My husband left me!!!!!!!

For a whole week. He went to Fla. to visit his fam and won't be back till Fri.!!!!!! I hate it!!!!!!

To buy/register or to not buy/register

OK, so EVERYONE on here has WAY more experience with babies than I do. I have already stock piled some lotions and wipes and wash from CVS. I bought the kinds without the scents and the sensitive wipes because I have somewhat sensitive skin and I am NOT a fan of lavander.... it gives me a headache, even pre-preggo. So I am open to suggestions on what I actually need and will use as opposed to what people say I need. We don't have a ton of space for baby crap, you know like 7 bouncy things and 5 swingie things. I also don't plan on getting a changing table. The baby's room isn't real big and will still have the computer and a dresser in it and maybe a bookshelf. I think I will get one of those changing pad things that I can just put anywhere. I have been informed that I will use a powder with a boy. While I know it is still a baby there are some differences between boys and girls.

Thurs. night I couldn't stand it and we went to Walmart and bought a boy outfit, it is the first thing we have bought knowing it is a boy. While I know we will get tons of stuff I wanted to pick something. I will post a pic later, but it is a baby blue outfit with a choo choo on it.

Where to register. I know Many of you live closer to the "city" so I want your opinion. There are 2 other people at school who are having babies... well, their wives are, they are having girls. The place to register seems to be Walmart, Target and Babies R Us. I personally feel like babies R Us is WAY out of the way for people to go to get a gift. When I worked on Lakeshore it was no big deal, but, it would be a 30 or so minute drive for us now. I want to say thanks for the gift, not feel like people had to drive to timbuckto to get me something. Not to mention their prices sometimes..... now when they have a sale it is awesome but man they are expensive. So I think we may stick to Target and Walmart. What do you think?

The mural..... I am thinking a football field on one wall and baseball on the other.... and maybe a neutral color on the corners and the short wall, it should take a long time for him to out grow that.

Today we are headed over to my great aunt Kay's house. My uncle Billy passed away many years ago but was one of my favorite uncles. He was a Fire Chief and the funeral was amazing, there were over 50 fire trucks there from his station and many others driven by many men who said if it were not for him that they wouldn't be alive. Anyway, he had lots of hobbies and refinishing wood was one of them. My aunt is getting remarried and is getting rid of some stuff and wants to give Eric and I a rocking chair that he refinished before he died.

A friend of ours at church has recently had quads, 1 girl and 3 boys. They are definately done having babies. They have an older daughter, who is 4 or 5. THey had to use fertility both times, God answers prayers. She has offered the boy clothes to be passed down, while they will be a tad out of season, I am Feb she was July I think, they will still be useful. While I definately don't have to outfit 3 boys it will be a blessing. It also means that baby boy will have plenty of playmates!!!!

boy names?!?!?!?!?

Preston- from the priest's dwelling
Efrem- abounding
Jackson- God's gift
Andrew- manly/ strength
Corban- an offering- a gift offered to God
Seth
Adin

More than likely the middle name will be Lee- Eric's middle name but we are open to suggestions...... What do you think?

Owner of a broken heart.....

I know that's not how the song goes. Today something happened that absolutley broke my heart. Every year at school we have a Medieval Festival in December. All 9-12 graders are required to participate in something. Each class has specific responsibilities. Everyone dresses in their medieval garb and attends a banquet, where you can only eat with a knife..... they didn't have forks or spoons. There is alot involved, medieval games are played, dances are danced, singing and a short play is performed.... it is alot of work but alot of fun too. All of the students have to make their coat of arms that stands for their family. For instance, mine would have a volleyball and a cross on it. They also have to tell why they chose what they chose to draw on their shields. It shoud directly reflect the student's interests. Well, my 9th grade class is studying medieval times so I decided to go ahead and let them make their coat of arms. One of my students broke his arm (the one he writes with) earlier this year. He asked me to outline something he had stenciled on his shield. I said sure, when he handed it to me bing in the center was a heart with the broken crack down the center. I asked him why the broken heart and here was his reply. Well, Mrs. Snyder you know my parents are divorced but it has gotten real bad. I am supposed to live with my mom but there are 4 other females who live in the house with her and I am the only boy so I don't go home much. Mom won't let me see or have anything to do much with my dad and she will not let me ever see anyone on my dad's side of the family cause she hates them so much. All they ever do is fight over everything, its miserable......... this is from a 15 year old boy...... As he went on to tell me more info his eyes teared up. IT BROKE MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!!! He has become a christian in the past year and told me that he relied on God for the strength to get through...... my problems seem so small. His older sister is a Senior at a local public school. She is having a little girl in the next month or two which is another source of fighting that he has to listen to between his parents.

Think blue!!!!!

Yep its a boy! Definately ALL boy...... the pics are up on Eric's blog.

Finally

I have felt lil'bit moving here and there over the past few weeks but it has been very slight. Yesterday mom and I went to walmart and on the way back I could feel it clear as day. Last night after I got home I didn't say anything to Eric because mom has seen my stomach move but lil'bit had yet to perform for daddy. Well, while we were watching tv lil'bit decided to put on a show. Eric was in the livingroom so I had to call him in the bedroom. Of course by the time he got in there lil'bit quit. So, I pushed on my tummy and the acrobatics began again and Eric got to feel lil'bit move for the first time!!!!! I can't wait till Wed.!!!!!

Today I go to Tuscaloosa for a game and I am really looking forward to it. I am supposed to meet up with an old friend from Sams that I used to work with. She and her partner have a little boy named Kaleb. He goes to daycare at Open Door Christian School, where our game is today. Isn't it funny how God works I know he has been working on them for over 3 years now........

We have a diaper bag!!!!!!

The Calera Chamber held a silent auction last night to raise money for the scolarship they give every year to a deserving highschool senior. We ended up with 2 things, our new diaper bag and a painting that Eric loved. I think we got the bag for 32, originally 50 and the painting for 30, the price when it came into the framing shop on the painting was 400. The bookbag was donated by Alabama Outdoors and is a life is good bag, so it is really nice. I have been told by several moms that a bookbag is the way to go and since I love bookbags I agree..... well at least for now.....


This is inside the big compartment.
This is inside the front compartment. There is plenty of room for little stuff to be stored and zipped up.
These are a couple of burp cloths from my secret sister.
Here is the painting Eric won.

Getting ready for baby.....

What a transformation. W have gotten rid of our full size bed that occupied the guest room and have cleaned out drawers and closets to make way for lil'bit. We got that new computer table that has doors so we can close up the computer mess. As for the mural, I think we have decided to buy some canvas for generic girlie paintings like butterflies and flowers but if it is a boy I would love nothing less that for a mural of a football field on the wall without a window on it and a baseball field on one of the other walls. Both would not be out grown for a while. As we get ready we have already recieved a few gifts from friends here they are in no particular order....


From friends......
These are from my mom. She bought these when we went to the carter outlet in Gatlinburg the summer before last. I got some things for Jamie and a few random outfits for shower gifts that would pop up along the way. Anyway, mom swore that when she bought these that she knew thay would be for me.
The super soft and cuddly stuffed animals to line the crib.... notice the pink one. Mrs. Eloff gave us.... she is pushing for a girl!!
The bedding. I bought this about a month I found out I was preggo. I found it at Ross for only $30.00 it is a quilt, dust ruffle, bumper and a fitted sheet. The ones I had looked at on line that I liked (and at wally world) were well over $100. So, I called Eric and said God sent us a blessing for only $30.00. He too had seen the sets on line that I liked and quickly told me to buy it.
This is the quilt. It is supposed to be boyish because it has sail boats in the stitching. Can you find them? Yeah, like I said it will work for either sex. If it is a girl we will add pink to the green and if a boy we will add brown and blues.

Long over due pics...

Eric and I at election headquarters waiting on the poles to close to get the results!!!!!!! We had no idea what we were in for.
Mu 1st belly pic taken back on August 27th.
The last belly pic taken on Sept. 17th.

um....

Happy Birthday Baby!!!!!!!!

Pooch pics

If you want to see my pooch Eric has posted pic on his blog.... so stop by. Also Tomorrow is Eric's birthday so stop by and say happy birthday. He is at the big 29.

Ladies and gents place your bets!!!!!!

Due to Jamie's command I am now opening the bidding. What are you bidding on?!?!?!?! Well we should find out next Wed. what lil'bit is.... the question is what do you think it is?!?!?! I will give you some fun things I have already done. The Chinese cal. says boy. My cousin's cal. (don't know what kind) says girl and hers has yet to be wrong.... in the 10 years she has had it. According to the morning sickness, because I have been sick, there is a scientific higher chance of it being a girl. It was in a scientific journal that one of my students did her current event on a few weeks ago. I have not done the drano test..... and have no desire to. I have not been really craving either way one day it is sweet the other salty. The hair on my legs do grow at 900mph these days too. I have been taking the iron pills because I still have a hard time with meat (beef) but no problems with BBQ, chicken or turkey. What do we want? A healthy kid. We do however have more hand-me-down options if it is a girl.



Jamie---------boy
Jennifer (not me)---girl
Sherry-------girl
Julie--------girl
Vanessa-----girl
Tracie-------girl
Crystal------girl



Please keep a friend of mine in your prayers, I work with her husband. Her link is the Jennifer and Michael one. She is a first time mom to be and has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. She has been trying to control it with her diet but oh my gosh have you seen what all you have to eat?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? She has also been sick since day 1. They went for their 4D ultrasound and they couldn't see anything. They go back either this or next Wed. to try again. She doesn't post very often but if you have a minute stop by her blog.

What the heck?

Why do they measure how long you are preggo in weeks? I am at 17 weeks, so this morning I was thinking wow that is over 4 months so I only have like 5 2/3 months to go. So I am almost half way there but 40-17 is 23 so I guess it is farther than I thought........ Do most people have their babies at 40 weeks or earlier? Just wondering....... Oh and 9 days till we hopefully get to see what lil'bit is so we can finally give this kid a name!!!!!!!!

You go girl!

While many of you will enjoy these thay made me think of Crystal.

You know you are preggo when....

I just thought I would share some of my stories and reactions of my students........

1. You know you are preggo when you make a special trip to Walmart to get 3 things...... calcium, nose spray and hair dye but you some how manage to grab the sale $2 bag of chips on the way by.........

2. When people ask you what the baby is you want to roll your eyes and tell them... "human"

3. After having to call a student's parent about a bad grade they suddenly want to know when I go on leave to have the baby.

4. One of my third graders informed me that not only is she convinced the baby is a boy but also says "Watch out, they squirt!" - Needless to say she has a little bro at home.

5. My first graders want me to show them every week how many inches the baby in my tummy is.

6. When my new students this year think I am so strict it must be because of the baby till my students from last year let them know quickly that I am this way every year.

7. Volleyball player gets hurt in a game and is laying on the floor bawling (she is tough as nails so I was really worried). The official blows me onto the court to check on her, I run across the court get to her and say "Take a deep breath and tell me exactly where it hurts." She replies " You ran with the baby!" Me "What?" She "(SOBS) You ran with the baby! (SOBS)" Me "The baby is fine it has lots of cushin' in there." She " I'm ok, (SOBS) I can play." Needless to say I took her out and she has torn tissue in her shoulder and the doc benched her for a week and a half.......

8. My students like to point to people holding babies and say "That will be you pretty soon..." I remind them I am way prettier than the person they are referring to and that my child could not possibly be as tan as the one the other person is holding.

9. When you eat as though every meal is your last opportunity to eat for the week.

10. When every time you leave your house you check to see that there is at least 1 full pack of crackers in your purse.

11. When you look at every person that passes you that is holding a baby and think "Dear God, please don't let mine be ugly."

12. When you walk down the baby isle in Walmart and think "Do people really spend money on this?" "Do they really use this?" " What the heck is that and how does it work?"

13. When you look at baby furniture and think..." My bed didn't cost that much, what makes you thin I would spend that much on my kid?" I know we all want better things for our kids than we had but seriously I saw a baby bed. BED ONLY, it doesn't convert or anything it can only be a baby bed.... for $1,299....... I laughed my way out of the store. I would now like to point out I bought my bedroom furniture, armoir, dresser and night stand... all solid wood for $110.

14. When you germ-x everything in your room at the end of the day and give clorox wipes to the kids that don't feel good to wipe off their chair and table when they leave the room...

15. When you put on a pair of pants and think "Didn't these fit last week?"

16. When you know where every restroom in Calera, Columbiana (sp), Alabaster, Helena and every stop and back road from here to Oxford is located.

17. When you can get in the restroom and out all while holding your breath to keep from throwing up.

18. When you talk to your volleyball team after a game but make them stand at least 3 feet from you to keep from gagging.

19. When other teachers come running down the hallway to tell you not to go into the lunchroom because some kid in K3 just puked and it has not been cleaned up yet.

20. When you have banned all highschool students in your lunch time from bringing anything that smells like seafood...... or has any strong odor.....

THEY WON!!!!!

I feel like such a proud parent. The girls called to share their excitement, mainly because this was a regional game. They told me that they coached themselves and reminded me that when they mess up I don't always correct the problem for them. That I ask them what they did wrong and ask them how they think they could fix it. They said that every time they messed up they asked themselves why and how could they fix it. They said "Coach, its like we had you in our heads." While that makes me feel so great I hope and pray that it is not only volleyball that I can get through to them. I would love to an instrument of God that could be "in their heads"

I don't feel so good.....

Well it all started Sat. morning I didn't fell so hot but not really bad either. But I should have known something was wrong when I took a 2 hour nap Sat. afternoon. Well, Sat. night it hit full force knocking me on my butt. What is it you ask? Wouldn't I like to know. I am guessing it is some sort of cold...... it is that whole get under the covers and shiver for 10-15 min before you finally get warm...... I decided to take today off, I had to call around last night to get a sub. The man who helps me coach volleyball is taking the team to Wilcox today.... it is in Camden, about a 3 hour drive from the school. This is an area game so it is one we have to play. I feel like a bum for missing a game, because in 10 years of coaching I have NEVER missed a game. But it is not about me anymore. To be honest if I didn't have lil'bit I would have just gone on but I don't think it is safe to run a fever for as long as I have. I put a call into the doc and they are supposed to call me back. I think I was on hold for 30 min just trying to get through... but I guess since it is Monday their office is being flooded with calls..... So I sit at home and wait for the return call....... I am thankful that my fever has gone down las night it was at 99.9 and today it is only at 99. My concern today isn't the high fever but having benn running a fever since Sat........ I know if this wasn't my first kid I don't think I would be worried......

In the world of....... me

Things have been quite crazy this week. We had a tournament last weekend, where we didn't win any games. That being said keep in mind my starters on my varsity are a 1 junior, 1 sophomore, 1 freshman, 1 8th grader and 2 7th graders. They did play hard though and we served well so that is all I can ask. I can't wait till this group gets older as they play together they should become a strong team. One thing I admire about my young players is they are afraid of nothing. Yesterday at practice they wanted me to hit balls at them as hard as I could and if they didn't get the pass to the target they wanted to do it till they got it right. What heart for such youngins!!!!!
The "official" ballot count came in Tues and Eric won by his 2 votes.... now we are just praying that the DOJ approves the new district lines. While Eric is not in it for the money there is some pay for being on city council and the extra would come in handy with lil'bit on the way.