Friday Favorites: Dr. Seuss

Don't forget to have "lots of good fun that is funny" today! It's Dr. Seuss's birthday. We made Dr. Seuss hats today and in the afternoon we will go to the library and read for an hour with the rest of the school (there are less than 100 students in our school). Dr. Suess was a fascinating person. Many of his books are very political in nature. Did you know that Yurtle the Turtle is really about Hilter?

I put on a vest and a coat to go outside today because it was snowing outside.

Kindergartener: "I know what your baby is saying right now. He's saying, 'AAAAHHH, it's dark in here.'"

Right now...

....it's snowing

....my hubby is playing the guitar

....he just did all the dishes

Life is good.

ME: Paul, I think I am having Braxon-Hicks contractions.

HIM: WHAT!!!!! You can't have the baby now!! Go lay down! Why are you doing the laundry?

HIM: ...Let's call your mom.

ME: Calm down.

When I first heard of Braxton Hicks contractions I thought they were talking about Taylor Hicks from American Idol, so I can't really blame my husband for not knowing what they are.

Friday Favorites: LaLoo's Goat's Milk Ice Cream

I love this stuff. It's expensive (try over 5$ for a small pint), but after my doctor's appointment yesterday I stopped by my food co-op to get some. I can't have regular dairy, and as much as I love soy ice cream, there is just nothing like the taste and consistancy of real milk ice cream. I haven't bought it in over a year, so it's a really big treat for me. The good thing is that it is sooooo chocolaty that you can't eat very much at one time, so it lasts. My other favorite goat milk products are yogurt and cheese. They are expensive but I have been buying them more since being pregnant because I figure the baby needs the dairy (or at least that's what I'm telling myself). I do buy the goat milk and substitute it in recipes that call for milk, my husband can't tell the difference. As goat milk products become more popular I am hoping that they will come down in price.

Yesterday I had my 32 week (8 month) appointment and it looks as if the baby is HEAD DOWN!! Yea! I had my suspicions that he was in this position for a while, so hopefully he won't move in the next few weeks. The head down position means he is in the best position for birth. He still has a few weeks to move around before he becomes too big to flip around, so I am hoping he will stay that way.

Have a great weekend!

Heads up!
My friends Cheryl and Charlene have blogs! I added them to my links.

Our Weekend

This weekend we went to Portland for Dan Robinson's birthday party. We also made our first trip to Babies R Us (talk about overwhelming) and got to hang out with our friends. I also officially started "nesting". I honestly haven't felt the urge to get ready for the baby yet, but for some reason yesterday (President's Day is a day off for me) it happened. I just really NEEDED to wash all those baby clothes and pack his little diaper bag for the hospital.

By the way, if you are thinking about buying Elias something, he doesn't need any more newborn clothes. We have that covered. You can see the two baskets full of mostly newborn clothes and blankets. Thanks to everyone who has been donating thier hand me downs!

Another sad thing that happened is that one of our dogs is missing. Our other dog, Dexter, has been moping around for four days, missing his friend. He literally lays by our back door all day and whines when we come out. We don't know what happened to our dog. We've even checked at the pound. We are hoping he is off with some lady friend, but we think he might be gone for good.



Elias likes listening to music. I noticed that when Paul plays the guitar he kicks, and when we went to our old church in Portland, Mosaic, this weekend, he was kicking when the music is playing. So here we are introducing him to 5 O Clock People. He likes it. Either that or he is kicking for us to stop, who knows.





I also started reading this book, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, I really don't like the title, but so far it's good and it makes sense to me. I've also read Babywise. Please leave a comment with a recommendation if you know of any other good ones.

"Might I inquire as to how you came about these?

Persuasion.

Friendly?

Decidedly not."

-Pirates of the Carribean


overstimulated children...sweat...sugar...and wheels...

Yes, today we had our annual reward party at the roller skating rink. In my list of thing I should be exempt from due to my large tummy: tying ten pair of roller skates and ten pair of shoes, also tracking down said shoes (they sometimes sprout legs and run away), also riding in a school bus full of sweaty, sugared up children for 45 minutes, also keeping track of the finances of ten 5 year olds at a gift shop.

I am iron woman. I have recently been exposed to both whooping cough and strep throat (along with all the other run of the mill illnesses that fester in an elementary school) and am still completely healthy. Of course the minute one says something like that is the very minute the illness gods start working against them.

The good thing about today is that it's Friday. After school I went to the gym, came home and made tacos, and now Paul and I are watching Pirates of the Carribean. It's a three day weekend. Life is good.

Included in the phrases I seem to repeat over and over again these days:

April 17th. (my due date)

A boy. (boy or girl)

I feel great. (people don't really want to know if you feel bad)

Elias Paul. (do you have a name picked out?)

Walk please.

Quiet voices please.

Excuse me, what is your job right now? (get back on track, kid)

I also get the bewildered, "you're still working out?" question. If I were to be completely truthful with you, working out makes me feel so much better, that I have a hard time NOT working out. It loosens up those achy joints, gives me more energy, stretches me out, all the good things it's supposed to do.

Another question I am getting asked quite a bit is whether or not I am coming back to work after the baby, usually from parents who have younger children and were looking forward to having me as thier child's teacher. It makes me feel really good that they want me to stay. BUT - when I say that I'd like to be a full time mom for a while, working mom's always feel the need to explain to me why they HAD to go back to work. I think there is a little guilt involved here, because I am a teacher and I am supposed to know what's best for kids, and I am making a decision for my child that is different from the one they made for thiers. I am not happy about the guilt, but what can you do?

Have a great weekend. We've got some great things planned. Babies'r'us is in the picture. Seeing friends and family too.

I'd like to leave you with another quote from Pirates of the Carribean (as you can tell I am barely watching it).

"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."

Captian Jack Sparrow

Pregnancy Update


"Life is hard enough without having someone kick you from the inside."

-Rita Rudner

"Watch out, guys!! She's pregnant!"

-Kindergartener

Hi. I'm still here. Last week I had my 30 week appointment (I'm 31 weeks now, 9 weeks left!!!). It seems like my due date is so close, but also so far away. Everything was fine at my appointment. My Dr. said that hopefully at the next appt. we will be able to tell what position the baby is in. I feel like we are really unprepared as far as what we actually have for the baby. But we keep reminding ourselves that a baby doesn't really need much. I am taking childbirth classes this month, which has been very interesting. I feel like I have joined a secret society of women who know how to breathe (he he who). How is this actually going to help me? I'm not sure.
I got an MP3 player for Christmas. I don't really fully know how to use it yet but I DO know how to put a podcast on it, and one of my favorites is the pregtastic podcast. The name is pretty corny but I am enjoying listening to it. I am also enjoying sermons from Andy Stanley, NPR's driveway moments, and of course This American Life.
Elias is still moving quite a bit and we absolutely can't wait to meet him. What a blessing. I still can't believe that we are actually having a baby.
Paul is looking for a job, since he graduates in March. We may have to move for a job, which I am actually a little excited about. I am praying that he will find a job that he really likes.
Have a great day!

Head over to Suzanne's Second Estate for a more complete description of the last post. You can actually see the picture on her blog. Ah, the tech-savy Suzanne. She's such a good writer too. She makes me feel like I am in Missouri (though I wouldn't want to go back without Kelsey and Suzanne! :)

A very long drive to Misery?

Once upon a time three girls set out on an adventure to a land of fireflies and Bible stories. They were Kelsey, Annie and Suzanne. Kelsey sent me this picture and it brought back great memories of being single, mobile and adventurous. We attended the Children's Ministry Institute in Missouri one summer break. I remember getting the best haircut of my life (in Missouri, who knew?) and case of chiggars (if you don't know what they are, don't ask). It was a fantastic experience.

What am I doing right now?

I am listening to a basketball game between Unalakleet and Nome on KICY radio. I love the internet. Basketball is HUGE in Alaska. Nights are very long and days are very short. Unalakleet is the village I spent the better part of two weeks in this summer. I never thought my heart would ache for a small village in Alaska. But I want to be there.

Of warthogs and red...

they continue to make me laugh every day, and cry sometimes too, but we'll try not to focus on that. According to one, tomorrow is warthog day (groundhog day, for all of you who aren't kindergarten teachers). According to another, my baby's name is "The Lias" (interesting take on Elias). And they've always refered to hand sanitizer as "the hanitizer". We have some fruity smelly markers in our room. "This one smells like an orange to me." Another said, "This one smells like a red."
It's quite an adventure.

"Hey, look, a bean."

he said to me as he opened up a biology book from college. He was researching our changing baby boy. A bean fell out of the book. We smiled at each other, knowing.

"Five years."

"Yep, five years."

The significance of the bean is this: five and a half years ago, when Paul and I were married, beans were the main player in a practical joke Paul's family pulled on us while we were on our honeymoon. When we got home to our 400 square foot, tiny but so cute apartment, we found beans everywhere. Beans in bowls, shoes, pockets, books, under the bed, on top of window ledges, behind furniture, everywhere. We didn't find some of the beans until be moved out of that apartment two years later. Every time we move, we find more beans. Five years later and awaiting the birth of our first child, we're still finding beans.

All I have to say is, "Good one, Robinson family, someday we will get you back."

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.