Frustrations!

I just spent at least 30 minutes on the phone with Babies R Us. That place scares me to begin with, so I thought I would just place a simple online order. Simple? Yeah right. When we registered there, we got a rewards card. All we had to do was register the card online and we get free shipping on our first online purchase. So, I did what any normal money saving person would do- I saved up the big items so I could get free shipping on those. Well, of course... Babies R Us (the store) gave us outdated literature. That promotion no longer exists. Thanks. So, I fought it! If you are going to give me faulty information, you're going to have to fix it somehow! I held and was transferred, held some more, talked to supervisors, held some more... You get the picture. End result? $15 off my shipping. Not ideal, since it was almost $90 to begin with, but I guess it's something. And something is always better than nothing, right?? *sigh*

Fun times and surprise visits

Kristen came to visit last week and we had such a fun time together! We painted the nursery (you can't really see the color very well in the pictures), got pedicures, ate a lot, took tons of pictures, went shopping, had a baby shower, and even squeezed in time for a photo shoot. Here are some of my top picks from the pictures that were taken...

Pedicures with "Jenny Nails"


I really like to look at him.


Painting "Crocodile Dreams" on the wall

Photo shoot pictures to come... Today was a surprise visit to the doctor- this lazy girl hasn't really moved for 2 days. She's usually so ridiculously active that it was a little weird, so we went in for an NST to be sure everything was okay. Of course it was- "everything's perfect!!" was the end result. So, back to normal life. I'm just thankful that we made it 33 weeks before we had cause to be hesitant about anything. Thank you, Lord!!

Tough decisions

Have you ever had to make a decision that was really easy but still really hard at the same time? Last week I wrote and turned in my letter of resignation to Henrico County Public Schools. New employer for the 2009-2010 (and beyond!) school year: Little Miss Greenhill. It's what I've always wanted. It's what Jon has always wanted for me. To stay home with our kids. But the strange feeling that I got last week is not one that I can even put into words. We decided to take a few weeks to pray about next year (we knew what we wanted, but was it really what God wanted for our family?) and we agreed not to even talk to one another about it in the meantime. And weeks later, we came to the same ... being Mom is the job for me and I have a complete peace about it.

I adore my school. I am biased, but it's been the most awesome place to work. I love my faculty, my administration, and my closest friends there. I even really like my kids most of the time. I really can't complain. So, it's weird to leave behind something that you love! But at the same time, I have no desire to be there at all when I have a sweet little girl in my life. It's strange to think about (especially since I'm not actually holding this babe in my arms quite yet). I will really miss my friends next year. Fortunately, we still live in the same city! But, I can't wait to treasure precious times with my little girl that I will remember forever. I can't handle the idea that someone else would be spending days with her and that it wouldn't be me!
So why was it so hard to tell my friends and school family that I'm not coming back next year? I'm still not sure. But it was tough. Even though I know without a doubt that I'm doing the right thing. We will be in a drastically different financial boat. But, that's what parenthood is about- making sacrifices in order to do what's best for your kids. It will be a challenging time for us, but I'm excited to see what God will teach us and how we will grow together and toward Him as a result!

3 days!

This is the greatest week ever!! Tomorrow will mark snow day #3 for the week. The week began with an awesome trip to Boone this past weekend to see my baby brother (who is not so baby since he's in college now, he is well on his way to a beard, and has hair as long as mine). Even Gretchen was able to come with us for a weekend with the family, and it was so much fun to be together! We ate a lot, played a lot of games, and laughed until we cried. I have the best family in the world! Our car trip home took 9 hours (should have taken 5 1/2 or 6), and was VERY slow. Fortunately, Dad is so experienced in driving in crappy weather that we were safe the whole time! We found out on the way home that school had been canceled on Monday because of snow. Much easier to relax and hang out in the car when you don't have the impending doom of an early morning ahead of you!

We woke up to a little less than a foot of snow on Monday. We were able to get out to the store on Monday afternoon to pick up a few things. We had cleared out the fridge (especially the milk) before we left because we didn't want it to go bad! Who knew it was supposed to snow?! It's certainly a challenging act to walk carefully in the snow with a large belly that makes your sense of balance all crazy. We were out again today, so Mom and I went to lunch and to pick out paint for Babe's room. This is the big painting weekend, so we are all ready now! Kristen comes in tomorrow (and school is canceled once again), and we can't wait for her visit! My first shower is on Sunday after church, so I'm really looking forward to that. Our first baby class (Confident Childbirth- whatever that means!) is Thursday night, and then we'll get to hear her little heartbeat again at our appt. on Friday.

Life is so good. I wish that Daniel and Gretchen lived closer so we could all play together. It's so weird- I was the first to leave home, but now that I'm back in Richmond and living on my own, it feels so strange to have them in a different city and state. Something doesn't seem quite right! It's been 23 years since I lived in Richmond without one of them!!

Now it's time to motivate myself to clean and be productive. I'd rather just sit around or take a nap!