Friday :)

Hey all :)

I read yesterday that at about this time, we could start hearing the baby's heartbeat with a regular stethoscope - so I think Ian and I might be purchasing one of those!

I am feeling terrible today - so there's not going to be much blogging - sorry!!! The kids at school are starting to comment about how my stomach is getting 'bigger' or 'tighter' or they just randomly walk up and put their hands on it - haha. It's fun though - there's about 400 people going through this pregnancy with me at school :)

I'm really considering whether or not I should get a sub - yuck --------

Hope everyone is feeling better than I am!
Love
Laura

Happy 4 months!

Happy 4 months Baby Bally! 18 weeks - wow! I love the weekly milestones, and this week, both tickers changed their picture! So fun!! 4 months... 5 to go!!! :) (And a double bonus, the farther along I get in my pregnancy, the warmer it will get outside!)

Yesterday was a fun and somewhat calm visit to the doctor :) We heard the baby's heartbeat again - yay!! It's just so amazing that there are TWO heartbeats in my body - crazy!! Besides that, the doctor asked how everything was going - and I didn't really have any questions - so it was a quick visit! (Kind of... we waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes) But, it was a good visit nontheless! I should start to feel the baby kicking soon - it starts around 18 weeks for some people - so that will be exciting!

Besides that, I have one of those colds where I feel like I've taken NyQuil, but just not as good - so I'm thanking those kids at school for sharing so nicely :)

Hope everyone has a great day!
Love
Laura

What a great day :)

Today has one of my favorite events of the pregnancy - going to the doctor! And those in my family - I bet you thought you'd never hear me say those words! (I used to HATE the doctor - as so many people do....). Anyhow, these little visits are the closest insight I have into what's going on with the baby, so they are way fun! Today Ian's coming along too, so he'll get to hear the heartbeat for the first time! I'm just praying that baby is healthy in there!!!

On another positive note, our friends Nate and Alli sent us an awesome baby package yesterday! It had some things for us to use when the baby is born - which was awesome because it made it that much more real (not that my stomach getting bigger doesn't make it real enough!) And then they also gave us a few books, including Baby Bargains which is an awesome answer to my cry for help in the entry 'Baby Depot'- Now we have some things to look through :) There were a few other fun things in there too - and we are just so lucky to have such great friends! Especially when they have a 4 month old baby keeping them busy! :) Thanks so much, Nate and Alli! (And little Henry for giving them the parent knowledge that they are now sharing with us!!)

I'll give you all an update tomorrow morning on how our little baby is doing! Think the doctor would let me record the heartbeat on my camera? I'm seriously considering it.....

Love you all!
Laura

The Cookie Monster

Good morning, all!

So yesterday's huge dilemma was that the night before, I had eaten ONE spoonful of cookie dough. Usually it is many more than one!! Anyhow, I spent the day yesterday totally freaking out that I was going to pass salmonella on to Baby Bally! I 'googled' during my planning period all about it, called my mom and freaked out during my lunch time - even asked my assistant principal if she had ever eaten cookie dough while SHE was pregnant! hehe... Mom called back and reassured me that it was probably okay - that she probably ate cookie dough when she was pregnant with us three kids - so I felt MUCH better! But what a fear that I had poisoned this baby!! I'm already so in love with this little guy/girl and I'm barely showing and he/she still has 5 more months to go - whew!

On another pregnancy note - I having trouble reaching down for things already. Tieing my shoes, picking up student artwork from the floor (no drying rack) etc. I don' t even want to know how hard it will be when I'm 8 months pregnant! All I know is - It's not quite like it used to be :)

By the way - the cookie recipe that caused a total freak out yesterday makes one of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had - It's similar to the Nestle recipe, but you put pudding in it! Just makes them super soft and fluffly - here's the link :
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Award-Winning-Soft-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Love
Laura

Looking ahead :)

I was just telling my sister, Mary, that we've only known about Baby Bally for 3 months, and we still have 5 more months to go!! (The first month, I had no idea!) Wow - It's going to be quite a while until we get to meet the little guy or girl!! :)

Anyhow, there are some exciting things (in the world of pregnancy) happening in the next few weeks - so that should make it go by more quickly!

This week (Weds) - Dr's appointment - get to hear the heartbeat :)

Next Monday - Feb 2nd - Dad's (Ian's) birthday!! :) Last birthday without the baby!

Then the NEXT week, Feb 12th - Ultrasound!! We'll get to see what the baby is looking like!! :) That also marks the halfway point :)

After the ultrasound, we have John's recital to look forward to on March 8th - then hopefully it will be getting warmer outside!

So, even though it seems like it will be a while - there are little steps along the way to keep this mom amused :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday! More baby stuff tomorrow :)
Love you!

How???

Sometimes the after-school club kids saunter into my room to help me stack chairs or draw on the whiteboard - good kids, and very friendly! Anyhow, yesterday one of these children, a 1st grader walked into my room after school. This was our conversation....
Student: "Mrs. Bally, Is you pregnant?"
Me: " Yep, I am! Pretty exciting!"
Students: "How?"
Me: "Well, it just kinda happened" (Not knowing what else to say!!!)

Wow! Did that one word throw me for a loop! I told his mom about our conversation and she just laughed - and I could tell she had no intentions of explaining how it actually happened!
But whew!

On to a different topic - next Weds I'll get to hear the heartbeat again! Yay! And then two weeks after that the 20 week (halfway) ultrasound! I love those doctors appointments!

Have a great Friday!
Love
Laura

Happy 17 weeks!

I think.... that my 4 months isn't until next week - but I'm not all that sure! It's 4 weeks after the first trimester (13 weeks) but I believe pregnancy months are every 4.5 weeks - Anyhow! We're still at a landmark today so everyone gets some pictures :)

Now... I did not know that my stomach looked this big. Ian's been telling me the past two nights, 'You really look pregnant all of a sudden' and no wonder the student made the comment that he did!!! The first two are just me in my favorite winter sweater. My photographer (Ian!) suggested I show the belly with just the white shirt - The shocked look comes because I had just checked the earlier two pictures and realized how big my belly looked from another view!!! Crazy, I tell ya!! But pretty fun too :) Keep in mind that these were taken after a long day at school and while I was cooking dinner - so they are purely for belly size purposes!! :) And I was actually 'trying' to suck it in! Although that is not possible anymore....

Anyhow, this really just happened since the weekend - I guess baby needs more room!

Laura from the side.....

Laura turned a little....
Laura shocked because her belly looked huge in the last two pictures!!

Say hello to Baby Bally!
Have a great day everyone!
Love
Laura

Picture alert!

For the past two days, I have 'looked' like I'm pregnant - pictures of me in tomorrow's 4-month post! Consider it an 'anniversary special'!! :)

Oh, those students!

So yesterday morning, when I was on 'morning duty' (watching the kids in the cafeteria since it's too cold outside) one of the 5th graders, who did not know I was pregnant said, "Mrs. Bally, you look like you pregnant."
I responded, "That's because I AM pregnant!" :) Student a little shocked.... Now, if I had not been pregnant, I probably would have been a little sad the rest of the day!! But, knowing that little Baby is starting to get bigger, I was excited! And yes, I owe pictures - I realize that - sorry!!!!

Another funny conversation at school that my principal filled me in on...
Location: Downstairs
Who's involved: Our custodian, Mr Heath; principal, Mr. Barber; and students in line waiting to use the restroom

Mr. Heath: Do you know when Mrs. Bally's due date is?
Mr. Barber: Actually, I don't really have any idea!
One of the students from their classroom line: July 2nd!!!

Mr. Barber shared that with me and I just thought it was so cute!! The kids are pretty excited - some ask if I had the baby over the weekend (no), several stare at my belly like it's ready to explode or something, and one thing I do love is that they are very honest and candid! (see first student comment above)

On a separate note, the web streaming didn't quite work for the inauguration yesterday, but luckily we had some t.v.s in the building that the kids could gather around! Definitely a historical day! :)

Tomorrow's another big landmark day - 17 weeks/ 4 months!! I can hardly believe how fast these weeks go - I can't wait to meet our baby and for it to get WARM outside!

Love
Laura

Big day!

Reflecting on the big events that are happening today, I'm so happy that Baby Bally is coming into the world where there will already be our first black president. I think it speaks volumes - so it's exciting! I plan on hooking up cnn.com to my big LCD projector and streaming the inauguration events for the students today - even if it's in the background while they work on their project, it's important!

1 week and 1 day until Ian and I go in to hear our little one's heartbeat again! I love that, just lets me know things are okay! In the next few weeks I should be feeling the baby move, which will be pretty fun! I know Cletus is still growing because now my 'bigger' pants don't quite fit my waist anymore!!! Ian's response, "Well, that's supposed to happen, isn't it?" which he was perfectly right :)

Back to school today after a 5 day weekend because of the weather - it was a nice break though!!
Love you all
Laura

Some realizations...

Today I had a dentist's appointment - no big deal - told them I was almost 4 months pregnant - yay! And had an appointment talking about baby stuff with my hygenist - Or at least as much talking as I could - we all know how that goes!!

Anyhow, about halfway through the appointment, I realized that my NEXT dentist appt. (Every 6 months) I would be a mom!! That was just a little bit of a crazy thought to me! I started thinking about things like, what do people do with their kids when they go to doctors/dentist appointments?? Bring them? Find a babysitter? I wonder....

That was pretty fun though :) I'm loving also that the coldest 'monthly averages' (yes, I'm obsessed with the weatherchannel.com) are over and that we are now getting warmer - that means we're closer to meeting Baby Bally!!!

So back to the dentist, I pushed my next appt till Sept - so next time I go in I'll have a two month old baby!!!! I love it :)

Have a great day everyone! I'll get back to a regular blog posting schedule someday :)
Love you!

The Depot

Dearest Dad, sorry this post is a little later in the morning! This is my 2nd day off of school, so I'm going a little slower! Ian also decided to take the day off, so we have a 4 day weekend together, which is great!

On to baby stuff :) Ian and I were talking this morning about how I still really don't look all that pregnant - and how I'm sure just to balloon out one of these days! Next week I'll already be 4 months pregnant... and there are only three more weeks till I'm officially halfway through the pregnancy!!! Crazy :)

Soo... baby story for today. Baby Depot. I brought up the idea last weekend (when we just THOUGHT it was cold) that it might be a good idea during these winter months to go look at baby stuff - you know, now that I'm in my 2nd trimester (!!!) and can still walk around comfortably and everything :) Ian brushed it off the first time, and then when I brought it up again, was super supportive and actually interested in going, which was fun :)

When we first arrived at the Baby Depot, we loved how everything was out on display, but at the same time, it was SO overwhelming!!! For example, there were probably 40 car seats out on display - 40!!! Different patterns, different handles, different seats I suppose - but to novice parents like us, we had NO idea how to tell them apart!! Same with the strollers - although I have a little more of an idea just by personal preference... And the Pack N'Plays - so many different types!!! How does anyone decide? Craziness....

Needless to say, we didn't buy a single thing... we didn't even pretend we were ready to register! All the trip did was put us into a mild baby-item induced shock - We will return someday, and maybe be a little more prepared - but at least now we know what's out there-A lot!!!

To all the people who have registered before us - how did you do it? At least for the wedding registry, I had an idea - Ian and I either liked it, or we didn't, and it was way fun to dream the list up! With this, I just have no idea what the baby needs! Sigh... I suppose we'll figure it out :)

Have a great day everyone! If you have any advice on the essentials - please let us know! Email is laurabally@gmail.com :) Yes, I'm slightly begging....

Love you all!

Oh my!!!

It just IS cold!! Ian's car wouldn't start this morning - so we started charging it at 7 or so and at 8 he finally was able to head off to work -

I went out to help him turn the ignition a few times, and it is just TOO cold!!! -17 out there, with wind chill, -36!!! Wow - Anywhere that wasn't covered just felt instantly freezing. Whew!

I am thankful for my warm house, for sure!!!!!

Happy 16 weeks!!

On we go to our 17th week :)

At the top, Cletus is 5 inches, and I'll be feeling him kick soon!!! And I read that it's 5 inches CRL (Crown to rump aka head to booty) AND if he/she was stretched out from head to toe Cletus would be 9 inches!! WOW! 9 inches of baby inside!!!

I was looking at the ultrasound taken December 1st, and the baby was just 2. 6 cm then... that's just 1 1/2 inches! So in about a month and a half, baby has grown 7 1/2 inches... amazing!!

On a different, somewhat frustrating, maybe scary note - check out the links below:
http://www.week.com/news/local/37618314.html
(above is from the news channel)
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x2125487768/Woodruff-may-be-closed
(Above is from the local newspaper)

I teach at Irving - and we typically would feed into Lincoln Middle School and then Woodruff. I've talked to the principal, and he says since I'm the only full-time art teacher at each of the three primary schools I would be okay, but it's still tough! And unlike the newspaper article, Irving was scheduled to close in 3 years, not next year. Whew! I really hope this works out!!!

Anyhow, it's cold here - no school today. It's a big deal for Peoria to close - I hope all our kids are safe, warm, and fed today!

Joys and worries in this blog, but I suppose that's life, right?
Have a wonderful day everyone - stay warm!!!
Love
Laura

Hello again everyone :)
Three days in a row! Can you even believe it?? Over Christmas break, Andrew (my brother-in-law) gave me the idea to write about maybe one idea per blog, instead of lots of topics and then waiting forever for a new entry - so - that's what I'm trying to do :) Thanks, Andrew!

Lately I've been trying to pick up things from the floor or reach over while I'm in the car, and I'm noticing that it's not quite as easy to reach down as it used to be. It's actually kinda crazy, considering that I'm not even that big yet!! How do women do it once they get a huge belly? I just don't know.... All I know is, it's getting tough right now...

Yesterday a little first grader came up and kissed 'the baby' - they are so quick, I never know what they're up to! A little strange, but very sweet too.... I have also gotten this response from several of the kids,
"You're pregant?!? Who is going to be our art teacher??" It's cute that they are so concerned :)

Not too exciting of a post today, I know!! Sorry! But it's still something! And you know I'll be back tomorrow because it's Cletus's 16th week! :)

Love you all
L

Talking to the baby :)

Good morning!

I read that this is the week when the baby starts to hear sounds from the outside world and can also sense light - so if we were to put a flashlight up to my belly, Cletus would actually turn to avoid it. And no, we haven't done that!!!

I did read my first baby story to Cletus though! It was a story my mom gave me for Christmas, called 'Baby oh Baby, the Places You'll Go, A Book To Be Read in Utero"... whew, what a title! It was a compilation of many Dr. Suess books, as well as a few sentimental things to say to the baby, and it was very cute!

It's just so neat that now the baby can hear our voices - just amazing!!! My pregnancy so far has been smooth sailing - so I'm blessed for that! The only difficulties so far are that I get SO hungry and that the scale keeps rising.... but other than that :) Things are good!

Have a great day!
Laura

Practicing with Names...

Good morning, everyone!

This weekend, Ian and I started calling our baby by the baby names we're considering - and I have to tell you, there are a few surprises!! For example, with the boys, we REALLY liked Oliver, and Elijah didn't sound right (MAYBE Eli though)... and Sadie is actually back on the list me with - so we were calling our girl baby Mara, Elle, Charlotte, and Sadie... Who knows what we'll have by July! The list is always changing a little bit :)

Anyhow, we were saying things like,
"Time for dinner, Elle!"
"Oliver, how did you get so muddy?"
"Eli, we told you never to bring snakes in the house! Your father doesn't like them!"
"Charlotte, can you go upstairs and get your brother Oliver, please?"
"Sadie, what do you want to eat at Chili's today?" (we went to Chili's for lunch... thanks, Dad!!)

It was fun, even if we have become slightly crazy parents already :)

Sorry I didn't post any pictures this weekend - I was not really in the mood - wasn't feeling the 'pregnant cuteness' I suppose!! But hopefully I will get some to you soon :)

About two weeks until our next doctor's appt, and then 2 weeks after that is our final ultrasound!

Have a great week, everyone!
Love
Laura

Ooooh, Baby, Baaby!!

This is a quick one -and I did just post today, I know! But look at the 'ticker' in the upper right hand corner!! It looks like a baby!!!!!!! So exciting!! :)

Remember when it looked like a lima bean with little buds? I can hardly believe it!!!

Happy Friday! Ian and I just started our NetFlix subscription again, so we're going to watch the Twin Peaks movie tonight - hope everyone has a relaxing evening!

Love
Laura

Good morning everyone!
Happy 15 weeks to Cletus! :) 15 weeks down and 25 to go - wow!!!! We could find out if it's a boy or a girl in 5 weeks! (but we're going to be surprised) :)

I'm recently put in a 'counter' at the bottom of this website - because sometimes I feel like I'm writing for myself!! I miss the comments!!! (hint hint) Oh well - I know it's weird to leave comments sometimes :)

Happy Friday to everyone!! I am determined to take some pictures this weekend, so yell at me if I don't post some '3 monthers' by Monday! :)

Love
Laura

Here comes baby!!

Hey all! Just wanted to share that in the past day or so, I have actually noticed that my stomach is starting to LOOK pregnant - Like, Monday, still not so much - but yesterday it was more pronounced!

Ian agrees - and also one of my student's thoughtfully said yesterday, "Mrs. Bally, you gettin' fatter"... (very sweetly though) Then another student chimed in, "That's because she's pregnant!"
Oh the joys of 10 year olds!

I'm headed to a conference today called "Working Successfully with Difficult and Disruptive Students" - So we will see if it is useful - I hope so!!! This is my first day with a sub - and my most challenging classes!

Have a great day, everyone!
Love
Laura

Back to School!

Good morning :) Sorry it's been a while since I've written! Sometimes it seems that time off is actually busier than day-to-day life!

Christmas break was great - I really enjoyed spending time with everyone!! And New Year's was a special occasion because 2009 is the year that Baby Bally comes into this world! Yay!! Only 6 more months :)

We saw the movie Benjamin Button yesterday - which was wonderful! There were a few moments in the movie where I was thinking... yikes! I didn't need to see this as a pregnant lady!! But all in all, it was really well done and so enjoyable!!

Cletus is doing well - He/she makes me so hungry once in a while! But that's typical I suppose :)
I'm so happy that this has been such a great pregnancy so far!

Off to get ready for school -
Have a good week back, everyone!
Love
Laura