November...

Day 1:
Well, we all know what this means right?...
What's that you say? I'm crazy for even attempting to do something as time consuming and silly as writing at least one post a day for the next 30 days?! Well, yes you are probably correct but this is a challenge I've completed (I believe) for the past 3 years, so why stop now? Granted, I'll probably have a lot of "theme" days (wordless wednesdays, thankful thursdays, etc) and nothing too inspirational or mind-blowing to write about...however, stay tuned because with November, also comes a sweet baby girl who I am sure I will have lots to say about =)

38 Weeks...

How Far Along:38 weeks

Size of baby: a watermelon=)


Total Weight Gain/Loss: I made a mistake by looking over my medical records which happened to have my weight on it...let's just say I'll worry about that later.

Maternity Clothes: Are a bit more like circus tents these days

Gender: Sweet baby girl!!!!!

Movement: Every day! Still love watching her move and roll!

What I miss: Energy, being able to breath normally, and sleep

Sleep: I've accepted the fact that it will probably be a LONG time before I get a good night's sleep again.

Symptoms: Nothing too new- lots of braxton hicks contractions and hip and back pain,

Cravings: Cold cereal still and Chick-fil-a

Best Moment this week: Spending a few quiet nights together just hanging out "unplugged." We're trying to cherish the time left just the two of us =)

What we are looking forward to: Her actually being here! We literally CANNOT WAIT and wake up every morning wishing she would come already!

38Week Picture:

Practice Makes Perfect...

So, yesterday afternoon we got to practice our leaving for the hospital routine =) Thursday evening I started up with my usual Braxton Hicks contractions that have been coming fairly regularly at night for past couple weeks. I knew this was nothing to worry about because they weren't getting stronger like real contractions would and they weren't developing any sort of pattern, however, what was concerning me was that they were lasting a lot longer than they ever had and I noticed I was "leaking" (I know you wanted to know lol). So, naturally I was a bit concerned that perhaps my water was breaking very slowly, and after 4.5 hours of the contractions I called the nurses station. They said to just take a warm bath and keep an eye on things because it did sound like the early stages of labor. After a long bath, things subsided and I went to bed. Throughout the weekend the Braxton Hicks and leaking continued, so yesterday I decided I'd give them another call JUST IN CASE, simply because I had heard that 1)it's more common for your water to leak rather than gush and 2) I didn't want to risk there not being enough amniotic fluid for Caroline and put her in any distress. Well, the midwife said yes, this was a bit of a concern and to meet her at the hospital in an hour and a half and be prepared to stay just in case I was low on fluid and they needed to go ahead and induce. Greg and I ran and took showers, finished packing our bags, straightened up the house, installed the car seat, packed up the dog's food, in record time! We were nervous but trying not to get too excited because we knew it was probably nothing. Plus, I REALLY REALLY do not want to be induced because I've heard with pitocin, it is much harder to make it through labor without an epidural which is my goal, so I was very anxious about this being a possibility. Fortunately, after a few hours at the hospital and 3-4 tests later, everything came back fine and we were able to go home. We were a little disappointed to be leaving without a baby, simply because at that point we had pumped ourselves up for it, but in end it is so much better for her to have a few more weeks to finish baking =) We are also totally ready for when the real time comes now and just left everything in the car! It's also nice that all of our paper work is finished so now we won't have to worry about that either next time around! It was also exciting because we know that we are only a few weeks away from meeting Caroline for real (hopefully sooner rather than later)!! Fun times ahead for sure =)

3 years and counting...

I told you I would get to my sappy anniversary post =)

Today we celebrated our anniversary by a homemade meal, gifts, and going to one of our favorite places for dessert, Henry's. We were lame and completely forgot to take pictures, but Greg gave me a beautiful new Brighton necklace and a super sweet card and I gave Greg a frame for his desk for Caroline (symbolic of our biggest milestone during year 3) and new dress shoes haha (you're suppose to give leather on the 3rd anniversary, plus he desperately needed new shoes)! Anyway, much more low key than the past years and we wouldn't have had it any other way =)

This anniversary was super special too because it's our last one just the two of us! Over the past few days we've been talking about our highlights of the past 3 years and what we love about our marriage, and I must say it is a true blessing to have SO many highlights to reflect on and SO many things that we love about our relationship! Greg never ceases to amaze me and he truly is an incredible husband, friend, provider, leader, soon-to-be daddy, and man in general. I consider it a blessing to still thank God for him daily and to be so over the hills in love with him every day.

Anyway, here are some pictures of us throughout year three of marriage =)

It's been an awesome year for sure =)

3 year Anniversary Celebration...

Tuesday will be our 3 year anniversary! We decided to celebrate this weekend, just in case there was any baby action next weekend =) This was definitely our most low-key anniversary but it was really nice to be able to just spend the day together enjoying the gorgeous weather and a delicious dinner! We started off our day with driving to Ellijay for the Apple Festival. Last year we attempted to go and sat in traffic for about 45 minutes, still 20+ miles outside of Ellijay, and ended up turning around and going home. So this year, we expected the same and left early, but were pleasantly surprised with NO traffic and a front row parking spot! We were even there just a little bit before everything got started. I LOVE crafts shows, and there were so many fun things to look at, but the beauty of being somewhat crafty yourself, is knowing you can go home and make the same things for a fraction of the cost instead of buying it =) Since we were there so early, we didn't get to truly enjoy the best part which was all the yummy food, but I still left with a caramel apple which I really wanted. Plus we were holding out for our fried apple pies from Panorama on the way home. After seeing everything, we headed home with a stop at Panorama for our tasty pies and some fresh apples for (hopefully) some baking this week! We spent the rest of the day lazing around the house (which was SO nice, especially after such a rough day on Friday...WAY overdid it and ended up spending 2.5 hours on the couch with contractions that night...fun fun)! After naps, we got ready to go to dinner at Benihana. Hibachi definitely hit the spot!! Everything was SO good but we were STUFFED when we left. The plan was to go see the Ides of March after dinner, but it was sold out once we made it to the theater. It was already close to 9pm and I didn't think I'd be able to make it through a 10:30 movie (lame I know), so we headed home and watched a movie there instead. We had an exceptional day together celebrating 3 years of a beautiful marriage! I'll write up our sappy ACTUAL 3 year anniversary post on Tuesday =)

Waiting for the festival to open

Enjoying his fried apple pie

Dinner at Benihana's

35 weeks...

How Far Along:35 weeks

Size of baby: a honeydew=)


Total Weight Gain/Loss: It feels like a LOT! But I'm not worrying about it right now.

Maternity Clothes: Moving into Fall wear =)

Gender: Sweet baby girl!!!!!

Movement: Every day! I'm pretty sure she is a ninja. It's crazy to watch my stomach move!

What I miss: Energy and being able to breath normally

Sleep: I've accepted the fact that it will probably be a LONG time before I get a good night's sleep again.

Symptoms: same as last time- My back pain has come back with a vengeance and bad hip cramping. Also, lots of heartburn lately. Also, lots of Braxton Hicks contractions lately!

Cravings: Still cold cereal the most and grape kool-aid.

Best Moment this week: Going to our childbirth class on Saturday! We learned a lot and made things seem SO real!

What we are looking forward to: Her actually being here! We will pack our hospital bags this coming weekend and we have our hospital tour tomorrow. I can't believe I will be 9 months pregnant this weekend!

35Week Picture:

Jumping on my soapbox...

What's a blog for if you can't update it with a few of your own personal pet peeves and opinions? With that being said, sorry if this post offends anyone, it's not my intention, just something that really bugs me personally. Also, there are very few things I feel strongly enough about to actually put my opinion out there, but this happens to be one of them for whatever reason.

Anyhoo...every morning I generally make my commute to work listening to The Bert Show. Well, a story was brought up this week that has been stuck like a broken record in my mind ever since it was played. It's a story about a middle school boy being better at football than the rest of his team, so he gets punished for his talent by banning him from playing if he scores more than 3 touchdowns. The gist or theme of the story is about the "wussification" of today's youth. I could not agree more!! Not at all just because of this story, there are SOOO many reasons why I agree that the next generation is being "wussified" and I will list a few later. First, here is the news video of the middle school football player in case you want to see what I'm talking about:


There are a couple of reasons why this particular story gets under my skin:
1) This kid obviously has natural, God-given athletic talent and has most likely worked very hard to be as good as he is at football. So, why in the world punish him for that?!
2) When the principal is defending the Madre Hill rule by stating "so the other kids can develop their football skills too" and get some play time is ridiculous.
a)Apply that logic to real life. When a these kids grow up and enter the work force, and someone happens to outshine the rest, is he/she going to be reprimanded for doing a good job and asked to take a step back while they let others catch up to their level? No. They will be/should be rewarded for their hard work. If not, what would be the incentive for anyone to strive for excellence? And consider the consequences of having a generation with no one willing to make the effort to shine!

This story in particular is just a brief snapshot of the "wussification" movement. There are SO many things going on in schools, youth sports leagues, and parenting techniques that contribute to this nonsense. And if I'm being honest, this is one of the top 3 reasons it is a tough decision to teach right now. I simply do not agree with everything that is going on to make sure everyone is "equal" and no feelings are hurt. Because we all know how devastating it would be for a child to have their feelings hurt, despite it being for something they did and should take responsibility for. Of course now, "responsibility" is a curse word unless it is being placed on someone other than the person it should apply too. Here are some things I can think of off the top of my head that are going on in schools that are just so ridiculous:
1) No grading in red ink. It's preferable that a teacher use purple or something equally less 'offensive' because we do not want students to feel any shame associated with a failing grade. After all, we are all winners right?

2) Snowballing off of that...this is at least true in elementary schools up to 4th grade, but no one can really "fail" any more. The grading scale is no longer A,B,C,D,F it is a 3+ through 1 scale, where 3+ is exceeding standards and expectations and a 1 is not meeting the standards or expectations. I have even heard in some cases where a student cannot receive a '0' on an assignment anymore, it must be listed as a 50 in the grade book.

3) Let's say a student is a HUGE distraction. Throwing fits, possibly throwing objects, crying, yelling, running around the classroom while the teacher is trying to teach (you may laugh and think this doesn't happen...not only have I experienced it on several occasions in my VERY limited time in the classroom, I suggest visiting an inclusion class for a day and see what behavior is acceptable now), what is the teacher to do? Call the principal? No, they generally ask that the teacher handle this behavior in the classroom. Take them outside in the hall for a chat? No, that is singling out the student and could also get the teacher in trouble for leaving the rest of her students unattended. Move their desk away from others, either next to the teacher's desk or in a more secluded area of the classroom where they are less of a distraction to others? Absolutely not, as this could possibly hurt their feelings and make them feel isolated from their peers. So, instead you either spend several minutes of valuable instruction time calmly trying to reason with the student to sit back at their desk, or simply try to ignore and hope that they eventually get over it and go sit down somewhere.
This is exactly how things were handled while we were in school, right?! YEAH RIGHT! No one would have dared acted that way, and if they had the nerve enough to they certainly had to face the consequences of either the principal's office, a phone call home, AND having their desk moved. But now 1,000,000 different excuses are used to allow this type of behavior, "he's on medication and he just forgot to take it today," "he's really gifted and needs more of a challenge, he's acting out because he's bored," "Something must have been said or done to him to make him that upset," "he's an only child, so he's not use to having to wait his turn." Trust me, there's lots more! And I'm not pulling these out of thin air, these are quotes I've personally witnessed, which is scary because I haven't even been in my own classroom yet! This is all just from student teaching experience! I can't imagine all the fun stuff teachers hear on a daily basis! It just drives me CRAZY that no one will say "You know what, that behavior is entirely unacceptable and I'm so embarrassed that my child acted that way in your classroom and took away from your teaching. We will discuss this and take care of it at home, and please let me know if this behavior continues so we can put an end to it more quickly." And then how nice would it be if the student had to own up to their misbehavior with a follow-up apology to the class and teacher. Heaven forbid they be put on the spot for a few minutes to take responsibility for their actions. Again, we'd hate for anyone to have their feelings hurt.
***And let me say, there are legitimate cases where kids really cannot help this kind of behavior, however, the ones I am talking about can and should.

4) No winners or losers. Granted, for young kids playing sports, this is totally fine. But kids today are growing up where everyone wins! We don't want anyone to feel like they're not a winner so they all get trophies. And you may be thinking to yourself "just wait until your own kids loses"... but you know what? There is such a valuable lesson in losing! Sometimes, it's going to happen and you have to learn how to pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and go out and try harder next time! It's also important to learn how to congratulate the winner and not run off pouting that you "just won't play anymore."

There are several other examples but this post is long enough (if you've even made it this far). Things have changed so much in the past decade or so, and it is just so worrisome to think of what the outcome will be as this coddling continues. These kids are our future, which should truly terrify us. They are not encouraged to really try hard at anything or actually work toward goals. Everything is all made so easy and when things are made difficult, it is generally quickly altered so that everyone can meet the goal, and not just those who strive for success. Mediocrity seems to be the new goal that everyone is doing so well at attaining, and I can only imagine the bar the next generation will set for their kids!