The Thrill of Accomplishment

I've been checking things off the list this week. It gives me some sort of sick satisfaction to get things done. I lean towards being OCD at times.

Yesterday I got my teeth cleaned, my eyes checked, and my fabric picked out for the nursery. (The bottom 3 are the main fabrics...top 3 are accents.) I also had lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a long time (I enjoyed it, Julie!) and stopped to visit some friends afterwards. How impressed are you? Hold on, I'm not finished. Vacation clothes are washed, a few cabinets have been cleaned out, and I started on our front bedroom tonight. I think I had 37 empty shoe boxes...although I'm not sure why. They are now in the trash can and I have a load for Good Will that will fill the back of my car. I'll be ok as long as Bradley doesn't start looking through it. I also got started putting things away in my new classroom today. Yay! I needed this grade level change. I am thrilled about the coming year. So many exciting things ahead.

On an unrelated side note, Bradley decided at 10 Sunday night that we should watch a movie. Simple joys... We watched State of Play...great movie. I recall the days when we dated and sat TOGETHER to watch movies. We don't do that anymore. He says we used to sit together because all I had was a couch and a chair that was uncomfortable. Lately I feel like he's wishing we had seperate beds. I cannot sleep. I think I have restless legs syndrome...I've read this is brought on by pregnancy. My legs jerk all night. It makes me insane and I can't imagine how he feels. I've moved to the recliner the last couple of nights. I ate a couple of Oreos this morning about 2...it's scientifically proven to help me relax. I don't know if it was that or the Tylenol...but eventually I fell asleep.

Hope everyone is having an extra good week. I plan to check some more things off the list this week.

Vacation and Back to the Real World

We are finally home from our week away. It was very relaxing, but I underestimated how hard it would be for a pregnant girl to sit on a hot beach. Normally, you wouldn't find me anywhere but on the beach. This trip, however, was a different story. We spent some time on the beach, but we also looked at some of the historic sites on the island and ate some really good food. Jekyll Island is a beautiful place. It also has more history than I realized. My history teacher husband was all about that. We got lots of reading done while we were there. And I might have napped a little. We are thankful for the time away, but also thankful to be back home. Now it's time to think of ALL the things we need to accomplish before the summer's end. First of all, I am changing grades in the teaching world. I will now teach 5th grade, and I'm really excited about the change. I requested this move months ago, but it was recently approved. I will teach 3 science classes and 1 reading class. I needed this move and feel certain it will be a good one. I will have to make a conscience effort not to tie their shoes or wipe their noses, but it won't take me long to get into the swing of things. That being said, I have not unpacked the first box at school. And believe me, there are MANY boxes to be unpacked. How in the world did I accumulate so much stuff??????

Also, the baby on the way...she needs a room. And we have done nothing in there. I have looked at bedding fabric, but haven't made any decisions. I hope to at least get that picked out next week. Walls to paint, a crib to put together, we haven't registered for the first thing, we haven't picked out anything but a stroller!!! Football season begins in August, and by the end, we'll have a new baby girl. So my hopes are to accomplish all this in July. I made my list last night. I'm ready to start marking things off. I also intended to put up peas (which I've never done), clean out our front bedroom so we could have company one day, get a new couch, redo our shed/watch Bradley redo our shed, and clean out our garage. There will be a sign up sheet posted by our front door for anyone who's interested in helping.

I also would like to find some time in there to lay IN the pool, read some books, have lunch with some college friends, and have some friends over for dinner. And I WILL. I will always make time for the most important things.

Happy Birthday, Bradley!

I attempted to blog this morning before Bradley was up, but our internet was not cooperating. We are in Jekyll Island, GA on our one last hurrah before we have a baby. We are camping and for those of you who just imagined us in a tent for a week, you do NOT know us well. We brought a camper complete with running water (hot water), a potty of our own, a shower, a.c., and the best bed ever made. We love sleeping in here. I think we sleep better here than we do at home. You can make a camper really cold and that's the way we like it. We spent the morning on the beach and the afternoon riding around the island. The beach is pretty, but definitely not as pretty as the Gulf. There is a beach called Driftwood Beach that we checked out this afternoon. I think we're planning on going there tomorrow.

Today is Bradley's birthday. I am so thankful for him. There were a lot of times in the last 5-10 years that I wondered if God had anyone for me. Oh, but He did. And he's better than anything I could have imagined for myself. He was every bit worth the wait. He has more patience than anyone I know. He's kind. He can cook...well. He makes me laugh a lot. But he's serious too. AND I personally think he's easy to look at. I told him last night that he could fix anything. I have always looked at my daddy that way, and I look at Bradley the same way. He pulled this camper for 7 hours yesterday, then set it up like a pro last night, and THEN took me out to eat. I look forward to seeing him with Ella Kate. I think he's going to be the best daddy. Thank you, God, for the best you had for me. He's everything I wanted and more. I love you, Bradley. I hope your day has been great.

An Active Baby and a Hilarious Husband

We went for our ultrasound yesterday. It's still a girl. She wiggled the entire time. I've been telling Bradley that she moves all the time...especially after I eat. We went out for lunch just before our appointment so she was definitely on the move during the ultrasound. It's a little early for a 4-D but they tried to let us see her face. She wasn't very cooperative. She wouldn't stay still long enough to get a good picture. As I sit here, it feels like she's turning flips.

I had a workshop in Troy today and I wasn't sure where I was going. My sweet husband put the address in the GPS and put it in my car before I left. As I started down the road, I looked at the screen and realized he had made me a blue monster truck with HUGE tires. He makes me laugh. Last night we were driving through our neighborhood and there was a man on a motorized wheelchair walking his little dog. Bradley made some comment about how strong that little dog was to pull that man in that chair. (That is SO something my daddy would say.) And earlier this week we were in a local store. There was a metal pole laying on the counter that they use to get clothes down from the top racks. Bradley leans over and whispers that he thinks they handle snakes in there. He's been on a roll lately. And I love him.

We're off next week for one last hurrah before we have a baby. I can't wait!

Halfway There/20 Weeks

A Broken Bone, Exhaustion, Swollen Ankles, and Laughter

We took off bright and early Tuesday morning for cheer camp in Auburn. This is my first experience as a cheer coach, but I'm learning a lot. FAST. I will begin this post by saying we have only 3 returning girls and 6 brand new cheerleaders. We've ALL come a long way (myself included). Tuesday night, we competed in a Home Pom competition. We placed 4th. They did SO GOOD. It was their best performance yet. Because there were only 7 JV squads there, we were all grouped together for competition, rather than divided into small and large. We were the smallest squad in our division, competing against a squad of 20 and a squad of 18. I was more than proud of them.

We had a small crash on Wednesday morning that resulted in a broken wrist. The wrist belonged to our main flyer so it threw us for a loop. But the girls recovered well, and she came back to join us, cast and all. She even brought her meds with her and there were a few times I thought I might need to borrow some. We competed again this morning with 2 routines. We placed 3rd with one of those routines. Also, 2 of our girls went out for All Stars and both made it. Our varsity girls won camp champs for both of their routines. They were great.

I was very unprepared for the heat and the walking. I don't know how far it was from our dorm to the coliseum, but it was A LONG WAY. We walked there and back 3 times each day. I thought I might not make it. To say I was swollen was an understatement. I did catch a ride at least once a day, but not often enough. Last night I got to visit with the couple I lived with in college, The Ingalls. Right after I finished college in Troy, they moved to Auburn. I was so glad they came to see me. I enjoyed seeing them.

My girls were entertaining (as always). They shared a lot of laughter, most of it probably when they were supposed to be sleeping. It hasn't been so long that I've forgotten what camp is like as a camper. We all came home exhausted. I am so proud of them and enjoying this experience. While I was gone, my husband cleaned our carpet and rug. He also cleaned our bathroom and put clean sheets on our bed. He probably did more, but those are the things I've discovered. He's the BEST. Our plans for this weekend and next week are few. It will take me that long to recover....

And by the way...Jim is now a Slocomb Redtop. Yah!!!

A Weekend with the Bowers Family

My husband played in a golf tournament yesterday (and won) which I thought entitled me to a day of shopping alone. I can do some damage when I'm alone. But I was given a spending limit. I adhered to that...kind of. I bought my first things for Ella Kate. I told Bradley that did not count towards my limit because it was not for me. He shook his head. (I get that response all the time!)

My nausea has been better than ever for a couple of days. I'm scared to type that for fear that it will return. I had forgotten what it was like to not feel sick. It is a nice feeling and one I don't plan to take for granted. Thank you, Lord. I have prayed and prayed to feel normal again. It's a good thing because I will be leaving bright and early Tuesday morning for a week of cheerleader camp in The Land of Evil. That's right. We're heading to Auburn. ; ) They've worked really hard and come so far. We compete in a home pom competition Tuesday night. I hope all their work pays off. I'm definitely proud of them regardless of the outcome. If you run into my husband this week, and he looks hungry, please invite him over for dinner. If I were my mom, I would have his meals prepared for the week. But I'm not her. I did buy sandwich meat and frozen pizzas. Does that count? This will be the longest we've been apart since we got married. I'll let you know how that goes.We're being lazy together this Sunday afternoon. I've made brownies and he's promised to grill hamburger steaks tonight. The picture above is what I've been looking at as I blog. Bradley's practicing. Have an extra good week. I'll try to have pictures to post when I return.

Updates

Jim has been to 2 interviews in 2 days and has a 3rd tomorrow. We're excited for him and he seems to be excited too. We're praying that God will place him in the job that he needs to be in. We do have a preference, as one is particularly close to us. But we also know that sometimes we don't know best. He feels good about both interviews so far. He can talk to anyone. He is definitely my daddy's son.

This week has been a nice start to summer. For some reason unknown to me, I scheduled cheerleader practice at 8:00 every morning this week. (they're doing so good! I'm proud of them!) I think my reasoning was practice early, tan afterwards. Well the rain threw a kink in that. I've been napping instead of tanning. We did get to swim for a few hours this afternoon before the storm rolled in. There's nothing like a good swim, then coming home to be lazy while it storms.

In other news, we will not be attending Bama Jam this year. We didn't think pregnancy/nausea/ heat/crowds would be a good combination. So we opted out. I did send my boots to Bama Jam...with Brittany. She promised there would be no mud wrestling or jello wrestling while wearing my boots. This came as a relief to Bradley. It took me quite a while to convince him that I "needed" those boots "really bad". I think I'll teach Ella Kate those words pretty soon after birth. We could team up, and get all kinds of things that we "need really bad".

Hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend.