San Diego - 2009

Matt and I went to San Diego with his family in the beginning of June (I know I am behind) for a long weekend trip to enjoy the beach and to get away from the disgusting heat that plagues AZ. We got just the break we needed. The weather was BEAUTIFUL the entire time (sunny and in the 70's and 80's). Here are some pictures from the trip.Just us at the beach

All of us at the beach

Waiting in line at Hodads - this was a little surfer themed hamburger joint that was on the Food Network show Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Mike really wanted to try it and I will say that it was pretty good (although I didn't get a hamburger). There was a line that wrapped almost around the building when we were leaving!

Proof!

Us inside Hodads

Mike and Donna at Hodads

Jay at Hodads

The hamburger itself

Us at Crystal Pier...SCARY! There were the cutest little beach houses on the pier though that I would like to go back sometime and stay in, but they would definitely need to be the ones that are over the sandy area!!

Matt was going to wish that he could be big like the movie but then he realized that he already is...oh well.
Shopping day! We made a little stop at Ghirardelli and got some ice cream. Matt was a little concerned about finishing this. Jay helped him out.

On Mission beach. The legs popping out behind Matt's are mine. I dug a hole in the sand so I could lay on my stomach. It was glorious!

On the last day of the trip Matt and Jay went jet skiing. They seemed to have a pretty good time :)

I am a little bummed because I didn't get any pictures of my favorite thing we did...the farmer's market. They had some of the best fruit I have ever tasted in my life! Overall we had a fun trip. It is always nice to get away, even if it is only for a couple of days.

20 Weeks

By the time that I have actually gotten around to posting this I am actually 22 weeks, but oh well. It's official I have crossed that halfway point...To be completely and brutally honest, I am absolutely terrified. Sometimes I worry that I seem less than enthused about having a baby which isn't the case at all. I just have difficulty with change and this is going to take the cake for the biggest change in my life. This is not to say that I am not excited, but I am walking blindly into parenthood and it is a little unsettling.
The pregnancy has been pretty smooth with a few exceptions: sleeping is getting much more difficult. I spend the night rolling from one side to the other when what I really want to do is just sleep on my stomach. I am lucky though because I still have not really had to get up in the middle of the night to pee. I know its coming, but I am going to postpone that one for as long as I can. My hands and feet have been getting a little swollen, especially when I am sitting for a while. My cravings (pizza) and aversions (Chinese food) have been kicked into high gear a little more now. I want water ALL THE TIME! Of course, this means that I have to go to the bathroom all the time as well. I have had a little issue with overheating. It has happened twice actually where I feel like I am going to pass out or throw up, whichever comes first. My favorite was when this happened in Wal-Mart! Lastly, my belly is getting HUGE! I swear it grows on a daily basis right now. Naturally, this has caused a lot of fun backaches :) I wish I had more positive things to say, but I can't lie. Being pregnant is just not that fun. From what I hear it is going to be all worth it in the end.
Here I am at 21 weeks:Moving on from my complaining...I have definitely had some OH MY GOSH moments in these last 22 weeks. You know when you realize that you are going to have a tiny little being depending on you for its every need? I guess you could say that it still hasn't entirely set in yet. Really, I don't know that this is going to happen until she's about a week old and no one has come to pick her up yet. Registering was definitely one of those moments. I didn't realize what a baby idiot I was until we went to go do this. We had NO IDEA what we were going to need! There was actually another couple who was having their first who joked that we should team up...not such a bad idea! Just some advice..I would recommend bringing an experienced mother when registering for a baby for the first time. I am pretty sure that would have made our lives a little easier. Another one of those times was when we got the bedding for her crib. We pretty much went and ordered this as soon as we found out that we were having a girl (I am just that impatient...plus, I wanted to have the summer time to get the room ready). We haven't actually assembled the crib yet because I still want to paint it white. Matt thinks we should leave the crib the color it is now. I decided to use my "I am the one who is carrying the baby" card to win the argument. I try not to play this one too often or it looses its value, but for this I felt it was worth it this time ;) Anyway, getting this all set up was really strange. Every time I walk past the room now I have a little reality check.

Around my 21st week I felt her move for the first time and about a million times since then. It was definitely a strange sensation. I do have to say that I am not too crazy about her squirmy awake times. She seems to prefer to leave these times for when I am laying down. This may be a problem...

Last little tid bit...I think we have officially named the girl. It happened all so quick that I am still left questioning it a little. As I said before, we liked the names, Taylor, Mackenzie, Kendyl and Morgan. My mom said she didn't like Kendyl and Matt's dad said he didn't like Morgan. Jokingly I said to Matt, "What about Kendyl Morgan?" It has stuck ever since. So we were in a Christmas store in San Diego last weekend (more on that later) and I saw a pink Chuck Taylor ornament (Matt really wants to get these for her!). Matt's mom has a tradition of buying a Christmas ornament every year for each of her sons. We thought it was a pretty cool tradition so we decided to do it with our own kids and the little pink shoe was the perfect one to start the tradition.
When we went up to the cash register and I saw a sign that said they would personalize any ornament for free and of course I couldn't pass this up. Matt encouraged me to get her name on the front of the shoe and I agreed. So there you have it. We decided our daughter's name because of a free offer in a Christmas store in San Diego. That's how all good parents decide their children's names right? I guess that and because their parent's didn't like the name...Man, I hope Kendyl is a little less ornery than her mother!

Good News!

Just a warning: This post is going to be long and emotional in parts...

On April 6th I got some pretty devastating news at work. It was a Friday and things were winding down for the weekend. About an hour before the end of the day one of my administrators hand delivered me a note that said their would be a meeting after school regarding my contract for the 2009-2010 school year. For those who don't know, the state of AZ is in a financial crisis and education is taking a big hit. We had already been warned that we would be losing some teachers next year due to budget cuts, but it was only supposed to be 1 teacher from out department. While I did feel a little nervous about my position, I wasn't necessarily too worried because I had already been there for 3 years, I had my certificate and I was not a Smart Schools teacher (teachers who have already retired, but are allowed to collect their retirement and a portion of their salary). Needless to say I was very confused when I got a letter along with 3 others in my department. The last hour of the day was quite possibly one of the longest hours of my life. I walked down to the meeting already in tears only to find out that there were 40 teachers who were being notified that their contracts were not going to be renewed next year (25 more than the original 15 teachers we were told). This list consisted of all Smart School teachers, all first-year teachers, and then my group-newly certified teachers...Yes, that certificate that I worked SO hard for for 2 years simply came in at the wrong time. I was a mess! I do not feel that my situation is any worse than anyon else's, but here I am 13 weeks pregnant and finding out that I don't have a job next year. All I kept thinking was how am I going to support this child? We were told that legislation requires school districts to notify teachers by April 15th if their contracts are not going to be renewed. We were also told that there was a chance that we could be called back or rehired for the next year, but because of this legislation they had to notify us anyway. My administrators gave me some words of encouragement, however it was not able to change the situation or how I was feeling about it. I came home that night exhausted from trying to wrap my head around this whole thing and come up with a plan b. I asked Matt if we could go for a walk so I could get my mind off things a little bit. We walked out the door a little while later and I saw my guardian angel. Let me explain, my grandma died about 6 years ago. This woman was quite possibly one of the sweetest people you would ever meet and she loved us (her grand kids) so much. She had a graveside funeral in the middle of January and it was freezing cold to say the least. The weather was pretty typical for a Maryland winter. It was overcast and at one point during the proceedings it even started to snow. As soon as the funeral was ending the weirdest thing happened. The clouds started to part a little and rays of sun were shining through. Call me crazy, but I had the strongest feeling that this was my grandma letting us know she was ok and that she was still watching over us. Ever since this day she has come out several times when I feel like I needed her most (when I had to pass my AEPA test to get my certification, the day after we found out we were pregnant, etc.) Sometimes she comes out just to say hi, but in the last 6 years I have not faced a difficult situation without seeing her. I find so much comfort in these sun rays and when Matt and I went outside for our walk and I saw her that night I just lost it. Right then and there I knew that she was going to take care of me. My grandma always wanted to be a teacher and she never got to. In some ways I feel like I am carrying out her dream and I know she is proud.
Several weeks passed and though I heard many uplifting comments from administrators, colleagues, and students nothing of any real substance came my way. In fact, I didn't really hear anything until the second to last week of school. Word on the street was that my name had been turned in for rehire and that I could be expecting a call as early as that following Monday. Just a little side note; on the way to school Monday morning my grandma was out...I'm telling you it is more than just coincidence! Monday came and went. In fact, the entire week came and went and at this point several other people were starting to get call backs. It was not that I wasn't excited for them, but every time I heard of another one it just reminded me that I had not heard anything yet. The last 2 weeks of school were incredibly hard for me. Everyday I had to hear students and teachers counting down until the end of the school year and it made me CRAZY! Teachers couldn't wait to get out of there which was hard for me. I love my job and I certainly was not up for listening to teachers talk about how annoyed they were. People were coming up to me 6 and 7 times a day asking if I had heard anything. I felt as if I was constantly having to make people feel like I was ok when really I was an absolute wreck! I tried to remind myself that people were only asking because they care, but it was like I couldn't get away from it. I was ready for a break every bit as much of these other teachers, but for very different reasons. I certainly was not looking forward to a permanent break which made the summer break MUCH less appealing. About 5 days into summer...I got my call back. I just cried out of sheer relief. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. I could go back to speaking about next year without prefacing the story with "If I have a job next year..." Like I said, I love my job and I really do not picture myself doing anything else. Don't get me wrong there are days when students will drive me crazy and it is a lot of work to lesson plan, write IEP's, and attend well over 100 meetings in a year. In the end though, I wouldn't want to do anything else. My students make me laugh every day and I get to work with/for some pretty great people. As far as I am concerned I am lucky to have my job and I now have a whole new appreciation for it.

It's a GIRL!!!!

It looks like it's going to be sugar and spice and all things nice for us! We had our ultrasound today and it was SO much fun. Baby girl Smith looks healthy and we are so happy about that. Apparently the little tiny is quite the mover and is 5 days ahead of schedule on her growth...should be fun in a few months. We do not have a name picked out just yet though we do have names that we like: Kendyl, Morgan, Taylor, and McKinzi. Here are some pictures of the little girl.So cute!

Tiny little legs


I'm watching you! Creepy huh?


Her first headshot


Not sure if it is appropriate to post this one...


I would love to say I am one of those mothers who just wanted a healthy baby and didn't care about the sex, but that was just not the case. I TOTALLY wanted a girl. This is not to say that I wouldn't have been happy about about a boy; I just think there is something about the relationship between an mother and a daughter that I really wanted to have. Needless to say, I am elated about having a daughter. I will say though, I am a little worried about any possible boyfriends she may have. I am afraid this little girl is going to have a VERY protective father!

Oh and by the way...Katie is VERY excited to have a sister!!

16 Weeks!

I haven't updated anything on the pregnancy lately so I feel like now would be a good time. Things are going really well now. I am officially out of my first trimester and all the things that people have told me have been true so far (the sleepiness and nausea have subsided for the most part). I did have one out of place throwing up incident since bidding farewell to trimester 1, but I will spare the gory details. Overall, I have been very lucky. My pregnancy hasn't been too terribly difficult. Mood swings have been in check (generally speaking...), cravings have been mild, no scares so far, etc. The baby seems to be doing well. The heartbeat is strong, but I am still waiting to feel it move. I have been told it feels like a flutter so I am paying very close attention because I don't want to miss it. There have been some things that have taken a little getting used to such as people feeling like they can touch my belly as if I were Buddha (so I am not used to this one yet), not being able to sleep on my stomach, doubling the amount of times I go pee on an average day, unusual irritability in places such as the grocery store (I swear I have almost rammed my cart into a couple of old ladies ankles. Don't worry. I contained myself), and, oh, yes...the rubber band...I feel like I am actually starting to look pregnant now and not just like I am getting fat which is a good thing. This is not such a great picture but whatever...

My students have been varied in their reactions. They ask a lot of questions. Some of them even pretend to cry during class to "prepare" me. Aren't they sweet? Sadly, I still do not know the sex of our little bean, however, I am scheduled to find out May 14th! (Hopefully the little thing wont play an evil trick on its mother and cross its legs or anything). I don't think I have ever been more impatient for something to come. So today, I decided to take my chances with some less conventional methods to see if I could find some answers. One of the teacher's on campus has gotten a reputation for determining the sex of the baby by hanging a sewing needle on thread over your hand. She has done this for several teachers on campus and so far has been right for all of them! Naturally, I seeked out her gift. According to the needle I will be having a girl, and then 2 boys (was not prepared for that one!). I understand this seems completely ridiculous, but before she checked me she checked the other teacher in my department who is also pregnant (and due on the same date!). She already has 2 kids and this test will tell you the sex of all of your kids so she did her little thing showed Heidi's first kid was a boy (right so far!). Then she did it again and it showed that her second kid was a girl (2 for 2). I couldn't believe it! Maybe there is something to this voodoo magic after all? As reliable as the needle has been I will be confirming its findings anyway : )
Matt and I have started the process of clearing out the guest room in order to make it a baby's room. The closet is officially emptied, but the room is pretty much in shambles. My sister was nice enough to give us my nephews old crib. Austin was even nice enough to leave some old milk spills on it for us!Once we find out what the baby is I plan to sand it and paint it white for a girl or stain it dark brown if it is a boy (summer project #1). I am still not 100% sure on what I want to do for either sex as far as the room goes, but that's OK because I still have a lot of time (right?!).

A Little Problem...

Anyone who knows us knows just how much we adore Katie. Though undeniably neurotic, she is the perfect loyal companion, and she provides us with hours of entertainment. Since moving in with her I have come to notice a compulsive problem that she has. It's called, leaving toys all around the house. At first, I found this to be endearing, but after 2 years, my patience has been worn thin. Katie's toys are her most prized possession. We even gave her her very own little toy box to contain them all, even though 99.9% of the time they are not even in here anyway... So one night, I got fed up and decided to count how many toys she had spread out throughout the ENTIRE house. I counted 12!!! That's right 12 toys!!!
WHY? I just don't get it! The second we go and put them away she will go over to her toybox, pull out all of the toys until she finds the "right" one. I am not sure what constitutes her toy selection at any given moment, but it is a very careful process. It is almost as if she cannot relax until she has a certain amount of toys out. It is driving me crazy! There are 3 in the room that I am in right now...and where is Katie? In the family room. She is not even playing with them. This picture is priceless! After rounding up her toys I sat in the family room to make sure she wasn't going to go and get them back out. Look at the pain that is on her face! Don't feel too bad. Not 2 minutes after leaving the room she pulled them right back out. I guess she is just preparing us for having children right?

Anniversary!

Matt and I have officially made it to our 2 year anniversary (April 13th). In keeping with tradition, we went to Claim Jumpers for dinner (one of our favorite restaurants that is saved only for special occasions). As always, it was delicious! Unfortunately, I was not able to get a picture because I have a husband who is not so crazy about me taking pictures everywhere we go. Oh well...Presents were kept low key I got Matt this little number:

And Matt got me these hot items: To an average Joe this may seem weird, but for a teacher this is as good as any jewelry (OK, so maybe not, but it was still a sweet idea because I have a tendency of stopping in the school supply aisle and never actually buying anything)

This was gift #2 (Matt never can stay within the budget on presents). Purchasing this was a big step for Matt considering his all consuming hate for musicals. He asked me to keep it separate from his movies. Apparently the "girly" singing is going to rub off on his more"manly" movie selection.

It has been a fun 2 years! Everyone told us the the beginning is the hardest part. If that's true, the rest should be a walk in the park! Even after 2 years (plus another 6 of dating), I still find myself wanting to be with Matt all the time. We just have fun when we are together which makes for a very enjoyable marriage. Here's to many more years of married bliss ;)