O baby!

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

That's right folks! A little Prestwich will be arriving July 11th (or around there). We couldn't be more excited!  It happened just in time. Like, 4 weeks before we head out to Tennessee and a month before insurance runs out and right as I was so tired of getting those little minus signs on the pregnancy tests. 

It's a long story and I'll spare you all the details, but we had been trying to get pregnant for a year when it finally happened. I understand that a lot of people wait a lot longer to get pregnant and I can't even imagine nor do I think my situation was even comparable to theirs, but I will say it was a long year.

 We had gotten a false positive test the month before and when we realized it was false... well, I was kind of a mess. That's when I went to the doctor and he said we could start Clomid. I have a love/hate relationship with this drug... love because I now have a little avocado sized baby inside of me, and hate because I was a DRAGON while I was taking it... It wasn't pretty. I mean, birth control was bad, this was probably 100x worse and I just prayed I wouldn't have to up the dose for a second month. Luckily (for Clint who was so so patient with my dragon-like nature and for all the reasons mentioned above), it worked that first month! 

Now we're just enjoying every minute of getting ready for our little one. I have loved the doctor's appointments, especially getting to see our first ultrasound and when I get to hear the little heartbeat going so fast. Can I just be honest though? I've heard so many people say that hearing the heartbeat just moved them to tears and got them so so excited... and while it does get me excited, mostly when I hear it, I just get relieved. I just hold my breath until the doctor finds it and then I just feel so glad that the little peanut is ok, that even though I've been eating a little more take-out food, its healthy and growing and everything is good. Is this normal? I hope so.

Some new things now that I'm pregnant:

pants.don't.fit. My mom was an angel and got me some maternity slacks to wear to work and I feel 100% classier not walking around with my pants unbuttoned....

hungry.all.the.time.  I've always been a good eater, but I eat constantly right now. It's the only thing that helped me feel better when I was sick. I'm craving salty things. I love anything in broth. So I go through a lot of top ramen. Really beneficial for the baby I'm sure with all those nutrients. And vinegar. I guess its true about pregnancy and pickles... Fruit always sounds good right now too. Not so much chocolate or sweets. Which is strange because I've always had a sweet tooth.

always.out.of.breath. It's a little comical actually. I get to school and walk around my classroom getting ready for the morning and by the time I sit down to read the kids a story I need to catch my breath. 

love.looking.at.pictures.of.baby. I downloaded this app that shows the baby's growth weekly and it's finally starting to look less like a tadpole and more like a miniature human. I like that. I also got an ultrasound picture at 9 weeks and I love looking at the little misty blurb that was my child so early on.

We will find out the gender two weeks from today! 

Grateful

So this week and the past weekend Clint and I have been so excited to have my family in town for Jake's hip surgery!! We've been staying up late, watching chick flicks (mom and I were not that impressed with the "Lucky One" movie we got at redbox... although we both just think Zac Efron is really cute as a marine...) and eating a bunch of food!

Next week is Thanksgiving. Here is my list of top 10 things I am thankful for right now. In no particular order...

1. Clint

It was the best decision I have ever made to make this man my forever partner. He is loving and kind and gives me a back rub anytime I ask. He makes me laugh and helps me when I am way too stressed to handle life. We have learned so much in the last year and a half and look forward to all the great things this coming year will bring! 

2. Family
My family and my in-laws are the best ever! I don't know what I will do when we have to move away from them next summer to go to Tennessee



3. My job. I seriously have the best job in the entire world. I love my kiddos so much and they make me laugh and smile everyday. If you would like a picture for this one... go to an earlier post.... :)

4. Clint being accepted into Optometry School. I feel so blessed to be able to have this decision made and not have to stress about it anymore. Although I am still scared out of my mind if I think about it too much, I am so grateful that we have our little future plan and our little family is moving forward in it.



5. The Church. I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am proud to be a mormon. I enjoy the blessings of the gospel in my life everyday. It helps me be happy, it helps me have hope and it gives me knowledge of what is really important.

6. Where we live now. I know who would have thought this one right? I know so many people talk about how they can't wait to get out of Provo, Utah... but the closer I get to moving out of it, the more I think of things I love about it. Like the fact that it is where I met my #1 blessing and we flirted and dated and got engaged and started our life together. Or how the leaves look in the fall. Or all my adventures at BYU and hiking the Y... good times.


7. Friends. I have the BEST friends ever! I seriously couldn't put all their pictures in here and if I tried I might miss one, so I won't, but I talk with them, and cry with them and vent about all life's crazyness.

8. Books. I think I'm the libraries biggest fan. And I also think they should include library fines in that placque with the library donors, because with how much I pay them, I probably have made it up there. It's ok Springville library, I'll be an annyonomous donor.  I love you anyways.

9. Laughing. Clint will roll his eyes when he sees that I posted this because he couldn't get through the whole thing with how awkward he felt, but I really love it. So here's a laugh for you. Because everyone needs at least one good one a day :)

Ellen's practical Joke

ps. I don't know how to put in this youtube video for some reason so follow the link.

10. Food. Let's be honest. I am a major fat kid at heart. I love food and I love making it and I love eating it and I love enjoying every single bite of the healthy and unhealthy food I create. Clint and I have so much fun cooking together. It's one of my favorite things for sure!


Well, I hope you made it. I am so glad I get to live my life. It's not always perfect, but it's a lot of learning and growing and I love it.

Politics

I know you're a little worried with a title like that... But i'm just going to say that politics are really funny when you are in second grade. Let me give you some examples. Enjoy :)

1. I know exactly what each parent in my class voted based on their Child's comments to fellow classmates...
"Romney lies.."
" Romney has my vote"
"Obama ruined our country"
" Obama gives us have hospitals and takes care of us when we're sick"
"Ron Paul is the only one who can save us!"

2. My kids are obsessed with knowing who I voted for. Not going to tell, sorry. It just seems ridiculous to defend my political opinions to 7yr olds. And believe me, if I had said, I would have some heated 7 yr olds...

3. It is now one of my kids ambitions to be the president. I told him I'd vote for him to which a little girl responded "you won't vote for him! You'll be a grandma!!" So I said " who says grandmas can't vote?" So there!

4. I have officially banned all political discussion in my class room unless we are saying the pledge or saying how much we love our country and everyone in it.

Man, if this is any indication of their lives later on, these kids are going to grow up to be very involved political citizens!! :)

Happy Halloween!!

Here are our costumes! I was a flapper girl and Clint was a gangster.... and Cosmo was Robin...we just couldn't resist a picture with BYU's mascot. :)
We spent the evening at BYU where the athletes had a little trick-or-treat/carnival/shin dig and we passed out some candy. We saw some CUTE costumes and got a lot of compliments on ours too. In fact, I think Clint may have decided to wear his fedora permanently. He loves it. A. LOT.

Also, let me just give you a little insiders view. Me (my teacher self that is) and Halloween have a love hate relationship. One one hand, my kids are just the cutest. They are happier than a witch in a broom store (ps, have you seen those GEICO commercials? I laugh out loud every time. I seriously love them) and they have the cutest costumes ever. I had two spiders, two devils, a ghost, an army guy, the mad hatter, a ninja turtle, a platypus, a wizard, and a whole slew of other cute things in my class yesterday. Then there is the other side of that excitement which is also called crazy. yes. crazy. hyped up on candy- well at this point, just the thought of candy- and they know we'll have a party in the afternoon. and a parade. and a monster mash dance with the school... lets just say the almost "normal" morning I had planned went out the window because these kids were not having any learning  fit into their holiday. And this teacher just loves to see her kids happy. O darn. Throw the lesson plans out the window for a day and play Halloween BINGO for a half hour? fine. pull my leg. yes. we can do that.

 Here is a picture of all of us after the parade :)

Ya, bumblee is the go to costume for school mostly because I can still wear my slacks and feel semi-professional... second because my kids would have no idea what a flapper girl was...

I hope your Halloween was as good as this one! 

Blessed

Sometimes I look at my life and I think "What in the world am I doing?! Am I ever going to get this right?!"

Other times, like tonight, I feel so happy and blessed with exactly how everything is going.
Which is weird a little...since this week is parent teacher conferences + I have a nasty cold which made me have to reschedule half of them and do sub plans + I'm taking this medicine which is making my body go kind of bizerk = crazyness.

 But tonight I turned on my Memphis song mostly because I love that man's voice, and also because I still get a little nervous about going across the country next year so far away from my family(s) and its a scary unknown so that song helps me. While I listened to it, I decided to look through all my facebook pictures. That sounds weird, but pictures and music... they get me everytime. (I also recently rewatched our wedding video. o man. love that. and it just reaffirms that the babies I give birth to will be so cute I just can't even wait to see them) 

 

So I was watching these photos of the last 2 years Clint and I have been dating/married and listening to the Memphis song about the adventure coming up for us and I felt so blessed. So blessed that although this is by far one of the scariest decisions we've had to make in our marriage, I get to go across the country and have an adventure with my best friend. And I'll cry a lot at first (someone recently reassured me that was ok) and it will be an adjustment, but I'll have Clint to cry to. And he is always willing to go get some ice cream or just talk to me to help me calm down. And I'll also probably laugh a lot cause Clint and I do some funny things together and I like that. He is seriously just perfect for me. We're opposites in a lot of ways, but we just fit together and complement the strengths and weaknesses of the other.

So here is to new adventures and taking life one day at a time and remembering that when life does or doesn't feel crazy, I have my best friend to cuddle up with every evening and that makes me the luckiest girl in the world.

Fall break

I love my job. For some reason that i'm not entirely sure of, some say it originated with hunting or harvesting, I have today and tomorrow off work for fall break! I have nothing planned except a little cleaning of the apartment and a lot of reading, snacking, and laying around still in my pjs :)

Now if you will please excuse me, I have some relaxing to do :)

Funnies

I promise I will be better at this because my kiddos are too funny to not document. So I have two for you today.

First, we were reading a cute book about a raccoon mom sending her baby off to school and she gives him a kiss on his hand to put on his cheek whenever he misses her. At the end of the book there is a picture of a little raccoon hand giving the sign language sign for I love you. So I explained:
Me: kiddos, some people can't hear so they use hand signs to communicate. This sign means I love you.
Chatty little girl: no Mrs. Prestwich, that is what spider man does to wrap people up.
Little boy next to her: well, maybe he's saying, hey I love you, but you're a bad guy so I have to wrap you up.

Yep, spider man, the sign language hero.

Next. I have a very talkative boy who is really so so sweet that he's probably one of my favorites... Except that he really can't close his little mouth. He's in for the first 3 minutes of recess almost everyday for this reason. And he always is telling me a new reason that he needed to talk.
"I just have so many friends"
"I got this watch from the carnival and I was talking at the carnival so it just reminds me to talk."
"This ring is cursed and whispers at me to talk"
.... the list goes on and on. We're at the point now that I don't even need to ask him, he'll just give me a new reason as soon as the rest of the class leaves for recess. I always try my best to look extremely understanding of all these hardships he has to face then give my teacher look without busting up laughing while I try to discipline him. Then one day, in the middle of a math lesson, when he hadn't even really been talking, he raises his hand and asks if he can speak to me privately. we went to the back of the room...
Me: yes?
Boy: I know the real reason I can't stop talking.
Me: I think you've been doing really great all morning.
Boy: no, I need to tell you this. You know Kathy (no her real name isn't Kathy) in our class?
Me: yes...
Boy: well... I think she's cute.
Me: honey, you don't even sit by her... How would that make you talk?
Boy: well, you see, I just think she is so pretty that even if I see her from all the way across the room, I just feel like talking, even if it's not to her.
Me: I see... i'm sorry this is Problem for you, but it still isn't ok to talk when you're not supposed to ok?
Boy: ok, but one more thing... Don't you think it's peculiar (yes, he did use that word. He's bright. Talkative, but bright) that we have the same last name?
(they do have the same last name. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Jones is a pretty common last name...)
Me: I suppose that is a little peculiar..
Boy: ya, I've been thinking about that a lot lately...

And just like that he turned and got to work on his math. Sometimes you just have to get that overwhelming feeling of love off your chest in second grade I guess :)

Love my class