Six Months

I know, we've already taken family pictures - but I wanted to try for some more. I asked my friend Wendy to do it because I love her style and look, "They're Great!" Check out her KWBale Blog and see what she's up to. . .

About Boo:

• Full of personality! She can smile and talk like crazy, but if she doesn't want to - she won't.
• Has a big tounge - well, its usually sticking out just a bit and tends to get in the way when eating food.
• Likes to pull things (blankets, burp cloths) onto her face, but hates to have a shirt on her face when getting dressed.
• Is an independent woman. Don't bug her when she wants to go to bed - she'll give a look and turn away. She's also not much of a cuddler and likes her space.
• Loves to play UFC fight with Nate. Roll her around, grab a leg and pull - she's all full of giggles.
• Signs milk. We haven't worked on any others yet.
  
• Can sit up on her own, but doesn't do it very often.
• Can roll from belly to back, but not from back to belly.
• No teeth yet, but she's been drooling for months now.
• Has a squeal/squeek for talking and laughing every so often.
  

About Me:

• I'm not near as interesting as the bebe, but my life has changed too...
• I lost all the baby weight (50+lbs) by four months. I think most of it was from stress though. My flat abs have gone to my baby - she does pikes and sit ups all the time. Maybe eventually they'll come back to me :)
• My hair has kindof stopped falling out - at least it there's not as many handfuls pulled out of my brush everyday. I finally got it to the length I always wanted and then it started falling out. urgh!
• I have been blog bouncing and seeing all these women sell their crafts and start their own business' makes me want to do my own - for the simple fact that I want to be home with my little one. I've sold some stuff and started playing with my photography, but have come to the realization that these other woman are stay-at-home-moms (not that it means you have endless amounts of time either, just a different time frames to work with) and while I still work a full time job, I can't overload myself. I'll work on it during the summer and see where it goes from there. I get paid for knowing how to organize curriculum, teach and assess to check their learning. So, for now that's where my focus sits (behind my family, of course). Plus, maybe my hobbies should remain hobbies so I'll continue to enjoy them.
• I am grateful for my job and the opportunity I have to have summer, weekends, and certain holiday's off. I love being a teacher, but I LOVE getting to be home with my family. When I'm at school - I am a teacher. After the bell rings, I get to me a mom. That way I give my all where ever I am.
• I am blessed to have GREAT friends. They've been a huge support to allow me to ask questions, give me advice and share their knowledge on so many different things.
• I am blessed to have a beautiful, healthy family. Nate loves me, supports me and encourages me. He knows my weaknesses and who I truly am trying to be. ( I hope he knows I try to do that for him too. )
  

Yummy Lunches

Actually I have the best husband who makes the best lunches. :)

Then when I went back to work after having Charlize and was (like every new mom) frustrated with trying to shed the weight, he started making me lunch when he made his. O, his lunches are so much better than anything I'd ever made myself before. Like today's had a yummy ham sandwich, vegetables (carrots, celery, green peppers and broccoli) to dip in Ranch, a banana, a cheesestick, and an oatmeal cookie for desert. {There's extra so I can have a healthy snack at afternoon recess and not eat junk food.} Oh, so good!

People wonder why we go to bed around 9:00 - its because he wakes up at 5:00 and gets all this stuff done (he even unloads the dishwasher every morning!) I am so lucky! :)

A CrAzY Week

O my! This week was definitely a crazy one! I had so much to do and thankfully it all fell into place. Whew! Today I took a deep breath and got to relax a little bit. Here's what was going on:

Monday: Nate started his new job with the Power Dept. for the city as a Groundsmen. He had a great first week! His business building had quite a rocky start going up at the end of last month, which was frustrating because the machine was here before the concrete was poured. But, its all turned out good and making great progress. It's not meant to be aesthetically pleasing, just a plain building. We're definitely excited for it!

Tuesday: We had our second grade program and it was awesome! My class' solo was a line dace set to the 80's classic Achy Breaky Heart which was cool because it was Hannah Montana's Dad singing. We've worked for weeks to get the timing down and it was so cute! My mother-in-law had Charlize and the kids were so excited to see her.

After school (and our turn for bus duty), I boogied out to go to the Photography 101 class by Malea of Tickled Pink Photo. It was alot of fun and the girls were so nice & talkative. I know there are amazing things one can do with Photoshop, but you still have to take a good picture and I'd like to take the best picture possible straight out of the camera. I'm still working on putting all the information together to get great pic's.


Wednesday was a little slower afternoon to go buy stuff for the baby shower on Saturday. New project (besides all the blankets I need to finish) is a tutu.


Thursday: Started playing volleyball again after over a year off. I knew one of my students mom's played, so I asked if they ever needed another player to let me know. Urgh, I was so worried I would completely suck and I did ok. :)


Friday: Got ready for next week at school, made the headbands for Brinlee, and got to visit with my neighbors (I know they live next door I should see them all the time, but we don't). Derek and Kara came over to visit as well.


Saturday: Tried to be at the auction by 10, but Boo was out with her nap. I went in to wake her up and this is what I found:

She turned 90 degrees and had her head bent back so her head was resting on the bumper pads. But Cooter was there keeping an eye on her.


Finally we made it to the auction and missed some of my friend's kids, but got there to see my little bro, James:

I hate sitting up there the whole time cause last year I accidentally bid on someone's animal and about died of embarrassment. So after a bit I went over by mt folks and took a picture of Nate, his parents and others sitting up there.

After the stock show auction I headed to Brinlee's baby shower and was so excited to see her! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of us, but she is going to be a great mommy!

Last but not least, we got the rest of our trees cut in the back yard!! Nate did great work and I hauled the branches to the front where the trailer was. Boo kept an eye on us from the view of her trusty stead (spelling?). So glad it was nice weather so she could be out with us.

School Stuff

Last week, I brought these horseshoe sets to school and taught the kids how to play. They had fun and we even got a ringer! I have a class blog and am working on building a class website. I'd love to share the cool websites and information I have for my students with you, if you'd like. Just let me know!

More About The Cutie

Yep, here's more about Charlize. No, I wasn't meaning the large amount of drool that's just rolling down her chin . . .

Did you notice it yet? Hold on, it'll come . . .

Yep, she's sitting up on her own. Now mind-you, this was for about 15 seconds each picture, so it's still in the beginning stages and it definitly only happens when comfy pants are on. (As cute as little mini jeans are they seem to dig into the large belly - we love the cubbiness)

"Hey! Thanks for stopping by to see me!"

I Knew This Was Coming

*Turn off the music at the bottom of the blog, so you can hear the video*

This is her pony bouncer that I've been trying to get a video posted on here for along time now, she loves it and I think its so cute!

My Mom tells of a very distinctive squeal/scream that a certain somebody had (yes, I do mean me) when they were younger. Since I tend to get embarrassed easily, I knew this was coming - to have the little one that puts out a full on scream, no little whimpers here, karma at work again.

She's not mad in this one, just talking away. She is however getting tired, 7:00 in her p.j.s ready for bed. I just try to keep her up a bit so: 1) I can get to see my little girl for a little while for the day and 2) so she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night 'cause she went to bed too early and wants to eat now.

Weekend

This weekend we just hung out and got to watch Nate rope a bit. Charlize just loves horses and was so cute riding with Nate. She loved holding on to the saddle horn. There's her cute little tounge just barely sticking out, still can't figure out why she does that except for when she gets tired. O well, for now I guess that's her trademark.

I just had to share this one. I know the sun was shining alittle bright on her, but she was so excited to see the flowers. She didn't really grab at them like she usually does just looked and giggled.