A busy weekend...

Well, Friday night was part one of Chad's 10 year high school reunion. We went to his old high school for a night of high school football, expecting to see lots of his former classmates. Well, there weren't that many people there from his class (I'd say about 20) and most were from the dinner club (the people we see frequently anyways!). We did get to catch up with a few other people though and Chad seemed to enjoy it.

After a 10-hour night of sleep for both of us, Chad got up and played golf with the guys for Andy's bachelor party. I stayed off my feet and rested for most of the day. I was feeling really tired and sore from a crazy week, so I needed the extra rest. It worked because I feel great today! Last night we went to the second (and main) part of the class reunion. It was at a restaurant/banquet hall about 40 minutes from our house. We had a nice dinner and we also watched some of the Badger game from the bar there. Go Badgers! There was a better turnout of people last night- about 80 I think (Chad helped plan it, so I heard about the numbers of RSVPs).

Today I had to run a bunch of errands and then I helped "wrap up" the front porch project. I gave the railing a second (and final) coat of paint while Chad laid mulch all around the new landscaping. The only thing left now is to put up the stone veneer onto the cement retaining wall. We have the stone and mortar in our garage and Chad plans on laying it all out on the garage floor one night this week. Next weekend, he'll finish up the project for good by attaching all of the stone. Yay!! Then it's on to the nursery :)

I've been feeling a lot of movement from the baby each day. Chad's been able to feel it too and has seen the movement of my stomach as well. It's such an amazing feeling! I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow afternoon. Should be a short check-up. I don't think I'm having an ultrasound. I'll post an update about it tomorrow night.

Good night~
Mindy and Baby S.

24 Weeks!

Today was a rough day...it was one of those work days that make you REALLY not want to go back again tomorrow. For most of the day, I had at least five different kids who were really acting up over and over again, despite being disciplined. I had kids shoving one another, spitting in each others' faces, and swearing. It was the same "repeat-offenders" each time. Dealing with them multiple times each day makes me so exhausted. I've realized that I have less patience when I'm pregnant. That's unfortunate :-(

When I came home from work, all I wanted to do was rest. Of course, Westin had other plans in mind. He was super-hyper and excited to see me. Instead of a long walk, I grabbed a few tennis balls and took him across the street to let him run in the soccer fields. He seemed content after 45 minutes of chasing the ball. Then I got to relax for the night.

Chad got home safely around 10p.m. last night from his business trip and he has grad class tonight so he won't be home until close to 11p.m. The poor guy is rarely home in the evenings lately. I feel bad for him!

As far as how I'm feeling-- I'm okay, just really, really tired. I felt the baby moving around a lot today. Tonight I've been watching my stomach move around again. Chad still hasn't seen that but hopefully he will soon. Here's a photo I took today at 24 weeks-

I'll end on a high note with a funny story from a student of mine. The same little girl who told me on Tuesday that she thinks I have two babies came up to me with a question today. She asked me "Mrs. Steighner, when the baby comes out at the hospital and you get to pick one to take home...will you pick the one that came from you?" Um, yes honey, I plan on picking the one that comes from me!

Good night!

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

How weird!

Tonight as I was relaxing on the couch with my feet up, I felt the baby kicking a lot. Then I thought it was hiccups. I wasn't really sure. I lifted my shirt up a little to look at my stomach and saw movement for the first time!! How crazy!! To see my stomach suddenly move was really bizarre. I must've watched my stomach "jump" at least 10 times. Chad called while it was happening and sounded bummed that he missed it. He's in Fort Wayne on business but he'll be back tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be able to see it tomorrow night.




Today one of my students came and sat down next to me on a bench during recess. She asked me if the baby is a boy or a girl. I told her that I don't know and I asked her what she thinks it is. She seemed deep in thought for a second and then said that she thinks it's TWO babies- one boy and one girl! Then after school, when I was saying good-bye to all of the students, one of my little girls came running back for a hug. Then she kissed my tummy and said "Bye Baby! I love you!" Isn't that adorable?



Here's a cute picture to leave you with tonight. I actually took this about a week ago but just came across it on the camera. Don't my boys look cute?

Have a good night!

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

Feeling great!

Wow-- it's been awhile since I've updated this site. Sorry! Things have been so busy around here. Last week, I worked 12-13 hours each day, staying after school for committee meetings, a PTA meeting, parent-teacher conferences and grad school. I finally got home each night around 8:30 and was just too tired to turn on the computer.

Except for being really tired, I feel great. My stomach muscles have been aching this week though. I can literally feel them stretching. Plus, my belly button is now completely flat. I guess my "innie" will soon become an "outie"! My students keep asking me if I've had the baby yet. They are even more impatient than I am!!

Yesterday, Chad and I went to the Badger football game with our "Dinner Club". We get together pretty often for dinner and games. When Chad had the opportunity to buy 10 extra tickets for the game, we invited the whole dinner club. The game started at 11a.m., so we all met at 8a.m. in Delafield (about 15 minutes from our house) and car-pooled to Madison. We set up a grill and tailgated until game time. My parents were in Madison visiting Karlee, so they joined us. So for a few hours Saturday morning, there was a WHOLE LOT of brats and beer to be had by all (except me...). Here's a picture of the dinner club at the tailgate:

Here's a picture of the "fam" minus Holly. She's flying up to visit my folks next weekend. This is the first time we've all seen Dad since he left for spring training back in February. It was great to visit with him!

Here's a funny shot. Our friends were taunting me to show my baby bump...Karlee decided to try that too. (And no...she's not pregnant!)

After the game, we came back to North Prairie. My parents didn't stay for the game, so they came to our place after the tailgate and kept Westin company. We went out for a nice dinner and also got to open some early baby shower gifts :) My mom found the stroller we want on clearance, so she bought it and gave it to us yesterday along with lots of other cute little things. Where are we going to put all this baby stuff????

While the folks were here, they helped Chad finish moving furniture out of the office (soon-to-become the baby's room). Now the room is totally empty and ready to be painted. That'll have to wait until Chad has some free time. It definitely won't be in the next week or two. He is swamped with grad school and work, so it may be awhile. I kinda felt bad for Chad because he was so proud of his "Badger office" with the dark red walls and the University of Wisconsin artwork. Now he wants to figure out a way to turn our basement into a Badger Rec Room. The projects never stop, do they?

I read in my baby book that the baby is now about 12 inches long and should weigh about a pound and a half. It should continue to grow in weight by about half a pound per week. Not really looking forward to what that must mean for MY weight :) Oh well. It's for a good cause.

Have a great week!

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

It's almost done!

We have had a very busy and productive weekend. We enjoyed dinner out on Friday night and on Saturday Chad got to work again on the front porch project. I worked on some grad school stuff in the morning and then I joined some friends from our dinner club for Rachel's bachelorette party in Chicago last night. While everybody else spent the night in Chicago, Carla and I left early and drove home. We had a really great time and all the guys enjoyed their "guys night" watching the Badger Football game at Rob and Carla's house while the girls were in Chicago.

We slept in a little today and then worked on painting the railing of the front porch. Now we've got the first coat of paint all finished and the bushes have been planted around the steps. All that's left is to do another coat of paint or two, lay down mulch around the bushes and put up the stone veneer onto the cement retaining wall. Here's a few pics from today's work:

And of course...our big helper. He howled at us all day from inside the house while he wached us paint. I think he's proud of how hard Chad has worked :)

Although I had a busy weekend, I'm feeling pretty good. Right now I'm on the couch with my feet propped up and I plan to stay here for another hour or so until I go to sleep. The baby is kicking like crazy--or are those hiccups? I can't really tell right now. But it's definitely doing something over and over, which makes me laugh.

On Friday at work as I walked through the lunchroom, a few of my students from last year asked me if I've had the baby yet. When I told them no, they asked what the baby's name is. I don't think they quite understand what's going on yet :)

It's about to be a very busy week for me. I've got a full week of work plus a night of parent-teacher conferences, a night of grad class and a night of committee meetings and a PTA meeting. Yikes. I'd better get to bed!

Have a great week~
Love,
Mindy and Baby S.

22 Weeks!

Wow. I cannot believe that I'm already 22 weeks along. This time is flying by--I'm starting to get a little nervous already as I start thinking more about labor, delivery and life with a newborn. We're definitely excited to embark on this journey but as reality sets in, it's getting a little scary. We've got a lot to do to get ready, that's for sure!

I felt lots of movement yesterday and today from the baby. In fact, when I went to bed last night, I felt really strong kicks. I put my hand on my lower stomach and felt the kicks very easily. Too bad Chad was already snoring away at that point, otherwise I would have had him try to feel them too. He still hasn't been able to feel anything yet, but hopefully he'll get a chance to soon. He's away at grad class in Madison tonight, so I had to get creative with the mirror and the camera. Here are two of tonight's shots:

Luckily my days at school have gotten easier as the week has progressed. The kid who constantly told me no on the first day had an excellent second day. But then this afternoon he was back to telling me no again :( As the kids learn my classroom routines and expectations, things get much easier and more manageable. I have one little boy who is my escape artist. If you take your eyes off him, he has a tendency to disappear. Unfortunately, he prefers to leave the classroom when he disappears. I've found him hiding out in the hallway and behind other classroom doors. In addition to his disappearing act, he also has a knack for filling his pockets with things that don't belong to him. In other words, he likes to borrow things without any intention of returning them. This should be an interesting year!

I hope you are all having a nice week. I look forward to a very relaxing weekend!!
Love,
Mindy and Baby S.

Exhausted!

After a relaxing holiday weekend with Chad's family in Indianapolis, I had a crazy and exhausting first day of school with my new group of kindergartners. I wish I could say that it was a pleasant, easy day...but it wasn't. I have 27 kids; 14 boys and 13 girls. The girls were all very well-behaved and so were many of the boys. However- there were about 5 little boys who kept me on my toes all day. I literally couldn't take my eyes off them for a second or they were doing something inappropriate/hurting somebody. One little boy told me "No!" EVERY SINGLE TIME I asked him to do something. He seemed really angry all day. Usually when kids are defiant, I try to provide them with lots and lots of choices. So when that particular child wouln't cooperate, I acted like it made no difference to me. I told him "That's fine if you don't want to do the project right now. It's up to you. You can do it now or you can do it during playtime." Sounds reasonable, right? His response..."I don't care. I hate playtime and I'm not doing it anyway". Ugh!!!! Of course all the other kids are watching to see how I'll respond, which means they're learning about what THEY can each get away with. Now while I was having this discussion with this particularly defiant child, Alex was stuffing crayons into the guinea pig's cage, Dante was laying on the floor crying for mommy, two kids decided on their own to join the other kindergarten class for a while, another child was using scissors to cut his hair....and our principal walked in right at that moment giving a tour to one of the head honcho's from our HR department :) Could they have picked a worse time to come in and observe? Ahhhh!!!! To sum up my day-- when dismissal came at 3:25, I felt as if I'd been run over by a truck. And I get to do this all again tomorrow :)

Other than my crazy day, I'm feeling pretty good. Tired, but good. I've felt the baby moving around throughout the day. Luckily, the kid took a break from playing soccer with my bladder today so that I could get through the first day of school without running to the bathroom multiple times. I'm thankful for that!

Have a great night. I'll try to post a belly pic on Thursday. (I have grad class until pretty late tomorrow night).
Love,
Mindy and Baby S.