Doctor Appointment

Just thought I would fill you in on my doctor's appointment today, just in case anyone else wants to guess boy or girl. Everything was fine. I am measuring normal. I have gained 19 lbs, which is also right on target. The baby's heart rate was 140. Braden was 120. All of you who have had girls, was the heart rate high? This one is right in the middle, which is not helping me at all!

Boy or Girl?

Here are some pictures of my growing belly. The first picture was taken before work and the second was taken at home today. People are beginning to give me their opinions about whether it is a boy or a girl. I am getting mixed reviews. Any thoughts?

I also have some pictures with Braden. He likes to be in the pictures too! He is showing off.



By the way, he doesn't have clothes on because we just came in from outside where he was running through the sprinkler.

Lately....

Lately we have been busy bugs.

(FYI- the blogger was not cooperating and the spacing is all messed up, so excuse the large, blank spaces.)





We went to a baby shower.

























































Braden played with the girls.












































We had a math department get together where Braden was able to play with all the other kids. The other teachers and I were all pregnant at the same time. (Braden is 18 months old, Carolyn is 16 months old, Isabella is 14 and Emily is just going to turn one year old.)






























Braden ran through the sprinkler while Brian worked on the cars.














































And today we get to go to a Cindy and Peters for some Memorial Day fun!

I can't believe it has been almost a week!

I can't believe it has been a week since I have updated the blog! I have been very busy with the end of the spring semester. I turned in my last assignment today and start my summer class next week.

We are all doing well here. This past weekend we did get a chance to meet with some friends for lunch on Saturday and on Sunday we attended a friend's baby shower. In between our outings, I was working on the two assignments that were due today. Having our new computers makes working on them much more enjoyable. I am no longer stuck in the basement on the computer, which is nice.



I have officially entered into my third trimester. I am two thirds of the way through this pregnancy and I still feel great! The baby is moving so much! The baby rolls and kicks me often. Brian and I are still working on names. I am guessing that when the baby is born, we will finally announce the name. It is probably going to take us that long to agree!


Brian has the camera tonight, so I can't upload any new pictures right now. He is at a banquet for some of his students. The teachers that attend have to be invited by a student. Only 15 teachers are invited every year and Brian feels honored.


These are two old pictures of Braden using Brian's leg as a pillow while watching "Baby Einstein", his favorite video.

Home sick

Today Braden and I used my last sick day to go to the doctor. Braden has a bacterial infection in his nose and eyes. This is better known as 'pink eye'. It is pretty common for kids to get this. His eyes are not bright red, just blood shot and he wakes up with lots of goop (for lack of a better word) in them. Braden didn't get a nap this morning because we were at the doctor's office, so he ate an early lunch and went down for a nap around 11. This is all his favorite stuff that he sleeps with. There are two blankets, a soft book, his bear and his monkey. I am hoping that his sleep lasts for a good 3-4 hours. Sleeping babies are precious.

We are wireless!

Brian and I invested in new computers! It is so exciting to have them set up. Our computers were very old in terms of technology and we had been needing to update them. We also decided to get a wireless router and this past weekend I installed it. That was no easy task. I began Friday night, after 2 hours I became frustrated and went to bed. On Saturday morning, after 3 hours, we were wireless. I stayed somewhat patient until the end. I was frustrated, but it is kind of like having a baby. The labor sucks, but you don't even remember any of the pain afterwards because the baby is so wonderful. Being wireless is SOOOOOO wonderful.

Brian and I are in our last week of graduate classes for the Spring Semester. We are so very close to graduating, which will occur in January of 2008. We are so excited and have been planning that day for about one year now. We are also done teaching around the 15th of June. This next week we both have state testing and the seniors will graduate. We are both looking forward to the last day of school.

I am feeling great. My sciatic nerve is acting up much more with this pregnancy. I also have heart burn. That is so weird and uncomfortable. I can't image having to deal with this on a regular basis. I had heartburn with Braden also, but it was the last week I was pregnant. I was looking at the blog the other day and noticed that I am into double digits for days left! I only have about 13 weeks left, hopefully it is more like 11 or 12! We will just have to see.

Braden is doing well. He is almost 18 months and starting to act like it. The tantrums are much more frequent and intense. I have had to leave the store only once so far, and I hope to not have to repeat that event! Our little angel is becoming not so angelic! We still manage to take pictures of him when he is sweet as can be....

I spiked his hair up in the front. What a cute little smile. In this picture I think he looks a lot like my brother, Steve.

The swiffer is now Braden size!

Our nosey son is checking out the neighbors. They love it when he says hi to them!

As you know, Braden LOVES his wagon and his balls so he thinks they all need to be together when we go for a walk!

My second Mother's Day

Being a mom has been a very special experience. Braden and Brian gave me a card and flowers today. Brian also made me breakfast. I am looking forward to adding to our family and becoming a mom of two.

I do miss my own mother, but I know she is with me, especially today.

What a Suprise!

Yesterday my third period surprised me with a baby shower. When I came back from lunch, I found streamers on my door and balloons in my room. It was so nice. One of my students told me that she wanted to remember why I started teaching and that after my year off, I should come back and teach at Tech again. She said her sister is going to come here and she wanted me to teach her.

It is a day like this that I know I have made a difference with these students. I know that I am a good teacher, but you are not usually made to feel appreciated. I know they may not carry the Pythagorean Theorem with them, but they will remember that I believed in them and respected them. I do love high school students. They are so impressionable and curious about life. I love getting to know them. I often cannot not finish my work during the day because I have students gathered around my desk just wanting to talk. I will miss this next year. I won't miss the work, or the tight schedule, but I will miss this. I know that when this year is over, I am not going to be working in a high school again. This is truly my last year of being a high school teacher. That makes me a bit sad, and yet excited for the road to come. With my master's degree, I will be pursuing another career and engage in new wonderful experiences. I will always take with me my years of teaching. I have learned so much. I know it has made a better person, and a better parent.

Here are some pictures of the party.

By the way, I have not meant to lead anyone to think my belly is little. It is not little at all right now. Hopefully these pictures give a more accurate representation of my growing belly!

Just some pictures.

I don't have a ton of time, but I did want get a few pictures of our cutie pie up. I will try to tell each story briefly......









Mom, please get out the wagon.












It is right over there.


I found it in the shed mom!







This watermelon, aka "ball" is really heavy, but really fun!








I love to play in the toy box. It makes getting to the toys so much easier!


I am just being cute. I love to read by books all by my self!

Me and dad have matching shirts! I love my dada.

A little smile for you mom, but only if you take me for a ride in my wagon.

Bella's 1st Birthday Party

This past weekend we attended Bella's 1st Birthday Party. Jeannie got a "bounce house" for the kids. At first, Braden would not go near it, but by the end of the evening, you couldn't get him out. We all had a really nice time. Most of Jeannie's family was there. They are such a nice group. They always make you feel like you are family.

I was proud of Brian because he did not wrestle Dan, Jeannie's husband in the "bounce house" this time. They wrestled the last time which was quite amusing, but not a good idea! Brian did get in the house with the kids and at one point bounced off the side! He got stuck and all you could see were two feet up in the air. The house almost tipped over and all you could hear was someone saying, "MAN DOWN!" It took the people who were by the house a minute to get over to help him because they couldn't stop laughing. I did NOT have my camera at the time. It was terribly funny.

These are pictures of Braden, Bella, Gabby and Kayla in the "bounce house". It was hard to get any really good pictures because the minute one would stand up, another would fall.

So much to update!

Wow, it really has been a while since I have updated this blog. We have been doing really well. To begin, here is somewhat recent picture of me. My belly has grown this past week, or at least it feels that way, so I will have to get another one. I feel really good. Getting a good night of sleep could go little better, but I can't complain too much.

There are not many days left of teaching for me. I have to say, I am ready to be done. I am home with Braden today, I just had so much to do that couldn't be done on the weekend. He seems to be trying to change his sleep schedule, but it is hard to do with my work schedule. He is waking up at his normal time, between 5am and 6am, but is very tired and wants to go back to sleep right away instead of taking a nap later in the morning. What I think his body is trying to do is sleep in and only take his afternoon nap. The hard part, is I have to leave the house at 6:30am when I work and 7am when I watch the kids so he just isn't getting a chance to sleep in. I am guessing that this will work itself out when my school year ends. I am also hoping that he will be sleeping in his "big boy" bed by the end of June also. Brian and I have set everything up in his new room and the weekend we did Braden was very interested in his new bed. He went into his crib and brought his blankets to put on his new bed. We took the hint and with some advice, went and bought a bed rail and tried to get him to take a nap in his new bed. It didn't work as well as I was hoping, so he is still in his crib.

Other than that, we have been outside so much. Braden has helped Brian and I weed, wash the cars, and we of course have played, played and played outside. Braden can't get enough of his wagon. I think he went for a ride in the wagon 4 times yesterday! He went twice with me and twice with Brian.

These are pictures of Braden hanging out with me in the house.

These are picture of Braden outside with a roll of wrapping paper, really, who needs toys!

Busy week

It has been a busy few weeks here. Brian and I have had a lot of graduate homework to do. Usually it is spread out enough that we are never overwhelmed by it, but this week, we both were swamped. We are all doing really well. I am glad that tomorrow is Friday. This weekend I plan on finishing Braden's new room. He won't be moving in for a while, but I want to slowly move his things over and have him get used to it. It was so much fun to go shopping for a new comforter and dresser. Brian and I put the dresser (an IKEA purchase, of course) together last weekend. I love that store. I am so excited that they have one in Michigan now. We can officially move back now. :-) I honestly don't know where else to shop because we go there for everything!

I have a two videos for this post. He can say "wawa" aka water. I tried to get him to say it in the bathtub, but I wasn't very successful. You will also hear his babble.

The blogger is not letting me upload any pictures right now so I will try again this weekend!

I almost forgot

Braden's new words he can say, that we understand!

1. Cheese
2. Eye
3. Down
4. Down stairs
5. Ready (he only said that once, but we are pretty sure it was ready)

Easter Weekend

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We did. My Dad and Juli came to visit Maryland. They stayed in Bethesda on Friday night and hung with Mel. They came up Saturday and we spent the evening with them. On Sunday we went to church and had a wonderful Easter dinner. I love being Polish. So much great food and wonderful traditions come along with it, and it is such a blessing to share those with Braden. I hope he grows to love the traditions as much as I do. If you aren't sure what I am talking about, Easter has traditional Polish dishes that make the house smell so wonderful.

Here are a few pics from the weekend.

We colored Easter eggs on Friday. Braden thinks they are a "ball".

So cute.
On Easter, after he ate lunch, we give him an Easter basket filled with plastic Easter eggs. Each egg was filled with one M&M. He had a great time opening each one.

The three of us. (I am so excited for there to be another one.)

Braden was making sure each egg was empty.