Bad Blogger!!

Ugh, I have become such a bad blogger(worse than I was before)! I thought with the whole pregnancy it would be easy and I would do one post every week or two with updates and belly pics, but I have failed miserably!! So here is the quick version of what' been going on with us!

The last time I updated I had just ended my first trimester and it was the end of July. I am now 26 weeks and will be starting my third trimester next Friday, it is amazing how fast time flies! I have to say that I feel so incredibly blessed to have had an easy pregnancy! As soon as I hit the 15/16 week mark all my energy came back, my nausea was gone and I have felt great. I had a pretty bad experience with some acid reflux/heartburn problems at 13 weeks and made it about 5 days before I had to call my doctor. I had this awful empty feeling in my stomach. It felt like I was starving and I would eat all the time and it would never go away. I had tried tums, pepcid, changing my diet and nothing was helping. My doc called in some medicine called Protonix and it did the trick!!! I take it everyday and have had NO more acid reflux/heartburn! Knock wood! If you are pregnant and struggling with this ask your doctor about this little miracle pill!! When I went back to work I had some back pain, but I think it was mostly from having to get used to being on my feet all day again after being off all summer. After about 3 weeks it was gone as well.

Now onto the fun part.....pink or blue??? At 14 weeks my friend Lindsay asked if I could come in and be her guinea pig since she was learning to do ultrasounds. She could practice and I got to see my sweet baby for free! Win, win for both of us! When we started the lady that was training Lindsay said that they could probably determine gender if I was interested. I hated to find out cause Rod wasn't with me. but called him and he was okay with it. So that afternoon we were told that they were about 85% sure that we were having a little boy, I wasn't surprised one bit! I had this feeling from the beginning that it was a boy! Again they told us that they weren't 100% sure but in my mind I was. We immediately started looking at boy names and stuff for a boy nursery. Then........we went into my doctor for my 18 week ultrasound and I didn't mention to her that we had had a previous ultrasound that had determined sex. She did all the basics and then told us that she could tell us if it was a boy or girl if we were interested. We said okay and I was fully expecting to hear the word boy, when she uttered the word's "You're having a baby GIRL" I think I was so shocked that I almost jumped off the table!!! I couldn't believe it, I think she thought I was nuts cause I kept saying.... "Are you kidding me?" "No way", "You're joking". I then told her our story of our previous ultrasound and even showed her the picture and then she realized why I was in such shock!! By looking at the picture she said that she could see why they would think it was a boy, BUT.......it was just too early to tell.  So we got a pleasant surprise that afternoon. I was elated cause I of course am a girly girl and love all that kind of stuff. I think Rod was a little disappointed at first, but is so excited now!

So here are a few belly pics (actually the only ones that I have, sad but true)

11 weeks....

14 weeks....

 23 weeks...

That's all for the pregnancy updates. Hopefully I will update soon about changes at work and nursery progress!!

1 year of Wedded Bliss!

Rod and I celebrated our 1 year Anniversary this past weekend.  He got to plan Friday night and I got to plan Saturday night. So Friday night we headed downtown and had dinner at the French Room. I had always worried that I may not be a fan of a place like that, mainly because if I can't pronounce the name, I'm probably not going to eat it. But it is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Dallas, so it couldn't be that bad.
Well, Rod absolutely loved it, I just thought it was okay(this definitely could have had something to do with the pregnancy) For some reason meat just hasn't been to appealing lately, which is weird cause I normally love meat. I ordered a crab cake for the 1st course (okay) beef tenderloin for the 2nd (1st couple of bites were good, but then I wanted no more) and for dessert I ordered White Chocolate Souffle (okay).  Luckily Rod's main course came with Mashed potatoes so I dug right into those. For some reason starchy food is what I am craving. Even though I wasn't feeling the food, we had a great time. It is a beautiful atmosphere with excellent service.

Saturday morning we looked at each other and both said I haven't gotten you a gift. The funny thing is I wasn't stressed about it at all. At first I had tried to come up with something clever with the whole "paper" tradition, but had nothing. Then he mentioned wanting a gun safe so I thought I had found my gift until he told me the cost -$1500, so I was back to square one. I had wanted to take one more trip before the baby comes, so I thought that he could pick the location and that could be his gift, he then informed me that he probably wouldn't be able to take off work, again back to square one. I had mentioned wanting a new camera so we decided that would be both of our gifts. I felt kinda bad that it was something I wanted and not something he wanted, but he later revealed that he would probably have more fun with it than me. He proved that when I saw him standing in his boxers at the kitchen counter taking out all the parts and reading the instruction manual after dinner Saturday night. He has been snapping pictures like crazy....... I no longer feel bad :)

So Saturday night was part 2, my night. I had planned about 2 months before to have dinner at The Tower Club, the place where we had our wedding reception. It is a members only club, but I emailed the  lady that we worked with for our wedding and she said we could absolutely have dinner there. It is a beautiful restaurant with great views of Downtown Dallas. I wasn't sure what the food would be like, but we were actually very impressed. Rod had some seafood pasta and I had a peppered pork chop with mashed potatoes and a side of lobster mac and cheese, it was delicious.

Sunday was our actual anniversary that was pretty uneventful. But I did order a small tier of my cake and  Rodney's groom's cake from our cake lady. Since we had eaten the top tier on our 1month anniversary, I decided we had to have another one. So we ended the anniversary weekend with cake in bed on Sunday night.

After 1 year of marriage I would have to say that married life is not that much different. I mean we did live together for almost 3 years before we got married, so that pretty much makes everything feel the same. The hard part(for me ) was combining bank accounts and sharing money. If you know me, I am very anal about money (saving it) and Rod is very care-free( he has no problem spending it). It was hard at first and there were many arguments about "you spent $50 this week in Red Bull and breakfast burritos, that's $200 a month"  and "what do you mean we shouldn't buy a new truck right now". But I am happy to say that we have finally started to figure it out and at times I think we do a great job of balancing each other out. I've taught him to not be so impulsive and free spirited (I think) and he's taught me to loosen up and live a little.

It was an amazing year and I can't wait for many, many more. I am so blessed to have met such a wonderful man that is my perfect match, I couldn't ask for a better husband. I just said that married life wasn't that big of a change, let's see if i say the same thing this time next year when we have a little one running around :)

9 weeks Pregnant :)

Well I haven't officially announced my pregnancy to everyone, but I thought I should start documenting everything and will post it once it's gone to   press :)

We had our first doctor's appointment yesterday and everything went great. We started with an ultrasound and got to see and hear(barely) the heartbeat! I have seen some early sonogram pics of friends and sometimes it is hard to make anything out, so I was very surprised at the wonderful picture we got!

I am measuring right on schedule, which means my due date is January 27th! Let's hope he/she doesn't decide to come 2 weeks early or Rodney might have to share his birthday!

I am happy to say that I have been feeling pretty good. I am not sure why but I always just assumed that i would be puking my guts up all day, everyday. Thank God I am not!! I am definitely nauseous, but it is most definitely tolerable. I have come to realize that my nausea levels depend on the 3 H'S....... Hunger, Headaches, and Heat! The more hungry I am the more nauseated I get, Headaches tend to triple the nausea, and the heat definitely doesn't help at all!

I think what is killing me the most is the pure exhaustion. I could sleep all day everyday right now. When I first found out that I was pregnant I was so excited that my first trimester would basically be during the summer, to where if I did feel bad I could be at home, resting and not worrying about work.  I am now starting to wonder if I am sleeping too much and maybe that's what's making me tired. Since I don't have many plans for the summer, I have definitely been relaxing (like laying in bed almost all day if there is nothing on my to do list).

I have to give props to my AMAZING Husband for taking such great care of us! I seem to feel most sick/tired between 3-7pm. So the last thing I have wanted to do is make dinner. So my sweet hubby gets home from work and cooks dinner! How did I get so lucky??? Hopefully I can return the favor soon!

I am still uneasy about when I should blab the big news to everyone. My family is already fonching (sp?) at the bit to tell everyone, but I hope to wait at least 3 more weeks. I guess I will know when the time is right!

And Baby Makes Three!!! (Four if you include our furry child)

Rodney and I are so excited to announce that we are expecting a sweet little bundle of Joy!! It was a bit of a surprise, but we are soooo excited! I am officially out of the 1st Trimester, and feel so much better now that the news is out! I will post some blogs that were written in the past few months that give some updates about the pregnancy!!

Summer is here :)

I can't believe another school year has come and gone! I remember starting the year thinking to myself "I just can't wait to have a year of 3rd grade under my belt". That came sooner than I imagined! Now that the year is complete my principal came to me and asked me if I was happy with the change......the answer is YES!!!

Although I did miss my babies this year, and I am so happy with my decision to move! My biggest concern was the TAKS test and in the end my kids ended up doing an EXCEPTIONAL JOB! I hate to say it but I was planning on 5-6 out of my 35 kids not passing, I hoped they would, but wasn't confident that they could! They sure proved me wrong!!! Out of 35 students only 1 did not pass the Math TAKS! I had 32% get a commended score (90% or higher)

I love the independence that 3rd graders have and all the fun activities that you can WATCH them do! In Kinder we would have tons of fun things but couldn't do them because we couldn't be 5 places at once helping to explain it to them!

It is going to be interesting to see what happens next year, with all of the budget cuts happening. There were lots of unanswered questions at the end of the year. Are any teachers going to be cut? How many kids will we have in each class? Will I still get to teach Math and Science, or will they make me teach reading(scary!!!) Will I be moved to a different grade, or worse....a different school? For now I am just going to enjoy my summer and worry about all of that in August!!


So here are my summer plans (my list is pretty short this summer :)

Clean out closets, bathroom drawers, pantry, spare bedroom that has become our junk room...if we don't have a place for it , that's where it goes!!

Pick out fabric and have curtains made for our bedroom, living room, and breakfast area!

Organize the office, have the carpets cleaned, maybe go up to school and organize my classroom, and last but not least.............

RELAX!!!!!


I am sure there will be more added to the list as the summer goes on........

Stay tuned for more updates on what has gone on since Spring Break!!

Viva Las Vegas!!! I'm only 2 months late!!!

Rod's parents planned a weekend in Vegas for Rodney's Grandma to celebrate her 70th birthday. Rod, Kristen and I actually kinda invited ourselves to tag along on their trip. We decided to keep it a secret from Beth and just show up in Vegas and surprise her. We kept the secret for 3 months if you can believe it. Rod even called the night before we left to tell them to have a great time, I sat next to him the whole time ready to kick him in case he said something that gave it away. Here is their reaction when we knocked on their hotel room door.....

Cherise and Beth went to see "Donny and Marie" on Friday night so the rest of us went and gambled. Kristen and I needed a little bit of help learning blackjack so we all played that for a little bit, and then we headed to eat at the Hibachi place at the Golden Nugget. I stayed true to form and went to bed at 10:00, while everyone else gambled some more. My motto is " they can't take my money while I am sleeping, so it is a win win situation for me"

Saturday we had breakfast and then Carroll had gotten us a limo to go check out some of the new hotels we hadn't seen before. We saw the Cosmopolitan, the Aria, and the Bellagio. Kristen, Rod, and I hit up some blackjack and Let it Ride that afternoon. We headed to the Mirage that night and gambled while Beth and Ken saw Terry Fator. We hit the Roulette tables and Cherise and I came out winners, but not everyone else was as lucky. After their show was over we headed back to the Nugget and had dinner at Chart House. And again I went to bed at 11:00, I am such a big party animal! Rod decided to go lose some more of our money, poor guy was very unlucky all weekend!

Sunday we had brunch at the buffet and then gambled for a little while before we headed over to The Palazzo to see "Jersey Boys" It was a great show, with great music! 

We had dinner at Vic and Anthony's that night, which was delicious! My favorite steakhouse by far is Capital Grille, and of all the steakhouses we have tried none of them even come close, but Vic and Anthony's came pretty darn close! 

After dinner Kristen and I decided to brave the blackjack tables on our own(without Carroll and Rodney reassuring us of what to do). We figured between the two of us we could figure it out. And boy did we figure it out :) We both walked away with about $300 in an hour or two. 

We left early Monday morning, and I am happy to say that I won about $500. This was my sixth time to go to Vegas and I have never come home a winner, or even broken even. It is definitely more fun to leave as a winner! We had a great trip with lots of great memories. Many thanks to my wonderful in-laws for including us in the trip!!! We love y'all!

Big News!!!!!!!

No we are not pregnant!(I know my Mom and Cherise probably got a little excited for a minute), but we do have some exciting news. After working at Fastenal for just 10 short months. Rodney got a promotion! He was told when he started that he would have to work there for at least a year before they would ever even consider moving him up. If there is anybody that deserves it, it's Rodney!!! He works so hard, and I am so unbelievably proud of him!!

I seem to always be updating about 3 months of happenings into one post, but here it goes! Since the new year we......

Celebrated Rodney's 28th Birthday, man we are getting old!!! Rod's parents came into town and spent the weekend with us. We tried out a new restaurant, Ava, in Downtown Rockwall on Friday night. Saturday and Sunday were spent doing lots of things around the house. The guys put together Rod's birthday present, a storage shed for the backyard. Cherise and I randomly decided to paint a wall in our foyer and we put together a shelf that my parents gave us for Christmas.

      

     

We had Poker night at the Johnson's...

We got to play in some snow and have cuddly days inside with the fire :)

Rodney, Holly, and I headed to San Marcos for the weekend for Kate's Baby Shower! It was so good being able to visit with them, and shower baby Wyatt, who will be making his big debut in early April!!

Rod went to the deer lease one weekend so I got to spend the day having lunch with the girls at Cheesecake Factory and getting mani's and pedi's!!!

And last but not least, we finally got the concrete poured for our new patio! The guy will come out and stain it in a couple of weeks, and then I can go buy new patio furniture! Just in time for Spring :)