Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails

Tonight was Open House at the boys’ school, Kay Granger Elementary. Both boys were quite excited to show us all they’ve been learning so far this year. Caleb, especially, couldn’t wait to show us how they’ve been learning about the planets. He had to tell Daddy all about it last night on the phone. And after seeing all that the fabulous teachers at Kay Granger do, I’m in awe. Elementary school teachers not only have the monumental task of teaching young minds, but doing it in such an engaging and creative way that it keeps those young minds interested! Continue Reading »

We’ve had several full weekends lately, and this one was no different – in fact, it started on Thursday evening. Jacob’s basketball team, the TIGERS, were the second seed in the 4th grade KYA basketball end of season tournament. With a strong 26-3 victory over the Horned Frogs, the Tigers advanced to the next round. Friday night they played the Bulls – the only team to beat them all season – and won 27-20. That meant another game on Saturday morning against Jacob’s old team, the Gators. The Gators had only lost one game during the season…to the TIGERS. 🙂 The Tigers didn’t disappoint, winning 12-9! That meant that the Tigers advanced to the FINALS to play the Panthers, the only undefeated team in the league. Continue Reading »

Yes, that’s supposed to be plural. 🙂

When we got home from the shower last Saturday, I had yet another surprise – Daddy, Uncle Steven, and Zayde were hard at work putting together Baby D’s crib! They did a great job! After that, it was my turn to get bedding washed and on the bed. It took me a few days, but tonight I put the finishing touches (i.e., the bumper) on.

Mom and Lynne also brought up (in addition to a truckload – literally – of gifts) the cradle that my Dad MADE for my aunt when she was pregnant with my cousin Robin. It can rock or be locked stable. It’s been used for babies in the family since then, including my nephew Christopher (the twins couldn’t use it because, well, they were twins!) and Baby D will get to use it as well. Mom and I took some old rags and polished it up to its beautiful shine, and it’s in our room, ready for Baby D’s sweet head to rest in. (And, for those of you concerned about safety using an older cradle – my Dad is Mr. Safety, so even back when he made the cradle, he made sure the slats are less than 3 finger-widths apart, and the head and footboard are solid, as is the bottom. So, if you have opinions – which I’m sure you do – on using an “heirloom” cradle, please keep them to yourself. 🙂 )

I was all set for my next post to be about (what else?) baby preparations – beds specifically. Don’t worry, that post will be forthcoming, but first, I had to post about something more important. Yesterday, my darling husband ran the Cowtown Half marathon – 13.1 miles of hills and bricks. This was Bryan’s first half marathon, and he’s been training really hard for it. I am so proud of him for all his work on this big goal! Since it was his first “half” his main goal was to finish and enjoy it. A bonus would be to come in under two hours. Now, I know I’m biased, but my husband is amazing. HE DID IT. His time was one hour, 54 minutes, and 57 seconds. I am SO proud of him.

Here are pics with him with his finisher’s medal on – isn’t he so  handsome?!? I love you, honey!

 

This past weekend, three wonderful friends hosted an amazing baby shower for me and Baby D. I truly can’t believe how generous folks are and how blessed we are to have so many caring, loving, wonderful people in our lives.

The three hostesses are three of my closest friends. Tori flew in from Denver, CO (did I mention she’s due with baby #2 about 10 days after Baby D is due?), and Sara (due with baby #1 about 10 days before Baby D) and Jennie were local hostesses. Jennie opened up her home to all of us, and we had a grand time! There was wonderful food and cake (chocolate, of course!), great fun conversations, and gifts galore! Baby D is pretty much all set now! Continue Reading »

Well, folks, today was my 32 week appointment. Everything looks great so far – blood pressure normal, weight gain appropriate since the last appointment (and that’s all I’ll say!), and the baby belly is measuring right on track – 32 cm for 32 weeks! I’ve felt a few Braxton Hicks contractions in the last couple weeks, but nothing scary or painful, which is normal and good. Baby D’s heartbeat was good and strong, as usual, but in a different spot than it’s been. I knew he’d been really active the last couple days, but this proved to me that he wasn’t just dancing in there – he was MOVIN’! Until today’s appointment, his heartbeat had been found kind of below and to the left of my belly button (yes, I still have an innie, for you inquiring minds). Today it was more directly below or possibly below and to the right (it’s hard to see now where, exactly, doc’s got the dopplar, so I’m going by feel here).

One funny thing is that the doc did some minor palpitations to see if it seems like Baby D is head down, or at least moving that way. Well, let’s just say that little man did NOT like that…he must have stretched out as hard as he could for a good 15 minutes after the doc was done. It was like he was saying, “okay, you push on me, I’ll push right back!” Think that says something about his little personality???

I have the sweetest, funniest, strangest dog in the world. Now, I know all you dog lovers/owners out there will protest, saying that, no, in fact, YOU have the sweetest, funniest, strangest dog in the world. Fair enough – I think we’re all quite biased when it comes to our furry, four-legged babies. My Sadie is a 5 year old terrier mix – a Humane Society North Texas rescue sweetie – a graduation present to myself after grad school. She’s got more personality than some people I know.

Tonight at dinner, Sadie was doing her usual food scavenging (she typically camps out between Caleb and me – smart dog!). Since it was ravioli night, nothing was getting slipped to her, and she snuffled around dejectedly. As she came around the table toward the back door, she stopped, looked out the window, and growled. We all stopped eating and looked at her rather strangely. Was one of the neighborhood cats out there? Or worse, a possum (yes, we’ve had them in the backyard)? She ignored us and circled the table a second time. As her circuit brought her to the door, she stopped and growled again. This time we all giggled… Surely she wasn’t really growling at her own reflection…was she? She hasn’t done that since she was a puppy. After a third table circling, a clearly agitated Sadie growled one last time at the dog in the window and looked at me pleadingly. I opened the door for her, and out she ran, sniffing feverishly at the spot where the phantom dog had JUST been. It took a good, thorough sniffing to convince her that, indeed, no other dog was there to challenge her spot as Top Dog in the house.

GOOFY dog…

Yesterday was a day loathed by many and loved by just as many. We had a great day. I promise not to get too mushy here, but my fabulous husband BAKED me a heart-shaped cookie cake (one of my favorite things in the whole world), made the buttercream icing (in pink, even!) and put cute candy hearts, in the shape of a heart, on the cake. It’s DEEE-LISH! Since V-Day was nice enough to fall on a Sunday this year, we got to sleep in some. Bryan got in a 14 mile run (yes, I’m in awe of him) and I got the house picked up and dusted and laundry folded (all of which it desperately needed, especially with company coming this week). Then we went to one of my favorite restaurants for a late lunch, Gloria’s in Colleyville and made a quick stop afterward at Market Street where we placed a special order and picked up a small package of chocolate covered strawberries (YUM!). Later that evening we went to Caleb’s soccer game (indoor – the snow Thursday and Friday had the fields too soggy for the outdoor game to go on), where our boys won, 6-2. We finished off the day with Bryan watching the NBA All-star game and me working on a couple crafty projects. It was a perfect low-key V-Day. Thanks, Baby!

Yes, you read that right – it’s SNOWING in North Texas! Actually, it’s been snowing for the last 13 hours – we have probably 7 inches on the ground and it’s still coming down like crazy!

Needless to say, I worked from home today. I mean, when Mr. I-love-snow-and-cold, aka my husband, called me after dropping off the boys at school this morning (nope, no snow day for them) saying he was going to work from home and stay off the roads as much as possible, I decided I certainly didn’t need to drive 30 miles round trip to go into the office! Continue Reading »

Today we visited two potential daycares for Baby D; Children’s Courtyard and Children’s Lighthouse-Heritage. There are two more we definitely want to tour, possibly four. The two from today are up near home. Of the possibly 4 others, 3 are near the house, and 1 is downtown, near work. Both facilties we toured today are new facilities, very nicely appointed, and the staff seemed quite nice and knowledgeable. They’re close in price, and I feel confident that he’ll get more than adequate care at either facility. Both facilities get good reviews on the neighborhood message boards. With that said, I still left both places rather teary-eyed.

Let me make this very clear; I didn’t feel sad because of anything I saw or felt at either place we saw today. I felt sad as a Mommy. Baby D’s not even here for two and a half more months, yet we’re already having to look for someone else to take care of him the majority of the day during the week. This makes me feel so sad. I’m worried already about all the things I think I’ll miss. I know I’m not the first Mommy to go through this, and that all working parents feel this type of guilt about leaving their precious ones with someone else–whether it’s a bigger childcare facility, a smaller in-home daycare, or with a family member. My question to anyone out there reading this is, did you feel like this before your baby was ever born? Does it ever get easier? When? And if it doesn’t, when do you heed that voice and make other tough decisions? (Okay, so that’s more than one question, but give a hormonal pregnant woman a break, k?)