Sunday Blessings

One of my goals for this year is to blog more frequently. I really love writing/blogging and I would like to post more than once a week. While baby Luca provides the perfect topic for posting, I am going to try to include some more variety. I came up with a couple of ideas based on other blogs I read regularly, so I am going to give them a try. For a twist on the popular "Saturday Happy List", I am going to go with a "Sunday Blessings" list. I would like to try to list my blessings each Sunday, as a reminder of all I have to be thankful for and how good God has been and continues to be in our lives, even in the stressful times. I will also continue to keep the pregnancy updates going about every other week, since not much happens in pregnancy land (thankfully) to warrant a weekly update...at least not at this point. I am sure when my due date gets closer that will change!


So here we have the Sunday Blessings list:
1. Spring is finally here in the valley and the sunshine makes it much easier to get out of bed every day!
2. We made it to 25 weeks yesterday...keep growing strong baby Luca!

Can you see I have been playing with our camera and photo editor?

3. My husband is wonderful. He did all the yard work yesterday.
4. Friday is April 1st, which means we have less than 2 months left of school!
5. Santi and I spent the morning in the sunshine playing with Tevez. Tevez is such a blessing and always the example of unconditional love.

First Blog Award!

Now I don't think my blog is much to brag about, and it's definitely not as creative as many other blogs I follow, but a BIG thank you to thegreatelephantsymposium for the Stylish Blog Award! Thanks again Mary! Mary is an incredibly strong and inspirational woman and fellow bumpie (meaning we both participate in the bump message boards).
Now on to the rules that come with receiving this award....
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award. (done!)
2. Share 7 things about yourself.  (done!)
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. (done!)
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!  (in progress)



Okay, 7 things about me. Here it goes.

1. I was born and raised a Hoosier!!!!! Go IU!

2. I used to be in color guard. I miss performing!

3. I am a kindergarten ESL teacher and teaching is my passion.

4. I love margaritas, sushi, and Mexican food. I am kind of obsessed.

5. I am a warm weather gal all the way. I HATE snow. I love living in Arizona!

6. I love to travel. Santi and I are planning trips to Japan and Europe one day.

7. I want to get more creative with my blogging and blog more often! I am so inspired by so many great bloggers out there! I am also dying to get going on my kinder blog I attempted to start at the beginning of the school year. Life just got in the way, and between planning, prep time, meetings, assessments, phone calls home, PLC, CSTs, TRTs, XYZs, 25 demanding kinders, and no aide...it just didn't happen this year. I look at all these amazing kinder blogs and the types of things they are doing in their classrooms and I just wish I could do half as many wonderful things with my kinders. I would like to say "maybe next year"...but with a new baby on the way and maternity leave in the fall, I don't see that happening!

Award 15 great bloggers. Most of these are blogs of wonderful women I met on the boards at The Bump, many are my favorite kinder/teaching blogs, and a couple are foodie blogs because I love cooking:
1. Abra from When Baby Sleeps
2. Mrs. Tims from Beautifully Flawed
3. LC from Embracing Elijah
4. Lara from Heart in the Clouds
5. Michaele from Kindergarten's 3 R's: Respect, Resources, and Rants
6. Candice (she also happens to be my sister-in-law) from Live Wife
7. Emma from The Molarnator
8. Mrs. Spatafora from Kinderblogger
9. Lisa from K is for Kindergarten
10. Natalie and Rachelle at What the Teacher Wants
11. Ashley at The Polka Dot Patch
12. Kathleen at Growing Kinders
13. Annie at Annie's Eats
14. Stephanie at My Angel Aurora Rose
15. Valeri at Take Three

A Belly Photo Comparison...so far.

 9 Weeks

 15 Weeks

 17 Weeks

24 Weeks

It's a growin'!!!

24 Weeks, V-Day, and Photo Overload!

I wish I was creative enough to come up with cute titles for my blog posts lately, but I seem to be cramming so many things into one post that it makes it difficult. I guess I just need to post more than once a week! I will add that to my list of goals for this year...along with learning how to use our fancy camera.
Yesterday I hit 24 weeks. And the big milestone for 24 weeks? Viability day!!!! If little Luca decided to make a very early appearance (first of all he would be grounded for a long time if he did such a thing), thanks to modern medicine he would have a decent chance at survival. Before 24 weeks they will not attempt to save a preemie. While this is comforting to an extent, it's also terrifying to think about him arriving so early. Micro preemies have so many challenges and health problems. He needs to keep cooking for quite some time yet!

Besides reaching yet another pregnancy milestone (which I am grateful for), I also got to enjoy part of my spring break with our families in Indiana. And of course I was given a wonderful baby shower as well. It was so nice to see everyone, and while I got emotional one day about being so far away now that Luca is on his way, I am so thankful for the time we do get to spend with our families. When we can't get to them, they are always making trips out to see us, despite the cost and time it takes to make the trek to Arizona. We are so blessed. Here are a couple of pics from our trip for your enjoyment:

Isn't our niece Ruthi just precious? I already love being an aunt, and I can't wait for her and Luca to meet!

 Can you believe my little brother has a kid?!

The Hughes Family...and I must say my parents don't look old enough to be grandparents!

The second half of my spring break was spent cleaning the house, working on Luca's room, and catching up on my to-do list (which seems to get longer and longer every day). So, for your reading pleasure we have the pregnancy survey for week 24 along with some pictures. Enjoy

•How far along?: 24 weeks and 1 day!

•Total weight gain: As of my doctor's visit last week, a whopping 11 pounds. It doesn't sound like much, but 8 of those pounds came on in the last 3 weeks! Yikes!

•How big is baby?: The size of a papaya still...coming up next week: eggplant!

•Maternity clothes?: I caved and bought another pair of maternity jean capris...only $12.00 though! My wonderful mother also purchase me a few cute maternity tops, and some shorts that I couldn't quite squeeze my thighs into and had to take back. I am spoiled...I know.

 
•Movement: Yes, usually he is the wildest in the morning and evening. He has been waking up every morning with the alarm clock. Weird. I actually see my belly moving on the outside, but Santi has been too impatient to catch it. You have to really concentrate on it. I wish his movements would hurry up and get more consistent though. I love feeling him move, it is so reassuring.

•Stretch marks?: Still a big fat no. Love handles and cellulite though? Yes. Oh, and my mother in law posted a lovely pic on Facebook of me with a double chin. Booo... 

•Sleep?: Hate sleeping on my side. My legs and arms always fall asleep. And my back hurts. Little sacrifices though...

•Symptoms?: Killer case of heartburn the other day, and peeing all the time now.  My days now revolve around finding the closest bathroom wherever we are, and the next meal or snack.  

•Food cravings: Water with lots and lots and lots of lemon or lime juice...still. And this week's new craving: watermelon!!!! Icy cold, juicy watermelon...nom nom nom. I know it's not really that time of year yet, but I managed to find one at Sprout's this week and it was delicious!!

•Belly button in or out?: Making its way out.

•What I miss: Santi had a couple of Arnold Palmer's this past week and I was really jealous. In case you don't know what that is, it's half lemonade/half iced tea. YUM. 

•What I'm looking forward to: Besides summer vacation and Luca's arrival (49 days of school left now, but who's counting?)...I am looking forward to finishing up the nursery and possibly getting maternity pictures taken in May (we found some rather inexpensive student photographers on Craig's list that may be doing maternity and newborn photos for us, then hopefully Xavi will make it out this winter with his fancy equipment to do some nice family photos). Nothing to look forward to in the immediate future though...just summer fever.

•Best Moment this week: My baby shower, seeing our families, meeting our niece, and buying some more things for the nursery. I couldn't choose.

•Milestone:  Viability Day has come and gone, Luca's face is now fully formed, and he can hear us!


•Nursery Progress: Wow we have done a lot the last few days!!! The nursery was filled with boxes for a few days as our shower gifts arrived in the mail (our family and friends are awesome). We started tackling the boxes yesterday and unpacked all the clothing and other small items from the shower, and also went to IKEA to pick up some shelves, a rug, curtains, and some other organizational things for the room. It's starting to look like a nursery now!!!!

 The Boxes!

 Love these cute sheets sent from Aunt Julie! (she also made the most precious cloth book and hat I need to take pictures of)

 A view of the room! (the left side is full of tools, a ladder, and a bunch of random things that I pushed out of the way, it's really not as "done" as it seems)

 IKEA laundry basket...what a steal for $2.99!

 Most of the stuffed animals currently hanging out in Luca's crib were our stuffed animals when we were little. We brought them back from Indiana for Luca. There are a couple new ones, including the Liga crocodile (Santi's soccer team in Ecuador).

He has more clothes than I do!

 

 

And now for a new belly pic...with the Halloween shirt as promised. Hard to believe we found out about this little one at Halloween! 

 Looks like I am smuggling a pumpkin in there!

 Getting bigger!

22 Weeks, An Extra Peek, Sunshine, a New Do, and Vows...all in one week!

Wow it's been an eventful week! To start, we got an extra peek at Luca on Friday at the second anatomy scan. The first time around they couldn't get all of the measurements they needed, so I went in Friday morning for a repeat scan. I was sad to go by myself for the first time, but I made sure to get some pictures to share with Santi. Praise God everything looked good and she was able to take all of the measurements she needed. Luca is doing well and growing! After she took the measurements, she tried to get some fun pictures for me to take. He still doesn't like having his picture taken, and he decided to try to hide from the camera by putting his hands over his face. Here is what she was able to get:

Hi mom and dad!

We feel so blessed to have such a handsome little man on the way. We cannot wait to meet him in July! Time is flying though and I can't believe it. I am already at 22 weeks, and spring has arrived in the valley. This means it's sandal season and Santi treated me to a pedicure this weekend. It was soooooo nice to get a foot massage! 

 Our flowers in the backyard are also starting to come back to life. I was a bit concerned when we actually had a freeze back in January. I wasn't sure they had survived the cold. They did! Here's proof:

Next week we are headed to Indiana for my baby shower and time with family. I can't wait to see everyone, especially our new niece Ruthi! After spring break, I know time is really going to start flying, which means Luca is going to be here before we know it (but he better stay in there until at least 36 weeks)!

Today Santi and I also renewed our vows at church (picture to come). We have taken these vows three times now, and every time I am reminded of just how much I love him and how wonderful it is to be married to my best friend. Cliche I know, but true. It was such a special moment to renew our vows with this little blessing on the way, and I hope Luca knows that his mom and dad are committed to one another and this family forever. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man, and I would marry him over and over again! We celebrated by spending an afternoon together in the beautiful sunny weather. Nothing out of the ordinary, just lunch and some shopping (Luca maybe got a few things). I love just spending time together. 

And now...the pregnancy survey:

•How far along?: 22 weeks and 1 day!

•Total weight gain: We will see on Wednesday. I have another doctor's appointment and honestly I have no clue. I have been told by my coworkers that I am all belly and that I still look the same from behind. Not sure that I like that people are starting at my behind!

•How big is baby?: The size of a papaya. Santi bought a papaya at Sprout's yesterday. I cannot believe Luca is actually that big.

•Maternity clothes?: I actually think maternity clothes are hideous for the most part, and the more trendy stylish ones are super expensive, I have been wearing the same shirts with maternity bottoms, and last weekend I bought some regular clothes in a size bigger and regular skirts with stretchy waistbands. They are working out well for now! Oh, and my wonderful friend Chelsi gave me a bag full of maternity clothes. She is a lot taller than me, and she was pregnant in the winter, but I managed to find some things that will work. Thanks Chelsi!

 
•Movement: Yes!!! Finally! About half way through week 20 I started feeling little tiny kicks that felt more like muscle spasms. They quickly got stronger and more frequent, and now I feel them all the time! I love feeling him move. Since the first anatomy scan he moved from breech to head down, and I could actually feel him flipping around, and for awhile I had a head or butt sticking out on the side. Very neat. He also does things that make it feel like he is trying to claw his way out. Very weird.

•Stretch marks?: None....be jealous...for now. 

•Sleep?: Yep....same as always. But the weird dreams continue. I dreamed a couple nights ago that I threw food at the people at Chick-Fil-A because they messed up my order (don't mess with a pregnant woman's food) and then last night I had a dream that my kindergarteners were all in gangs and packing heat. That was kind of scary. 

•Symptoms?: Very mild heartburn on occasion. Aching back.  

•Food aversions?: Nope

•Food cravings: Water with lots and lots and lots of lemon or lime juice, yogurt covered pretzels, and cheese curls!

•Belly button in or out?: Making its way out.

•What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach and back:( And still miss iced coffee. I may have cheated today and took two sips of Santi's iced coffee.

•What I'm looking forward to: Spring break and our trip to Indiana!!! Of course that includes my baby shower and seeing my new niece! I am also kind of looking forward to my doctor's visit Wednesday. I like checking in to make sure Luca is doing well, it gives me peace of mind.

•Best Moment this week: Renewing our wedding vows!!!

•Milestone:  Baby can now dream. That's just crazy. I wonder what he dreams about...


•Nursery Progress: We got the bulk of it done a couple weeks ago, now it's just the details. He is slowly collecting toys, clothes, and books. A lot of our family and friends are sending gifts in the mail since we are flying to our shower, so a car seat, a soothing seahorse, Goodnight Moon in Spanish, and a cute little soccer romper all showed up this week! Oh, and some good friends of ours gave us a slightly used bassinet. Glad to save that money! 

 

And now for a new pic, including a new hair cut! I am trying to grow my hair out to my shoulders but the angled bob I had was starting to look weird with the front much longer than the back. So for now it looks shorter, but hopefully this will grow our much more nicely than the previous cut. 

 22 Weeks! I promise the Halloween shirt will be back at 24 weeks.