SPRING BREAK!

When I was in high school, I always looked forward to Spring Break. What could be better than a week with no school?! When I began my career as a teacher, I didn't think Spring Break would be such a big deal. I mean, everyone else is working and I probably wouldn't take a big vacation so what's the big deal? Well, now I know. Teaching is the most physically, intellectually and emotionally demanding job I've ever had. Therefore, I cherish each day off like I never have with other jobs. In fact, I could probably recite the days off in our district calendar without missing a beat because I know them so well. Not only are my lesson plans affected by each day off, but so is my sanity. Spring Break is no exception. The anticipation I had for Spring Break in high school could never come close to matching the anticipation I felt for Spring Break as a first year teacher.

Luckily for me, I was able to plan a vacation with my mom. We headed down to Florida and, thanks to the generosity of her good friend, stayed in an awesome condo right on the beach. The weather was great and my mom and I were able to do exactly what we wanted to do for four days (and yes, a lot of times, much to the dismay of my "can't sit still for a second" dad, that meant absolutely nothing). It was splendid. We also got plenty of shopping done and thanks to my awesome mom, I have lots of new maternity clothes that I'm actually excited about wearing. On our last day, there were jellyfish all over the beach during our morning walk. I took several pictures of them and I thought this one turned out pretty cool. Thanks, Mom, for enjoying a great vacation with me! I hope you had as much fun as I did!!!

New Deck

This doesn't have to do with the baby directly, but it's close. Last weekend my dad came to town and he and Brant started working on a deck. They got a lot more done than they expected, despite the ridiculously cold day on Saturday and rain showers throughout the weekend. Although it may not seem like it now, it's actually looking really great. All that's left is the deck floor and the handrails. I can't wait to spend quiet mornings and evenings out there later this summer with Brant and McKenzie!!

I can't get these pictures formatted the way I want, so I'll just tell you about them in order.
1) Picture of the backyard from when we bought the house.
2) Ooops! We got off to an ominous start when the guy from the lumber yard dumped all of the wood UNDER my car! There was no damage though and the deck building went just fine.
3) Lucy, my parents' dog, probably feeling a little trapped.
4) The "after" shot for now. I'll post a completed pic once it's finished.

A huge thanks to my dad, Brant and Randy for the hard work so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belly Shot!

With only three months to go, I'm still moving around just fine. Still, I couldn't help but sympathize with Melena, a pregnant character in the book Wicked:
"She stood, mammoth, an ambulatory island."

So, here it is. Probably the only belly shot you'll be seeing on this blog. I'm not embarrassed by my expanding midsection, but I just don't think it needs to be out there for the world to see. So, I took this picture of my shadow on the beach and it will have to suffice.

Nursery Update

I know I haven't posted in a while, but at least I have something to show for it. Last weekend was pretty big for McKenzie's room. Brant and his mom got the room painted (oh and my little niece helped out a bit) on Saturday. On Sunday, Brant became superdad! He put the crib together and then installed a ceiling fan and dimmer switch. Was the crib too big to fit in the room? Yes. Did we spend 30 minutes trying to squeeze it in there only to realize that it would take five minutes to take it apart and put it back together? Maybe.

Anyway, see the progress below. You can see all of the fabric hanging on the crib. And my lovely green chair is one of the most comfortable things you have ever sat in!