Kids Say the Darndest Things...

My class is quite fascinated by my growing belly and we have regular conversations about the baby inside. One of my students gives me a hug every morning and then gives the baby a hug. She pats it and says, "I love you baby!" It's quite sweet! However, some of their comments aren't as sweet and are much closer to hilarious. Let me give you a few examples:

When I first told my class about the baby, they were quite perplexed by how my belly would grow. I invited another teacher who was 9 months pregnant to come talk to my class. When she walked in their eyes bugged out and their jaws dropped. One student said, "Wow! She's about to pop!" I'm sure he's never heard an adult say this. He just really felt like her tummy was about to explode!

At first I used the terminology, "There's a baby in my belly" because it went along with the book I read them to tell them about the baby. One day I said, "There's a baby in my tummy." A student said, "Wait! Stop! There's a baby in your TUMMY?!?!?!" He stopped for a second and thought and pondered before saying, "You ate the baby?!?!?!" It was all I could do not to laugh hysterically. Of course, that's what I do 90% of the time in Pre-K!

One student asked me if I was having a boy or a girl. I was discussing the fact that I didn't know yet but that I would go to the doctor in a few weeks and would find out. They wanted to know how I'd know. So I told them the doctor would use a special machine to take a picture of my tummy and they would look at the picture and tell if it was a boy or a girl. One of my students said, "Well, yeah, I know that part. But how will they know if it's a boy or not?" I was stunned into silence. This was not the time or place for an anatomy lesson! Luckily another student came to my rescue when she said, "Because girls have more hair! If the baby has lots of hair the doctor will know it's a girl." I smiled and agreed. I then made a mental note to tell the student's mom that he was asking questions and pray that he didn't ask me again. :)

At one point my stomach made some very loud growling rumbly noises. The student sitting next to me looked at me in horror and said, "What did that baby say in there?!?!?!" I explained that the baby wasn't talking but that the baby was just hungry. He said, "Get that baby some food Mrs. Hammond before it makes that crazy noise again!"

I love my job and I love watching the kids as they watch my belly grow. It's quite fun! I can't wait to see what they have to say when they can feel the baby moving around! What a day that will be!!!

Dr Visit

We went to the doctor today. Here are the vital updates:

Heartbeat: 155 bpm (and absolutely BEAUTIFUL)
Size: a large avocado
Weight gain: 6 pounds, but I lost 5 during the first trimester so I did a little catch up this month!
Anatomy and gender scan: March 12th

When it comes to morning sickness, I'm no longer queasy 24/7 and my sick moments are getting fewer and farther between (I went 2 and a half days without getting sick this weekend!) However, for the most part I'm still throwing up pretty much every day. The dr says it'll probably last a while longer. My mom was sick all 9 months with me so I've got bad luck going into it. We keep praying that the morning sickness will strike at "convenient" times and not when I'm walking out the door for work (like this morning).

I'm wearing maternity shirts pretty much full time now just because they feel better than my regular clothes that are quite snug in the belly area. I have a few shirts that are a size bigger and they fit quite well. Right now my regular pants are far from fitting. I can wear some new elastic waist pants and have one pair of full panel maternity pants I can wear but they're rather large. I spend a lot of time pulling them up but that's fine by me!

I keep feeling pings and pangs that I can't decide if it's the baby moving or just growing pains in pregnancy. I have moments where I'm sure it's the baby and then I doubt myself 30 seconds later. The doctor said it's a little early, but it might be the baby moving. When she looked for the heartbeat the baby was exactly where I'd last felt "movement" so I was excited that I knew where the baby was hiding.

The post with no title

I simply cannot think of a title for this post. There are too many fantastic options...

A Day in the Life of a Pre-K Teacher
Pregnant Clumsiness
The Chronicles of a Crazy Teacher
Cooking Friday Disasters
Cooking with Kids - What Not to Do
When Pancake Batter Fights Back
Pink Batter Explosion
Laughter and Messes - A Typical Day in Pre-K
Why The Day Does Not Go As Planned

So many options! So little space! Now let me explain... I started the day feeling very cute, very excited that my baby bump looked more like a bump and less like a blob of fat.



Why is it sideways? This annoys me!

I felt quite confident and thrilled that it was a Friday! (And a jeans day!) In Pre-K we cook every Friday. Some days aren't very elaborate, some days are quite fancy. Today just happened to be a fancy day! With no fear and way more confidence than I should have had, I sat my students down to begin making heart shaped pink pancakes. I was cheating just a little in my fanciness by using the instant pancake mix where you just add water and shake until the lumps are gone. The kids were doing a fantastic job and I was quite proud of my teaching skills. "Look at me! Teaching 3 and 4 year olds to make pancakes and keeping everyone under control. I am quite the teacher, aren't I?" The Lord knows the thoughts of my heart and knew I needed my pride taken down a notch. So He took all of my planning and perfect classroom managment and threw it right out the window. Let me set the scene:

So there we were (as all good stories should begin)... We had added water and food coloring to our pancake mix and several students had already taken turns shaking (with my help). I was very careful to make sure I had the lid screwed on tightly and was feeling pretty good about the progress we were making. Who can say what happened next? There's no telling what my face looked like in those moments! Before I knew what was going on, the lid exploded off of the bottle (landing several feet away) and my helper student and I were suddenly washed head to toe in bright pink pancake batter. Let me pause the story for a moment to let you know that several of my students come from homes where messes are not allowed and spills are punished. I've worked really hard all year to teach the students and their parents that messes are ok (and sometimes a lot of fun). This student happened to be one that was particularly worried about not having a mess. Ever. And now I have bathed her in batter the color of Pepto Bismol. She looked at me with a look of sheer horror on her face and said, "Mrs. Hammond! What happened?!?!" I couldn't even answer her. I was laughing so hard words wouldn't come. Another teacher happened to poke her head in the room as it was raining pancake batter and asked what was going on. I just laughed! Which of course, made my students laugh. And when 4 year olds laugh, you can't help but laugh harder. Which leads to them laughing harder. General hilarity and minor chaos ensued. My aide found a roll of paper towels and went looking for a rag. I sent my messy student and a helper to clean her hands and face in the bathroom. Another student ran across the hall to get my co-teacher. She came over and her class, hearing the laughter, followed. Suddenly, I'm sitting in a pink puddle with 20 some odd students literally rolling on the floor laughing while my co-workers looked on helpless. After 20 minutes of laughing so hard we couldn't see straight, I managed to get the batter somewhat cleaned up, and pancakes started on the griddle. Overall, the day was a huge success. The kids loved the whole experience and couldn't wait to tell their parents about our day. There were some minor set backs in the baking process - like I forgot to spray the pancake rings and the pancakes glued themselves hopelessly to the ring. And there was that moment when G.I. Joe came flying across the classroom and landed ON the griddle. He luckily avoided the cooking pancakes and I was able to save him in seconds. (No G.I. Joe's were harmed in the making of this post.)

So I went from that cute pregnant lady up above, to this:

This one is sideways too! WHY?!?!?!

Since it's sideways, let me give you some close ups of the damage...

My leg (The green and blue dots are on my sock.)



How did I even get it under my arm?



The shirt

And THAT'S how we narrowly escaped death!

The Great Diaper Debate

There is a great debate at our house. We are debating cloth diapers versus disposable diapers versus a mixture of both.

We love that the cloth diapers are chemical free and friendlier for the environment. We really love that the cost is large up front but presents huge savings long term. But will our very old, hardly surviving on its last leg, tired washing machine survive the extra loads of not only a baby but also diapers?

We love the ease of disposable diapers and the fact that we don't have to worry about other people not wanting to deal with "the crazies" in the cloth diapers. But do we really want the extended expense of buying diapers every week?

No matter what we buy, how do you begin to choose a brand? And I've always been told that every baby hiney is different. How do you get ready for a baby who's hiney you've never met? What if we spend hundreds on cloth diapers (or even disposable) and our baby hiney won't work with what we've purchased?

How do you even begin to make these decisions? Moms out there - help! Did you consider cloth diapers? How did you decide what to use? Are you glad you made the choice you made? Do you ever wish you could change? Please help!

Morning Sickness

Dear Baby,

As we put away Christmas decorations today, we couldn't help but think about the fact that next Christmas we'll have you with us! It was very exciting to think that the next time I see that beautiful Christmas tree, you'll be seeing it with us.

Since I can't feel you move yet, I'm left to knowing you're in there by enjoying a beautiful round of "morning sickness". (Ironic, since I never seem to throw up in the morning!) I've decided that you must love celebrations and holidays like your momma! Everytime we celebrate something special, you jump up and let us know you're here. Like when I went to a wedding where no one knew you were hiding inside. We left the reception and got no more than 40 feet away from the celebration when I lept from the car and "watered" the grass. In the middle of the Christmas Eve service I realized I needed to throw up so I dashed out the back door of the sanctuary. When I got outside I remembered I was in the middle of downtown Dallas and realized there was no grass to water! So I found a pot containing a poor, dying tree and did my best to hide from the rain and the police officer directing traffic a few feet away. My favorite, however, was when your Daddy and I were ringing in the New Year. We kissed and cheered, "This is the year of the baby!" at which point I ran to the bathroom, shoving another pregnant mom out of the way to get there. I've decided you must really enjoy celebrating sweet little one! You're just like your momma - loving celebrations/holidays and everything that comes with it!

For years I've listened to other women complain about pregnancy symptoms and thought, "Are you kidding me? I'd give anything to be pregnant!" I promised myself I'd never be one of those women who complained. Tonight, as I was running for the toilet (despite the anti-nausea medicine) I told your Dad how sick I was of being sick. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I regretted saying them. I'm so sorry Baby! I am not sick of carrying you around and I will never ever be sick of being your Mommy! I am so glad God gave me you. I still can't believe He chose me to be your Mom!

Your Daddy and I love you and are very excited to be your parents!

It's a baby!

I was thrilled to post this picture on Facebook today:

That, my friends, is a baby! And it just happens to be growing in my tummy! I'm still in shock, even though I've known for quite a while now. I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby! Wow!

So here are the details I know you're dying to know:

• Yes, we were trying. After the miscarriage and the diagnosis of PCOS we were very anxiously waiting for that little pink plus sign. However, we didn't think we would get pregnant for several more months. We were both shocked when it showed up.
• I am currently 9 wks and 2 days along. We are due July 30, 2012. We are hoping the baby decides to come earlier rather than later. DJ starts tennis camp the second week of August and if this baby is too late we'll have a serious problem on our hands!
• We told both sets of parents at Thanksgiving. They are thrilled more than words can say! Our grandparents found out at Christmas.
• I have been good and sick and have honestly loved it! After wanting a baby for so long, having a daily reminder that the baby is still in there is a wonderful blessing. I do not enjoy eating when I'm not hungry, but I am so thrilled to be pregnant I don't mind it that much. :) I don't mind the fact that I've lost 5 pounds, either!
• We will have a Winnie the Pooh nursery. Any contributions (Winnie the Pooh or otherwise) are welcomed!
• I don't have a gut instinct about whether it's a boy or a girl. It depends on the day. Today I truly can't decide. DJ is torn about what the baby will be, but he usually leans towards boy.
• My head is still swimming with questions and dreams and ideas. I am amazed that God has chosen me to be a part of His beautiful miracle. Where once there was nothing, now there's life!
• Seeing the baby and seeing that little heart beat was one of the more memorable moments in my life. I cried, DJ cried, the doctor cried. It was a heck of a moment.

I can't wait to see all the Lord has in store for us in this beautiful new chapter. I'm excited about all of the changes and I'm beyond thrilled to start life as a MOMMY!

Day 21

Today I'm thankful for friends and family that support and love my little family no matter what. My heart is full with the blessings of these friendships!