Happy 31 weeks!

That's right folks, we are into single digit numbers before we meet the baby! Unless, of course, he or she decides to be fashionably late :) But wow... 31 weeks down, 9 to go until the due date! Happy 31 week birthday, Baby :)

Tonight is the Can Do Fundraiser for my school - where about 20 pieces of artwork get auctioned/sold for about $100-$200 a pop - it's all for a good cause though. The proceeds go towards a $1000 scholarship for every 4th grade student at my school once they graduate high school - and the money is to be used for higher education of some form. So it's a good thing! We'll be bringing 20 kids to auction to talk about their artwork, so I'm excited!

The doctor's appt went really well yesterday - everything has been smooth sailing so far! (knock on wood) but I'm just really blessed with a good pregnancy! Hopefully, the baby will be just as good when he or she is outta there :)

Have a great day everyone!
Love
Laura

Sleep and questions

Good morning, all!

The interview on WEEK 25 went really well - I didn't trip over words or anything! Which is what I was nervous about ... we'll see though, I suppose! I didn't record it, and I thought it would be online but wasn't... soo, I contacted the news channel to see if I could purchase a copy of the segment or newscast. Hopefully I'll be able to! (Although part of me thinks maybe I don't want to see it? :) )

Good news is that Ian is sleeping better lately - no reason that both of us should have to suffer! And of course, I tend to sleep the best after my alarm goes off for some reason.. grr... maybe I should start setting my alarm for 1 in the morning or something??

There are some interesting student questions popping up about how the baby is going to come out of Mrs. Bally - A student asked, "Do they cut your stomach open?" I said... "Sometimes" And then went on teaching... I think my next answer to how the baby comes out will be, "Ask you mom and dad how you came out..." :) That's my safest bet for sure!

Doctors appt today at 3:50pm! So I'll be hearing heartbeat of this little one :) Always exciting!
Have a great day, everyone!
Love you all
Laura

Almost to the couch...

Well, I almost sent my husband to the couch last night - but not for what you think!!! When I got home from school yesterday, he told me that he thinks he might have to start sleeping on the couch because I make too much of a commotion when I try to sleep.. (not in those words). I understood, but that made me sad!! Then I got all crazy and suggested that we set up our air mattress in the room next to the bed, and then we could hold hands across the mattresses - well, I realize now that's a little ridiculous, and he called me on that yesterday too :) Plus, logistically, there's not much room for that second bed in the room....

Anyhow, much to my happiness, he didn't sleep on the couch last night, and we were both able to get a good nights sleep. Or at least I was just VERY careful as I tossed and turned :)

Today I'm going to be on the Peoria news at noon - so that's pretty exciting! I'll be promoting a fundraiser/art auction for our school - then I'll be famous of course because I'll have my two minutes of fame :) hehe Should be interesting though because I'll be going to the studio and sitting on their little interview set and everything!

Anyhow, hope everyone has a good day!
Love you
Laura

Sleepy....

Good morning, everyone :)
Well, unfortunately, this weekend was one of those wear I was literally tossing and turning pretty much all night. Yuck! It's just no fun to wake up tired, and unfortunately, my crazy sleep habits affected my husband last night, too.... sorry, Ian!!

I just finished my last final project for grad school for more than a year now - I've decided to postpone the thesis year because I'm going to be a new mom! Yay! So I will start classes back up when the baby is about one - wow, that's a little cray to think about!! It will be nice to focus on things other than grad school for a while though (Right, Mary?!) I've been in college/grad school since 1998 (with one semester off) - Oh my!!!

I see on the countdown we're down to 66 days - wow!! It feels like we were just on Spring Break, which was the beginning of April, now it's almost May!

Have a great Monday everyone - hope you had a great weekend, too!
Love
Laura

Can I Blame Things on the Baby Yet? ;)

This morning I woke up late! So I've been all frazzled trying to get ready - but still posting :) Anyhow, for some reason, my snooze button was 'disabled' and so when I thought I was snoozing there wasn't a chance my phone was going to wake me up again! So my question is... can I blame that one on the babe? :)

I know there will definitely be some times when I'm running 30 minutes late or so - when I can say some reason, that as of right now, I don't even know EXISTS - but that will be related to the baby :)

I'm afraid today I'm on my own - but good practice for when I need to rush around frantically in the morning!!

It's Friday, and it's going to be 80 degrees and BEAUTIFUL! Yay! :)

Love you all
Laura

Happy Mini-Birthday! :)

Happy 30 weeks, Baby Bally!! :) Wow, we are in to the final 10 weeks until the due date - 10 weeks!!!

In a smaller view, I LOVE it when something I am looking forward to enters the '10-day weather forecast' (I know, that is nerdy!!) or just when there's a countdown of 10 to about anything!

Wow... I also entered in all of my OB appointments and lamaze classes, and they really do a number on filling up our May!! We start lamaze/childbirth classes on May 13th, and then I have a doctor's appointment every two weeks until week 36, then it's every week until the little baby gets here!

On a school note, I'm needing to start and finish one big project with the kids before the end of the year - a placemat for a fancy fundraiser - and I have high standards :) So, in the next 6 weeks, I will be trying to get those done!! (Takes a while with the kids since I only see most of them once a week for 45 minutes)

Anyhow - I've been looking forward to this countdown day for a while! 10 more weeks!!! :)

Love
Laura

Blueberries

Good morning, everyone :)

Some trees across the street from us are now starting to show some green! I think part of me may have forgotten how awesome it is to see everything growing :) (I could also insert some comment here about my stomach continually growing.... !!)

So, yesterday, I had a class of 5th graders - 10 years old. There were two boys who were already going to be written up for being disrespectful, then I heard 'grumble, grumble, blueberry'. Well! I was wearing a blue shirt, and so i had a feeling they were talking about me! I kept them after class, and I was indeed correct - the student honestly said, "Well, I was just telling him that your stomach looked like a giant blueberry!". I was laughing a little bit on the inside, so I just said something like, "I know it's getting bigger, but it's really not appropriate to talk about your teacher that way during class". And they still got written up for other offenses.

On a related note, my husband thought it was a pretty good analogy.... boys!!! It's okay though - it is just getting so big!

The baby is not so much kicking anymore as just kind of moving around in there - but in ways that I can definitely feel it!! The most active time for baby was of course last night when I was going to sleep - I sure hope baby's days and nights aren't mixed up!!

Have a great day everyone - Happy Earth Day!
Love
Laura

It's Tuesday

Sorry for the lack of a creative title there! Let's see.... last night the school board voted to close two primary schools in the district, and then our school and a high school at the end of next year - so that means we'll be getting an influx of students and some new teachers at our school - could be interesting! I hope one of those new teachers doesn't push me out of a job!!

I loved Dad's comment about the countdowns - he's right! I have so many! Here's another one - Ian and I go to a small group for our church every other Monday - Now there are only 5 of those left until the Baby! (Less if the baby comes early of course!)

It's getting harder for me to just sit (sigh!) So even sitting here at the computer is not quite as comfortable as it used to be - plus, getting out of a bed is a complete sight!! I give Ian a hug every morning before he goes to work, and we laugh about it almost every morning :) (the pregnant woman trying to get up - not the hug!)

Anyhow, hope you all have a great day! It's rainy and yucky here, but hopefully it's the last for a while - I need the sun!

Love you all,
Laura

A New Week :)

I'm so excited about the weather down here this week, because after Wednesday, it's going to be in the 70's for a while! So nice!! And 80 on Friday!! :) My only hope is that as a pregnant lady I don't pass out from being too hot in our nice non-air-conditioned school! But I'm sure it will fine!!

I loved seeing my family this weekend! Too bad that Baby Bally wouldn't kick at all when they were around - I don't really get that! I suppose baby only REALLY kicks when he or she is hungry... or when I'm driving... Saturday morning Baby was making my fleece move because I hadn't eaten breakfast yet - I guess the poor babe needed some food!

Today's an interesting day for me - I have art club after school and we're using clay. Which is awesome, but I have a feeling these kids have never used clay before - should be interesting!

Ian started on our bedroom this weekend - He started by taking down the trim and smoothing out some walls - so the countdown begins! 10 1/2 weeks until baby and to finish that room! LOL

Love you all!
Love
Laura

76 Trombones...

Good morning, all!

So... I saw in the ticker at the top of the blog - only 76 days until our due date! Then, I immediately started singing in my head, "76 Trombones lead the big parade!" from 'Music Man', which was promptly followed by the thoughts, what is this poor baby in for? Haha... It will be good though!

I feel like my preggo stomach is just getting bigger and bigger all the time! Which, I know it technically is - but its crazy to see changes each week!

Back to the countdowns though - I suppose I'm just a girl who loves them! 7 more weeks of school... and then 11 until the baby is born :) I can handle those!

Have a great Friday, everyone! Beautiful weather, at last!
Love
Laura

Happy 29 weeks!

Good morning, all!
First off, it's Thursday, so we have to take some time to wish Baby Bally Happy 29 weeks!! That means 11 weeks to go!!! (And next week we can start the 10 week countdown) - I can hardly believe this! I remember when I was making the announcement that we were 20 weeks down and 20 to go - Now, it's 11 to go!! And that's if the baby doesn't come early ;)

Well, Ian and I went to the epidural class yesterday as previously mentioned, and when we left, Ian's comment was "I don't think I should be in the room for that" and my comment was, "I REALLY don't want one of those"
The nurse brought out the entire epidural kit, and let me tell you, it just looks so scary and painful! Especially for a needle-phobic person like me!!!

So... as of this morning, I plan on a natural delivery - I suppose we'll see how its feeling once I get the contractions, and as my mom says, "Keep your options open"

I copied in some info on what the baby is doing at 29 weeks - It's pretty informative and interesting! I think I need to start playing it some more music :)

Have a great Thursday, everyone!
Love
Laura


"The baby is growing rapidly at this point weighing about 2 2/3 pounds and measuring around 14 ½ inches. The baby’s head is growing and there is a rapid brain development that began since the 28th week. The baby’s muscles and lungs also continue to develop and mature. The baby can now hear better and can distinguish real sounds and voices from all the vibrations around him/her. Some experts say that the baby’s heart rhythm will increase on hearing the sound of the father or mother. The music you play now or story read now will be recognized by the baby later as you will observe the baby stopping to listen for the same familiar sound later. The baby is less hyperactive now and no matter how much you eat the baby will want to have more leaving you feeling hungry and tired all the time. Your baby can now open its eyes and turn its face towards a source of bright light. The fingernails are growing and fat layers begin to form on the skin as the baby gets ready for its life outside the womb. The fetus can suck its thumb and has the ability to cry."

Oh, the PAIN!!

That's right... tonight is the epideral/pain relief class at our hospital! Although I am still considering going through it without any medications, I might just change my mind once the time comes :) Ian's coming along with me, so that he can be level-headed and help me decide what to do while I'm screaming in pain during delivery :)

I'm FINALLY sleeping well! We pushed our bed over to the wall, I bought a body pillow at Bed Bath and Beyond, and I'm using two other pillows besides that... Needless to say, it's now quite a scene to get in and out of bed! But... I'm sleeping! Hooray!!

Besides that, I just can't wait for the trees to get some leaves on them! We have leaves on the shrubs around here - so that's a start at least! And it just makes SUCH a difference to wake up when the sky is blue and the sun is out - we definitely need more of these days :)

Have a great day everyone!
Love
Laura

Say CHEESE!

Hey all!
The doctor's appt went really well this afternoon- he said that everything is looking good and that he's really happy with the pregnancy so far - yay!! :) The little baby is still in a tough position to get a good profile shot - but now, head is pointed downward and feet are closer to my head.. . so this little person spends his/her days upside down!!

Now I start going to the doctor every 2 weeks until the first week of June, then every week until the little person is born! Too exciting :)

Anyhow, the picture below is a close up of the head... arrow is pointing to the chin and then you can see the highlights of the nose and the two eyes :) Looks like a person to me!!! Cute!!!!!!

Back to School....

Hey all :)

Well, back to the routine! Wake up, blog, breakfast, school :) 8 more weeks until school is out! (counting this week). Then, three more weeks until Baby!!

Today we have a sonogram at 3:30pm - so I cannot wait to see the little baby again! It's been a while, so it will be interesting to see what little Cletus looks like!!

It feels like the baby is pretending my stomach is a set of conga drums lately - or maybe Cletus is playing soccer? Whatever is happening, there will be kicking/punching? on the right hand side of my stomach, and then immediately some kicking on the left, and then baby decides to alternate - crazy stuff! That little person is BUSY in there! Doing what? I'm not sure... is this a sign for how busy the baby will be when we get to meet the little person?

Have a great day everyone! And just a note to my family - you guys are great! I love you!!
Love to everyone,
Laura

Last Day of Spring Break

Good morning, everyone :)

Hope you all had a nice Easter weekend!
Today is my last day of Spring Break - then... 8 more weeks of school. I can do this!! :)

We were able to pick up the crib and changing table from my mom last week- very exciting! It's the same crib and changing table that my mom used when I was a baby! So cute :) We've checked out all the guidelines, so it's safe to use - don't worry!

I thought I would include some pictures from Galveston - it was a fun trip! Thanks, Garman family, for having us down to visit!!!

Love
Laura

The family at Mary and Robbie's house (cousins)

My cousin Mary and I - she's due at in June, I'm due in July :)

Waterline downtown Galveston (The Strand) from Hurricane Ike -

Six months pregnant!

Save the best for last - my wonderful husband and I! :)

Good morning!

Last email from the beach :) Or only the 2nd! Sorry!!! I got caught up in relaxing :) Sounds so tough, I know!!

Our trip to Galveston was a really fun - and just great to get away! I will post some pictures probably tomorrow - not too many, but some cute ones :)

Today is 28 weeks! Wow.... and the countdown is into the 80s (84 days, I think). Baby is getting closer!!

Sorry this entry isn't too long - gotta get packing :)

Love
Laura

It's Monday :)

Hey Family and Friends! Aunt Mary reminded me about the blog today - it's Monday!

Mom, Mary, Ian and I are in Galveston, TX and having fun :) Yesterday it was warm and sunny! (And I heard it was cold and snowy in Chicago - yuck!) And then today was another beautiful day as well :)

Baby Bally is doing pretty good! Kicking and enjoying TX as well - I'm not sure if he enjoyed the plane though? He was moving around alot when the engine first fired up and we took off, but seemed to do better once we got in the sky :) (Of course this could all be in my head, too!)

It was fun to see all the little Garman grandkids and just imagine what it will be like when meet our little baby!!

Hope you are all having a good start to the week - love you all!
Laura :)

The 100th post :)

Good morning, all!

As the subject line says - this is the 100th post! Kinda neat :) I'll have to make sure that I print all of these out to save for Baby Bally - it might be fun to read through these when he/she is older! I can hear it now.... "Mo-oommmm.... that was embarrassing!" haha... thanks for reading all this time! :)

I checked some different websites yesterday and they said that 27 weeks is the START of the third trimester! So I guess I'm there! Whoo-hoo! Although I can hardly believe it, I"m super excited as well! Actually... I can believe it - my stomach is getting really big and I'm starting that pregnant woman 'waddle' a little bit!! haha

90 more days until the due date - these 10 day marks are just going to fly by, I have a feeling! A couple more things to look forward to...

1. Spring Break for me and Ian starts tonight! We're driving up to the Mom's in the suburbs and then flying to Galveston Island with Mom and Mary to meet up with the Garman family (Mom's brother and his family) Should be really fun! I will try and post while I'm down there - I think there will be computers :)

2. Next sonogram- April 14th - Tuesday :)

3. Epideral class Wednesday - why am I looking forward to this? :)

So after Spring Break there are 8 weeks of school left, then 3 more weeks until baby! Should go by pretty quickly :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!
Love
Laura

Happy Milestone Day!

Today Baby is 6 months!! 27 weeks old :) I can hardly believe Ian and I have been going through this adventure for 5 months so far (the first month you don't really know you're pregnant) and we only have 3 more months to go! It will go quickly, but as my mom reminded me last night, I'm still going to get MUCH bigger!

This is the last week of the 2nd trimester - so the third and final starts next Thursday :) I am so excited that I can feel the little babe kicking and playing around in his or her little home - the baby is definitely growing! (And yes, there is only ONE baby!) ;)

I'm feeling really well and it just seems to be an a-ok pregnancy so far :) I am starting to get a chubby face though - I can feel it when I talk!! hehe

Ian and I might take some pics tonight before we leave - I definitely have that pregnant belly now!

Love you all,
Laura

Crazy news!!

Good morning, all!
Some crazy news - my OB called me last night, and said he was looking over the ultrasound pictures and saw not just ONE baby in there but TWO!!! I can hardly believe it!! Our own Laura and Ian plus two story :) :) I'm surprised I'm not getting any bigger than I am yet? But that explains all the big kicking - there's probably not much room in there!!

Let's see... besides that - saw some kicking again at a staff meeting yesterday - it's the craziest thing! Like aliens trying to get out of my stomach or something :) Very cool though - I guess we can now interact with the baby (or babies!!) because they can feel when we are touching them - so cool!

1/2 way through the week - phew! I'm getting observed today by the principal - I picked a class that wasn't the best, wasn't the worst - just average :) so hopefully it will go well!!!

Have a great day everyone!
Love
Laura


(April Fool's on the twins, btw) :)