finding a balance

Tuesday is May which means this is the last 1st of the month that I will be a working woman. My career life has been short lived for now but God apparently has bigger plans for my life. I am passionate about teaching. I love these kiddos that I get to spend my weekdays with more than I ever thought I would. I leave satisfied every day and never wake up dreading work. It has been a blessing to be put into this classroom but an even bigger blessing awaits me now...being a mama. I long for the days when I will be able to wake up and tend to my home, puppy, and come August, baby. I'll be home when my handsome husband walks through the door after a long day at work. I really can't wait. Here's some fun photos of our canine child.

Yes, we have THAT dog.

an afternoon cruise...

This weekend was a bittersweet one. As it was sunny and 90 here in Charleston, it was hard to focus on the weather while saying goodbye to two people that have become our close friends over the past few years...Blake and Erin and now their precious baby boy, Bennett. Blake was Matt's roommate when he first moved to Seattle. Matt was so grateful to have a place to move into when he arrived and it really all happened last minute and was very unplanned. Blake and Erin's relationship was fairly new when we first met them but progressed over time and Matt ended up moving out to marry me and to let Erin move in. They were married last March and welcomed Bennett into the world just two weeks ago. They moved to Charleston 9 months before we did. Saying goodbye to them in Seattle was sad of course but saying goodbye to them yesterday was a lot different. I feel like we have lived slightly parallel lives over the last 2 years and it makes it easy to have friendship. Erin has been my go-to woman both here in Charleston as well as back in Seattle. Blake has been a huge support to Matt in both his career and in life...we will miss them dearly! I didn't cry while they were still here but as we drove past their neighborhood on the way home after saying goodbye at a Greek restaurant, I couldn't help but cry. We will miss you both so much...thank you for a great 3 years of life together! 

Matt & Bennett

In baby news, I've recently been obsessed with all baby blogs that I come across...one in particular. This chick has already had her baby but I can't help but stalk and savor all baby suggestions/baby advice she has given. Throughout her pregnancy, she would give weekly updates on random details and I too think these would be fun to share just for this week....so here goes... tune in.

How far along? 23 weeks

Total weight gain: approximately 9 pounds...will know exact weight at Wednesday's appointment.
Maternity clothes? oh yea
Stretch marks? none yet!
Sleep: not terrible, except for when Raleigh breathes in my face so I'll let her up on the bed.
Best moment this week: evening walks with Matt and Belle.
Miss Anything? WINE, sushi, bending over without a belly in the way, running, eating spicy food and not getting heartburn.
Movement: oh yes! He loves kicking his mama...and I know this is only the beginning.
Food cravings: Lucky Charms, sweets (surprise!) but fruity sweets mostly. mangoes, smoothies, frozen yogurt.
Anything making you queasy or sick: meat, chicken (dependent on how it's prepared), Chik-Fil-A
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: Nope.
Symptoms: lower back pain, burning sensation while lying down (acid reflux?)
Wedding rings on or off? on.. no swelling yet.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy I think! I don't feel moody...maybe a little more emotional than pre-pregnancy
Looking forward to: D-Day! SO ready for his arrival!!!! :)

22 weeks

23 weeks & 1 day

grandma comes and babies are born

I know I pretty much start every post like this but I really can't believe how fast time flies. We are so busy all of the time that I do not even know where our weeks go. Life needs to slow down. I thought life would slow down when we left Seattle and it did for a while but then just picked right back up again. Update in photos goes like such...

20 weeks pregnant...before driving to Atlanta to pick my mom up!

Present from mom...she knows me too well :)

Dinner...we didn't take enough pictures, MOM!

Waiting to go into World Changers Church on Easter morning, the sole reason she flew into Atlanta :)

Rockin' the belly on the beach...it's a weird feeling.

The week with mom was great. I was on spring break from school and we made it a point to relax. Massages, dinner, registering for baby, shopping...that was about the entire itinerary. Needless to say, it was hard to go back to school on Monday morning. Only 6 more weeks of school! Not that I'm counting down...

I bought this book this week...

This book reminds me of Isabelle and Caroline, the two little girls that I nannied for in Seattle. We read it many times and I'm proud to say I still have it memorized! I'm already getting so anxious to meet this baby boy and I've barely made it past the halfway mark...hopefully these next few months will go by quickly (I'm sure they will as always!)

21 weeks...he's popped right out!

 Another very exciting part of the past few weeks is that Erin finally brought their sweet baby boy, Bennett, into this world! We were so lucky to be able to go to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to meet him and he really is the perfect little baby. Matt was slightly hesitant to hold him at first but after a bit of encouraging, he did. Here is Bennett's grumpy face in Matt's arms but he never cried. Matt's big accomplishment for the day! I'm in denial about the fact that they are moving back to Montana in just a few short weeks...

 

 

 

How sweet is he?!

Lastly, Raleigh Belle has decided it's fun to find one treasure on each walk we have and carry it all the way home. Here's Monday's treasure...

Ha, I love this stinker.

It's a BOY!

Last Wednesday, we had an amazingly surreal afternoon as we went to the doctor to find out there is a sweet baby boy inside of me. I was completely shocked as I thought it was a girl (and so it seemed that everyone else did as well) but I could not be more excited. Now that we know it is a boy, I feel like I know him a little better and love calling him "a him" rather than "he" or "she". It was so neat to see him on the ultrasound. I am happy to report he has all 10 toes and fingers, all his bones, and was even sucking his little thumb. His little button nose just melts my heart. The ultrasound tech finally made me go to the bathroom towards the end so that he would stretch out his legs for her to see but I loved seeing them all curled up beneath him. He is breech and I can feel his tiny kicks in my lower abdomen. He is always moving around! I love feeling him.

Here are a few photos of our baby cub...

Look at that nose and those lips!

So, yay for baby boys!

Besides that, we had a wonderful weekend with the Briedes (as usual). They drove down on Thursday and watched RB on Friday as well as cooking dinner for us as Matt and I went to Columbia on a field trip with my kiddos to the zoo! Here is the precious cargo that Matt and I carried in our van...

 

On Friday night, after a wonderful meal prepared by Amy, we went to get some frozen yogurt and then went to bed. Saturday morning, we all got up early to watch Matt, Paul, and Blake run the 10K Cooper River Bridge Run. We met the Rasmussens at their house as it was at the starting line. Then, Amy and  I went downtown to catch the end while Erin kept us updated from the starting line. Here is a video as Matt and Paul passed by us...don't mind Amy's dirty mouth or my annoying laugh :)

After the race, we enjoyed an afternoon at a Fly Fishing Film Tour and then some late night sushi takeout for dinner. Sunday, we went to 17 North's BBQ & Beer Festival and then toured Boone Hall.

 

 

All in all, it was an amazing last couple of weeks. The weather is getting hot...it hit 90 on Monday! This week is my last week of school before spring break and Mama comes on Saturday, can't wait :)