Why I love this week...

SO, remember when I said I don't plan things and thus, it is hard to look ahead and be excited? Maybe that doesn't apply to this week...hehe.

• Well, for several different reasons our moms needed a few days off this week. So, I get to stay at home with the Noniebear Wednesday and Thursday! Holla! Brother has more sick days, however, his students have their big "End of Course Test" next Tuesday, so he really felt like he should be there. So, twist my arm, I will hang out with my kid! haha! Can't wait!
• Teething is over!!! (for the moment!) My happy, go-lucky, giggly girl is back. Praise Him! We have had so much fun with her the last week or so and she has been smiling and laughing like crazy! Love it!
• Thursday night is the softball banquet! It is always a little stressful for me, b/c I am not a huge fan of talking in front of parents. I feel like they are constantly looking down on me and judging me. However, they are big fans of coaches praising their children. So, I will probably stick to that. It is fun to see the girls having fun and being silly and celebrating the season with each other. Did I mention we won the Conference tournament!? Plus, Nonie will get to make an appearance!
• Friday...Special Olympics!!! So excited. I get to work with a good friend of mine and her special ed class on Wednesdays in PE. I love the small class and these children are just precious. I could tell funny stories about each of them for days and I love what they teach me about Jesus. (more on that later) Anyway, I get to go with them and cheer them on and coach them on and hug them when they are finished! And yes, I think Nonie will be making an appearance as well. She is so popular! (just kidding).
• Now for the main event (cue jock jams music): Friday afternoon, Nonie and I will set off on our first official GIRLS WEEKEND together!! Woo hoo! Actually, I don't know if I have told her yet! We are heading to Bowling Green to see all my fabulous college friends! Nonie and I are spending the night at Sabrina's and having a chill evening with tacos and lava cakes (bonus). Then, Saturday we are hitting up the Kyotos and seeing more good friends!
• Plus, of course we will get to see Grandma and Granddad too!!! Nonie loves them!
• I should probably stop there...however, I have to mention my amazing church! Every Sunday is sooooo much fun! I love my church family. I feel like Brother and I finally prevailed. We searched for so long to find a church to call "ours" and to feel a part of and we finally found it. We teach Sunday School together, we have a life group with children Nonie's age and parent friends for us, and we love our pastor and the worship. I will have to do a post on our church soon. We are so blessed! Ok, done.

Cream of Rice

I am a big fan of cream of wheat. I have always loved it. My dad used to make it when I was little and I put a little brown sugar on top. MMMM, so good. Well, I hadn’t had it in a while and it was an option for breakfast in the hospital when I had Nonie. I had to order it and thus, back in my life.

Well, I was telling a fellow teacher about this and he asked if I had ever tried cream of rice. WHAT???? Who knew there was such a thing? He brought some to school for me and I took it home and tried it. Holla! Sooo good. Still had to add a little brown sugar, but hey, why not? Anyway, just throwing it out there. Also, he says they don’t sell it anywhere around here. The only place he can find it is east Tennessee.

Challenge: next time you are at the grocery, see if they have cream of rice. Try it!

Ok, done.

Why I Loved Last Week

So, I struggle with the “Why I love this week” logo because I don’t always have tons of things planned to talk about. Maybe it is because I have a little one and so planning things is kind of hard. Or maybe it is because the things I don’t plan end up being my favorite. I don’t know, but if someone could make me a logo that says “Why I loved last week” that would be great.

Until then, this is why I loved last week…

• Only a 3 day week, b/c of spring break!
• I got to carpool with Brother EVERY day to school.
• I got to reconnect with the kids I used to nanny for in grad school. They also got to meet Nonie and it was precious!
• I enjoyed coaching softball, especially with Brother, however last week it was super nice to be able to go straight home from school.
• B/c I got to go straight home, W, TR, and F I took a nap, cooked dinner, and then took Nonie and the ladies for a walk. Love it!

Sidenote, I totally ate my lunch for breakfast this morning. Therefore, now I am starving. Good news is I think that means morning sickness is almost over. Ok, done.

Nonie's 6-Month Pictures

Enjoy!! I am truly blessed. Ok, done.

Question

If you will remember with me for a moment, if February I joined the 5 o’clock club. I got up each morning around 5:30 and spent time with the Lord. I loved this time. It was quiet. I got to wake up on my own. I was reminded why I am on this earth. I got to enjoy a cup of coffee (by the fire at the time) with my Father.

Well, it is has been a few months and A LOT has changed in my life. I have a 7 month old that gets up when she feels like it, which lately is around 5:30 and I am pregnant. Being pregnant is awesome. I am not in the awesome part at the moment, but it is around the corner. However, being pregnant is EXHAUSTING! There is no tired like pregnant tired. It just comes out of no where and leaves you wondering how you could be sooo tired.

My question is: what do you think the Lord expects from me, from all of us? When we are sick or pregnant, should our goal to be in the 5 o’clock club still exist? Does God give us a pass for 9 months? I know that we should spend daily, quality time with the Lord and that time does not matter. However, if I don’t plan it, set it aside specifically, it is not going to happen. Nonie’s diaper will need to be changed, bottle given, solid food, dogs will need a walk, conversation with the husband, nap, nap, nap, try to eat, nap again. It just seems like the days come and go and I barely have control over what I accomplish. I feel VERY out of control when I am pregnant. I can no longer push on, suck it up, or take one for the team. My body just quits when it is going to quit. Often, I sit in church on Sunday and am overtaken by guilt because it has been a week since I have spent quality time with Him. Nonie and I pray each night and I have taken on the habit of sentence prayers throughout my day. Anyway, that’s all I got. Just wondering what you people thought. Ok, done.

Excuses

Alright, no more excuses. Well, actually, this is going to be a whole blog on excuses. I haven’t written in, let’s just say a long while. I am sorry. But, a lot has been going on!

Excuse #1
Brother and I were coaching my middle school softball team. We played 37 games in just under 6 weeks. That is a lot, plus doesn’t count any practices. There were weekends where we played 6 or 7 games alone. Needles to say it was CRAZY and we missed Noniebear greatly. Thankfully, the season came to an end last weekend. We played in our conference tournament where we were the #1 seed. Holla! It was a double elimination tournament and of course we took the long way about it, but we did win it! It was a 14 hour day of softball. Once again, crazy and we missed Nonie bear.

Excuse #2
Now, somewhere in the middle of the season spring break occurred. However, this meant that my mom was having surgery. A pretty major surgery. She was in the hospital a couple of days and was in the bed about a week. It was a big deal and since she helps with Nonie a lot, if affected our lives greatly. Plus, I was at the hospital a bit, and her house trying to help out some. So, Brother was a single dad for a few days.

Excuse #3
Now, in the middle of all this, Nonie had her 6 month check up. No big deal, right? Wrong…she has never reacted to shot before, but this time we had a 102 temp for two straight days. She had never even had a temp before. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper. Sticking with the “not a happy camper” theme, she decided to start teething. Awesome, oh wait, no! AND on top of that decided to get an ear infection. (This was our first non-checkup, pay a co-pay dr. visit-bummer). As you can see, Nonie hasn’t been in the best of moods. A fussy baby means I did not get much else done.

Excuse#4
The entire time excuse 1-3 was going on I was pregnant! WHAT???? I know, right? I wish I could have told you earlier, but I have had a miscarriage before, so I wanted to wait a while before I announced it to the blog world. But there you have it. The reasons I have not been around. So, sorry! I have lots of pics to share with you and crazy stories. Hopefully, I will get there soon. Things are starting to slow down a bit. Of course, the fact that Nonie fell off the couch face first on to the hard wood floor first thing this morning, doesn’t help anything. Ok, done.