OH BABY!!

Happy of Happies, Nathan and I are expecting a baby.  I'm 14 weeks along and am finally feeling a little better.  Feeling a little better is a relative term.  I still feel a constant need to be close to a garbage can or toilet because sometimes it comes really suddenly, but for the most part I am feeling so much better.  It's the greatest feeling to feel like I can get up and do things because I feel good enough to. 

I've gotten so frustrated because I feel so sick, but I teach school or have class early every morning and I work late at nights.  This means that I don't get very much sleep and I'm absolutely exhausted all the time.  But...the kids just got out of school so I have a day off tomorrow.  WONDERFUL!!!  I get to just sleep until my body feels like getting up and then I can clean my house and exercise and relax. 

I'm due November 22 which happens to be the very day that I finish student teaching.  Here's hoping that baby will cooperate and help me out a little bit here.  I've been asking nicely for 3 months already and bribing baby with it's very own room and lots of cuddle time, so I hope it works out.

I'm so excited to start looking pregnant instead of just bigger.  I did get a little bit of confidence when I told my first graders yesterday that I'm having a baby and one of them said "I knew it because I've been watching your stomach get fat."  Well, thank you.  I wasn't sure exactly how to take that seeing as right now it is just bigger, but not necessarily a baby bump.  You have to love the honesty of 6 year olds. 

Speaking of which, one day the boys took an extra long time in the bathroom.  When they got back, I said, "Boys, were you doing what is right in the bathroom?"  They all responded in unison, "No!" To which I inquired what they were doing.  "We put soap on the floor and went ice-skating!!"  We then had to talk about how sometimes things are fun, but they aren't the right things to do and that there are always consequences when we make  choices.   So then I sent one of them down to get the janitor so that he could supervise them while they cleaned up their mess.  But I just laughed all day about that.  I love that they didn't even think about lying.  They were, however, very quick to point out the person whose idea it was and who had done it first.  I had to explain that it doesn't matter whose ideas it was, if you participated, then you're to blame too.  Classic.

Also.  Our lives are finally getting put back together.  The construction workers finally finished all of their work.  Which means that after a whole month, we have a bathroom, kitchen, doors on our rooms, and a place to put all of our things.  It has been kind of annoying to always have workers in our home because I get home from school and I'm throwing up and I have to go to work in an hour.  ALL I want to do is take a nap, but Nathan is at work, and I feel so awkward sleeping with no doors while a bunch of men are working on my house.  So, I go to work still feeling really sick and I spend my hour at home crying out of frustration.  But now, they are done.  Just as I'm starting to feel a little bit better:)

All in all, life is great and amazing and crazy and happy and overwhelming and joyful.  We are loving every minute of preparing for the next phase of our life and relishing any time we get to spend together.

Long Time, No Type

                                                     This picture accurately depicts how I'm feeling about school at this moment in time.

Yesterday was a very momentous moment in my life.  I registered for my last two classes.  EVER.  Well, at least for now.  There may be a time in the long future when a masters will be coming.  But for now, bring on that Bachelor's degree teaching certification K-8 goodness.  I am SO ready to be done.  This summer I will be doing my senior practicum (which is like a mini student teaching.  3 days a week instead of 5) and an assessment and evaluation class.  This helps me know what tests are appropriate for different kinds of children and how they learn.  I'll be done with that by July 23 and then have 5 weeks of relaxation before the wonderous and much looked forward to student teaching.

I'm just so excited to get into the classroom.  It's so much more fun to prepare lesson plans when you are thinking of your class and what they need.  You know what works for them and what will get them engaged.  I'm so done with making 13 page lesson plans that I'm only turning in for the teacher to grade all of my research based activities and never to be seen by young children.  Done.  It's okay I tell myself, a few more and then I'll be there.  Five more weeks of fakies and then the real thing.  (You're worried that I just used the  word fakies when I'm going to be teaching your children?  No worries.  They will know how to spell all sorts of made-up words with my guidance.)  Believe it or not, spelling made-up words actually helps children to become better readers and writers.  Dr. Seuss was really onto something when he started that whole thing.  It raises their phonemic awareness and phonics skills. Your children are in good hands.

I have had a huge case of Senioritis called I HATE GETTING UP IN THE MORNING to do homework before 8:00am class.  If Nathan wasn't there I think I would just go ahead and sleep through the whole thing.  This is why my momentous "last time registering" was not really mine.  Nathan was the one to wake up at 5:30am, hook up the computer, get onto the site and devise a whole system to make sure I got the teacher I wanted (who only had 5 seats in his class).  He patiently sat beside me as I slept all the way through it until he said, "Bec!  We got it!"  at which point I was very grateful and then promptly fell back asleep.  I am seriously so grateful for that because everyone else trying to get in at 6am couldn't because it was so backlogged.  This makes me sound like a terrible wife.  I tried to get up.  Really.  I think I must have a condition called "can'twakeupitis".  This is the very top on my "To Work On" list.

P.S. I just got called to be the Primary 2 Counselor.  Classic.  We live in a student ward so Primary= 1 sunbeam, 4 little girls and 3 little boys in nursery and about 4 ready to come in this summer.  So  pretty much we just play with toys and have a short lesson and music time.  SO FUN! The kids are so adorable.

Hot Water: Luxery or Necessity?

Nathan's Long Hair.  I really like it.  He doesn't.  Don't worry.  We compromise.  Grow it out, cut it.  Grow it out, cut it.

   In the process of cutting Nathan's hair.  We couldn't resist going a little crazy.  What do you think?  Rival of the Williams' boy hair?  Giving Levi and Blake a run for their money.

 And here we have Nathan's favorite hairstyle.  Classic buzz.

 Dani's AWESOME Christmas present.  It's a smitten.  You both put your hand in it and it keeps you both warm while you're holding hands outside.  We told her she should patten it, but on further investigation, found out that someone already invented it.

 Christmas morning for Bec.  I love you all so much.  Thank you so much for the thoughtful gifts you gave.  I literally use most of them everyday.  We loved being in Washington with our Doutre family.

 Nathan's Christmas.  Sporting this dress coat, he rivals President Kim B.  And the watch has gotten a lot of good use.

 Our new bed frame!  Finally, no more sleeping in the living room!  Nathan was so nice and gave up a night of homework to help me get it set up.  I think I still mention every time I lay down how much I love it.  It brings me great joy and happiness.  I love rolling over and not hearing the bed squeak.

 This is what it looks like.  You don't need a box spring for it, you just put your mattress right on top.  It's high off the ground so I can fit everything underneath it.  Namely Nathan's luggage, the laundry basket, the leaf for our table, the wrapping paper box, all of the folded down boxes from wedding gifts, and food storage.  The beauty is, that it gives you that much space, but it's the height of a normal bed because there's no box spring.  It was from Walmart for $80.  Best thing of my life.  This could be my birthday present for 25 years and I'd still be thanking you for it.

 Look at that.  Magical.  Radiant.  Mesmerizing.  Comforting.  Happy.  Makes me want to jump on it.  Blissful.

 Water story.  This is what our apartment looked like when someone came in the middle of the day to fix our hot water.  This picture was taken at 1 am.  We got home after a long night and had a hose running through our apartment.  The stove was pulled out blocking our kitchen and our refrigerator,  and our water was turned of.  This means no brushing teeth, showering, or breakfast before class the next morning.  Horrible.  We were kind of frustrated. 

This is the bathroom.  Come to find out, they emptied the water from our water heater (which is in the corner cupboard of our kitchen) into the bathtub which is why the hose is serpentining through our furniture..  The man didn't think through the fact that this was someone's home and he shouldn't just leave everything in our apartment.  But, what can you do.  It's fine now.  So that's our little story.



We're doing really well.  School and work are busy.  Nathan teaches great Sunday school lessons that I always learn from, and I continue to lead the ward choir from the piano bench as I am the director and the pianist.  We get about 7 people total each week to choir.  But, it is much better.  I have really come to appreciate the hymns and the power and spirit they bring into our lives.  They truly are inspired from our Heavenly Father and I'm grateful that I've been able to learn from this experience. 

Madame Librarian

Pros and Cons to my new Night Supervisor Position at the Library:

Cons:
*My shifts are seven hours long, after a full day of classes.  I work from 4:00-11:30pm so my homework time is kind of shot.

*I get mighty hungry sitting at the desk for that long with nothing to munch on.  Somehow when I'm not really busy I always want to snack.

*I can't plan anything Tuesday or Thursday evenings, pretty much everything has to be planned for Wednesday or Weekends.

*On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't see Nathan.  We leave at 7:45am and see each other till 11:30pm

*I have yet to see a musical take place in the library.  Every night I dream of people dancing and singing in harmony on the tables and through the book stacks.

Pros:
*I only work 2 days a week (Plus a fast 2 hour shift on Mondays), but then the rest of the week is mine.

*On MWF I have 3 classes and that's all!!  Happiness!  I can get all of my homework done, go grocery shopping, clean the house, ect.

*I never have to work on the weekends.  So I get a real break and an actual day to sleep in.

*I love working in the evenings.  It's slow and I'm able to do homework as long as it is on the computer.  Simple, save my computer homework for work.  Check.

*Nathan brings me dinner.  So I get to see him.  And it makes me happy.

*Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays we get to spend a lot of time together.  Even if that means doing homework.

*I got a pay raise which means I don't have to work as many hours and we can still make ends meet.

*I work with amazing fun people.  It's funny to hear all of the single girl's drama with boys.  It's makes me laugh.

*They always ask me to tell them about Nathan and I, so I get happy all over again.

*I get to help people and go out of my way to help them have a good night.  I love that.


Mostly good with a few down sides.  So, Life is Happy.

Snow, Turkey, and Football. This is the Life.

Nathan made this montage of our sledding adventure.  Notice the look on mom's face.  Classic.

 

 

Last Friday, Nathan and I found ourselves done with classes and work and facing a whole week of freedom to do whatever we wanted to.  We knew we were heading down to Utah at some point, but decided to go with the flow and see what happened.  We thought Nathan was scheduled to teach Sunday School so we planned on leaving Rexburg Sunday evening.  However, we were showered upon by a crazy snow storm which left us thinking we'd wait a few days.

Monday and Tuesday left us watching the skies waiting for a good time to leave.  We were so determined to leave Tuesday, that we packed our whole car with enough provisions to spend the night on the side of the road if we got stuck, drove to the store to buy chains and decided to turn back after realizing that on even our little side streets we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us.  So, returning home, we started a Netflix trial run and had lots of soup to keep warm.

We drove to Centerville on Wednesday and after going 30mph almost all the way home, arrived around 6pm.  We spent the evening playing games and chatting up a storm.

Highlights of Home: 

• Sledding Expedition shown above.  Featuring the Death Spin.  Which consisted of dad spinning the tube very fast as you head towards a man-made jump.  This resulted in never being able to see when you were going to hit the jump.  Lauren excelled at this and got the best air by far.  We also crammed all nine of us onto 2 tubes and headed down the slope, which resulted in a popped tube, a crying child, and lots of fun. 
• Thanksgiving: Frisbee, football games, turkey, family, grandpa taking pictures, basketball at the stake center, guestures, 21 people playing "I have never", telling crazy aunt stories, homemade rolls, and a late night.
•  BYU vs. Utah Game:  Cousins, cousins, cousins, Butter's big screen, crackers and cheese ball, Mike and Tanaeya dressed in Red, about 100 people in Blue.  Cheering, screaming, jumping, clapping, a half won, a game lost, furious teenage boys, sad grandmother, analyzing each play, a clear knee down and no reversal, a kick blocked, a game left up to chance.  All in all, a great afternoon filled with lots of hope for next year.
• White Christmas Party:  Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, the Haynes sisters, and whole lot of cheese.  Fireplace crackling, whole family laughing, ridiculous lines and dancing by good ol' Danny, and eggnog to top it off.
• Snow Storm:  Waking up on the day we needed to drive back and seeing 4 inches of fresh snow, unplowed roads, and more snow falling.  Feeling nervous about driving back, getting 20 minutes from home and having good roads the rest of the way.  Home Safely.  Must have been the lake effect, right dad?

The Potter of all Potters

 Harry Potter Midnight showing.  We had an amazing time, and paid for it dearly when after 2 hours of sleep we got up for a whole day of work and school with large tests to take on our last day before Thanksgiving break.  So worth it!  While waiting for the movie to start we decided to walk around the theater to find other great characters.  Here we are with Doloris Umbridge, Hagrid, Malfoy, Harry, and Ginny. 

,

Nathan and I showing off our characters.  Notice my Hogwarts, A History book and Nathan's great facial expressions!

Sitting in our seats waiting for the movie to start.  It was so fun to go with Rachel and Jared. 

                                             The finished product for Nathan.  Looking so much like Ron!

This weekend Nathan and I attended the Harry Potter midnight showing in Idaho Falls.  We went with our friends Jared and Rachel and needless to say, had a wonderful time.  Jared and Rachel were Harry and Ginny and Nathan and I went as Ron and Hermione.  We ate at Cafe Rio before the show and then headed across the parking lot for our debut.  Nathan was a huge hit.  Everyone was screaming "Ron!"  "It's Ron!"  as we passed, and everywhere we went people were asking to take pictures with him.  He was loving his 3 hours of fame and we had a great time trying to find the whole Harry Potter cast to take a picture with.  Next showing we are planning on going as obscure characters.  Eight months and you will get to see our next embarrassing display of Potter-itis.

The Halloween Saga

                                             Halloween Dinner: In a pumpkin

                                          Dry Ice Apple Cider, spilling over the bowl.  Cool.

                                                  Nathan's Work:  Our halloween keyboard. 

                                     Part 1:  Voldemort...

                                      Part 2:  Quirrell.  Put them together and what do you get?  A great costume.  Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of us back to back wearing my graduation robe.  But I'm sure you can imagine.

                                                                Cobwebbed Corner

                                       Library Party Costume:  That is a grass stain

                                           I was a football.  (can't take any credit, Katie's idea) Notice the "Wilson" on my leg.  We were quite proud of our ability in making it look like the Logo.

                                     That is a scripture reference.  Funny to all those who will get it.

                        Nathan is a football player.  Pretty funny.  The deserted library party was quite a hit.  We played sardines and tag amongst the stacks and creeped ourselves out watching a scary movie.  It was a worthwhile evening.

                                                 Moral of the pictures?   We love Halloween.