His Name

First off, thanks for all of the sweet comments, notes, messages, and texts, about our baby boy.  While it didn't matter either way to us, and it would have been fun to have a girl, we sure are going to enjoy watching "2 boys," as Eli says!

His name will be Landon Michael.

Eli's name is Eli Charles.  Eli we just liked, and Charles is a family name on Wesley's side (Wesley, his dad, and his grandfather..and now Eli...all share the name).

We decided to do the same thing with Landon.  Landon we just liked, and Michael is my dad's name.  I sure hope Landon can live up to that middle name!  :)

So, there you have it.  On top of an exciting week finding out we are having another little boy, I started feeling Landon move today.  Just small flutters, and only a few times, but having a name and feeling him move sure have made this seem so much more real!

Have a great week blog-stalkers! : )

It's a ....!!!!!!

And because this cracks me up.....

We taught Eli how to walk like an Egyptian...that's been good for many laughs! : )

Baby 2 Questions Answered!

Thank you for all of the text/FB/Instagram messages, phone calls, and congratulatory words.  We are so very excited!

To answer some of your questions:

*Yes, this baby was planned.  We weren't nearly as surprised as we were with Eli (our best surprise ever!).

*This week makes 14 weeks.

*I will be having a c-section.  Eli was born emergency c-section, so I have to have a c-section this go around.  I'm really ok with that.  I know what to expect in terms of my recovery.  I just want a healthy baby!

*Eli doesn't really understand.  We've talked about it some, but don't push it too much.  It changes every day whether or not he wants a brother or a sister.

*I had 'nighttime nausea' (if that's a thing) probably the first 10 weeks or so.  I only got sick once, but pretty much every night I think I could have thrown up if I let myself.

*Exhaustion does not even begin to describe how tired I've been.  It's been really tough going back to work and all that my job requires this time of year, plus keeping up with a very active 3 year old.  Honestly though, I'll take the 24/7 dog-tired over the sleeplessness that I know will eventually come.

*I have to pee ALL. THE. TIME.  No joke.  I may have even mentioned to Wesley that the thing I was most looking forward to about my c-section was a catheter so that I wouldn't get up SEVEN (seriously) times a night to pee (that tall glass of water the other night was a really bad idea).

*I've had 2 appointments now, and both have gone well.  I've gained about 5 lbs, although it sure looks like more.  Baby #2 don't play.  The pudge sure poked out FAST! : )

*I haven't really gotten into maternity clothes yet.  My shorts/pants don't really fit anymore, even the bigger ones.  Sad.  I've been living mostly in dresses or yoga pants.  I prefer the later.

*I told my class yesterday I was pregnant.  They were all very excited, and I got several suggestions for baby names.  We won't be using any of them, but if you're looking for some unusual names I'd be happy to pass those along to you!  : )   I did have a few who told me they knew it...that I was beginning to look fat...got to love the honesty of an eight year old!

I've added a little poll to the top right of my blog.  What are you thinking, boy or girl!?

I think that pretty much sums everything up right now!  Again, thank you for all of your kind words and support for our family.  We're so excited to add another sweet little baby, and so excited to see Eli take on the role of big brother! : )

Eli's Big News!!!

3 year Check Up

The week after Eli's 3rd birthday, we had his 3 year old check up.  Aside from letting a whole bunch of stinky toots loose in the waiting room, Eli had a great check up!

How stinking cute is this kid?!!

Eli weighed in at 32 lbs even (27th percentile) and was 36.5" tall (54th percentile).

 

Eli did great when Dr. Y was in the room.  He let her check his BP (98/60) and check his reflexes, which he found to be hilarious!  Everything went routinely and we are so thankful for such a healthy boy.  Shot weren't necessary at this visit, but Eli did get his flu shot since we were already there.  He was not a fan of that, but dried those tears up quickly after stickers and a lollipop were offered. : )

Here are some things that Eli can do at 3 years old:

*Eli is very loving and affectionate.  He's a very sweet boy.

*Eli loves reading, singing, pretend/fantasy play, puzzles, cars, and anything sports related.  You also love to ride your new tricycle, draw with sidewalk chalk, and run around/play outside, but unfortunately we've had to limit that here lately because it's been SO SO hot.  I think we're all looking forward to a drop in the temperature (even a slight one) so that we can go back outside.

*Eli loves to color and draw.

*We are working on teaching Eli to brush his own teeth.  Usually one of us brushes them first, then Eli brushes them.  He does a good job, I just want to be sure we really get them all clean and don't miss any spots.

*Eli is afraid of the dark and won't go into dark rooms alone.

*You love to play with Mommy and Daddy.  I hope that you always enjoy our company and that you will always treasure family time.

*I couldn't even count the number of words you know.  Boy can you talk!  You are really a motor mouth (although still a little shy around strangers/people we don't see often).

*You can count/know your numbers to 40.

*You can identify almost all of your letters by sight (sometimes you mix up M/N).

*You know all of your primary colors.

*We very rarely have potty accidents.  You no longer wear a diaper or pull-up at nap and do great with that.  You still wear one at night time, and probably will for awhile.

*You're usually really great at cleaning up your messes.

*You LOVE football and going to the stadium (HS or Auburn) to see games.  You look forward to it all week long.

*You can spell Jesus, Bible, Eli, and Auburn.

*You know 4 Bible verses:  (Proverbs 30:5, Romans 3:23, Isaiah 43:5, and Psalm 145:9)

We're so in love with you, Eli Charles!  You are so much fun and we are so, so blessed by you.  You bring so much joy and happiness to Daddy and I.

Lucky Number Seven

Well, I've been back at work for nearly a month now, and am JUST now getting around to doing this!  I typically try to show off my classroom before the students get in the room and it's no longer organized/clean to my OCD standards, but that didn't happen.

This is my SEVENTH year of teaching.  I seriously can't believe that.  It seems like yesterday I was at Auburn sitting in class, doing practicum work in Auburn City Schools, interning, etc., and here I am today.  I've finally been teaching longer than I was in school for it (4 years of undergrad + 2 years of my working on my Masters degree)!  There have been several changes this year (new lesson plan format, a new Reading program, etc.) that have me as busy and overwhelmed as I was my first year of teaching (just add in the fact that now I'm married and have a crazy busy 3 year old, as opposed to being single and carefree!).  I have typically been spending 11 hours a day AT the school, plus bringing home work every night and boo-coodles each weekend.  I probably am working about 65 hours a week right now.  I'm not complaining, just crazy busy!  I don't think anyone really gets it aside from my teacher friends and my husband (who's really picked up my slack around the house...he deserves an award!).  Needless to say, I've been in bed around 8:30 each night!

Enough about that.  I know we all have "stuff" at work going on and that we have to deal with........I really didn't make too many changes to my classroom this year.  I moved around a few things, and updated a few others, but overall the room is the same!  I stuck with a lot of owl stuff, and added a few chevron things in here/there.

The view when you enter the classroom.

My reading center (complete with bench that Wesley built and cushions I sewed), and my desk.

View from the far corner of the classroom.

Looking at the front of the classroom.  Smartboard and math wall.

Small group table

Cubbies, jobs board, writing spotlight, AR wall of fame, etc.

Despite the long hours, it's been a really great start of the school year.  I have an outstanding group of students, and I can tell they come from great families.  I really love what I do, and I'm looking forward to spending the year with these 18 precious kiddos!

A New Day

I have sooo much blogging to catch up on, but first here's some pictures from Auburn's first game of 2013.  (Excuse the quality.  I relied solely on my phone for this game.)

Eli was just as excited (if not MORE) as we were to head to Auburn for "a new day" with our new coach, Gus Malzahn, as our head coach.  Even though we won, we've got a lot of work to do, but it sure was nice to see the Auburn spirit back - with the fans and on the field!

We didn't leave to go to Auburn until after nap, so by the time we got there, we headed straight for the Spirit March (we missed Tiger Walk).  Eli was so, so excited, and so, so enamored at the amount of people who were there.  Everywhere we went he kept saying, "Look at all these people!"

Checking to see if the band was coming...

Pregame fesitivies are still one of my favorite parts of the whole experience...so many memories!  Everyone in the stands around us was so complimentary of Eli.  We had a very nice conversation with one of the men behind us about how long Eli has been coming to games (he's a regular and remembers Eli) and how Eli knew EVERY word to EVERY cheer.

Love that sweet face!

Eli was SUCH a great little man throughout the whole game.  He never got whiny or difficult to manage.  He paid attention the WHOLE game and cheered for the Tigers!  We only made about 8 trips to the bathroom, and Eli ate a small fortune's worth of food (pizza, Sprite, pretzel, and popcorn!).  Our only real compliant was the weather, and no one could control that (seriously, it was SO humid.  It felt like a sauna in the stadium!).

We didn't stop to roll Toomer's Corner after the game, but wanted to see the new wires set up.  It's a decent attempt at continuing the tradition, but it just wasn't the same.  I was a little sad to not see those beautiful oaks there.  I know they're just trees, but we have so many great memories there.

 

Here's to starting the season off with a win!  War Eagle!