Christmas pictures!

O' Christmas tree....

The cats very favorite hiding place...under the tree of course!

Their favorite toy, the FlingAMaString!

The runner up to favorite gift for the cats was the organic catnip toys!

25 weeks and Merry Christmas!

25 weeks pregnant

How far along? 25 weeks and 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: 18 (eep) pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight at my last appointment.
Maternity clothes? Puh, since 8 weeks. Elastic waists are COMFY!
Sleep: Sleeping well this week. Got to try out my Christmas present last night, a pregnancy wedge. Its GREAT!!
Best moment this past week: Many good moments, I stink at choosing just one. I enjoyed spending time with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. My mother-in-law got to be the first one besides DH to feel the baby kick. I tried to get him to kick for my mom, but he was being stubborn.
Movement: I do notice that he likes to move most when I am laying on my back. It will be completely still in there, and then as soon as I lay down BAM he is moving like crazy. Lots of rolling sensations yesterday too.
Food cravings: Holiday food and chocolate.
Gender: Boy, John "Jake" Aaron.
Labor Signs: No thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out? Getting a little more "out" each week.
What I miss: Being able to bend over without getting breathless.
What I am looking forward to: Setting up the crib and dresser tomorrow and working on the nursery this week.
Weekly Wisdom: Take naps as frequently as possible. And get a pregnancy wedge for sleeping, its awesome!
Milestones: Someone other than DH and I got to feel Jake kick!

About the babe:
Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Inside the womb, the formation of tiny capillaries is giving baby a healthy pink glow. Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes.

The next season of Survivor

Next Season on Survivor

Have you heard about the next planned 'Survivor' show? Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped into a public school classroom for 1 school year.

The business people will be provided with a copy of their school district's curriculum and a class of 32-35 students. Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

All business people must complete lesson plans at least 5 days in advance with annotations for curriculum objectives, and must modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences.

They must also stand in the doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways. In addition, each month, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and Lock-Down drills to prepare for shooting attacks. They must attend unpaid workshops, faculty meetings, department meetings, site-based council committee meetings and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get the 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take all of the state tests.

If the business person is sick or having a bad day, he/she must not let it show. Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program and must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible. The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they may not be able to afford it.

There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their workday. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class. If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before or after school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.

The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to his/her job."

Merry Christmas Eve!

Since I dont think I will be able to post anything tomorrow (busy day as you all know), I wanted to come and wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I am hoping that you all have a wonderful day filled with friends, family, and love. Tis' the reason for the season after all. Here is my favorite Christmas "poem" for you all to read.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

-Clement Clarke Moore

Merry Christmas to all,

24 weeks and getting things done!

24 weeks pregnant

How far along?24 weeks and 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: 8 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight at my last appointment.
Maternity clothes? Puh, since 8 weeks. Elastic waists are COMFY!
Sleep:Eh when I feel well (i.e. no cold, or intestinal problems) then I sleep great. Otherwise not so much. Not much sleeping this week.
Best moment this past week: Lots of fun holiday memories this week. I still love when Aaron gets to feel the baby kick. He caught him last night. And I have decided I am going to get an "at home" (as opposed to a classroom) copy of The Polar Express and I am going to read it to Jake on Christmas Eve. Hopefully the start of one tradition.
Movement: He moves lots and lots. I am still waiting for the kicks to become hard enough to "see" on the outside. That will be exciting.
Food cravings: Ummm everything? They come and go. But when they come, I follow.
Gender: Boy, John "Jake" Aaron.
Labor Signs: No thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out? Okay I seriously never thought I would end up with an "outtie" but the way things are going I may. Its getting reeeaallly shallow.
What I miss: Being able to do everything I wanted and needed to do without becoming exhausted by 8pm.
What I am looking forward to: Getting our nursery furniture for Christmas. Cant WAIT to start setting up the nursery!
Weekly Wisdom: You should probably not overdo it on the holiday feasting. There is only so much room left in the belly after the baby and vital organs.
Milestones: This week was a HUGE milestone! We are at 24 weeks, which is the beginning of viability outside the womb. This is kind of a downer to think about but if something happened right now Jake would have at least a chance of survival. That is comforting in some strange way.

About the babe:
Your baby is almost completely formed, and is beginning to deposit brown fat on his or her body. The purpose of the brown fat is to retain body heat. Newborns are bad at regulating body temperature at first.

Babies born at this point have some chances of survival with very special care. They will be in the Intensive Care Unit, probably for many months. A major problem with premature babies is lung development.

S/he weighs in at 1 lb 5 ounces (595 grams) and 30 cms or 11.8 inches total length!

As for me this week:
Its been a busy week with school ending for Christmas break. I thought I would be finished at the current school on Friday, but that is not the case. The teacher I have been subbing in for will not be back until at least the 14th of January. But no one else seems to think she will be back then either. So I will be happy to continue on at the school until they tell me to leave! I stayed home sick on Wednesday, because I hadnt been feeling good on Monday or Tuesday and didnt get any sleep Wednesday night. So I napped on and off all morning and went back to school on Thursday. Friday was the school Christmas party. I was honored that the other teachers wanted me to come. So DH and I joined them on a nice sunset cruise and dinner afterwards. It was a lot of fun, but like the pregnant woman I am, I was pooped by 9:00. So we didnt dance the night away like everyone else. I have been working hard to get some things finished for Christmas and for Jake. I have finished his hat/booty set, and am almost finished with a second pair of longies. They arent great, but they are better than the first pair. So if I continue to practice the pattern then one day I will be REALLY good at making them! I also finished sewing a Christmas present for my neice. Its a huge chalk mat for her to draw on. I hope she likes it!
Here are the finished projects:

Second pair of longies from the Sheepy Pants pattern.
Chalk mat for my niece's Christmas present (along with chalk and eraser).
Hat and booty set w/ cotton yarn.

Okay I didnt make these. But I did buy them for Jake to come home in. They are freakin' adorable. Its the little sea turtle from Finding Nemo!

That's all for this week! Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Very late 23 week post....

23 weeks pregnant

Sorry for the crappy picture. I take them myself with my phone. I try to make DH take them but our schedules dont always coincide. No fruit update for this week. And not much new to report so look for my 24 week update soon.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

22 weeks, and room is getting tight.

22 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

I am technically 6 months pregnant. Yeah thats weird right. But according to all the pregnancy sites the 6th month starts at 22 weeks. You would think that I would be 5 1/2 months pregnant, but apparently not. Pregnancy is weird like that. I think they just make these things up for no real reason. But I digress. Its been a good week. Busy but that is, of course, business as usual. I have almost completed my last course before my Practicum/portfolio course. That is exciting! Yippee.

Work is going well, I expect to be done at the school I am working at on December 18th. That is sad because I will miss everyone at the school (and the kids), but it will be nice too to be able to take off a day here and there to do things that need to be done. Hopefully I will be able to substitute regularly until Jake makes his arrival.

I have finished with the mobile for the nursery. I put the last beads on and it is done. Now I only have EVERYTHING else in the nursery left to do. Ugh. That is my January project, for after we get the furniture. Here is the mobile I think it turned out pretty well. The colors are better in person, the stars are a golden yellow and not white.


And in baby fruit this week:
Week 22-25
Papaya

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.