Two Weeks!

I can't believe it's already been two weeks! At the same time, I can't believe it's only been two weeks since Alice made her appearance. It's crazy how fast it goes. The other day, I tried to put Alice in the sleeper she came home from the hospital in, and it was way too small. I started crying! I blame it on hormones. Still, she's getting big already! We went to her appointment yesterday, and she's already grown an inch and gained over a pound! Her eyes are clearing up--the doctor couldn't believe that she could see herself in the mirror--her belly button fell off (the cord, not the actual button), and she is starting to lift her head up! She is so smart and talented already! I am seriously turning into one of those moms that I hate--all I can talk about is how cute my Alice is. Oh well. She's only two weeks old. I'm allowed to gush a little!






Picture 1: Daddy and Alice taking a nap
Pictures 2, 3, and 4: Alice being cute
Picture 5: Daddy likes to pull pranks, like putting pants on my head

It's a....

GIRL! Alice Nichole came early Sunday morning, May 3, 2009. She was born at 12:59 A.M. after a very short and fast labor. The nurses are still talking about how fast everything went! She is healthy and so pretty! She was 8 lbs, 2 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. I am doing fine. When I can sit in my uncomfortable computer chair for a longer period of time, I will write the full birth story. For now, you can just look at the pictures of my pretty girl!

And the Verdict Is...

Today is my due date. I am still here. Baby is not. Sigh. I am just sitting around and waiting, waiting, waiting, and trying to stay out of the front room so I don't mess it up...Come out, Baby!

My House is Clean!

For the first time ever! Well, not ever. When I first moved in, I would deep clean my house every Saturday morning. But then I met Joe, and I had more important things to do. Ever since then, I have been teaching, or going to workshops, or watching the ever-important Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

I don't like to clean. In fact, I hate it. I actually love working because it gives me an excuse to not clean my house. Because when I come home from work, the last thing I want to do is work. So I don't. This is making me sound like a pig, which I'm not. I try to keep the house picked up, and heaven knows Joe is so much better at this than I am, and he loves to help around the house---bless him. But I don't vacuum very often, the shelves see a dust cloth once in a blue moon, and we wear our clothes out of the laundry basket that has been sitting on the dryer for two weeks waiting to be folded.

But for the first time in a long time, my house is vacuumed, dusted, picked up, and the bathrooms even got a good scrub down last week. See, the trick is to make a cleaning schedule for yourself like I did about two years ago. And for the first time since I made the schedule, I have actually stuck to it these last two weeks I have been home. And guess what I figured out? Cleaning my house now take 45 minutes tops, because I only have to do the chores on the list--things like:
Monday--Laundry
Tuesday--vacuum, dust, pickup, and scrub front room and kitchen
Wednesday-- pick up, vacuum, and dust bathrooms and bedrooms
Thursday-- pick up house and mop kitchen
Friday-- pick up house, clean laundry room
Saturday-- deep clean bathrooms, oven, and microwave

I can't believe how much time I have on my hands, with my house clean. My brother and his wife popped in yesterday, with only like 20 minutes notice, and Joe and I didn't have scramble and pick up and psuedo-clean like maniacs. Instead, I just cubed some Velveeta cheese and melted it and mixed it with Salsa so I could have a little snack....Yeah, I served an hourderve (sp). I still don't like cleaning, but I like reading my books today on my bed (which was made, by the way) and watching recorded episodes of Glenn Beck (who isn't as funny as he thinks he is) without feeling guilt.

And I don't think this is all "nesting" stuff that's happening, because I am only making myself do this in the hopes that being up and vacuum will get this kid out. And it only took me a week of Spring Break to get me totally bored. I went the library yesterday and checked out like 8 books, and I am already through two of them. But oh well. I will be glad I had all this time to myself once this little person comes (any day now!) and I don't get a minute to do these things. Anyway. Just checking in...still here. Still big. Still waiting. Hoping my house doesn't get too messy before the big day comes.

Baby Room!

Here is the closet in the baby's room. We re-did Joe's old bookcase, only to realize that there wasn't really any good place to put it in the room. Luckily, it fit perfectly in the closet under the top shelf. So now we have tons of storage. And look at all my books! You would never guess that I am an English teacher!



This is my favorite thing about the room--my chair! We saved for quite sometime for this. I picked out the fabric and everything, and it's perfect! It is really comfortable. I love that it reclines, too!

Our crib (where we currently keep the carseat--which arrived about two weeks ago--Thanks to everyone who went in on the group gift! It is really pretty, and I love it. I haven't seen another carseat like ours, which, if you know me, is very important). As you can see, we're waiting to buy any bedding, since we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. It's really kind of fun. Admit it, the anticipation of not knowing is so exciting, you just can't wait for this little one to come on the scene! We're sticking to green and brown at this point. But I have found bedding that I really like at Babies R Us, and I've been saving last year's stimulus check just for this occasion!

If it's a girl, we're going to get this:













And if it's a boy, we're going to get this:


We're really excited for Baby to come, and we can't wait to introduce everyone to the newest Bingham on the Block...if s/he decides to make an appearance....at this point, I'm beginning to think this kid's in here to stay!

Still Here...and Still Big!

Pictures: 1)30 weeks, 3 days
2) My New Trick!
3) 38 weeks

If you are anything like me, then you check the blog of the person you know who could go into labor any day. And, if you are anything like me, you take the absence of a post to mean something. Sadly, in my case, it just means that I am officially done with school and have been doing nothing but sleeping all week long. As you can see, I am still here, and I am still HUGE.

There's not much to report on the homefront--Joe and I are just sitting around and waiting. We went to the doctor Tuesday for our 37 week checkup, and I am dilated 1 cm and 60% effaced. Which is exactly what I was at the 36 week checkup. I think the lack of progress is mostly because I am done with work (clear until August! YAY!) and I have turned into a recluse. I stay home and I sleep-in everyday, and then I take a nap in the afternoons. I feel really lazy, but I tell myself that I haven't been sleeping for the last couple of weeks, and I won't be sleeping in the next couple of weeks, so I have to get sleep when I can. Plus, it's nice to see my ankles back to their regular size--I was starting to get worried! They were so big and swollen from the last two hectic weeks at school. I was never off my feet, and when I was off them, I couldn't put them up, so they ceased to be ankles and were tree trunks instead. The secretaries at school were telling me I needed to have them checked out! But no, it was just the lack of rest.

I have also done a lot of laundry. For the first time since July, there is NOTHING in my laundry baskets! Joe can't believe how much laundry I do, but to be quite honest, it's the only chore I can do while sitting down, so now it has become the chore of choice. Today was the first day I actually ventured out: I went to Wal-Mart, to the libaray, and soon, I am going to venture out again because I feel like a Jamba juice.

So things are pretty tame around here. The baby room is almost completely ready (Joe's going to install the ceiling fan this weekend), I have done all the baby's laundry, the baby bag is packed, and the car seat base is ready to go. The only thing we have left to do is clean the house (which I'm doing one day at a time--I cleaned the bathroom yesterday, and tomorrow I'm hitting the kitchen.), and pack my bags, which I am resisting. Call me susperstitious, but I feel like if I pack my bags now, then this baby is going to laugh and decide to stay put for an extra week. Joe's terrified that I'll go into labor and not be ready. I keep trying to tell him that, even if my water does break, I will have plenty of time to pack a bag because I'll be in labor for a while, this being my first baby and all. His only reply was, "Okay, but if that baby comes while you're in the bathroom or in the car, you're on your own." Which isn't true, but it's his way of telling me that he doesn't agree. Don't worry. I'll pack this weekend. I just hate to have things sitting there waiting--it will make time go that much slower! Not that I think I'm going to go in labor early. I can't. I think Jon Nelson would have a fit--I'm singing in a double trio at stake conference this week, and he is really worried that I will go into labor before then. But I keep assuring him I will be there, ready to sing. Although I have had a recurring nightmare that my water breaks on the stand at stake conference--Joe's even had that dream. What if it really happens? I would have to replace a couple pairs of shoes, I would imagine. Not to mention the mess it would create on the stand... but, it would be a great story to tell.

Anyway, that's really all there is to say right now. Just sitting around, sleeping, waiting, and grateful that it's April and the weather's still crappy (Joe's work is starting to pick up--we might have a decent pay check today!). Wish us luck, and I will try really hard to keep everyone updated.

Lots of Stuff....

I haven't blogged in a long time because the only time I have to be on the computer is here at work, and while I find plenty of time to not do anything, I usually sleep. And when I think about blogging, I realize all my pictures on my computer at home. And then, when I get home, I don't want to deal with our stupid computer there. So usually the only time I blog is when I take my laptop home, which hasn't been happening lately because it's really heavy, and since I have an extra 40 pounds to lug around (40 pounds! AAAAG!), I really don't feel like hefting my laptop up three flights of stairs.

So, what's been going on? First off, it was my wonderful husband's birthday last week, and one of these days, I am going to do a little husband post with some of my cute pictures of my Joe. But, here's a preview: I love my husband because he is sweet, he give me awesome foot massages, he loves to do dishes, and he tries really had to fold the clothes the right way (even though I secretly re-fold them when he's not looking). Plus, he's really good-looking--especially when he wears his new church clothes I bought him for his birthday. Sometimes I can't believe that tall guy I saw across the culteral hall and thought, "he's way too cute for me" is my husband! I'm the luckiest girl ever!

And I really do realize this after the last couple of weeks. My best friend, Kristin, threw me the baby shower of a lifetime. Because of weird family stuff that went down last Christmas on my side, and weird family stuff that's been going down for the past four years on Joe's side, Kristin was the only person who offered to throw a shower. So I had to combine family, high school friends, Joe's friends, and ward friends into one huge shower. It was a huge burden on Kristin, I know, but she did it, and it was the most wonderful shower a girl could ask for. (If you didn't get invited, I am sorry! I was trying to keep the numbers down so she wouldn't have to spend a ton of money on food...) It was so fun, and it was so nice to see my family and Joe's family get together for the first time since our wedding (which was a disaster), and actually get along with each other (which didn't happen at the wedding). And thanks to everyone who helped out--I know there were a lot of people who offered food (Lisa, Natalie Monson, Natalee Hall, Leslie, my mom, Becky, Kim, Francine, and others). Kim did the gorgeous invites, and there were so many people who came early to help set up and stayed late to help clean up! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You don't know how much it meant for me to see all these people willing to help my friend.

We have a new friend--our neighbor, Aaron, had an unfortunate accident a couple of weeks ago, and since we share a porch with him, I was the only person around to help out. I had to call the ambulance and everything. While Joe and I are are very sorry that Aaron had to go through something that was very traumatic for him (Aaron doesn't like to talk about the details, so we'll just leave it at the fact that it was an accident), we are very grateful because after two years of trying, Aaron is our new friend--more specifically, Joe's new friend. He calls Joe and they talk for hours at a time, and Joe will go over and keep him company. Aaron's family all lives back east, and he doesn't really have any friends around our neighborhood, so it's nice for him to have someone to talk to now. The great part is is that he is really interested in the church and is asking a lot of questions. He asked Joe if we could start taking him to church, and he has told us that he sees our life and wants what we have, which is kind of weird to me. Joe and I don't have much. We have a happy life together, but we really aren't wealthy, and our life consists of going to work and watching the latest show and the DVR. But Aaron, who, to put it lightly, is not in any financial distress, sees that simple life and wants it in his own life. It makes me realize how blessed Joe and I really are to have the gospel and the peace and direction is brings in our lives, and how it helps us love each other so much better than we could ever do on our own. I hope that this friendship is one that will last, and I hope that Aaron does get in his life what Joe and I have in ours. We're really trying hard to be good examples for him and to answer whatever questions he has.

I only have two weeks left of work! YAY! I really love my job--I love the students, and I love the (totally legal) relationships I have with them. But dealing with 80 kids a day, plus about 20 adults a day, is emotionally exhuasting. I am ready to stay home, put my feet up, and get my house in order before our little bundle arrives in 30 short days. Sometimes it's discouraging. I look at my students, and I look at my lessons, and I look at the grades, and I think, "Am I even teaching these kids ANYTHING? They don't seem to be getting anything out of this class!" But then I have to remind myself that I might not be doing the best in teaching these kids how to write and think, but I am doing my best to teach these kids responsibility and consequences. I teach them how to organize their time, and I teach them (and sometimes their parents) that there are just some things in life that are crappy to do, but you have to do them. I teach them that at some point, they have to let go of Mommy and Daddy's hands and feed themseleves. I teach them that if they want to do the fun things in life, they have to be responsible for the right things. I feel like I am more a life teacher than an English teacher, and while I don't feel like I am the most knowledgeable English teacher here, I do feel like I am the right person to teach those important skills that they will need the rest of their high school careers, and their college careers, if they choose to go to college. Maybe that's why they keep me with the Sophomores--because I can train them in the ways of responsibility and accountability. Because I am strict, and I say it how it is (which gets me into trouble a lot--but the students appreciate it). But I am also very flexible and fair. I think that's important to these Sophomores, and hopefully, by the time they leave my class, they will understand a little better about choices and consequences. I hope so, otherwise, I am a total failure. Because heaven knows I'm not the best English expert in the world.

Anyway, that's how things have been going lately--lots of baby stuff and high school stuff (which is kind of the same thing, except the baby stuff happens in pastels instead of black).

Maybe I'll post pictures in the next couple of weeks of my 9 months-bloatedness?! I can't wait to see this little person that keeps me up all night. I mostly can't wait to lose 20 pounds in one day, but the baby is a great perk, too.