10 Reasons I Am Glad I'm Not Pregnant Anymore

I love that I was able to have a baby! If you read my blog, or know me well, you know that our sweet baby is a little miracle. But I am incredibly thankful that I am not pregnant anymore. In fact, here are 10 reasons I am glad I'm not pregnant anymore.

1. The heartburn--Oh my word! I had the worst heartburn ever while I was pregnant. I think I went through about 5 giant bottles of Tums and gallons of milk while I was pregnant. Now if the old wive's tale is true, and I believe it is, then the heartburn is responsible for my sweet baby's head full of hair :)
2. Bending--I had a HUGE belly by the end. My poor husband would get home from work and go around the house and pick up all of the things I had dropped since he left. If I did try to pick something up off the floor, I would look around and pick up as much as I could in one swoop. 

This was taken just a week or two before the baby arrived. 

3. Getting off the sofa--With a giant belly, getting off the sofa was incredibly comical. It was a multi-step process. A process that my husband loved to laugh at. 

4. No more dumb questions from anyone and everyone--"Are you STILL pregnant?" "You sure there's only one in there?" "Are you still around?" I certainly don't miss those questions! 

5. I fit behind my steering wheel--By the very end of my pregnancy, my belly rested against the steering wheel. Now I have plenty of room and I even moved my seat back up a little!

6. Spicy food is back--I LOVE spicy food. Jalapenos on my baked potato. Taco sauce on tacos. Spicy anything. But while I was expecting, they caused MAJOR heartburn. Heartburn that burned through to my back. Heartburn that went from my nose to my knees. Now I can take the heat again :) 

7. I'm comfy in my bed again--During September and October, I hated my bed. I dreaded going to sleep every night. I am a tummy sleeper, but obviously I couldn't sleep like that anymore. I would adjust my 10 zillion pillows and nearly edge my husband off the bed, and still I would not be comfortable. Then there was the rolling over. That was about an eleven step process. Now my bed is comfy again, and I am finally sleeping well again. (Not for many hours at a time, but better when I do sleep.)

8. Barfing--Gross, I know, but this one must be on my list. I was one of the "lucky" ladies that was plagued with morning sickness for 9 months. I never went more than a few days in a row without getting sick. It was awful. Anything and everything made me sick. And I got sick everywhere. Now, I haven't been sick since the Thursday before Z was born, and I do NOT miss it! 

9.Clothes issues--By the end of my pregnancy I only had a handful of things that still fit. All of my skirts that were knee-length were way to short and I had to wear tanks under my shirts to cover my belly. Thank goodness that maxi dresses were in style this year or I would have really struggled to find things to wear to school. Now, slowly but surely, I am getting my wardrobe back! 

10.And the best reason I am glad to not be pregnant anymore:

Seriously, have you seen this kid? He is amazing! Definitely the best thing I have ever made!

So, there you have it! The top 10 reasons I am glad I am not pregnant anymore. People have told me that once I had the baby, I would start to forget how miserable I was while I was pregnant, and that is very true. I think more people would only have one child if they remembered everything vividly! 

3 Reasons I Will Not Be Mother of the Year

So, just in case you were thinking of nominating me for various "mother of the year" awards, please consider the following 3 atrocities. Now, mind you, I have read all the books about babies and baby care and parenting. I really have no explanation for these things, other than the lack of sleep.


1. Now, this first one could happen to anyone, at least that is what I keep telling myself. So, it's Wednesday night and I am about to leave my sweet, cranky baby in the church nursery. As a service to the nursery worker, I was going to change his diaper before leaving him. Just as I began to pull his diaper off and reach into my diaper bag, I was surprised to find zero diapers in my bag. So, now I have a crankier baby who has an entirely full diaper and nothing to change him into. I texted my husband and asked him to race home and grab diapers. Thankfully, he raced back with them before it was too late.

2. This moment also happened in the church nursery. Apparently, this is my place for embarrassing moments. I had been sitting with the baby in the service and he got crazy and I had to take him out. I was changing his diaper again, when suddenly he did what everyone warns you about. He tinkled on everything! Soaked his clothes, puddled the changing pad, and sprinkled the wall. I worked to clean up the mess and dry off sweet Zander, then reached into the diaper bag to see what I could change him into. What do I find? A burp cloth and a baby blanket. AND NOTHING ELSE!! Now, in Alabama, it never gets too cold, but this was a Sunday night and it was about 45 degrees outside. Too cold for just a baby in a diaper. Naturally, I had to do what any self-respecting mom would do...wrap the burp cloth around his shoulders and then swaddle him in the blanket and sneak out of church before any one could notice.

3. Lastly, this one just occurred today. I was washing a million loads of clothes. (The million loads were from baby poo blowouts, but that is neither here nor there!) As I was throwing a load of baby clothes into the dryer, something unusual caught my eye. As I lifted this unusual thing out of the washer, I noticed that it was extremely heavy and I didn't recognize it immediately. Upon closer examination, I concluded that it was an inside out diaper. This wouldn't be a big deal at all if I were cloth diapering. This was a disposable diaper. I am sure it was used, because the trash can and the laundry basket are right next to each other in Z's room. It was HUGE! Those suckers sure can absorb! And it was clean too. Not a stain of poo left in it! I might be onto something here! Maybe the disposable ones can be reused? Ok, probably not.

Yes, that is a newborn diaper. 

Then there is the inside view:

Clean as can be!

So, there you have it! Three very good reasons to not vote for me as mother of the year.

So...I had a baby

I know, I know, I have been procrastinating, but I have the best possible reason ever.

Introducing the newest love of my life, Zander Michael Silas

This last month has been a blur! I can't believe that this little man is here. He is healthy and perfect and growing and keeping us up at night. Here is a bit of why I have been absent from my blog :)

Monday, October 29, 3 pm--Dr. appointment. At this appointment, my doctor sent me straight to the hospital to begin an induction. I was almost a week past my due date and he was sure that I had a really big baby, so we trusted his advice, headed to the hospital, and got started that evening. 

Tuesday, October 30--Contractions, contractions, contractions. LONG DAY! At 12:30pm, my water was  broken and my contractions were 2 minutes apart. At 4:30 p.m. my doctor came in and checked on the progress. There was still no progress. I was only dilated to 3 cm. The baby wasn't moving down. The baby was not handling labor well. His heart rate had dropped several times. My doctor gave us several options. I could keep trying to go naturally, I could have a c-section then, or I could keep trying and maybe end up in an emergency c-section later that evening. As soon as I realized that the baby's heart rate was dropping, my mind was almost made up. My husband asked the doctor what he would do if I were his wife. He said without a doubt to do the c-section now. We went into this birth experience trusting my doctor completely and we trusted his judgement. When we had talked before about my birth options, he expressed that he would only suggest a c-section if he felt it was totally necessary. It was not at all what I wanted, but I trusted him. At 4:50p.m. the decision was made to have a c-section, and at 5:46 p.m. Zander was here!

Operating room--After getting all prepped, kissing my husband, and being wheeled into the operating room, I really began to panic. I was terrified. Thankfully, there were wonderful staff members and nurses there to calm me down. When my husband came in a few minutes later, it was go time. Before I knew it, I felt tremendous pressure and my husband stood just in time to see Zander's entrance into this world. Hearing that first cry changed my life. Not gonna lie, I was incredibly tearful. They brought him around to get a glimpse of him and then took him to the corner of the room to be cleaned up. When my husband brought him back around all wrapped in a blanket and hat, I was in love. We had a tiny little hairy miracle. Yes, tiny. The doctors thought he was going to be huge, but he was only 6 pounds 15 ounces. It turned out that I had so much trouble in labor because of the way Zander was positioned in my belly.

After a short stay in the recovery room, which included some more time with our sweet baby, I was moved to a postpartum room and our family and friends were allowed in to see us and the baby. It was a sweet, sweet time. A short time though, because I was exhausted. 

I have so much more to share about this experience, but duty calls. For now, here are some more pictures of our sweet miracle.

This is my favorite picture of the world's greatest dad!

And one my BFF took while she was visiting :)

One more baby room blog

So here I sit, a day after my due date, nursery ready, bags packed, maternity leave started, and no baby yet. He is stubborn, but I know he comes by that honestly. I thought I would share one last project with you that we completed for Baby Z's nursery. Back in July, we took an old wooden trunk and turned it into a toy chest for the little man. For now, it is just a storage chest for things that we aren't ready to use, but it is something that can grow with him and eventually will be overflowing with Legos and Hot Wheels.

I borrowed from 2 different ideas on Pinterest to come up with the best way to cover the trunk. I knew I didn't want to sand it and then paint it, so we used this little miracle to prime it.

2 coats of this and we were ready to paint. 

We are using bright, primary colors in Z's room, so red was the only option for me! The red went on so perfectly over the top of the primer. 2 coats later, the trunk looked gorgeous.

Then I wanted to put the word "Play" on top. This is where the second Pinterest post came in super handy. I followed a pin and read on someone's blog that I could print out a paper with the word on it, and then trace along the lines of the words. Then when you take off the paper, you have an outline on the wood to fill in with paint. It worked remarkably well!

First, I centered this. Traced the outline with a pen, then removed the paper. 

This is what it looked like after being painted. 

And a view of the entire top of the chest.

After I was finished with this, I used some wooden stars as stencils and added some blue stars to the top.

Turned out super cute! 

Right before I finished this project, I noticed that the inside of the lid was messy from the primer and paint. I didn't want to paint the entire inside, so to make up for that, I mod podged some star paper to the inside of the trunk lid.

Ta Da!

So, now it is ready! And it's filled to the brim with all sorts of baby goodies, just waiting for this little man to arrive!

Baby Room Paintings

My husband and I struggled for a while to come up with a theme for the baby's room that we could agree on, but when we finally decided on sports, I couldn't have been happier. I love sports, especially football, so I was pretty excited to get to work on this room!

After looking at lots of decorations, I decided that I didn't want to use any vintage sports things in the baby's room. I am a more modern girl, so I was on the look out for something different. I wanted to put some art on the walls that would add some color and look modern and would match the other things we wanted to put in his room. When I couldn't find anything that I loved, I suddenly had a thought...I could make something! Now I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I can come up with really good ideas sometimes. We were actually at the beach when I thought this one up and I sketched out my idea to show my husband.

Looks pretty rough, but the idea is there. 4 sports balls on square canvas. 

After getting the ok from my husband, I started looking for supplies. I didn't need too much, since the colors were pretty simple. I purchased 4 square canvases from Hobby Lobby that were 14"x14" and some acrylic paints and a simple set of brushes. Then the taping began!

The football was the easiest! Taped it and painted it brown:) 

The basketball was taped in a giant X from corner to corner and it was pretty simple as well.

The only difficult part on this one was finding a way to make the curved lines. I used a big bowl as a template and then my friend Karen filled in the line.

Baseball was easy too. Same big bowl to make the lines. 

Then filled in the stitches with more red paint. 

The soccer ball was the absolute hardest one to do. If you have ever tried to draw one, you know how tricky it is. It seems easy, but the design is black pentagons with white hexagons and it really only works on a sphere. So putting it on a flat square canvas was really tricky! We tried to simply sketch it on first and it was hideous. Then we Googled images of a soccer ball to use as a template, but even it wasn't correct and the pattern was too small. Finally, after much drawing and erasing and measuring, we came up with something usable. It isn't perfect and I can see every error, but when you look at it, it looks like a soccer ball.

Finally finished! If you look carefully, the middle black piece is a hexagon, not a pentagon, but  it was the best we could do!

Here is the finished product:

Not too shabby!

And here is what it looks like all hung perfectly above Baby Z's dresser:

Crooked pic, but you get the idea:) 

And finally, what it looked like a few days ago when we finished putting things away in his room:

TA DA! 

I am super excited at how this one turned out! And if I ever need to recreate this, there may only be 3 balls. Or the soccer ball can be a volleyball or a bowling ball. Anything is better than that soccer ball!

Nursery curtains

I've been pretty busy this summer working on a few things for the baby's nursery before school starts again. I am pretty excited with how things are working out so far. We have chosen to decorate using sports as a theme. Originally, I wanted a Colts nursery, but I didn't think that was fair for hubby:) So, sports it is.

I'm sure I will share some more of my projects as I either finish them or get them hung up, but this first one was really fun and easy to do. I wanted to find curtains for the room that were dark blue, covered the window (not just a valance), and I wanted them to be cost effective. (That's code for cheap.) I started by looking in all of the usual places, Wal-mart, Target, Amazon, Big Lots, and finally ended up at Bed Bath and Beyond. I wish I would have gone there first! They have such a huge selection!

Curtains are super expensive. I decided to go with a less expensive (also code for cheaper) alternative. I really liked many of the curtains at BB&B, but they were about $20 per panel. I was going to need 4 panels. Crazy, right? Plus, I wanted cute curtain rods to go with the sports theme. Well, I found the curtain rods and they had the perfect ones!! Wait till you see them. SO PERFECT! If I wanted the cute curtain rods, I was going to have to cut costs to get them. I thought about getting some material and making my own. (Using stitch witchery or ultrabond, cause I don't sew.) But then, I remembered seeing something on Pinterest that I could use! Tablecloths! They are thick, durable, and made to be washed often. So, off to that section. I grabbed 2 tablecloths and checked the dimensions. After finding the perfect ones, I decided to get them, cut them in half and use them as my curtains. They were only $15 each, and since I was cutting them, I only needed 2. That alone saved me $50! Gotta love that.

Well, thankfully, my friend K was in town and she brought her sewing machine with her just in case of a sewing emergency. I cut the curtains the moment we got home and she sewed up the ragged edge and then folded and sewed the top down to make a place for the rod to slide through. Then when hubby came home, he hung them up.

This is what it looked like when we were finished. Very boyish! I liked them, but I thought they were missing something.

Here's a close up of the curtain rod ends. I LOVE THEM! 

So, I decided the curtains needed some red on them to jazz them up a bit. Too bad K and her sewing machine were gone. So Ultrabond to the rescue! I got some basic red ribbon and decided 2 stripes would be perfect across the top. 

Stripe one and a stripe of Ultrabond waiting for the second ribbon. 

Second stripe! It looks orange here, but it's red.

Well, I just finished them and I LOVE them even more now. The red is just what they needed. 

TA DA!! 

Project one: Completed. Only a hundred more to go! 

Happy Anniversary!

Goodness, I love this guy so much! 

Today, my husband and I are celebrating 3 years of wedded bliss. How, you ask? Well, he is working all day and I am home doing some stuff around the house. Romantic, right? In our defense, we are going away for the weekend to celebrate. 

Well, since it is our 3 year anniversary, allow me to give you some things in 3's:

3 reasons I love my husband more this year than last year:

1. We are having a baby!
2. He puts ice in all of my drinks, and refills the ice cube trays. (A really big deal, since this mama-to-be is always hot and in need of an icy drink.)
3. He doesn't get upset with me if he comes home and finds me sleeping on the couch instead of making him dinner. 

3 things we love to do together:

1. Watch shows. Right now we are loving Arrested Development, Psych, and Parks and Recreation. (look, I even put 3 shows! See a theme here today?) We love funny shows! 
2. Talk. We are so sappy. Even in our devotion last night, it suggested the importance of small talk with your spouse. We have made it a priority to have some time to just talk with each other before we go to sleep every night. It's my favorite time of the day. 
3. Work on projects together. Hubby and I make a really great team. I like to call myself the brains of the operation. I can come up with amazing ideas, but I struggle with the follow through. I can explain what I want to him, and he can somehow make them work. He is the muscle in our relationship. The heavy-lifter, the hard-worker, the power-tool-user. Currently our big project is baby boy's nursery. 

3 of our favorite dates:

1. Going out to a movie. He loves the movies. I love the popcorn. It's a match made in heaven. 
2. Going to dinner. Our current favorite place is Tokyo. They have yummy food. 
3. Beach dates. These don't happen often, but I love to go to the beach with my husband. He is so much fun to hang out with!

3 things my husband does that make him so perfect for me:

1. He fixes things around the house. Most recently, he fixed the toilet. Have you ever had a toilet that sounded like it was always running? SO ANNOYING. Yeah, he fixed that. He is a superhero. 
2. He lets me decorate. This one is such a big deal to me. I love things a certain way. Minimal and neat and organized and color coordinated. Is that too much to ask? Apparently not, since my husband lets me do all of those things in our place. Now, I am kind in my decorations. I try not to make him feel like he is living in a Barbie house that is all pink and flowery and I always tell him my ideas before I just run with them. 
3. He writes me sweet notes. Not everyday, but often enough to let me know that he is always thinking about me. He is very good about showing me that he loves me and there is nothing better than finding a note that he has thoughtfully written. I have a collection of them. I even keep a couple very dear ones in my wallet. 

3 things I have learned about marriage in 3 years:

1. Communication really IS key! Talking with my husband is the key to resolving conflict. Many times, when we fail to effectively communicate with each other, we have conflict. Also, once we have gotten upset with each other, it is seems easier to bottle all of that up until one of us explodes, but we have learned to just talk about it and get over it. Not only is that MUCH easier, but it saves us lots of time. I don't want to waste time being mad especially when I don't need to be. 
2. The love/respect thing is super important. The Bible talks about the wife's role of submitting to the husband. Is that always easy? Heck no! But by submitting to my husband, I am respecting him. His role is to love me. I always joke that his role is way harder than mine. Loving me is not always easy. We have learned that when I submit to him, or show him respect, it makes it easier for him to love me. When he shows me that he loves me, it is easier for me to submit to him. And the cycle just continues. 
3. Weddings are easy, but marriage is hard. I loved our wedding. Everything was beautiful and things went smoothly. Marriage however is something that must be worked at. I would love to tell you that we have had a perfect 3 years, but we haven't. We have been through financial difficulties, personal struggles, health scares, and more arguments than I care to admit to. But, the good far outweighs the bad. We are not willing to let our circumstances bully us out of a wonderful marriage. So we tackle the big stuff together, work hard to get past it, and focus on having more of the good stuff that marriage has to offer. 

Alright, alright, that's enough sappyness for one day. I will just end it here. Thanks for letting me ramble about my awesome husband. 

I heart Craigslist!

So, I love Craigslist. Like, a whole lot. It feels like a virtual garage sale. I love being able to browse without pressure. I can look and look and look and the seller has no idea I am even there, so I don't feel like I need to hurry to a decision. In the past couple years, I have made 3 purchases from Craigslist and I have been super happy with all 3 of them. The first was a sofa, love seat, chair, and ottoman purchase. It was super fantastic, except for the part where we had to remove the front door to get it inside. That part was pretty terrible. Then, recently my husband and I bought a car from Craigslist as well. At first I was really nervous about this one, but it worked out perfectly. Sometimes sellers are just ready to part with things and the car purchase was one of those times. In both of these purchases, we bought from military families who were relocating and needed to sell quickly. We got great stuff at great prices and met some great people.

Well, now that I am working on Baby Boy's nursery, I again turned to Craigslist for some of the furniture that I want in his room. Specifically a gliding rocking chair and a dresser. Yesterday, I hit the jackpot on a glider. It is spectacular! It is exactly what I wanted, looks brand new, and was way less than half of the retail price. Coordinating a time to meet with this seller was tricky though. So last night at 9:15pm I was in a stranger's garage looking at this thing. Funny now, but only because the people were so nice. If they had been scary people, you may have seen us on the news this morning.

What makes this purchase unique though is the funny thing that happened when we got there. I should have known something was weird when I got an email that said the glider came with a DVD. I thought that was odd. I know I am a first-time mom, but I think I can get the hang of rocking a baby in a chair designed to rock. Anyway, when we got there, the lady led us through her house to a back room and said she knew we would be so happy with this glider. Well she led us straight to an Ab Glider. A piece of exercise equipment! I am sure when she saw my big pregnant belly, she was thinking that surely I needed the Ab Glider. I turned and gave my husband a look and I could feel my heart sinking. My heart was set on the glider for my nursery. I told the lady that I thought I was here to look at the rocking chair and we had a good laugh. Turns out, she is selling both items on Craigslist! So, we went to her garage, looked at the amazing chair and immediately loaded it our car and headed home.

I feel super victorious this morning! I am now 3 for 3 in my purchases from Craigslist, and I am hoping to find a 4th victory in the coming weeks. On to purchasing a dresser!

A Life Without Cheese

Can you even imagine the horror of a life without cheese? Pizza would just be bread with sauce. Mac and cheese would just be lonely old mac. A cheeseburger would only be an inferior burger. Gooey, melty, creamy, delicious cheese. 

You may be wondering where this pondering is coming from. Allow me to enlighten you. My husband alleges that he "doesn't like cheese". This is the same person who likes Mac and Cheese, pizza, cheeseburgers, and a plethora of other cheese-filled wonders. So the other night, he was rambling about not liking cheese, so I said, "I'll bet you couldn't go a few days without eating cheese." To which he replied, "I could go a week, a month, 3 months without eating cheese."

LIES! I tell you! FILTHY LIES!! Guess who had pizza for lunch today? Yup, my husband. Guess who agreed to Mexican food for dinner? Yup, my "cheese-hating" husband. When will the lies end and the embracing of cheese begin?

There is no shame in liking or even loving cheese. Cheese is the bacon of the dairy world. Everything becomes infinitely better when cheese is melted on it. And if you really want to experience cheese at its finest, eat it in the pool. You will not be disappointed!

IT'S A BOY!

My husband and I are thrilled to announce that we are having a baby boy! He will be loved my many and spoiled by a few. I am really excited and the excitement doesn't feel like it has sunk in fully yet. But my shopping gene kicked in, so if you need me, you can find me shopping for this little guy.

At our anatomy scan today, he was rolling around and moving so much. It was precious. At one point the ultrasound tech slapped my belly and said, "bad baby!". She couldn't get all the pictures she needed because he is so squirmy, so we get another ultrasound next month.

I am happy beyond words. God has been so good to us, and we can't wait to meet our little man.

This week's cravings

Everyone keeps asking me what I am craving while expecting. I know they are secretly hoping to hear something absurd like chocolate covered grilled cheese sandwiches or pickles and ice cream drizzled with barbecue sauce (eww! That one made me gag a little.) Sadly for them and luckily for me, I haven't had any off-the-wall cravings as of yet. I have experienced more of the food I can't eat than the ones I can. I can't eat chicken, eggs, or anything spicy (and if you know me very well, you know I love the spicy food!). Anything with strong flavor, the hint of spice, or red sauce gives me heartburn from my nose to my knees. So, I feel a little limited. However, someone recently asked me if I was having cravings, and I said no, but then I told them what I had been eating over the past few days, and it was confirmed. I am having some not-so-unusual food cravings. And here they are:)

• Peaches--not just any peaches. They must be locally grown. They just taste better. And since I live in peach country, they are easy to find.  In a 2 day period, I ate 5 of them. Apparently, that constitutes a craving:)

• Buttermilk Ranch Dressing--and of course, it is a very specific kind as well. It must be the Hidden Valley Ranch powder pack made with real buttermilk. SO DELICIOUS! I have had it almost every day this week. This one is not really my fault. While I was in Indianapolis, we had it at a lunch and it changed my life. 

• Salads--big ones. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cheese, turkey, radishes, carrots, cabbage....mmmmm! Super healthy and a super effective method of getting the buttermilk ranch into my belly:)

• Lemonade--I have been drinking what feels like gallons of water over the past few months, but recently, all I want is lemonade. Chick-fil-a has awesome lemonade and I really like Simply Lemonade too. But to be more cost effective, I got some of the powdered stuff I can mix up myself. So yummy, and I like the tartness. 

• Bagels--I know you were thinking that there must be some intensely bad food on this list of cravings, but bagels are about as bad as it gets. I like it toasted with butter. Or toasted with peanut butter. Or toasted with honey nut cream cheese. This morning I had one half with peanut butter and one half with honey nut cream cheese. Deeee-lightful!

That is really it for now. Maybe I will post these from time to time to see how it changes from now till October. Thankfully, this baby likes fruits and veggies and mostly healthy foods. It sure beats needing giant burritos or pizzas. 

Bruschetta

Today we are home together celebrating Memorial Day. I love a lazy day. We stayed in bed late, warmed some cinnamon rolls, and snoozed on the couch. I love days like this. Spending time with my husband is always one of my favorite things to do. Today we planned on making bruschetta for lunch. This is one of the only meatless meals my husband will let me fix. And we LOVE it.

What you need:

French bread--the skinny loaf, sliced about 3/4 of an inch thick
olive oil
salt
fresh basil (about 1 tablespoon, chopped)
tomatoes (I used some cluster tomatoes from the grocery store today, and they were delicious, but any kind you like will do. For the 2 of us, I chopped 3 tomatoes.)
fresh garlic, 1 clove, peeled and chopped in half

What you do:

Seed and dice the tomatoes. Chop the basil. Put them in a bowl, give them a sprinkle of salt and a splash of olive oil. Then put in the fridge until its time to eat.

Ready to refrigerate. 

While the tomato mix is in the fridge, slice the French bread.

Then put some olive oil in a little dish. I used a silicone brush to add it to the bread.

Heat up a skillet until it is hot. Then brush bread with the olive oil and add to the pan. Be sure to brush both sides. I like them pretty golden brown. Flip them often or they will burn.

Once the bread is toasted, rub the garlic across the top of the bread. It adds just a hint of garlic to this already delicious bread.

The bread was hot, so hubby used a fork to rub the garlic onto the bread. 

Finally, assemble the bruschetta and dig in! Have lots of napkins handy, because it is so messy. Worth it, but so messy!

YUM!

Birthday surprise

No, not for my birthday, but for my best friend. This weekend hubby and I sneaked to Indianapolis to surprise my best friend and also attend the graduation of the first students I ever taught.

Friday night I met my husband at his work and we left from there. Our plan was to drive the 8 hours straight through and arrive at around 2 or 230 in the morning. Well, the highway in Tennessee had other plans for us. At about 8 in the evening, traffic suddenly stopped and the road became a parking lot. After looking online, we realized that there had been a semi in an accident and the road was going to be closed until 11. Well, 11 came and went, and we were still stuck. Finally, at a little after midnight we started moving. Hubby decided to drive for a while and then we decided to stop and find a place to sleep for the night. Apparently that was everyone else's plan as well. We went to 5 hotels before we got a room.

Our room was as lovely as any roach motel could be, but we were only going to be there for about 4 hours to sleep and shower and get on the road again. The next morning we went to get some breakfast and some gas and we set off again.

We arrived at 12 noon. My plan was just to show up at my best friend's house and surprise her, but she was out running errands so we had to track her down. When we realized she was at the church, we headed there and all the doors were locked. I tried calling her but she didn't answer. Then she happened to walk by the door we were at. It was an awesome moment! She was completely surprised!!! I gave her the present we had driven so far to give her and then we hung out until graduation started.

The graduation was perfect. The speaker was excellent. My best friend and another teacher sang one of my favorite songs from Wicked and I cried through the entire thing. I'm blaming it on the pregnancy hormones and my short night of sleep.

After graduation, we went to my best friend's house for a while and then had some sweet fellowship at one of the graduate's open house. Afterwards we sat around talking and catching up. Then after a late night dinner at Fazoli's, we went straight to sleep.

Then this morning was church at my home church. I LOVE getting to come back to my church. I love love love these people. It is always so refreshing to come back home and see these people who always welcome us back. AND another of my closest friends came to our church this morning to see us.

After church, we had a birthday lunch for my best friend. Delicious food and awesome company. It was just like old times.

Then sadly it was time to hit the road again. After a whopping 26 hours in my favorite city with so many of my favorite people. It did my soul good to be home even for just a short time.

Now just 2 and 1/2 days of school and we are out for the summer. Then the real relaxing can begin:)

What not to say to a pregnant woman

As you know, I am expecting our first baby in October. Along with the excitement that comes with expecting a baby, there is a lot of anxiety. All of the thoughts...what if something goes wrong...is this symptom normal....should I be feeling the baby yet...all sorts of other questions. And with all of my own worries, there are the questions and comments from others that bother me too. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to hear other women's stories and advice and well wishes. Especially the well wishes. But there are certain things that a pregnant woman doesn't need to hear.

• Can I touch your belly? My response to this one is going to be, "only if I can touch yours first." I don't mind if my husband touches my baby bump, but I feel like anyone else doing it is inappropriate. At least now. I am only 4 months along and am a total freak show under my shirt, and touching it makes me even more uncomfortable. I don't think I will mind people touching my belly when it has its own zip code, but for now, hands off please. 
• I just named my new puppy _________ (insert FAVORITE name for new baby) Really, people? Do you have to name your dogs people names? And must they be the one name I am completely in love with for our baby? This has happened twice now! This is one of the reasons we won't be sharing our names until the baby arrives. 
• I know someone who had ___________ complication. I don't know why people only share the worst possible things that can happen in pregnancy, but that seems to be the only things they share with me. The last thing I want to hear is all the ways something can go wrong. I need positive comments. 
• Oh, ______________ happened? It's probably the worst case scenario. The baby was on the right? There's something wrong. You've been sick? There's something wrong. You haven't been sick? There's something wrong. I have learned that no pregnancy will go exactly as the book says it will. And I know that if I get anxious and stressed that it can't be good for the baby. So I try to stay positive. I try not to jump to the worst case scenario. 
• WOW! You're huge! No woman likes to hear this any time, but especially when your body is being taken over by another human being. My regular clothes won't button. Maternity clothes don't fit well. I don't feel like a cute pregnant woman, but rather a blob of blubber. 
• You should name the baby ______________.  I really don't mind hearing suggestions from people on great baby names, but when people won't back down on a name they love, I get a little frustrated. It's like they feel as though it's their baby, and if I don't choose their name, they get offended. We have some rules about names. No J's. Nothing like Banjo or Wingspan or Zoolander. And really, it's our choice. 
• How much weight have you gained? This is a completely inappropriate question to ask any woman at any time, but when I am a hormonal disaster, it is the worst question ever. 

Got any positive stories? Got any compliments? No? Then lie to me! Please:) 

God's Great Goodness

I don't even really know where to begin with this. I am not usually an overly personal sharer. I am by nature a very private person. So much so that people generally don't know what's going on with me until it is over. This is one of those times.

My husband and I have been married for two and a half years. We knew that when we got married that we wanted to have kids. We decided to wait a year and then start trying. Well that came and went, and nothing. Months and months and months passed, and if you have ever been through that, you know just how difficult that can be. Getting your hopes up every month and then nothing. I really struggled with this. Really, really struggled. I questioned why God would give me such a desire, if He wasn't going to fulfill it. My husband, however, has been my rock. His faith in God and God's timing has been what has gotten us through this experience.

After a year of this roller coaster of emotions, we asked for some advice and help from my doctor. My doctor is amazing. He is a Christian man who has prayed with us on a number of occasions. He scheduled all sorts of tests to see if there was anything wrong and then we began the waiting. When we finally saw him a month later, we were so excited. But our excitement quickly turned to disappointment when he told us that we probably could not have a baby on our own. I had a really difficult time accepting this news. I cannot tell you how often I cried and begged God for answers. The doctor referred us to a reproductive clinic and we decided to wait until after the holidays to go. Honestly, I just needed some time. I didn't want to hear the bad news all over again. I didn't feel like I could bear it.

Then in February, out of nowhere, we found out we were expecting! Leave it to God to show that He is more powerful than anything we could put our trust in. We never went to the clinic that we had been referred to. We shared that with our doctor today, and his words were, "I just love when God shows off like that!" We know that this is a special little blessing that God has given us and we are so incredibly thankful and humbled by what He has done.

In December, when I was in the depths of despair, I heard this song and it really put things in perspective for me. God knows what He is doing. His timing is perfect. I need to not only trust Him, but trust in His timing as well.


Blessings
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise


We saw the baby today. Heard a heartbeat and everything and the doctor said everything looks perfect. So, my friends and fellow bloggers, join me in this celebration! We are welcoming a baby to our home in October! 

Our family is growing by 2 feet :)

My Love/Hate Relationship with Spring Break

As I have said so many times, I love being a teacher for the time off. Of course, I love teaching for a variety of other reasons as well. I love helping students grasp something that they never thought they could. I love opening their minds to new concepts and ideas. I love that no two days are ever the same. But, I love, Love, LOVE the time off. Well, now I have realized that I have a very complicated love/hate relationship with this particular time off.

I love that I have a week to enjoy the sunshine. I hate that I only have a week to enjoy the sunshine.

I love that my BFF came to visit for a whole week. I hate that she can only visit for a week.

I love that I haven't done any school work all week. I hate that I procrastinated on my school work and now I have to use the weekend to get caught up.

I love that I have been so lazy all week. I hate that I can't keep doing this.

I love that I got to go to the beach. I hate that my skin is so sizzled.

I love that I got to wake up later every day. I hate that I can't do that every day.

I love this little taste of summer vacation. I hate that it's only a tease, 8 more weeks till summer vacation.

I guess if I had to make a choice, I would rather have the time off than still be in school. I just really dislike the part of my personality that constantly counts down to the end of whatever break/vacation/fun time I am enjoying. I have always been like that and it makes it hard to relax and simply enjoy my time off. So, I will be forcing myself (which I hate) to relax and enjoy (which I love) this last day and the weekend before I go back to school.

Great is the Mystery

Here is a new set of questions that make me go HMMMMMMMM.

1. Why does the chicken at Walmart smell so good, but taste so bad? Seriously, they pump this intoxicating aroma into the parking lot and immediately I want to eat fried chicken, but every time I have had it, it is terrible. Perhaps all of the good stuff is burned off in the cooking process. I'll stick to smelling it from now on. 
2. Why do skinny jeans come in plus-sizes? Honestly, this one should be a no-brainer. Just because they are called "skinny" and because you can squeeze into them does not make you skinny. You look ridiculous. And not skinny. Personally, I don't think skinny jeans look good on anyone. 
3. Why are people fooled into believing that leggings are pants? I am sure you have seen that girl who is wearing leggings with just a shirt, and not a very long one at that. Leggings are there to keep you warm, and are meant to accessorize your outfit. They are not pants.
4. Why don't people have a personal space bubble? Perhaps it is just me, but I have a personal bubble that is about arm's length in any direction from my body. If you get inside that and you aren't my husband, then our conversation is over. I really like my personal space. I don't want to smell your breath or feel any more awkward than necessary. This also applies to seats at a movie theater. It is not unreasonable for my purse to get it's own seat. It keeps you a seat further from me. 
5. Why is it ok to post things on Facebook that you would never say in real life? Maybe it is a picture with a quote that has a bad word in it. Maybe a set of completely inappropriate song lyrics. This is probably the dumbest. Would you just go around saying song lyrics? I understand when a song gets stuck in your head, but when your status says "Jill is...first I was afraid, I was petrified". It doesn't make sense. Also, stop trying to post things that you think only your group of close friends is smart enough to figure out. We aren't dumb, we get it too. 

There. These are the randoms that are roaming through my head these days. Hope you enjoy! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

For some reason, the last 2 months have been probably the busiest of my life. I have neglected my blog in a really big way. So here is a little brain dump to let you know what is going on in my life:)

• School--Party season is over! Thank goodness for that. We have a Thanksgiving party, Christmas party, and a Valentine party. They fall so close together and they are so much fun, but they are exhausting! I am incredibly thankful that they are behind me now. 
• Other School Stuff--I have been working non-stop on some professional development things for the teachers at school. It is not difficult work, but it is very time consuming and since deadlines are looming, it is incredibly busy right now. 
• Valentine's Day--My husband is the king of spoiling me! He is amazing. This year he surprised me by bringing a vase of beautiful flowers to my classroom with a cute helium balloon. I made him a delicious dinner of chicken Parmesan and broccoli and bread with dipping oil. He loved it. I got him a new Wii remote so we can play more games together. We love to sword fight and I am excited to get to play it again. He got me an hour long massage, which I had yesterday. It was AMAZING. I may have fallen asleep near the end of it. And maybe again when I got home. It was so nice. I felt so relaxed. 
• Hubby's Wreck--At the end of January, I got the phone call I have always dreaded. I was called out of class because of a phone call, which never happens. It was my husband. He was nearing his exit on the interstate and it was raining. He hydroplaned and spun across all the lanes of the road before hitting the center concrete wall. His car was totaled, but thankfully he wasn't hurt. I am so thankful for God's protection over him that day. There was no one on the road but him, so when he was spinning, he didn't hit anyone. When he hit the wall, the rear of his car hit first. The trunk was smashed in. I am so grateful that he hit the wall like that, because if he had gone in hood first, he may have been hurt.  Also, one of his coworkers who was running late to work, happened to see him and came around and picked him up. He wasn't even late to work that day. Now we are looking for a reliable used car to replace the one that was wrecked. 
• Wicked Weekend--Next Saturday, we are going to Birmingham to see Wicked again. My husband took me to see it for my birthday in Atlanta, but now we are going with his whole family. His parents have seen it, but his brother and sister haven't so I am really looking forward going again. I HIGHLY recommend it if you ever get the chance. It is the untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. And it's pretty funny:)

Sadly, that is all that I can think of that is going on in my extremely busy, extremely boring life:) I have the day off tomorrow, which I am incredibly happy about. I have a day to myself to get caught up on all the things that have been neglected lately. Plus, hubby is working, so I am free to do whatever I want all day! 

Super-Easy No-Lettuce Salad

Yum!

This is what is for dinner tonight. Along with some chicken and broccoli. I love a good salad, as much as anyone else, but I find myself getting sick of lettuce sometimes. I will even go so far as to methodically pick everything out of my salad and leave the lettuce. I think it's because the lettuce is the common denominator in every salad, and I tend to get bored with it after a while. This salad is one of my solutions to lettuce boredom. It is delicious too, and super healthy. 

What you need:

1 green pepper, diced

4 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 small red onion, cut into slivers

4 or 5 red, orange, or yellow small peppers, sliced

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

salt/pepper to taste

What you do:

Chop the veggies and mix together in a bowl. Mix the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a small dish until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Pour the dressing over the veggies and mix again. Then put it in the fridge for a few hours until you are ready to eat. This step is really important, because the flavor gets considerably better as the time goes by. This makes a great side dish for any dinner, plus it is super pretty. I always make it in a glass bowl, because I like the way it looks.