Pics of Rachel's completed room

pink, pink, and more pink!!!
The child had more clothes than either of us. I'm a little afraid she'll skip her newborn size and go straight to 0-3 months. She doesn't have very many newborn outfits and I left the tags on most of them so they can be exchanged for a bigger size if necessary. I have washed all the 0-3 months size. Now, I need to buy another pack of hangers!!!!!

32 weeks 3 days

It's hard to identify anything in the first picture but you can see Rachel's face in the second one. You can see one of her eyes, her nose, mouth, and a chubby cheek. Yes, she is chubby. She weighs 4lbs 14 oz at 32 weeks 2 days. She is in the 64%. My child is above average already!!!!!! Her head is facing down now. I swear I felt her flip all the way around last Friday. It was the strangest feeling and sight.
I really think the picture of her face is amazing. Greg and I both think it is the best ultrasound pic we have. They wanted to do another ultrasound to be sure she is growing b/c of my blood pressure. Let's just say she IS growing. After an excellent doctor's appt, Greg and I grabbed lunch and went to a Durham Bulls baseball game. With temps in the 80's and low humidity, it was a perfect night for a baseball game. I have been lucky that every time I have done something outside lately it has been much cooler than expected. This has not been a typical NC summer!!!!!
I spend most of my days, visiting friends, going out to lunch, organizing something in the house, or trying to think of what else to do to get ready for the princess. Life is wonderful! At first, I dreaded being pregnant in the summer, but now I wouldn't want it any other way. I am so thankful that I do not have to get up and go to work and I can prop my feet up when I need to. My friend that is due 3 days before me totally agrees. Most teachers want to have their baby in April or May so they have the entire summer to spend with the baby. That would be ideal but I now have a newfound respect for people that come to work in their 8th and 9th month of pregnancy.
I go back to the doctor on July 23rd. The appts are not very exciting......blood pressure check, weight check, heartbeat.......in and out in 15 minutes. I am so glad I had an ultrasound on Wednesday so I could see her again. I know she'll be here for me to hold before I know it!

Other Rachel Happenings

My friends at work threw an awesome shower for Rachel.  There was so much delicious food that I couldn't come close to trying it all but everything I had was great. 
My co-workers are the best!  Rachel got lots of cute stuff.  I opened her first newborn size outfit in this picture.  It looks so small!  I can't believe she'll wear clothes that tiny.  I washed her first load of clothes on Friday.  I know I won't be excited about that after it happens on a regular basis but it was fun to try to fold all the tiny clothes.
Caroline and I worked hard to arrange Rachel's closet.  I had been cramming everything in there because I really wasn't sure what to do with it all.  With Caroline's help, I got it all organized and put away blankets and 0-3 month clothes in her dresser.
She even has her own luggage tags.  A friend from work got two of these for Rachel.  The other one just says Rachel and it is on the same background.  Too cute!!!!!!

My New Baby!

No, Rachel's not here yet but I do have  a new baby.  A group of my wonderful friends all went in together and got me a Kate Spade diaper bag.  It's amazing b/c I would NEVER buy it for myself but I have drooled over it since I found out I was pregnant.  They gave it to me at my work shower.    I am so lucky to work with such thoughtful and generous people.  My friend, Sally laughs and says Rachel won't need anything until she is 16.  I'm almost ready to agree with her.  

Welcome to the Third Trimester!

The days continue to fly by! I went to the doctor on Thursday for my glucose test. The stuff you have to drink, tastes just like flat Sunkist (thanks for the warning Stacy!). It wasn't horrible but I don't want to drink it again. I'll get the results in a week or so. I met with the nurse practitioner while waiting for my blood to be drawn. She was happy with everything so far. She did warn me about pre-eclampsiya. My blood pressure hasn't gone up but I guess it is consistently higher than they would like. She wants me to walk everyday and cut back on sodium. Since I don't add salt to anything, I guess I just have to eat out less. That should get better since I only have 8 more days of school left so I'll feel more like cooking.
We made up Rachel's bed. We hope to hang the letters this week. It's really starting to come together.
We'll be busy with yardwork and house projects for the next few weekends. There's always something to do!

Rachel's Room

We got a call from Babies R Us on Monday that the crib and dresser were in. We decided to skip the gym that night and go pick it up. After getting everything home, we realized that we would need help to get the furniture in the house so it sat in the back of the truck until our friends came over on Friday night. Rich and Greg had their work cut out for them because that furniture was heavy . They unpacked the dresser and Tracy & I cleaned up all the mess. I wanted them to put the crib together but I didn't want to press my luck!
Greg ended up putting the crib together today. The room is starting to come together. We hope to get the mattress in the next couple of weeks so I can go ahead and make up the bed. I really want to see the complete picture! We're trying to decide if there is room for a rocking chair or not. I always knew the bedroom was small but didn't realize how small until we put her furniture in.
I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow. I'll be busy at work this week with End-of-Grade testing. The countdown is on....17 more days with students.
I went back to work from jury duty on Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, I was ready to go back to jury duty!!!! I told several of my friends that it was a shame I had to wait 2 years to serve again b/c it was quite nice being away from all the kids for a few days. We got finished on Wednesday b/c the guy took a plea bargin. Guilty on 2 counts of armed robbery. Each sentence carried 38-54 months. I guess once, he figured out that you could tell it was him on the second video, he really had no choice. Glad he is off the streets for awhile.

The Rachel Report

These are the letters that Greg painted for Rachel's room.

Tomorrow, I will be 23 weeks pregnant. Time really flies. I had my 22 week appt on Wednesday. Rachel weighs 1lb 3 oz. She measures on the 22 week mark. I got a couple pictures but her arm was covering her face (wonder who she gets that from???) so no really good ones. I've gained 2 lbs but please note that Rachel is 1lb 3 oz of that!!!!!!!!!!!
We went to Babies R Us on Wednesday night to order her crib and dresser. We went on Wed to use the 20% off coupon that a friend of mine gave me. The rest of the world was there trying to use their coupons too. They didn't have the furniture in stock so we ordered it. We should be getting a call in the next couple of weeks to pick it up. Greg is really looking forward to putting it all together.......yeah right! We were out of our minds and also decided to register that night. Who knew there were so many choices? After 3 hours in the store, we were finally ready to go. We've officially sworn off that store for awhile!
I go back to the doctor again on May 28 for my glucose testing. I have to drink a sugary drink and sit for an hour then have my blood drawn to see how my body processes sugar. If I fail, I'll go back for a 3 hour test later. Let's really hope I don't fail! I have the option of getting a 3-D ultrasound that day too. Greg has told me I shouldn't get it b/c insurance doesn't cover it and it will be a couple hundred dollars out of pocket. He also says that we will see her in person soon enough. I agreed at the time, but I may try to convince him otherwise in the next couple of weeks!!!!
I have 29 more days of work. I'm looking forward to a summer of doing nothing. I was called for jury duty on May 11th so I may even miss a few days of work b/c of that. I know that I was only called b/c I opened my mouth a couple weeks ago when my friends were getting called and mentioned how I've never been called in Wake Co. I should learn to keep my mouth shut!
Greg is staying busy at work. He was off yesterday which was nice to have the whole weekend to hang out with him.
We hope everyone has a great week!

Valentine's cards

I went to my friend, Shawntel's, house to make Valentine's cards. I love the way they turned out. I also made three cute pouches that I put chocolate in for the teachers I work with. Everyone at school that saw them, loved them. I stuffed them with Ghirardelli Chocolates so it made them even better. We are going to make birthday cards this week, so look out for those pictures soon!

Snow in NC

It really does snow in NC. It doesn't happen very often but I get so excited when it does. It snowed on January 20th. This made a great excuse to watch the inauguration all day! Since it was a teacher workday anyway, I was even more excited b/c the students wouldn't have to make up a snow day. Unfortunately, school was also closed the following day b/c of all the ice on the roads. So, we'll be at work on President's Day! If it is going to snow here, it always seems to happen around Greg's birthday. By the end of the week, temperatures were back in the 50's and all the snow was gone. It was beautiful while it lasted. I'm still holding out for one more snow day this winter.

Happy 2009!

I can't believed I haven't blogged in over a month. Where does the time go? Here's an update on the last month of our life.
Sometime around the 15th of December I got a cold that I couldn't shake. Nothing is worse than to be sick in December. There is too much to do. Well the upper respiratory infection I had, led to pink eye. Bet you didn't know that upper respiratory infections and pink eye were related b/c I sure didn't until it happened to me! After several different prescriptions, it finally went away. I did have to wear my glasses for two full weeks. I learned that it is important to have an updated glasses prescription because it sucks not being able to see very well. I'll be purchasing new glasses as soon as I have an eye doc appt.
Everyone came to our house for Christmas Eve. We enjoyed a wonderful day with the family and a delicious meal.....even though I cooked the turkey upside down for several hours......I never claimed to be Martha Stewart.
We left early Christmas morning for the drive to Syracuse. We stopped for breakfast at the Waffle House like last year because that is the only thing open on Christmas day. We had a great time in Syracuse and I got to see snow. Not as much as I wanted, but some was better than none. The drive back was HORRIBLE. I swear I will only drive on major holidays from now on. My sanity can't take 12.5 hours in the car.
We enjoyed a week at home before going back to work. We had our house appraised because we've jumped on the refinancing bandwagon. Our new interest rate, saves us several hundred dollars a month. Yeah! We had some friends over for New Years Eve to play games.
Going back to work was hard, but we are pretty much back in the swing of things again. We even made it to the gym twice last week. We're aiming for three times this week but we'll see!
I hope to post more often in the coming weeks. Maybe if I'd stay off facebook, I would have more time to update my blog.

Gingerbread Love

My mom has almost finished putting the lights around the house.

This is the third year that my family and I decorated gingerbread houses together. We go to my aunt and cousin's church in Winston Salem to create our masterpieces. The lady in charge of this has bags of candy and icing laid out over 5 huge tables. You pick what you want to decorate, a small, medium, or large house or a tree, then grab your candy and icing and start working. The best part is when you are finished you can walk away and don't have to clean up anything. This is exceptionally appealing to us because we tend to make a HUGE mess!
It's fun to look back at pictures of our past creations and see how different the houses are from year to year. My mom and I usually use colorful Necco candies to create the roof but this year we decided frosted shredded wheat would be a nice change. We added lights to our house this year. I'll take a picture of it lit up and post that later.
This has turned into a fun Christmas tradition. I hope we are able to continue it for many years to come.
My aunt's house. She was pretty close to being finished at this point. Notice the detail. She even added an overhang at the front door.
Jennifer was working hard on her house. It turned out really cute. She used Necco's on her roof.
Caroline put Necco's all over her roof and then decided she didn't like it so she changed it to frosted shredded what. Her house was very cute especially after some third grade children got in on the design.
Here is my gingerbread tree. This is the second year that I have decorated a tree. I always think it is a good idea until I sit down to start and then my mind goes blank. I do like the way this one turned out. I used M&M's and gumballs on the tree. I tore apart some sour string candy and wrapped that around certain spots. I love the pretzel star on top of the tree and the gingerbread people infront of the tree. The end result was much cuter than I could have imagined.

My beautiful shower

After lots of hard work, my shower is finally in working order . We finally got the tile clean the Monday before Thanksgiving. The glass company came to install the doors on Tuesday morning. We still have a lot of work to do to finish the bathroom but at least I can shower in there now. I love the way it turned out. I was hesitant at first b/c I really wanted the frameless shower door but it was $1000 more than the semi-frameless so I had to go with the cheaper option! Next step is to purchase curtains so we can take down the beach towels that cover the window. Classy, huh?

My week of crafts

This is my favorite card this week. I went to dinner with Lauren, my best teacher friend, at CPK and then we headed to Jennifer's house for a night of card making. It turned into a long night since I made 20 cards and she made 15 but it was lots of fun. We were lucky because we didn't have to work the next day so it didn't matter how long it took us to finish.

These are the other 4 cards we made at Jennifer's house. I actually made so many cards this year that I'm ahead for next year. Yeah! I usually send my Christmas cards out on 12/1 but I haven't made it to the post office to purchase stamps yet so they are all sitting on my dining room table. Maybe tomorrow.....
I made these place cards and napikin rings at Shawntel's house. She always comes up with the best ideas. It took lots of hard work to complete these projects but they were worth it. I made 16 sets and I hope they can be used year after year. The only bad part was I put them on top of the fridge so they'd be out of the way and forgot about them until the day after Thanksgiving. Oh, well...there's always next year!
Shawntel came to my house a couple Saturdays ago and had a card class for some of my friends. Here are 2 of the 4 cards that people made. We all had lots of fun. We all need to do things like this more often. You can never spend too much time with friends.

As you can see, my life has been full of crafts lately but I've loved every minute of it. Now I must decide if I want to make gift tags or if that would just be too much!

MIA

Wow! Life has been busy. We are trying to finish our shower and get the glass installed before Greg's family comes for Thanksgiving. Things are actually going pretty well. The tile is finished and the glass is scheduled to be installed on Tuesday morning. We grouted part of it last weekend and noticed it was really difficult to get the tiles clean. After searching several stores for marble cleaner, we went back to the place we purchased the tile and they said, "Didn't the salesman tell you to seal the marble before you grout it?" Ummmm, no! They looked up our sales guys name and weren't surprised that he didn't tell us and then informed us he no longer works for the company. Lucky us, we must have been some of his last customers. They sold us (not gave us like they should have) some cleaner that we will try tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that it works.
My big buddy, Bean, had surgery to remove a growth on his ear. It has been there for a long time but it was growing and looking really terrible. The path report came back and showed that it was malignant melanoma. Who's ever heard of a cat with melanoma? G and I joke that he's definitely our cat since we've had malignant melanoma too. Of course, they want me to get x-rays of his lungs and test his lymph nodes but I'm not going to do it. He's 14.5 years old and there is only a 20% chance that it has spread somewhere else. The vet did offer Chinese herbs and acupuncture but I declined. (Bet you've never heard of that!!!) He gets his stitches out tomorrow so we'll see what else they have to say.
On top of all this, I've been to 2 card making parties and hosted one myself in the last week. I'll post pics of all my projects later.
Life is busy but all is well. It's been really cold here. I even got to see snow flurries earlier this week. Of course, it didn't stick b/c it was 70 a few days ago but even the sight of it made me happy.

Target deals

I went to a baby shower yesterday afternoon and my friend told me about her trip to Target before the shower. She told me that all the Halloween merchandise was 90% off. I had to go check it out myself when the shower was over. Surprisingly, there was a lot of stuff left. I got:
25 Pez dispensers, 12 bags of candy, 2 Halloween games, a glow-in-the-dark pillowcase, a table runner, skull shower hooks, stickers, playing cards, catnip toys and a cat toy wand all for..........$14.28. My receipt says I saved $124.60. I really don't believe anyone would ever spend that much on this stuff but I guess it could happen. The kids at school will be very happy with my purchases. I think I'll save the pez dispensers until next Halloween for the trick-or-treeters. I went to two other Targets on Saturday night but they didn't have near the amount of stuff as the one at Southpoint. I love the clearance section at Target!
Bean approves of the catnip toys I bought him. He totally agrees that they were worth $.39 for a pack of four! His dad didn't even fuss about this purchase!

Just another Saturday

My cousin and her boyfriend hung out with me on Friday and Saturday. She gave out Halloween candy for me while I cut out center stuff for school. (I've already booked her for Halloween 2009.) We watched part of the Applachian football game on TV but we headed to bed pretty early because my mom came to get us at 8:15 on Saturday morning to go to the church bazar. I hadn't been to church in a loooong time (I'm embarrassed to say) so I was a little hesitant about going but I decided I'd go b/c my mom wanted to. She picked me, Collin, and Caroline up at 8:15 on the dot and we headed to Durham. Of course, we had to make a pit stop at Starbucks. Caroline and I always go to Starbucks. It's like one of our things. We got to church a little before nine and went in to start shopping. The ladies of the church had made some beautiful crafts. I bought 2 blankets with ribbon on them (taggies is what they are called) for baby shower gifts. My mom bought a couple cute things and even Caroline found a hand painted dishsoap bottle for her mother. My hesitation about being there left the minute I walked in. I saw so many wonderful people. I felt really old after seeing some of the kids that I used to babysit for. It was great to visit and catch up with people.
Carloline, Collin, and I went to Red Robin for lunch. They had never been there before and wanted to give it a try. After a nice meal, they headed to NCSU and I went to the mall.
I had some coupons to use and I wanted to vote while I was there. When I walked in the mall and saw the voting line, my mouth dropped open. The line was wrapped around and around and around. I decided to shop first, secretly hoping the line would disappear while I was in a store. I went to Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works to use my coupons.

I got everything pictured here for $3.20. I love coupons! The underwear was free and so was the snowman soap. I've wondered for quite a few months why I get 2 coupons a month from VS for free underwear when I NEVER spend a penny there. A lady at Bath & Body works told me that both stores are owned by the same company so since I shop at Bath & Body lots and give out my phone number when they ask for it, I get LOTS of coupons. I was so proud of my shopping that I headed to the voting line.
The sign said the wait was 2.5 to 3 hours from where I got in line. I didn't want to wait but I didn't want to go on Tuesday either b/c I was scared the wait would be even longer. The time passed quickly b/c I talked to the people in line with me. There were even volunteers walking beside the line passing out water and snacks to anyone that wanted them. I thought that was so kind. I made it though the line in only 1.5 hours. I was glad I waited and got to vote. I guess, we'll find out on Tuesday if my vote really mattered!

Baking it up!

My best teacher friend, Lauren, came over on Tuesday to help me bake a Smores Cheesecake for our friend Jennifer's baby shower on Thursday.  Lauren is the baking queen(check out her blog here)so she came over to share her skills with me.  We made the graham cracker crust and baked it for about 10 minutes.
Mixing delicious melted chocolate into the batter.
After we baked the cheesecake it had to be refrigerated overnight.  We went ahead and made the marshmallow topping and I just put that on when I came home from work on Wednesday.  Once the topping is added, you have to brown the top under the broiler for 3-4 minutes.
This was the final product.  As you can see, it was quickly eaten up.  There was not even a single crumb left at the end.  I think it turned out really well.  G is bothering me everyday to make one for him.  I think I'll try pumpkin cheesecake for him next week.

We also made pink buttercream icing for cupcakes.  I had a great time baking  with Lauren!

Fall in NY

I took these beautiful pics last Sunday in NY.  We flew up for G's grandmother's surprise 80th birthday. 

 Our flight got in late Friday night and our friend picked us up from the airport.  After dropping me off at our friend's house, the boys left to go to a bar.  Instead of going to bed like I should have, I watched tv and played around on the computer.  I finally went to bed around 2 a.m.  Of course, the boys come home around 2:30, just as I have fallen asleep.  They did shut the bedroom door so they wouldn't disturb me.  Nice huh?  Not so much b/c shortly thereafter they decide to complete demolition on Bob's basement ceiling which is right under where I was TRYING to sleep.  We had a short conversation through the air vent and I expressed my sincere gratitude for their work at 3 a.m.  They went to bed shortly after.  Three and a half hours later we were up again thanks to Bob's alarm clock and G not wanting to "sleep" away all his time in NY.  We were all slow moving but we did make it to Denny's for breakfast by 7:30 a.m.  

After a quick trip to Walmart and a short visit to see B's parents we went by G's grandmother's house to pick out her outfit for that evening.  We were bringing her something to change into b/c she didn't know about the surprise party that evening.  G and I were so nervous to go into her house.  She was at a driving class and wasn't supposed to be back until late that afternoon but we were scared she would be done early and show up while we were at her house.  We left Bob in the car so he could call us if she happened to pull in the driveway so we could sneak out the basement door.  As we were looking through her closet, a piece of paper fell on the floor.  We both looked at each other and thought, "Where did that come from?".  We saw a pile of papers on top of her tv and we were about to pick up the paper and put it back with the others, until something told me to look at it.  It was our flight itinerary.  If she had come home and found that paper the surprise would have been ruined.  Thank goodness we looked at that paper.  We finally grabbed 2 outfits and headed out the door and on the way to G's aunt's house.  

I hung out with G's aunt while G, his cousin, and Bob went hiking.  Both of his aunts had worked really hard and most everything was ready for the party.  The only problem was Nona (G's grandma) didn't know that she was supposed to be coming to her daughter's house yet.  Her sister was supposed to call her earlier in the week and suggest they ride up to the aunt's house b/c the aunts and nieces were supposed to be scrapbooking that afternoon.  G's aunt finally called Nona and left a message inviting her to come over for a little while so she could see everyone.  We couldn't wait any longer for Nona's sister to call her.  When  Nona called back, she said she couldn't come over b/c she had plans to go see her godson.  Oh, no!!!!!  G's aunt convinced her to come over with her sister for a short visit.  

They pulled in right at 6 and everyone hid.  When she walked in everyone yelled surprise.  G, Bob, and I were still hiding in the back bedroom.  After about 5 minutes, G called her  and she was telling him about the surprise.  As soon as she started talking about how she wished he was there, we walked to the kitchen and he crouched down beside her while she was on the phone.  It took her a minute to realize who it was but she was really surprised. G's aunt got a picture of her face when she realized G was there and it is priceless.  

It was a great party and Nona was really happy.  We got to hang out with her all day Sunday b/c our flight home didn't leave until almost 8 p.m.  We were really glad we were there to help celebrate her 80th birthday.

On a side note, we flew US Air to Syracuse and it was wonderful.  All 4 of our flights were on time, the employees were friendly and the flights were smooth.  I hadn't flown US Air in a long time, but after such a good trip, I would book my next flight with them.  

more fun projects

Here are the other two projects that I completed on "Ladies Night".  I haven't found a permanent home for the pumpkin yet.  I'm thinking it will go on the hallway closet door.  
I love these Thanksgiving cards.  I think the ribbon is what really makes the card pop.  I have to give my friend, Shawntel, credit for these ideas.  She is so creative and always comes up with the neatest projects for us to make.  I can't wait to make Christmas cards this week! 

The Economy Sucks!

After weeks of hearing about how bad the economy is and being thankful that it hasn't affected me, things have changed.  G called me this morning to let me know that everyone in his company is taking a 10% pay cut.  I am so thankful that he still has a job but it sucks to take a pay cut.  If I stop his 401K contributions and the additional tax withholdings we have everything will even out but I'm not ready to do that.  I guess I have to wait until he gets his first check in the next couple of weeks with the pay cut before we make any decisions about what to change.  

It makes me soooo angry to hear about people on the news who have worked out a deal with the banks and their interest rate is cut so they can continue to make their house payments.  I feel like these people are being rewarded for not reading the fine print when they signed their loan documents.  I was offered the same options, when I purchased my home 2.5 years ago but I knew better than to get in over my head.  What has happened to personal responsibility?  

I hope and pray that things get better in the economy but I guess only time will tell.