A to Z - a little about me!

Just a little about me - from A to Z!

A is for age: 28 (29 on Saturday!!!)


B is for breakfast today: 1st breakfast - Multigrain Cheerios, 2nd breakfast - Fruit Smoothie, 3rd breakfast - animal crackers!!!

C is for currently craving: Coke, Chicken Nuggets, M&Ms, and oh so many more... (Caleb is a hungry boy! He makes me eat like a mad woman, thus the three daily breakfasts!)

D is for dinner tonight: Parmesan encrusted chicken in a light cream sauce

E is for favorite type of exercise: power napping!

F is for an irrational fear: Drains! I refuse to go near them! Pool drains, hot tub drains, bath tub drains - all of them! (I saw a 20/20 once about a girl who sat on a hot tub drain and her intestines got sucked out of her hiney. DJ swears it's impossible but I don't care. I will not go near them!)

G is for gross food: Since I got pregnant, ONIONS! (And anything I've tasted twice thanks to never ending morning sickness!)

H is for hometown: Waco

I is for something important: My wonderful Boppy body pillow - I have to literally put it on every night and it's like being wrapped in a cloud!

J is for current favorite jam: Blackberry preserves

K is for kids: 1 adorable baby boy on the way! (Caleb!)

L is for current location: my mis-matched hand-me-down recliner with the stuffing falling out! (My favorite spot to sit and nap in the whole house!)

M is for the most recent way you spent money: eating In-N-Out burger with the Hubsters

N is for something you need: Nursery furniture! And a new back door! And a car seat! And a glider! And... We need a lot of things with a baby on the way...

O is for occupation: Currently a part time pre-k teacher, but I turned in my letter of resignation today. I will officially be a stay-at-home mom next year!

P is for pet peeve: Irresponsible parenting! Don't even get me started!

Q is for a quote: "If you've not having fun you're taking up too much space!"

R is for random facts about you: I was on the Price is Right when I was in college. I got on Contestant's Row but didn't make it on stage.

S is for favorite healthy snack: Fruit!

T is for favorite treat: Blizzards!

U is for something that makes you unique: I broke my leg while skipping on a mountain in Brazil, I was rushed to the hospital while on a mission trip to Canada, I have extra bones growing in my feet.

V is for favorite vegetable: broccoli

W is for today’s workout: Bicep curls - lifting my food to my mouth as I ate everything in sight. All. Day. Long.

X is for X-rays you’ve had: teeth, back, knee, leg, ankle, foot - and probably more

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Going on a date with the Hubsters!

Z is for your time zone: Central


Your turn! What are your ABCs?

It's a boy!

Yesterday was our big exciting sonogram. Both of our moms were able to be in the room with us and everyone cried as the first images of the baby came into view. Within minutes we were able to confirm what my recent dreams had suggested - this baby is a boy! We were blessed enough to have a friend do our ultra sound and she was amazing enough to print off a million pictures! She also printed this sweet picture for both grandmother's:



I simply cannot get over how precious that little face is! I'm so very in love with that sweet face! I told my mom today that I'm shocked at how deeply I love this little guy that I've never even met! Do you see that perfect little nose? And that strong chin? My heart soars all over again just looking at the picture!

Last night we had friends and family come over for a fun-filled gender reveal party! (Extra thanks to my parents and sister for driving so far and staying up so late just because this pregnant hormonal lady wanted you to come!) We had everyone vote and most people thought we were having a boy. They were happy to be right. And the others were pretty happy to be wrong I believe. :) We had a friend take a ton of pictures so as soon as I get them I'll share them with you.

Until then, the Hubsters and I are happy to dream and plan for Caleb Richard! He should arrive the last week of July or the first few days of August. We cannot wait!

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!