Lazy Day

So yesterday was my day off and I was very lucky that it was because we had some pretty bad weather conditions. Mike and I don't mind the snow that much, but here in Ohio we get this stuff called "freezing rain" and it's exactly what it sounds like. By morning the ground was covered in a thick blanket of ice. Fortunately for Mike the University was closed as well so he didn't have to drive on the ice rink. We ended up having a very lazy day. Mike was pretty ambitious and worked on as much homework as he could at home, but I just read "Twilight" all day. I haven't read a new book in a long time, and although I haven't had a huge desire to read the Twilight series my curiosity got the better of me. The only problem when I start a book, or anything for that matter, is that I like to finish it. So, pages turned into chapters, which turned in to the whole book. It was entertaining enough. I had already seen the movie and so nothing was a big surprise. Perhaps the other books will be better in that regard. We did manage to get a little bit of laundry and dishes done, and then we made our bi-weekly trip to Walmart. It is pretty depressing but we are literally there at least once or twice a week. It's a hapnin place let me tell you. So, regardless of the crazy weather we were able to have a nice day just relaxing and taking it easy. (By the end of the day Mike was reading to us from the scriptures about being too "idle".) I guess we were reaching that point.:)

The Latest Hair Styling Techniques

I just had to share a fun story from my class yesterday. There a couple girls in my class that LOVE to play with hair. They will grab any plastic utensil they can find, preferably forks or "dingle hoppers" from the play food area and use it has a brush. I normally have a lot of fun with this process unless they begin to fight over who gets to tug on my hair, but yesterday was a unique experience. I had one child on the left side of my head and another on the right. I was preoccupied with building a marble tower with some other children that I had not been paying close attention to the styling techniques of one of the children doing my hair. I had slightly noticed my hair getting a little moist around my face and as I looked back I saw why. The little girl was wetting her finger tip with her mouth and using her spit to smooth my hair into place. After I got over the yuck factor I decided that it was pretty funny. I wonder if that is something her mother does while fixing her hair? I eventually had to offer her an alternative suggestion. Oh the joys of child care.

(P.S. If you can't tell this boy is enjoying a nice relaxing day at the salon.)

Life is Good

So Mike's birthday went pretty good. We really didn't do a whole lot. Last year we decided that for our birthdays we would save up and do something fun like go to a play or a sports game, but it just didn't work out this year which is fine. I made Manicotti and a Key Lime Cheesecake which is all he wanted for his b-day so hopefully it turned out o.k.. That night we had the wonderful opportunity of going with the youth from our ward to perform baptisms for the dead. Mike's sister Monica sent us some family names and so we were able to get the baptisms performed for those names. It was a nice night to be able to spend in the temple.

Today we had another doctors appointment and ultrasound. It is always fun getting to see the baby. They wanted to check and make sure everything was progressing the way it needed to be and everything looked great. They were a little concerned last time that my placenta was a little low, and that her chin was small which I guess can be a sign of some disabilities, but everything looked great. She looks normal and weighs in at perfect sizes, and my placenta has finally moved up so Yeah!!!! I had to take my gestational diabetes test today as well and I failed miserably. I was thinking that I might. Next up is the 3 hour blood draw session which will tell us for sure if I do have gestational diabetes or not. My doctor is pretty positive that I don't, but those with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome have a higher risk of getting it so I guess I'm prepared for whatever the results may be. I sure could use a change in my diet and exercise habits. Hopefully everything will work out o.k..

It is Friday!!!! I usually have Wednesdays as my day off but this week I had Friday off. It's amazing the difference having a day off in the middle of the week makes. I was so tired when I got home yesterday and felt so lazy, but it will be nice to have a longer weekend break. I just have to tell about some fun things that make my day at work. Whenever we arrive at work all of the kids will run up to us and give us hugs. "Amy!!! Miss Amy!" It's a lot of fun and sometimes I take it for granted the love of these children. Also, there is this one boy who tends to get into trouble quite a bit, but he is just in need of some positive attention. I am always taken back when he says things like. "Miss Amy, I like your hair" :) or he'll come and give me a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Oh, the unconditional love of kids. I really have been blessed to be able to work with children. Sometimes it is easy to get stuck in the rut of wanting to make them do or behave in the way that I want them to, but I just have to sit back and really decide if it is just for my benefit or for theirs. Oh, the things I have to learn. So life is good and we are being very blessed.

Happy Birthday Honey!!!

Top 10 reasons why Mike is the best husband in the world!

10- He is a hard worker and very dedicated. He loves to learn new things and is always willing to try or test new things before making an opinion.

9- He loves animals and is very compassionate. We will probably end up running a zoo out of our house some day because we will have to adopt every stray animal that comes our way.

8- He rarely has a bad attitude and if he ever has one he is really good about changing his attitude quickly. He is a great example of being positive.

7- He is always looking for the best in others and is slow to pass negative judgement. Even when his wife is having a bad day, he does a great job at finding the positives about her. :)

6- He is very goal oriented. He likes to set goals and stick to them. This is a great quality since I can set tentative goals but have a hard time following through. He helps me accomplish many important things.

5- He is so well balanced. He loves to follow his favorite sports teams, especially the Jazz, but he is also the one who wants to take me to the ballet or the opera. His favorite groups are Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, and Classic Country/Banjo. He just likes a good variety of things which keeps life interesting.

4- He has a great sense of humor and loves to have fun. He knows when to be serious, but doesn't take life too seriously. He helps me laugh when I just want to be a grump. He can make everyone smile and children just love to be around him. He is a lot of fun.

3- He loves the Lord and as a result tries very hard to magnify his callings and his responsibilities with the priesthood. He helps to keep the spirit in our home and is a great example of love and faith.

2- He loves me for just being me. He is very appreciative of the little things and is so willing to help out wherever needed. He is very patient and understanding.

1- Because of all the aforementioned he is going to be the best father I could have ever hoped for our children. I can't wait for all that they will learn from and experience with him. What a blessing.

Happy Birthday Sweetie, I Love You!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year. We had a wonderful Christmas and it was so nice to be able to spend it together. On Christmas Eve we had some friends over as well as a couple single gentlemen from our ward. We had a wonderful dinner. It might have been a little too wonderful because we ate way too much. We then sang Christmas songs, read Luke 2, and played a game. It was so nice to have friends to share our Christmas Eve with.

Since we stayed in Ohio for Christmas we unfortunately weren't able to spend the holidays with our families, but we were blessed with peace and happiness under the circumstances. We were able to talk to our families on Christmas Day, and we were even able to talk to both Melodee and Matt who are Mike's siblings serving missions. Christmas day was pretty laid back. We woke up at 6:00, opened our presents, had breakfast, and just enjoyed being together and talking with family for the rest of the day. I have already bragged about this to our families, but my favorite present was the Christmas picture book that Mike made for me. It was so creative and very unexpected. It was a story about our cats' quest to find us a Christmas present. It seems like the gifts that come from the heart are the ones we treasure the most.

Mike has had the past month off of school and so we have had a lot of time to spend together which has been great. Once school starts time will get crazy again so we will take the time together while it lasts. Tonight for New Years we are going to some friends for some Fondue and Fun. It should be a great time. That's about it for us. Take Care everyone!!

Overzealous

I wish that I had a picture to share of my current craziness, but no such luck. For my day off this week I had the wonderful idea of making goodies for all of the people at work as well as the sisters that I visit teach, friends, etc. My husband can attest that sometimes I get into these crazy moods where I get an idea into my head and I have to follow through and finish it, no matter how impractical it may be.

First I decided that I would make pumpkin rolls. This then turned into an assortment of goodies including homemade mint truffles dipped in chocolate, and peanut butter carmel brownie bars. I was also planning on making carmels, but luckily didn't have all of the ingredients.

I got off to a late start and around 12:00 p.m. I started the baking. 4 pumpkin rolls, 50 truffles, a pan of brownies, and 8 hours later I was finally ready to package the platters up and deliver them. I have the most amazing husband in the whole world. He was so patient through the whole process, especially when I wasn't. I was so frustrated that I hadn't just made cookies which would have been 1000 times easier, cheaper and less time consuming. Instead of getting frustrated himself he just decided he would help me. So we packaged everything up and went to make our deliveries at 8:00 at night. When we got home he helped me package up the remaining 15 plates of goodies that I was taking to work the next day. AHHHHHHHHHHH we were finally done.

So this may have sounded as if I were complaining, but I guess my point is that I hopefully learned some things about myself. Sometimes I just need to do things that aren't on such a large scale. It may have taken a long time, but those who received the Christmas goodies were thankful for them. I was reminded again of how wonderful a spouse I have who was willing to help me through my craziness. So, for those of you who received one of these wonderful Christmas treats you will just have to settle for chocolate chip cookies next year because I have learned my lesson.
(I guess we'll see huh:)

A Little Bit of Random

A lot has been happening lately and I haven't found the time to blog about it so this will be a post about a lot of random things. A couple of weeks ago we had our friends the Gardners over for dinner and some holiday fun. We decorated gingerbread cookies and watched "Mickey's Christmas Carol". They are also staying in Ohio for Christmas so they are kind enough to spend their Christmas Eve with us. We are excited for the opportunity to spend time with friends here in Ohio since we will not be able to go home. I am trying to keep a positive outlook. We will really miss being home, but it will be good in a lot of ways. Any ideas for some fun new traditions that we can start just as a couple?



Our cat has been so fickle lately. Somedays she is sweet and content and other days she is just irritable and crazy. I guess that's to be expected with a cat, and we are getting used to her verbal/nonverbal clues for when she needs space, but seriously isn't she supposed to be cute and cuddly all of the time.:) We are really enjoying her and she is a lot of fun when she isn't grouchy. (Maybe she's feeding off of the pregnancy hormones) She has come up with a lot of ways to entertain herself, including sticking her head in our empty drink cups. She is always trying to eat our food and gets it in whatever way she can. It's kind of funny though when she gets her whole head stuck in the cup. We got her some new toys for Christmas so hopefully she won't get so bored. We are trying to decide what to do with Deb our hampster before the baby comes. Deb currently resides in the baby room and Gracie is NOT allowed in that room, so of course it is her main ambition and desire in life. We are either going to have to find her a new home, or buy or adjust her current home so that the cat cannot get to her so easily. Any suggestions?



So I am finally starting to get a bigger belly. It's nice to be showing now because it makes the pregnancy seem more real. I'm sure that in a couple of months I won't be as excited. There are also a lot of things that no one prepared me for such as sore hips, (mostly from sleeping on your side) No one had ever mentioned the random aches and pains that you get. It is a little interesting feeling your body change and not work the same way anymore. I guess the whole process is pretty amazing in general though, minus the aches and pains.

Lastly, a cute story from my class. There is a new girl in my class who doesn't come very frequently but apparently remembers me because her mother had to tell me that on Thanksgiving she asked where "Miss Amy was?". This child also just recently got a new doll and she named the doll "Miss Amy". I thought that was pretty funny and cute. The holidays have been a lot of fun for the kids in my class and they get so excited whenever it snows. They keep asking me if they can see the baby in my tummy. There isn't a whole lot for them to see right now, but I'll definitely have to bring the baby in for them to see. They are pretty cute kids.

Well, Goodluck to everyone with your Christmas shopping and preparations. We hope you are enjoying the season.