for swim lessons this summer (Crosby will do the parent-child lessons with me), and we are so proud of how Gwen did last summer. Her goal is to pass two more levels (she started in preschool last year and worked up to Level 2 by the end of the summer). If she gets through the next two levels, we told her we'd buy her a Mono-fin. She has been asking for one for years, but we aren't comfortable with her wearing one until she is a stronger swimmer. She loves swim lessons, and she really wants her fin, so I know she'll reach her goal. This is the first summer that we will have pool passes, too. We'll likely go 2 to 3 times a week, so we will certainly get out money's worth. We love summer because we have time to play with all our friends that we don't see very often. We plan to go to the zoo, Science Center, parks, and any fun new things we find. In addition to swimming and playing outside, I have signed Gwen up again for Princess Dance Camp at our dance studio, and we plan to do cheerleading classes again. We will also travel a lot for Corey's bike races on the weekends, and often find fun, unique things to do on our way. The kids love the racing atmosphere, and they are always so family friendly. We love to support Corey in his races! My plans for the summer are as follows: try and keep up with the kids, work on my tan (just kidding, I freckle), and drink all the smoothies.

Oh, Baby!

When Gwen wrote her annual letter to Santa in December, we had no idea that her final wish (a new baby) would be granted. We had been discussing adding another child to the family, and weren't sure how long it would take, so we decided to start sooner, rather than later. We weren't anticipating how quickly God would answer our prayers :) That first month of trying, baby #3 was conceived. Merry Christmas, Big Sis! This pregnancy has seemed very similar to Crosby's so far. I have very little nausea, but I'm extremely tired. I'm taking my prenatal pills, but will probably have to supplement with iron again. I've gained some weight already (sigh), and while I hoped I wouldn't gain quite as much with this one as I did Crosby, I'm not sure that will work out. I didn't really show until about 5 or 6 months with Crosby, but I'm already starting to notice some changes. Everyone who told me I'd show sooner this time: you were right. We are extremely grateful and excited for this additional blessing. Here are a few fun facts:

1. I found out I was pregnant with baby #3 the same day (but two years later) as I did Crosby: January 5th. Though with Crosby I found out in a bathroom stall at Roosevelt ;) I always plan to tell Corey is some fun, unique way, but get too excited and blurt it out

2. This baby is due a day after Crosby was: September 18th. Crosby was due the 17th (my birthday) but arrived the 10th, and all three kids will share the birthday month of September. Gwen's birthday is the 7th.

3. I found out I was pregnant at around 3.5 weeks (very early), so the pregnancy tests were VERY light. Corey was unconvinced until I took one several days later and it was much darker :)

4. We told the kids by writing a letter from Santa and including a picture from our first ultrasound.

5. The day after we told the kids, Gwen told her teacher that we (Gwen and I) decided to have a baby and said, "Now we can wear maternity clothes."

6. We have two girls names picked out, but only one boy name. Have any great ones? Send them our way :) We will not find out the baby's gender until he/she is born. We love to be surprised!

Other than our big news, there's nothing too exciting going on around here. Gwen and Corey are excited for their Daddy/Daughter dance this weekend at our church, and we are all looking forward to making the 12 hour trek to see my Grandma and Aunt and Uncle in Ohio over spring break. Gwen continues to work hard in school and is excelling in reading and writing! She loves to play with our neighbor friends, do crafts, and go to ballet. Her recital is coming up in June. Crosby is still the happiest little guy we know, and constantly keeps us laughing (and cleaning). He knows most of his body parts, says too many words to count, loves books and adores his big sister. He is a good listener and is quickly learning from consequences that he needs to obey :) He loves to give kisses and hugs and wear (steal) any hats he sees. Corey is still riding his bike a lot, and spends most nights playing with the kids and cooking us healthy dinners. He often goes and rides in the basement after we're all in bed (what a guy!) so we can still have our family time. I'm busy with school (as always) and the kids. I've been able to spend a lot more time with friends in the past few months, and I'm looking forward to more of those opportunities! Being a young(ish), working parent of two (soon to be three) small children is exhausting, so finding the time to get out and have time to myself is hard. It's a difficult stage of life, and I'm so grateful to have so many friends in similar positions. I am also grateful for their variety of experiences: many of my friends are stay-at-home moms, some work additional jobs on the side, some will home school, some will send their kids to public or private schools, some work full time, some have one child, some have 3 or 4 children, and ALL of them are supportive, loving, and sweet friends. I know very few people with such a diverse and close-knit group of friends. I am so grateful!

All Politics Aside

The past few agonizing months of eroding election season and poisonous politics has left me (and I'm sure countless others) exhausted, defeated, and frankly... annoyed. I am grateful for the privilege to have a voice in our democracy, but I'm overwhelmed with the hatred and accusations and overall judgement that has followed an extremely controversial political season. For a solid year I teetered back and forth between the two major candidates; neither encompassed my ideals or represented who I am, and both left a bad taste in my mouth. I struggled to pledge my vote right up until election day, and in the end, I voted for a third party candidate (because I know you were on pins and needles trying to guess which way I went ;). Actually, who I am politically is quickly graying. I'm not liberal, that's for sure, but I'm not the tea-party conservative I used to be either. In some ways, I envy people who can be so black-and-white (about everything). They seem confident that how they view the world and the opinions they have formed are right, no matter who disagrees and no matter who they hurt. In most areas of my life, I have always lived in the gray. It's not that I don't know what I believe, or that I'm easily swayed; I think it's more that I believe that people don't see the world as it is; we see it as we are. I can't understand the experiences or circumstances outside my own sphere of life. How could I? All of my experiences, circumstances, upbringing, and biology is specific only to me (and maybe my brother). It's not that I think truth is relative either. It's just that I acknowledge that maybe I'm wrong, and maybe I don't have all the answers.

Facebook and social media are absolute bedlam with people posting, trolling, and instigating arguments over anything, really. I'm not saying people shouldn't fight for what they believe. I'm not saying we should ignore injustice and inequality. I'm not even saying we should all try to agree. I just wonder if it will be possible to get back to the point where we see one another as humans again. As people who may disagree and see the world differently, but as people who genuinely think that those around them are doing what they think is right. I know some incredible loving, kind, just, passionate liberals, and I know incredibly kind, just, loving and passionate conservatives. I know devoted and sacrificial pro-choice men and women, and I know honorable and doting pro-life men and women. I respect and admire people who think our borders should be forever open to anyone, and I respect and admire those who think we need to tighten things up to make our own nation the best it can be. I'm not ignorant to the arguments on either side of either camp on any issue. Maybe it's because I live in that gray, but I have a hard time handling the negativity and bitterness. It's exhausting. It's demoralizing. And it's unnerving. As far as I'm concerned, no one wins when our nation remains divided by hate. And both sides are guilty. Both sides should be ashamed.

Mom Guilt

I’m convinced I’d have all-consuming and enveloping mom guilt even if I weren’t a mom. There are so many reasons to feel like I’m never quite doing enough for our kids, and coupled with my less-than-charming and exhausting habit of worrying (just ask my husband), I’m in a constant fugue state of burning out and melting down. I’ve known I wanted to be a mom since I was little. In kindergarten, I was voted “Kindergarten Mom.” I babysat all the time. I taught swim lessons. I became a teacher. I read books about parenting; I pray about the way I parent. I ask older women I love and admire about how they parent their children. I run things by my mom. Corey and I constantly discuss why we do the things we do, and evaluate our values and parenting decisions all the time, but I still feel like I’m on the brink of ruining them. Am I showing them enough physical affection while still allowing myself a few moments of sanity each night? Am I building them up enough to build their confidence, or am I building them up too much, giving them an elevated view of their abilities? Do I compliment them enough on their intelligence, effort, kindness, and generosity, or do I mostly tell them they’re cute? Will they become part of the mindless, selfish, close-minded, lazy, poorly-educated (and I don’t mean academically), dregs of society regardless of anything we do? Will they think for themselves, but still think about others? Will they be respectful to their authority without following them blindly? And how do you get them to that point? There are a thousand theories about parenting, and I know I’ve read them all. I take some from here, and some from there; I take what fits our family and our values, and what we deem important. But like the dull ache of a migraine first forming, the worry is still there. What if it’s not enough? What if you irrevocably wound your children? What if in an effort to make them polite, kind, loving, responsible, respectful and God-fearing, you actually turn them into entitled, mean, rude, self-righteous, irresponsible, disrespectful heathens? What if what works for one child doesn’t work for another? What if you’re working full time? What if you’re staying home? What if you DON’T spank your children? What if you do?

See what I mean? And I haven’t even gotten to the hardest of all guilt; it’s called step-mom guilt. Step-mom guilt is characterized by a few common symptoms: one, marrying an incredible kind, handsome and loving man who happens to be divorced with a child; two, over-whelming guilt about your step-child growing up in two homes even though you had nothing to do with that decision; three, constantly evaluating every choice you make regarding said child; four, facing a whole lot of criticism for literally everything you do, or don’t do. That being said, I hit the step-mom jackpot. Gwen was two when I met her, so she truly doesn’t remember life without me in it. She asks me about the day she was born and how she was as a baby, and I have to remind her that I wasn’t there. She doesn’t get all angsty and say, “You’re not my mom!” (at least not yet). She is so easy to love—she’s loving, kind, silly, helpful and thoughtful. I almost cried the first day I met her because she was so. stinking. chubby. and sweet. She had cereal bar all over her face and whispered, “Hi. Hi. Hi.” over and over. She loved me immediately and our bond was quickly formed; she follows me everywhere and wants to dress like me, talk like me; she even wants to have freckles like me. She is a step-mom’s dream, but the title of step-mom is covered in cynicism and bitterness and evilness (thanks, Disney). While Gwen and I have an amazing mother-daughter relationship, the weight of the task is sometimes more than I can bear. But I do. I bear it, because what choice do I have? I bear it because it’s a joy to love her, and teach her, and discipline her. I bear it because I want to. But step-parenting is a role with no real definition and no one way of doing it. I’m an English teacher, so you’d think I’d love open-endedness, analyzing and interpreting (and boy, do I… let me analyze that character, or that imagery, or your facial expression and tone of voice), but when it comes to parenting and loving, Lord, give me a formula. Please, tell me the right way to do it. Think about the fact that nearly 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Then think about this: second marriages have an even higher failure rate than first marriages, and most researchers attribute this to the strain and stress of sharing custody, step-parenting, and difficult-to-handle exes. I must brag that Corey is a wonderful partner to parent with. Most of the time, he is far more easy-going than I am, and can talk me down when I feel exasperated or when I’m killing myself for no reason. He calms me down and reminds me that worrying does nothing. We lucked out on this realm of step-parenting/re-marriaging-hood. That’s a thing, right? But the reality is that second marriages have a whole slew of stresses that first marriages don’t. We have to work even harder than most folks because there are infinitely more nuances to maneuver: implementing routines and expectations (but only half the time), figuring out holiday schedules, signing them up for extra-curriculars, coordinating doctor’s appointments, volunteering at school, figuring out primary residency for school, keeping traditions and family time sacred, etc. While many of those seem more like frustrations than guilt-inducing episodes, for me, they’re laced with fears of not doing enough. Is it fair for us to ask Gwen to adapt to two different environments and parenting styles? Even if it wasn’t, is there really a choice? How do we remain consistent on our expectations while still offering grace? Do we never do fun things with our other children when Gwen isn’t with us? Will she feel left out? Will she feel less part of the family? Will our other children become resentful towards us for having to wait until their sister comes? Will Gwen feel like an outsider among her friends, who right now, all live in one home? The reality is, most of these things I have no control over, yet it doesn’t stop me from worrying. And from feeling guilty.

Does it ever end?

On a positive side-note, I figured out how to do paragraphs, finally :)

Yearly Reflections

Apart from mourning and lamenting the tragic death of David Bowie (two people in our home, who shall remain nameless, grieved this loss entirely too dramatically), 2016 has been a remarkable year for our family. Like most people, we encountered our share of change, success, loss, and struggle. There are always ebbs and flows to a year, and for me, my year ebbs and flows with the school season. Last winter brought stress and anxiety as finals closely followed the beginning of the year, and I killed myself grading and trying to give students more opportunities to show their ability. Finding the balance between being a good, dedicated teacher and being a loving, dedicated mom and wife is exhausting. I never feel like I'm devoting enough attention to either, and it pains me to know someone I love is being short-changed. My children will always be my priority, so when it comes to taking care of them when they're sick, or showing up at school events, I will always sacrifice school time. However, I feel called to teach and specifically called to teach where I do. How do I reconcile the time and effort it takes to do my job well with the time and effort it takes to nurture and teach my own children? This struggle tends to deplete me even more in the winter. January was also the time I set to losing the last 20 lbs of baby weight I had yet to lose (note to self: don't gain 45 lbs with the next pregnancy), so I was particularly exhausted. Corey bought me a workout mat, new tennis shoes (super nice ones from Kyle's Bikes), and body weights for Christmas. I did the 21 day fix and by the time we went on our honeymoon in March, I was about 7 lbs away from my pre-Crosby weight. Each night I'd come home, play with the kids, then work out (often with both kids so I could be done before Corey got home). Corey was my biggest support, and I'm SO thankful to have someone health conscious and excited about eating well. Corey has always been the chef, but when I told him I was committed to working out and losing the weight, he made EVERY meal I wanted, and often came up with his own ideas and frequently sent me to school with healthy left-overs for lunch. What a guy :) He would often take baby duty when he got home so I could work out in the basement with Gwen. I'll be honest, it would have been nice to have that 30 minutes alone, because apart from the 20 minute drive to and from school, I am NEVER alone (another teaching struggle for this introvert), but Gwen was SO excited to work out and loved to do the yoga and weight-lifting with me. She enjoyed it so much that I didn't have the heart to tell her that she couldn't come down. I eventually bought her a yoga mat of her own, because you know, sharing one does NOT work when your 5 year old has the body control of... well, a 5 year old. Most of the time she was GREAT. She would stay on her mat, try to work out, tell me what to do, etc. Sometimes she would try to crawl under me, sit on me, or ask me a billion questions in the middle of the hardest set... eventually we had to create a few rules: 1) Stay on your mat or on your trampoline. 2) Mom isn't going to talk because she's mad. 3) Mom isn't mad at you; she hates to work out. After setting those expectations, she was awesome. Anyway, I have never intentionally lost weight, so it was really gratifying. Unfortunately, I haven't kept up on working out, though I have kept the weight off. I'm still chalking it up to a win :) Winter was also a time of learning and succeeding in sleep training a new baby. Crosby had always been a pretty good sleeper; he came home from the hospital on a good 2.5-3 hour cycle of eating, waking, and sleeping. Breast feeding was really difficult, and I made it to a month (which really felt like a great success considering how painful it was), so by this time Crosby was used to his formula and was a great eater (as evidenced by his chubby cheeks, neck rolls, and wrist/ankle rolls). At 8 weeks old he was sleeping about 8 hours a night, would wake early to eat, and then would sleep again until I woke him in the morning. Somewhere around December or January, he started being more and more alert, so he'd wake up without needing to be fed, so I had to figure out a way to soothe him or teach him to soothe himself. Thankfully, we got him on a good schedule and went back to sleeping 10-12 hours a night.

The spring always brings hope and excitement as the school year comes close to ending. Winters are hard for so many reasons, and a lack of sun and light often leave me feeling sullen. For me, spring has always signified the end of one thing, and the beginning of something new. Last spring was no different. Thankfully, I had a great group of students that made going to work enjoyable, and Crosby and Gwen were so good and pleasant to be around. I'd wake up before dark, work hard all day, pick up the kids, come home and play, do laundry or clean, spend a little time with Corey, and go to bed exhausted, but grateful. The highlight of our spring had to be when Corey and I finally took our honeymoon. We went to Las Vegas, and it was AWESOME. Corey's dad and step-mom gave us their travel hotel points, so we stayed at an AMAZING hotel with a pool and hot tub (in the room). It was really hard to leave Crosby, and I cried almost every day, but he had a great time with Grandma Julia and Grandpa Pete. I hadn't spend a night away from Crosby yet, and although we knew he was in the BEST hands, I missed him so much. Anyway, if you've ever gone anywhere with Corey, you know that the trip is planned out before you even get there. He knew which places we were going to eat, where they were, and what time they open and closed. Seriously? I'm like, "Do I go left or right out of the terminal?" And he's like, "THIS GREAT TACO PLACE IS AROUND THE CORNER ABOUT 3.4 MILES. LET'S GO." We are very different, but I think that's why we work :) I like to go with the flow (although I'm still pretty planned and organized), and Corey likes to make the most of every. single. minute. I had envisioned this really relaxing break, where I could sleep in and do whatever I wanted. EEErrrrrt. That's not how Corey vacations. We were up super late each night, because... Las Vegas. THEN WE WERE UP BY 8:00 AM EVERY DAY. This is the man that I have to BEG to get out of bed each morning for work. He sets about 35 alarms and sleeps through 35 of them. But could he sleep in just a little bit in Las Vegas? -_- No. He ran me ragged, but I am grateful because I think we saw every inch of Las Vegas! Our favorite part was trying all the great food places, and seeing L'Eau. It was incredible and worth every penny. It was a water/acrobatic show where the performers swam and danced and ran (all the verbs) on this appearing and disappearing stage. When the stage disappeared under water, they were in the air doing incredible flips and feats of athleticism. All those things make you feel uber useless when you're sitting there indulging in your popcorn and beer. We had a wonderful time there, and I wouldn't have any other travel partner than Corey. While he's go, go go, he's the MOST fun person I know. Just don't expect him to hold onto his bus pass (too soon, Corey?). This trip happened due to all the wonderful kindness of our family: Pete and Julia for watching Crosby, Dave and Joni for hooking us up with a hotel, and my mom and Russ for giving us gift cards at Christmastime that we were able to use!

As summer came around, our house increased in busy-ness and dirt. All the dirt. Corey's cycling picked up, and Gwen and Crosby were constantly on the move. It was so much fun being able to create our own schedule and we took advantage of all Des Moines had to offer. Gwen took swim lessons and passed TWO levels. I couldn't believe how much she tried because she tends to be our timid kid, but she thrived and enjoyed swim lessons so much that we kept signing up until the end of the summer. Crosby was a blast to bring along because he smiled at everyone, ate his snacks, drank his water, and clapped when he saw Gwen. We also signed her up for Princess Dance Camp through Grace Ballet, and she LOVED it. It's what made us decide to sign her up for ballet and tap in the fall. Additionally, we went to several of Corey's bike races as a family, and enjoyed watching him race. Our favorite was Kansas City because we stayed in a hotel, swam in the pool, and even went to the zoo! This was one of Gwen's favorite events because she still talks about it today. One thing that we love about where we live is that there are so many young families with kids Gwen's age. Gwen often played for HOURS with our neighbors (especially her friend Kylah). It was a great change to have her run around with friends instead of needing me to help entertain her. Not to mention, Kylah and her brothers are the kindest, sweetest kids. It's always a bonus to have the kind of kids you WANT your child to have as friends around. Gwen started to get to know other friends through Kylah, and eventually made more friends that ended up going to her elementary school. We also went on a trip to Minnesota with Corey's dad, step-mom, brother Travis and sister-in law Julie (and Kenna), and some of Joni's family. We stayed in this super cute cabins, played on the beach, did some shopping, went to the turtle races, and had a relaxing time. Crosby, as always, was a trooper and stayed on schedule and was a happy, chubby guy. He especially liked Travis and smiled and waved at him whenever he saw him :) It was also a lot of fun for me to spend time with Julie! Later in the summer we did another vacation with Corey's mom and step-dad, brothers Brandon, Ross, and Ryan, and sister-in-laws Kaitlin and Audrey. We always go to Waterloo and camp in cute cabins and go to the Lost Island water park. We love spending time with family and are grateful for such fun traditions. While summer was relaxing and full of fun, it was also full of some struggle. Because Crosby still took a morning and afternoon nap, I felt like we couldn't do as much as we wanted and had to work around his schedule. Gwen also had somewhat of a rough summer; she got very clingy and felt like she needed to be with me all the time. So much so that we started to worry. Thankfully, we set up a game plan to figure out the root of the cause and have been seeing a lot of growth in those areas since then. I know that's vague, but that's all I'm really willing to offer. Regardless, for a variety of reasons it was draining, trying, and sometimes frustrating. We spent the rest of the summer going to little free libraries, seeing friends, and spending time as a family. The end of summer brought excitement as Gwen found out who her kindergarten teacher would be!

This fall had its own adjustments: Crosby started a new home for daycare (we love you, Michelle!), Gwen started kindergarten at Westwood, and I started my 7th year of teaching (still doing AP, but moved to teaching 12th grade instead of 10th). Corey kept on keepin' as GIS Coordinator :) Gwen is thriving in kindergarten and has grown immensely. She started off only knowing about 10 sight words (and we worked all summer to learn those), to suddenly reading everything in her path! At her fall conferences, she was right on grade level for reading, but now she's at the beginning of a 1st grade reading level. We are SO proud of her! She has made a lot of friends, is a good student and helper, and loves school. Gwen also started tap dance and ballet on Monday nights. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I'm so glad we signed her up. While she maybe isn't the most graceful, Gwen adores dance class and all her little friends. It's actually been a great release for me. I take her, and sit and chat with some of the other moms while she enjoys herself dancing. It's hard to really find time to spend with friends, especially during the school year, and this has allowed me to make some new friends. We love the ballet studio because it encourages modesty, technique, character, perseverance, and integrity. This June, Gwen and her classmates will be performing in their annual recital. This year the theme is The Chronicles of Narnia, and Gwen's class is part of Aslan's army (they're peacocks). We're so excited! Gwen is mostly excited to wear lipstick and make-up :) The kids also celebrated their 1st and 6th birthdays, and we had a slew of family and friends around us as we celebrated! Ariel even came to visit. Gwen and Crosby dressed as tacos for Halloween, and as always, got many compliments on their costumes (thanks, Grandma Julia).

This winter has been a blur--are we still mid-winter? We enjoyed a few Christmases with family already, and have a few more coming up! We saw my brother and his boys at my mom's for Christmas, which is always entertaining :) And we'll see both of Corey's sides in the next few weeks. We love seeing everyone and seeing the kids grow. Crosby has changed from a sweet baby, to a wild, goofy, sweet little boy. He started walking between Thanksgiving and Christmas and hasn't stopped since. He says many words: whoa, mom, dad, up, go-go, rawr, woof, meow, moo, neigh, oink... and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting. He is obedient about 95% of the time and usually as a great attitude :) He sleeps 12-13 hours a night and takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He loves fruit and carbs (he gets it from his mama), and does not like meat (unless, is hot a dog a meat...?). Gwen is his favorite playmate, and he spends hours reading books, rawr-ing, making animal noises, and wearing hats. That boy loves to play dress up!

Growing up, I had a vastly different perspective on what happiness looked like. I used to think things like a house, money, and a lucrative career were the things I needed to be happy. Now I realize that all I need to be happy is the people I love. Careers, homes, material items are fleeting, but "no man is a failure who has friends." We are grateful to be the richest people in this sense.

Lemonade and Orange Juice

Christmas time is my favorite time of year (other than summer, for obvious reasons), but every year we find ourselves exhausted and stressed, struggling to really enjoy our family time because of all the "extras" that seem to come along with the holidays. We travel non-stop from November through January trying to get time in with all of our family members (which is worth it, of course), but that in itself is exhausting. Pack the suitcases, wrap the presents, load car, load the kids, forget diapers or wipes or underwear, feed the always-hangry-Crosby mid car ride, grip the "Oh Crap!" handle while sliding on ice on the highway--you know, the usual fun that accompanies winter traveling. In addition to non-stop traveling, it is usually finals time at school and kids are trying to make up for a semester's worth of work they should have done the FIRST time, instead of scrambling and stressing me the bleep out.

"Can I have that assignment you already gave me five times? I know I don't deserve your help because I messed around all semester, but will you re-teach everything you've already taught? How long will it take you to grade this mound of late work I have just submitted two months after it was due?... because I really need it graded by the end of the day. Will you read this assignment out loud to me because unfortunately, I can't be bothered to do it myself?" Or my personal favorite, emails from home like this: "Hi Mrs. Philips: My child would really like an A in your class, but right now he has a D. How can we help him achieve this? I know he has been defiant, rude, absent at least 10 blocks this semester, but gosh, he sure has potential. I know you've emailed me at least 5 times about him failing, but I still didn't realize it. Can you tell me all the missing work he needs to make up? I have Infinite Campus, but it's just too much to expect me to look at it."

And people wonder why I enjoy an occasional mixed drink at night. Listen, it's mixed with lemonade or orange juice. It's fruit, okay?

That's all for now, folks. There's no redemptive ending to this or deep reflection on what Christmas time really means. Just some good-old public school venting.

Love,

Mrs. Scrooge

I Won an Award

Got your attention, huh? The award I won is called: Worst Blogger Ever. They gave me a medallion covered in laziness and excuses. It's been OVER a year since I last posted and now I'm faced with the daunting and overwhelming task of updating everyone on what has happened in the past year and a half! Here are the big things:

1. We welcomed Crosby Cole on September 10th of 2015. That makes him s 15 months now ;) He has been an incredible joy and blessing; I'm not sure an easier, happier baby has ever existed. Here are a few milestones: first smile was at six weeks old, first word was Daddy, he started walking at 14 months, and he has ALL of his baby teeth (minus his molars). We like him.

2) Gwen started kindergarten and dance! She is thriving at school, and is currently reading at about a first grade level and we are so proud of the progress she has made. She loves to learn and loves her teacher. We are incredibly lucky to be in such an excellent school. We weren't sure how Gwen would do at dance, but we are so glad we enrolled her. She is learning a lot and says that Mondays (dance nights) are her favorite days. She is taking tap and ballet and is going to be a Peacock in Aslan's Army in their recital in June. Gwen loves to play school at home and often pretends to be "Mrs. Philips." She also loves playing with all of our neighbor friends, which has been a wonderful addition to life, especially this summer when we had a lot more free time. Crosby remains her favorite playmate, however, as she always wants to play with him and love on him. Oh! She also lost her FIRST tooth on Friday. She was thrilled and was especially excited to get a letter from the tooth fairy (thanks Grandma Joni!) :)

I continue to work as a high school English teacher, and Corey is in his tenth year as GIS Coordinator for the City of Clive. Corey is riding his bike avidly and competing whenever he gets the chance! I'm teaching senior English and AP Language and Composition, and love my job.

We are incredibly blessed.

I'll try to update more often, but I can't have anyone stealing my award, so keep your expectations low.

The Runaway Summer

It has happened again. Summer has been taken stolen from me. Why does the fourth of July come SO fast every summer? It feels like we only have half the summer left, but in reality, there are almost two full months left. Every weekend in July is full, but thankfully our craziness slows down in August. I'll jump right in to our summer happenings since my last post.

A few weekends ago we packed up the car for the day and headed to Oskaloosa to celebrate Corey's Grandma's birthday. Gwen knew that Grandma Zollars loves peacocks, so we spent one day making her a peacock craft. Truthfully, it turned out better than I thought! Gwen painted the canvas, and chose some scrapbook paper to make a body for the peacock, and we got these awesome feather/wire-y things at Hobby Lobby way on sale.

We had a wonderful time at her birthday party, and the weather was absolutely beautiful. We got to catch up with a lot of family members, had a great potluck lunch, and the kids got to run around and play all day. Gwen loved playing with her cousins and friends. There was a cool castle playground the kids could play on, several games available at our shelter, and even water balloons and a sprinkler to entertain the little ones. I wish I had taken more pictures, but here are two (How cute is Gwen in piggy tails?)

We got home and relaxed that evening because the next day was Father's Day and a big race day for Corey! We all got up early, packed the car, grabbed our sign to cheer for Daddy, and headed to his race. We spent the morning and most of the afternoon cheering him on and relaxing in the shade while he raced. Gwen made him this sign, and really loved holding it up as he rode by. Unfortunately, she had it upside down the first time he went by, but he got the jist :) She also had several people admire her art-work. Corey finished fifth, and we were so proud!

We really enjoyed watching him, and especially wanted to be there to make sure how much we love and appreciate him as a Daddy! We stopped and ate pizza on our way home, and picked some berries near Ankeny.

The next day we decided to celebrate Corey's birthday a little early. Gwen and I met him for lunch and saw the movie Inside Out. We LOVED it. We're not huge movie-goers, and we don't watch much TV at home, but we thought it was a great movie and would recommend it to anyone. It's one of those movies that has a lot of adult humor, but still kept Gwen interested and engaged (which can sometimes be difficult!).

The next weekend was one of very few weekends that we didn't have anything planned. I did technically have my 10 year high school reunion, but we were both so exhausted from having traveled so much that we just decided to have a relaxing weekend home. It turns out that my sister-in-law and nephews were coming in for the weekend to visit her friend, so we got to spend Saturday with Titan, Jett, and Colt. Angie text me Saturday morning asking if we'd like to hang out with Jett while she took Titan and Colt to the skate park; of course we obliged. So while Titan skated, Jett came and played in the yard while Corey washed his bike. Jett rode Gwen's bike, tried to catch grapes in his mouth, played disc golf, and played with chalk. After he was tired of playing outside, he tried his hand at every toy inside. Later, Angie and Colt came over and had lunch and played some more. Titan is getting to be so big! He'll be six in September and will start kindergarten. He has gotten very into skateboarding lately, and it's so fun to watch all the videos of him as he learns more and more tricks. He's also pretty brave for a six-year-old! Corey has very quickly gotten interested in Titan's skating, and can often be found watching YouTube videos about how to "drop-in" and "rock the fakie" (or whatever). He's currently planning on building a ramp in Evan and Angie's spare bedroom in the basement so Titan can skate in the winter. I think Corey needs a boy :) Colt was so happy the entire time he was at our house and has gotten even cuter (if that's possible). When we played outside, he put monster trucks in a little wagon and pulled it around. When we were playing inside, he was obsessed with Gwen's Baby Natalie and her stroller. Every time he'd get side tracked with another toy, I'd put her back in Gwen's room, and soon enough Colt would find her and bring her back out. Eventually Titan and Colt were wrestling and chasing each other with Baby Natalie. Gwen would be mortified. Just kidding, she would have cracked up :) Boys are so different than girls, but they were quite fun. Later, Corey took Colt and Titan to the skate park while Angie, Jett, and I went to get Angie a tattoo. Later that night, we all went to the Arts Festival and had a great time. The boys were so good and had a lot of fun doing all of the art activities that were available for kids. Corey and I really love the Arts Festival, so it was fun to share that with them. Last summer we went with Corey's brother, Travis, and sister-in-law, Julie. It's hard to believe that was an entire year ago! The next day ended up as another race day (can you tell it's really hard for us to just "relax" and do nothing? :) We rode up to Ames and Corey competed in a mountain bike race. He did very well (I think he got second...I can't remember now!). I love to watch him race because he's incredibly driven and dedicated. He has that competitive edge that I never really got :)

In the midst of all of these busy weekends, my mom and I painted the baby's room while Corey and his mom celebrated his birthday in Kansas City at a concert! It was fun for both of us to spend time with our moms, and I was really happy that Julia went with Corey to the concert so I didn't have to! I went last year and really enjoyed it, but this big ol' belly wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as last year. I did miss seeing some of our friends who also went, but it was nice to see my mom and get the baby's room painted, finally! Since then, Corey put the crib up, I've washed all of the baby clothes we have (which isn't a lot since we don't know the baby's gender, but it's definitely enough to get us by for several weeks early on!), and started organizing pictures, decorations, and baby books. Corey's step-mom, Joni, is working on an awesome dresser/changing table for us and is reupholstering Gwen's old rocker, and then we'll essentially be set! Corey found some awesome prints for the walls--a variety of biking pictures, maps, and book covers/references. My favorite print is one of Dr. TJ Eckleburg's eyes from The Great Gatsby. Corey remembered how much I loved that symbol from the book and made it one of the prints. He also did one from "The Raven" by Poe. What a guy :) We did finish Gwen's room, and I know I promised pictures; I just haven't quite had the time! Corey found some incredible prints for her room, too. We have a painting of zebras my aunt did, a few princesses, and Gwen's favorite: a picture of Freddy Mercury. Once Gwen saw the baby's room, she wanted in on the action, so she drew two pictures: one of a princess and one of a prince. For now, we have the princess framed on a nightstand next to the crib, but if the baby is a boy, she naturally wants to switch to the prince picture. Of course :) Angie and Titan brought us the cutest little doll/stuffed animal from Where the Wild Things Are that I absolutely love! People have already been so incredibly generous to us and the baby; we feel so grateful to have so much support and so many people excited for us. It's hard to believe that in two months this baby will be here! I did have a doctor's appointment the morning my mom came, so she got to come with me. It was a short appointment since there was no ultrasound, but it was fun to have her come with me. Everything has gone so well with my pregnancy, and I feel very lucky that it's been so uneventful. I've felt great overall, which is probably good since I'm a worrier :) My mom got to hear the heartbeat when we went--that was fun! I'm measuring right on track and everything seemed fine, so that was that! I should be having appointments every two weeks, but this week I'm out of town at a training, so it will be next week instead. I've started to really pop out even more--here's a picture of me at 30 weeks (just a few days ago).

You can tell I'm starting to have a hard time sleeping--my face is swollen and I look exhausted. But I feel well, so that's all that matters :) Here are a few family pictures our friend Justin took for us last week, too! We love his work and are so grateful for how he captures how lives so quickly and accurately. Thank you, Justin! Here are my favorites:

And finally, that brings us to last weekend, the fourth of July. On Friday, Gwen, Corey and I went to Corey's Dad and step-mom's to celebrate America and hang out with family. Dave and Joni were on their way back in town when we got there, so we helped ourselves to their pool while we waited :)

Once they got home, we all got cleaned up and went to an old car show downtown.

Gwen enjoyed looking at the cars, and especially enjoyed the ice cream afterwards :) The next morning we got up relatively early and went to a parade. Gwen's cousin Avery and Corey's brother and sister-in-law joined us there! Avery and Gwen are inseparable :)

They loved getting candy from the parade, dancing, and then playing some fun games in the park after the parade. It was pretty hot, but the girls were troopers and had a blast! We then went home, had a quick lunch, and put the girls down for a nap. When they woke up, we all went swimming (it felt amazing after it being so hot). Gwen and Avery both had floaties around their bellies, so they could be pretty independent. That was awesome to see.

I also worked a little bit with Gwen on floating, kicking, putting her face in the water, and swimming on her belly. She really loved when we "motor-cycled"--haha, I essentially made car noises as I dragged her around the pool. Later, she and Avery were doing their thing and jumping in the pool while Corey, Brandon, Dave and I played with the water guns and diving toys. At one point I asked Corey if he'd do a "dirty dancing lift" with me--you know, lifting me out of the water over his head. We thought it might be funny. It wasn't. I basically free-willied directly onto his neck, which he heard pop. Sorry, Boo... Nothing makes you feel really pregnant like almost snapping your husband's neck. I still think it would have been cool had it worked ;)

We got home in the afternoon that Sunday and all took quick naps before getting ready for the upcoming week. Gwen and I went grocery shopping since the house was pretty barren, and tidied up for our next visitor, Grandma Julia! I left pretty early in the day on Monday for AP Training in Iowa City. I've been here all week. Gwen and Grandma did so many fun things while Corey was at work and while I was in class! They got their nails done, went to the park, painted some pottery, did water balloons, played dress up, made a pie... and I'm sure a ton of other things! Gwen has been looking forward to Grandma Julia's visit for a long time. Here are some pictures Grandma Julia took over their fun few days.

We are so grateful for her willingness to come and watch Gwen for us while we worked! Gwen is so fortunate to have so many wonderful, loving, and sacrificial grandparents.

Tomorrow (Friday) after class, I'm going to meet Corey and some friends in Clear Lake for the weekend. I'm really excited for it, and it should be fun to spend time with friends away. Corey has several races, so I'll let you know how those go at a later date. Next week Gwen starts Cheerleading. We're both pretty excited about it :) I think she's going to love it. Then next weekend is our baby shower. I can't believe how quickly it is coming--I'm very humbled and touched already at how excited people are for us. I'm really looking forward to seeing so many of my favorite people all in one place :) It is really rare that I get to see family, high school friends, college friends, co-workers, and new friends all together at one time!

PS: Please forgive the lack of paragraphs and organization of this blog. I swear when I'm typing it that I put in paragraphs and breaks between topics, but for some reason, the blog won't publish it that way. Don't judge me too harshly :)

Luggage

I was hopeful that this summer would be relaxing, easy, even (dare I say it...) boring! I was wrong, as always :) But I'm very grateful I was wrong. Summer has hardly started and I'm already carrying luggage underneath my eyes. I'm exhausted, but so full (figuratively and literally--seriously, someone take the food away from me). Last weekend was busy as we went to Belle Plaine on Friday night to stay with Corey's dad and step-mom. Gwen also got to hang out with her Grandma Peggy and read ALL the books she brought to her while we were there. She is very into her Bible right now, and it's fun how proud she is when she can tell me some of the stories. She loves to talk about how God made all the animals and explains how he knows all the stars by name. When she gets to a story we haven't read, I like to ask her what she thinks is going on. Sometimes it's close, other times it's amusing. Apparently, Jesus had a baby he was teaching to float in a basket because the baby couldn't walk on water like Jesus yet (this was the story of Moses' life--haha). At least she was making inferences and using prior knowledge to formulate that response :) She loves to read, but her Bible and "Demotional" (devotional) are her favorite books right now. A few days ago I was re-reading one of my favorite books by James Dobson and taking some notes, and Gwen grabbed her Bible and journal, and started taking notes over what she was reading, too. Here she is writing notes in her journal:

Both Dobson's book and Gwen imitating me in that moment were important reminders of her tender age and current developmental period, and it also illuminated the immense responsibility we have in raising her and instilling important values in her daily life. It's a huge responsibility, and one we don't take lightly. I strongly recommend Bringing Up Girls by James Dobson. He also has one called Bringing Up Boys if you have any boys.

Gwen is already growing into such a kind, polite, and helpful little girl, but we also hope to instill in her: truthfulness, trustworthiness, respectfulness, discipline, self-control, and generosity. We are currently working on teaching her manners and how to overcome our natural inclinations towards being selfish, demanding, etc. (all really humbling things to teach when we fail at them daily!). One of our favorite devotionals is one about how princesses always go last. We read it once, and talked about ways she could put others before herself, and over the next few days she continued to bring up how she'd like to go last and gave an example of how she let her friend play with a toy she REALLY wanted to play with before she did. I was so proud. I wasn't even very intentional about continuing to talk about it with her, but she's such a sponge that she remembers even the smallest conversations. (Note to self: watch my use of "dingleberry" when enraged on the road. *Insert sheepish face*). In additional to some of those morals/values, we also hope to teach her to think and learn and to search for Truth. She's at such a tender age, one I'm not sure ever really ends. Girls are so delicate and more easily wounded than their brothers. Their gentleness and emotional nature makes them vulnerable, and easily manipulated. She longs so much for connectedness and attachment--there is just something sweet and special about little girls. The more I read, the more I was convinced that good parenting will always require sacrifice. Sometimes I will go weeks just living my life and adhering to my routine, and I do this without really stopping to think about why I'm doing what I'm doing. My family is the most important thing to me, and I feel is my biggest responsibility in my life. I don't want to lose sight of my role in raising our children and creating a loving, peaceful and God-fearing home. I don't want to be too distracted, overworked, and stressed out to care about spending time (real time) with them. Not stressing myself out is mostly my responsibility. Saying "no" to extra responsibilities or never-ending school work is hard at times, but incredibly necessary. The essays never end, the worrying about kids never stops, and the lessons are never fully perfect in teaching. I'm getting better at it, but hopefully I will continue to grow in this area! While all ages are important in raising children, we know that these young years are so formative and important in terms of who our babies become in the future; we don't want to mess it up. I'm skimming through the book right now and found one of the hardest (but truest) quotes to swallow: "Kids thrive in an environment of order, vigilance, and close supervision, which is very difficult to provide by those who come home every night exhausted, distracted, and frazzled." Oh. -_- Jesus, take the wheel because I'm falling asleep at it! Seriously though, it was just another reminder of certain sacrifices that need to be made (sleep, patience, attention, physically moving when I'd rather melt into the couch, etc.) in order to raise our children well. Another point he made that I really appreciated was the idea that children need their parents to be their authority/parents. Our kids don't need us to be their best friends, and we really can't afford to be. I believe there will be an age, likely after adolescence, where our parents become our friends, but it isn't during those first 18 years or so. My mom and I were always close, and I felt like I could talk to her about most things, but she and my dad never failed to discipline me, say no when appropriate, and never apologized for doing what they thought was best (and always explained their responses/actions). My mom is now one of my best friends and still plays an important role in my life (often serving as a sound board and counsel in difficult times). Corey and I are thankful for such wonderful parents who made a point to instill respect, responsibility, kindness, etc. in us--we hope to emulate them as much as possible! Oh, on another note, another wonderful book I have read that's helped me both in the classroom and in parenting is Boundaries with Kids by Henry Cloud. He particularly speaks to the "strong-willed child" and the one that doesn't naturally want to please. Out of 180 students last year, I'm pretty sure about 140 of these would have been considered strong-willed. Ok, that was a HUGE side road that I wasn't intending on taking. I'll get back to our weekend. Saturday morning we woke up, got ready, and drove to Swisher for Corey's sister-in-law, Ashley's, Baby Sprinkle! She is due in August with a little boy they named Dierks David, so we got to celebrate them in the morning. Gwen and Avery embraced like it had been years since seeing one another, and proceeded to color everything, pretend everything, wear everything, and eat several things :) Here are a few pictures from the shower!

Gwen helped me put together a potty training kit for Dierks--complete with bleach, rubber cloves, pull ups, a potty scrubber, m&m's as bribery, and a urinal to attach to the potty! She was pretty excited about the urinal and thinks we better get one if we have a boy. I agree. While we were at the shower, Corey was riding his bike to Swisher from Belle Plaine. I'm pretty sure he went off course to get more miles in, but he arrived sweaty and exhausted (yet thrilled) around 2:00 that afternoon! After the shower, Gwen, Avery, and I went to Grandma Julia's and relaxed and played for a while before Uncle Brandon's Surprise 30th Birthday Party! Ashley organized a wonderful party for Brandon at Julia's, and he was genuinely surprised. We were so excited to celebrate Brandon; he is such a kind, fun, and thoughtful guy that there was no way we could miss an opportunity to celebrate him! While we partied, the little girls ran around, played with a bow and arrow, did lawn games with Grandma, played inside, and rode bikes. They were on the run the entire night! Here's Gwen being Katniss (and being pregnant):

She loves to pretend she's having a baby, lately. She told me a little later that she went to the dentist's office to have her baby, and that she delivered a healthy baby boy named Rajh. Here are the girls checking out the pond and some jumping fish with Grandma:

Here's a family picture! Soon this family photo will have 4 instead of 3! :)

The next day, we all slept pretty late, and before we left, Gwen and Grandpa Pete went fishing and caught several fish. The amazing thing was that Gwen threw SEVERAL back into the water on her own! We were so proud of her and pretty stunned that she was open to putting her fingers in a fish's mouth and throwing him back. That was all because of Grandpa's influence! Here they are spending some special time together:

We made it home relatively early that Sunday, so while Corey cleaned his bike, Gwen ran through the sprinkler. Later, Corey and Gwen had a water-gun fight! PS, how cute is this swimsuit? I got it for $4 at the Williamsburg Outlet this winter.

The next two days were busy as I had training, Gwen went on some field trips at day care, and Corey had his usual work days. That Monday night, Gwen and Corey made a fort and watched part of a movie before bedtime. She loves any special time she gets with Daddy. Also on that Monday, Gwen's newest cousin, Jack Ryan, was born! Audrey, Ryan and Evie welcomed Jack a little early, but he is now doing very well and came home yesterday! He's the cutest little guy and has a lot of hair. We are so thankful that there were very few complications and that he has been doing so well. We can't wait to meet him and snuggle him! This weekend, Corey and his friend, Casey, went on their annual 200 mile bike trip. They spend two days riding 100 miles (each day) around the Bettendorf/Davenport/Dubuque area. Here's a picture from last year, and one from this year:

Corey said they got a bit of a late start yesterday, but quickly made up time. I'm sure they're close to being done with day two as I write, and I can't wait to see him when he gets home! To pass the time, I ran some errands and did a few things on Friday, and then yesterday I went to Cedar Rapids to spend a girl's day with Julie (Corey's sister-in-law)! It was so needed for both of us--we hung out with my cute, cute, CUTE niece, Kenna, went to lunch, and then made a craft for our baby rooms. Here's Kenna, the cheekiest little shopper, and our "finished" products. Clearly, you don't get to know the letter we chose for the baby's name :) We still don't know what we're having, but coincidentally, our girl name and boy name both start with the same letter, so I was able to make something gender neutral for our nursery.

We also hit up several garage sales and both found great deals on baby goodies, and we hung out with Travis some before I left later that evening. It was so fun getting to spend time with them, and I'm thankful they let me come crash their Saturday! This morning, I went to church, talked baby stuff with some of my favorite people, and caught up with many friends. Coming up this week... On Tuesday, Gwen and I are headed to the splash park for some water fun and a picnic with some of our friends. On Wednesday, I'm hosting a bachelorette party at my house for my dear friend (Gwen's beloved Sunday School teacher), Stephanie! We are so excited. Then on Friday, we are headed to her wedding to dance the night away :) On Saturday, we are going to celebrate Corey's Grandma's birthday, and on Sunday (Father's Day), we are going to cheer Corey on in a race he has in the Des Moines area. Soon, my mom will be coming to help paint the nursery (and she gets to go to a doctor's appointment with me!). Before we know it, it will be July -_- July will be full too, with traveling for the 4th, a week-long AP training for me, a weekend at Clear Lake, our baby shower, and a weekend at the waterpark--it will be busy, and full, and blessed. We can't wait :) I'm also in awe of how quickly the baby will be here! Time will fly. My belly is definitely growing, and just yesterday the baby kicked me HARD in the ribs--that was a first to feel it all the way up in my ribs. It was a little painful, too. I've been so lucky with a very uneventful pregnancy, and I've been feeling awesome. I'm just now starting to feel "pregnant" as my belly gets in my way when I'm trying to do things! I've slowed down a little bit, too, but I'm sure my body appreciates it.