Warning: Post about pregnancy, may be too much info for some men.

I love being pregnant. There, I said it, you can hate me if you want to. I have very few of the horrible symptoms that women usually complain about. I do not crave strange things. I am not constantly throwing up. I have different symptoms. During the first half of my pregnancy I had a constantly stuffy nose. I cannot sit for a long time because of tailbone pain. This is only a problem on Sunday. I am thinking about taking a donut pillow to church to sit on. I don't have to shave my legs very often (yes, my leg hair has actually slowed it's growth - this has been one of my favorite parts of being pregnant). But this is the symptom I want to talk about now - dry skin. I have never had such bad dry skin in my life. For a while I was lathering Vaseline on my hands at night and putting socks over them and sleeping that way the whole night - and the hands were still dry. This has a lot to do with being a kindergarten teacher because I wash my hands so much at work, but I've never really had a problem before. So I have a new solution. Even if you don't have dry hands (but who really doesn't at this time of year) it's still really good for your skin.

1. Keep a heavy duty moisturizer by your sink (my favorites are Eucerin, Aquaphor, or Burt's Bee's Banana Hand Cream).
2. Lather up with moisturizer before doing the dishes. Put a lot on. It will soak in because of the heat of the water.
3. Put rubber gloves on (I've never been one for the rubber gloves but my hands were so dry that it hurt to put them in the water).
4. Wash the dishes. The heat from the water will help the lotion do it's job.
5. Do not let husband use the same rubber gloves to do the dishes, because he will complain that his hands smell like bananas.

There you go. Beauty tips from me! It literally takes 30 seconds. Really, if the worst I am symptoms I am experiencing right now are minor back pain and dry skin, I have MUCH to be thankful for. I am actually finding that the more active I am, the better I feel. Usually my tailbone pain goes away if I go to the gym and use the eliptical machine.
I really should go to bed now because we have decided to get up early to attend the early service tomorrow. I have had a hankerin' for some hymns!

What is Annie reading?

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
So cute! I read this to a group of 1st through 8th graders the other day and they ALL loved it. A Dad tells his son the secret to getting rid of enemies is to make enemy pie!










The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

I am only a few chapter into this book but it has me hooked.











The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger

I got this for Christmas from my mom. I haven't had a whole lot of time to bake bread yet but I did make the Pear Coffee Cake today and it was delish. There are TONS of recipes in this book. It would take me 20 years to try them all.

Friday Favorites: Patch Maternity

Ok. I've had a change of heart. Gone are the days when I thought I could make it through my entire pregnancy without actually buying maternity clothes. You may remember a semi-angry rant about 3 months ago. I hate Motherhood Maternity because of thier return policy (thier policy is pretty much - no returns - although I do have a pair of black slacks from there that I love). My favorite store by far for maternity is Pumpkin Patch. Now, it's actually a children's clothing store, but if you look in the back you will find racks of maternity clothes. And the best thing is thier return policy - satisfaction garunteed. I actually have had a wardrobe malfunction with a pair of thier jeans, so I'll take them back next weekend. I really don't mind paying a little more for something if I know I can return it if at any time I am not IN LOVE with it.

You might not hear from me for a while - it's report card time. If you do hear from me - I'm procrastinating.

Did you know that:

INHABITS POULTRY MOON

and

THUMBNAIL RIOT SNOOPY

are anagrams of my husband's name?

check out: http://wordsmith.org/anagram/advanced.html

Seven months down.

Three more to go.

Yeah, that's right, ten months. They don't tell you that before you get pregnant. Well, actually nine and a half. But they start counting before you actually concieve. This is crazy to me.

Yes, they say the funniest things...

I have a new girl in my class. Here is a bit of funnyness from her.

HER: "I'm turning six in July. I'll invite you to my birthday party, if you're still alive."

ME: "Why wouldn't I be alive?"

HER: "Well, it's a long ways away. You might even be sixteen by then."

I am always delighted to have one of those uninhibited children in my class. You know, the ones who get up in the middle of my teaching just to visit the turtle. They make things funny. Speaking of turtles, when I got to school this morning I could smell turtle stink from down the hallway. I knew immediately that the filter had stopped working over the weekend. I had gotten to work half an hour early to get some work done, but I ended up spending that time cleaning out a stinky turtle aquarium instead. Oh, here's another one.

Upon seeing the apple symbol on the computer in the library, kindergartener says to the librarian:

"Oh, I see you got your computer from Applebee's"

Getting ready on Saturday morning:

"What do you want to do today?"

"Let's go for a drive."

In the car:

"Which way should we go?"

"South."

We ended up at Mount St. Helens. While it's packed in the summer, it's virtually deserted in the winter. We had a great time.