Wow!

It is amazing how loved out baby is already!! I am so thankful for all of our family and friends. We are lucky to have you and I can't wait for Shumlet to meet you. :)

Things are going well here. I have some nausea in the mornings but snacking helps. My clothes are tighter, especially since I got rid of most of my bigger clothes. Fortunately, some friends gave me some maternity clothes and that is all I am wearing! My new wardrobe for the next several months! The only food aversion I have at this point is chicken, which is so sad since I LOVE chicken!

Once again, thank you for all of the prayers for Shumlet and a healthy pregnancy.

Call me slacker!

I have been a major slacker in the blog world lately. To be honest, I have been exhausted!! August was a whirlwind month with a ton of fertility treatments and getting ready for school to start. After tears, prayers, hormone shots, and other medications for the past month it has all paid off. I am pregnant!! As of tomorrow I am 9 weeks pregnant. Brad and I are very excited and thankful to all of our friends and family and the support and prayers they have provided for us.

One thing I have learned in this journey is that God is faithful. Not that I didn't know this before but waiting on His timing has been the hardest thing ever! But looking back, getting pregnant almost 2 years than I wanted to has been the best thing to happen. If I would have gotten pregnant in my timing, I wouldn't have lost over 100 pounds. Because of His timing I will have a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby.

Here is my 1 month picture. I was exactly 4 weeks pregnant and knew for only a few days at this point. Since we went through a fertility specialist, we found out very early! It was the hardest two weeks of my life but I am thankful for the good news. In fact, when we went to the doctor for our first ultrasound he kept telling us how proud he was. Apparently the odds weren't good. But, we had a lot of people praying and God is more powerful than medicine! Little Shumlet is our little miracle! We can't wait to meet this precious gift in April.  ( I can't get this picture to turn for some reason. Sorry!!)

Just keep swimming...

I love good news! Especially when it is news that I have been waiting for. Hoping for. I'm not pregnant, but things are progressing the way our RE wants them to, which is good news! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this journey. I am thankful for all that God is doing in our lives and the prayer warriors that I have joining us on this journey. Thank you. For your prayers. For your support. For being our friend!

And we keep going...

Well, we went to the doctor the other day and my eggs are growing but not fast enough. So we are tripling my dosage. I feel bad for Brad because I have already been emotional enough. I am sure you are thinking it can't be that bad. In the past two days I cried during an episode of Restaurant Impossible and the new Batman movie. I am in trouble during the Olympics. There were a few other concerns that the dr had but nothing major. We go back on Monday for another ultrasound to check those eggs. Let's hope they mature more than I have during the past 31 years. :)

In other news, Brad's sister Janelle, moved in with us. I have been busy taking her to interviews this week and she has already gotten 2 jobs. It's nice to have a built in buddy to watch chick flicks with me. And another amazing tid bit. While Janelle was in an interview today I walked around Bealls and tried on a size 10. Just because. I didn't expect them to button. But guess what?! They did!! I don't know the last time I wore a size 10, if ever. I am so pumped!!

Tell me more, Tell me more!!

I am linking up with Amy Lemons over at Step into Second Grade for her "Tell me more, Tell me more!!" linky party. These are in no particular order. Just a few random things about me. 

 1. My husband and I are a house divided, well at least for one game a year. The Florida vs. Vandy game. Brad went to Vandy for his undergrad degree and we both got our graduate degrees from Florida. No matter what, my blood still bleeds Orange and Blue.

 2. I am a huge proponent for raising money for cancer research. I raise money every year for Relay for Life. This year I surpassed my goal and raised over $1200!! My family has breast cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer. If there is anything I can do to help find a cure for this disease I am all for it!

 3. I'm a movie star!! Just kidding! I'm not a movie star but my friend and I had a documentary filmed in our classroom. I am proud of this movie. We noticed some segregation in our district and decided to connect our  kindergarten students through pen pal letters. I was honored to present this project at numerous conferences. I wish the documentary would have gotten more recognition because the guys did a great job on it. Who knows, it's never too late!

4. I was born in Boise, Idaho! I try to go there often to see my grandparents. I love it there and it isn't too hot!!

5. Brad and I grew up together. We were in the same second grade class (for 2 weeks) and went to middle and high school together. We started dating our freshman year of college and survived 4 years in a long distance relationship. I love this guy more and more every day! 

6. For the past 10 months Brad and I have been changing our life style through Take Shape for Life. I am the smallest I have been since early middle school. Brad has lost 125 pounds and I have lost 107 pounds! I am so proud of our accomplishments and thankful for Brad's support. I couldn't have done this on my own and it was something we needed to do. 

Cricut card making

I was a crafting queen today! Here are a few cards I made using my Cricut Imagine cartridges. 

1. A card for a super special guy. 

I used the cuttlebug to emboss the background paper. 

2. A birthday card for a sweet friend. 

The card already had the back design (same with the next card). 

I have really enjoyed the look of adding a little piece of ribbon to my cards. I like the look it gives. 

3. A get well card for my Granny. She is having heart surgery tomorrow. 

Please say a few prayers for her!

Classroom Pinterest crafts

During the past few days I have been busy working on Pinterest crafts for my classroom. Here are a few of the things I have made. 

1. Dismissal boards: Each kid will have a clothespin with their name on it. The clothespin will go on the ribbon for whichever way they travel home. This will make it easy if a kid changes transportation methods throughout the year. All items were cut out on the cricut. I used "My Community" cartridge, "Everyday paperdolls", and "Winnie the Pooh Font".

2. No Name board: I can't wait to use this! I get so irritated when kids forget to put their names on the paper. Now, they will have a day or two to identify the missing paper or it ends up in file 13. I am in love with Modge Podge! The font is from my cricut using the "Cuttin' Up" cartridge.

3. Welcome sign: Of course, another pinterest project I had to create! This was a little painful, in that my back was hurting so bad about half way through. I am glad it is done and I'm not sure if I would make it again. I hot glued fabric onto a canvas (because I like the sparkly purple fabric better than any paint I could find) and cut out the letters using the Pooh Font on my cricut. I ran the letters through the Xyron and I pray they stay on! Of course, I had to add in some butterfly ribbon to hang it up with!

4. I am absolutely in love with this idea and I can't wait to implement it in my classroom. Whole class journals! Each journal has a different topic and each student writes a paragraph or two in each one. Each journal has a certain topic. I'm not sure about the logistics of this, but I am excited to figure it out. Plus, what a great way to develop authors! 

By the way, I don't like boring old composition notebooks but didn't want to pay the money for fancy ones. So I compromised! I covered them with paper I already had! 

I hope you enjoyed my Pinterest projects! I had fun making them and feel accomplished for the first time this summer.