more video...

I wanted to upload some more of the videos from our 3D/4D ultrasound last week...here goes...

hope you enjoy :)

We took a field trip!

Yesterday, it was time of my school's annual field trip to Universal Orlando all the 5th graders in the school take the trip together. Since I have seven 5th graders, of course, we needed to go! :) I had five kids who decided to take the trip and we had a WONDERFUL day! I think they really had a great time. 

We spent most of our time at Islands of Adventure. I had never been to this park, it just opened in 1999, and it was pretty neat. (This is the park that will house the new "Harry Potter" attraction in 2009.) We did make a quick trip over to the old Universal Studios park. My kids were all really eager to ride the new Simpsons ride. (It replaced the old Back to the Future ride.) 

Of course, I couldn't go on any of the fun rides. I did get to ride the Caro-Seuss-el and the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. After an entire day of walking around the park and watching everyone else ride rides, that was actually enough to make me happy. 

My wonderful husband did come along on the trip and rode all the rides with the kids that I couldn't ride. We also had one mom and one sister who came along with their kids. It was a great group and really a lot of fun for all of us! :) 

My favorite part of the park was the "Seuss Landing" this is what wikipedia  said about this part of the park...

Seuss Landing is specially geared towards small children and is based on the works of author Dr. Seuss. It has several Seuss-themed attractions. There is also a Green Eggs and Ham Cafe and Circus McGurkus restaurant. One of the unique characteristics of this area is, like in the books, there is not a single straight line anywhere. Palm trees, curved by the winds of Hurricane Andrew, were even installed in the area to continue this theming.

I have always been a huge fan of Dr. Seuss and you just can't deny that stepping into a little world where his books come to life is pretty darn cool! We also got Camden's first cook book in this area of the park. 

Since we both love Dr. Seuss and David loves to cook so much, we thought this would be neat for some fun stuff for David to cook with/for Camden.

 

I have collected pins for about 10 years now. I think they make for great souvenirs and the practice of pin collecting has actually become REALLY popular in recent years. I picked this out as Camden's first pin. After all, it was "technically" his first trip to Universal. :)

and here he is!!!

Good news, the wonderful ultrasound tech at my Doctor's office didn't want us to have to come back this afternoon any more than we did. 

She asked me if I would like to do the U/S this morning when I did my blood glucose test so we didn't have to come back. Of course, we were more than happy to get to see our baby that much sooner. 

They waited until I had taken my "sugar syrup" for my glucose test...that really got him up at moving. :) Then we did the ultrasound.

We now know this about our baby. He likes to keep his hands in front of his face and he is already a pretty skilled boxer. He some how managed to punch the ultrasound probe repeatedly while still blocking his face. Hey, that takes serious time for some people to learn. :). 

Thank goodness for our wonderful tech and her extreme patience with our little boy. He finally did give us a few good pictures of his face. We never really got to see his chin. I can tell you this though, he looks just like David! His mom even agrees he looks like David's baby pictures.  

Here are the "rest" of the pictures (the ones I deemed 'good enough' to post...we had over 40 total). 

They go in order...

Starting, with his hands in front of his face completely...

David really likes this one...

Still with the hand in his face...

When he finally moved his hands, he turned around (toward my back)...

Still turning, but this is where we started to get some better pictures of his face...

His face again, with some shadows of hands and cord...

There, you can FINALLY see his sweet face!

Camden Hollis

Just in case anyone still wondered...he IS a boy!

Some video of him moving around! :)

"Pre" blog.

This is really just a "teaser" blog... :) Today at 3:10 we are having our 3d/4d ultrasound! 

I'm super excited to see our baby's face! I can't wait! Just wanted to let you know. Pictures are coming as soon as we get them!! :) Yay!

This morning I'm going in for my blood glucose test and then we are headed to the hospital to do all our pre registration and take our tour of the facility. We've got tons of stuff going on today! 

Obviously, we are making the best of a day off together. I'll update again later.

a step back...

On Valentine's day, I wrote a blog about Blue Springs. 

This place is so wonderfully beautiful. My blog was all about our pending trip to Blue Springs the next day. Little did I know, at the time, this was the day David had planned to propose to me. :)

I said, at the time, I had taken loads of pictures, and I finally sat down today and scanned them in so I can post them here. 

David and I shared the camera and took tons of pictures. It really was just the absolute perfect day! At the end of our time there, he shocked me by proposing! Obviously, I said yes, and the rest is history. 

Enough with my sappiness...here are the pictures :)

This picture was taken by someone who walked up just after David proposed. (He told me later he hadn't shaved or dressed up that day because he didn't want me to be suspicious!)

A mother and baby manatee!!!

Another Manatee. I LOVE them!!!

We bought a couch!

Ok, I have NEVER owned a couch that someone had not owned before me. 

My first couch came from my Sister, after she used it in college. My second couch came from AmVets, and my third couch was purchased from a friend of a friend. Needless to say, I've kind of always wanted a new couch. 

David and I decided, with a baby on the way, we really needed a nice new couch that was free of any sand or dog hair. So, yesterday we set out to look for a new couch and see what we liked. We weren't really planning on buying one just yet. We were thinking micro fiber or something durable like that. 

We were driving around, looking for a furniture store, and noticed that the Leather Gallery store was going out of business. We decided it was worth a shot to go have a look. Needless to say, we found a wonderful couch that was EXACTLY what we wanted. It was a wonderful deal and we jumped on it. Today we went back to pick up the couch with the help of Billy (David's cousin). We are really excited and really proud of our first big purchase! So, I wanted to show off the pictures of our pretty couch!

Oh my goodness!

My baby shower for work is scheduled for next Wednesday. We decided to do a joint shower for the ESE department because one of the other teachers is due in July...

Yesterday, she went in, for a routine Doctor appointment, and her fluid was low. Her doctors decided to induce her for the safety of the baby and she had the baby last night! Oh my goodness. She was 32 weeks! Baby girl weighed 3 lbs. 3 oz!!!

For some reason, this is a really rude awakening to me about how quickly things can change! I don't even have crib yet. I'm more than just a little frightened at the idea of something like that happening to me! I'm 28 weeks and cannot even imagine what it would be like having a baby 4 weeks from now! We don't even have a crib yet, let alone have one assembled in a room!

THANK GOODNESS, MOM AND BABY ARE BOTH DOING WELL!

I passed!

Last month I had to drive to Gainesville on a Saturday (at 8 AM) to take a test for work.

I had to write an essay, which for me has never really been a challenge. However, I had to pass the test and this was my last chance to take it before next year! So...I got my results today, it took a WHOLE month, and I passed!

Yay! That's a relief. Just wanted to share! :)

Not much...

I realize it's been a while since I updated. Not much going on really...just work, and more work for both David and I.

I took my kids on a little field trip today to Arabian Nights for the  Black Stallion Literacy Project it's a really neat program and the kids got really into the whole thing. Basically, we read a book about a boy and his horse and then we went and watched this show with horses. It was fun for all! :) 

Other than that, things are pretty much as normal as they get these days. The one little note of excitement is that I did schedule for us to have our 3D/4D ultrasound of Camden on the 29th of this month. Sooooo...we SHOULD officially get to see our baby's face in 10 days! :) That's exciting. My doctor only lets you do a 3D/4D in the 4 week span from 27 to 30 weeks. In the grand scheme of things, that's not a big window. They want the baby to have enough fat to look cute, but not be so crowded you can't get a good angle. I'm thinking we should probably get it done asap b/c I'm pretty sure he's running out of space. :) 

On that same note, he has been SUPER active the past few days. Especially yesterday...I was convinced he was literally doing jumping jacks in there. He's still laying side to side. Head on my left and feet on my right. He's so long now I can lay down with my arms at my sides and he will hit/kick both of my arms at the same time! He's going to be a tall boy...but really, did anyone ever doubt that? 

That's all for now...I'm off to bed. Thanks for reading!

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful Moms out there! 

Here's a picture of my wonderful Momma as she planted flowers for Mamaw (my Dad's Mom) today...She says it's 48 degrees there...Wow! Sometimes I'm really glad we live in Florida! :) (of course it's in the mid 90s here today!)

I am blessed to have been raised by a WONDERFUL Mother! I swear, my Mom is actually super woman! She never ceases to amaze me with all the stuff she is capable of doing! She is truly amazing and I can only hope and pray that some day I become half of the Mother she has been to my sister and I! I love you Mom!!!

happy birthday baby shower

I know I'm slacking on my updates. I have been running around like crazy this week! 

Just a quick update on our week.

Tuesday was my 27th birthday. I had a lovely day. My students, with some help from my assistant, threw me a "Happy Birthday Baby Shower." It was super cute! They had all "made" presents for the baby by painting little t-shirts and burp clothes for him. I haven't had time to take pictures yet, but as soon as I do I'll have them up here for you to see. After I came home from work, and got rested up, David and I got all dressed up and he took me out to diner at my FAVORITE restaurant Roy’s. We had a wonderful time! It was really neat because they even put a page in our menus that said "Happy Birthday Allison." :) It's the little stuff I guess :)

I've been fighting off a nasty sinus/cold thing all week. I should have stayed home from work today. I just keep getting sicker and all my kids are coughing and sneezing all over me all day. However, I've had meetings and field trips all week long and I couldn't afford to take a sick day. So, I don't have anything scheduled for tomorrow so I'm going to go ahead and take a day to get rested up. I know the weekend is coming up but I really just need the rest right now!  

So, that's about all that's going on around here. David's been working like crazy but his schedule is getting a little better lately. He talked to them about not having to work so many night shifts and he's only had a few this week. It makes life so much nicer around here when we are on the same schedule and actually get to see each other! 

Hope you all are doing well! Thanks for reading!

The business

My sister and I watched a very interesting movie yesterday!

I know I wrote a little bit about The Business of Being Born a few days ago. I really think it is a movie that everyone needs to see. I realize it really appeals to women and especially those who are pregnant, but I think the movie is filled with information that everyone needs to understand. 

One thing I really brought away from the movie was an understand that we are, in fact, wonderfully made, and God made women to carry children and give birth. It's amazing how much time we spend thinking about the miracle of conception and the amazing growth that transforms our babies in the womb. The fact that they start as just two cells and rapidly divide and separate and multiply into a perfect little human in just a matter of weeks! It's so amazing!

We have no problem looking at this miracle and having complete faith that this is God's divine plan. However, when it comes to giving birth, we have no concept of letting "nature take it's course" anymore. We have lost faith in women and their bodies and their ability to birth a child.

The movie is an hour and 20 minutes long, but I sincerely recommend you watch it! you can watch the movie for free by clicking here. 

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

soccer game

I had a lovely visit with my sister and the boys yesterday! 

We worked on baby shower favors...for her sister-in-law...that was lots of fun. :) I love a good project! 

We made the ants REALLY angry. (Turns out they really don't like to be dropped...and no, we didn't drop them on purpose!)

And then, after a stop for a much needed beach umbrella, we watched Ben's soccer game! Of course, after all we had going on, we forgot to bring a camera. So, I got no pictures of Ben at all...I did get one shot of Warren watching the game with some "much needed" face paint. He just HAD to match his brother! 

TGIF

It's Friday Friday Friday! Can you tell I'm excited to have a few days off work? 

I've just been SUPER tired this week and I'm looking forward to having some time to rest up! 

David is working tonight, but hopefully he'll be off soon, we really wanted to have a date night tonight. We've talked about going to see a movie tonight...either Maid of Honor or Iron Man. After looking at some reviews (yeah, my mom has REALLY worn off on me!) I'm leaning toward Iron Man...the reviews don't even compare!

I'm headed down to my sister's tomorrow for a day full of fun! We're going to Benjamin's soccer game and then heading to a screening of this movie I've REALLY been wanting to see...The Business of Being Born. It is a really neat opportunity to see the movie so I think we're both excited about it! 

As always, in recent days at least, I'll be bringing back another load of baby stuff to stack up in the room we still haven't decided if we're going to be using as our nursery :). I'm SOOOOO thankful for my sister having had 2 boys and being generous enough to allow us to borrow so much of the stuff that we so desperately need! 

Change of subject...check out Ashley's blog and see the really cool "ant farm" I got Ben for Christmas!

I'm off for now...as always, thanks so much for reading!!!