Curse you, Ron Howard!!!!

I have two favorite names in the whole world. Max for a boy, and Hattie for a girl. Dalan doesn't really like the name Hattie, so I am still trying to push my agenda and convince/help him realize it is a totally awesome name!

However, while watching Parenthood, I realized the oldest brother's (I can't remember his character name...I just call him Nate from Six Feet Under, just like I call the oldest sister, Lorelai Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls) kids' names are Hattie and Max.

Damn you, Ron Howard and Brain Grazer for stealing the two names I have loved for years, and making them characters in your little show (which I also love.) Also, you had to make these characters siblings, didn't you! This just gives the huz more reason to reject Hattie as a viable baby name, especially if we end up with a Max this time around. Damn you!

Unreasonable?

Dalan and I are starting to clear out one of our spare bedrooms, so the baby will have somewhere to sleep. We have a ton of stuff, and it may takes us the rest of the pregnancy to get all our extra stuff condensed into one room. Dalan was planning on cleaning out a dresser we are going to use for the baby. Right now, the dresser is used for a variety of things, including Piper's clothes.

Dalan: "What should I do with all the stuff in the dresser?"

Me: (only thinking about Piper's clothes.) "Well, you will need to try them all on her, and keep only the ones that still fit."

Dalan then looked at me as if I had made the most unreasonable request on the planet. He is refusing to try the dog's clothes on her to see what still fits! He told me that would have to be my job. I don't think I was being unreasonable at all. Sounded like a good plan to me.

On top of all that, he then reminded me that Piper is on a diet, and some of the clothes that don't fit now, could fit again soon. See! This is why I have two rooms full of stuff! I can't argue with that logic!

Old wives tales put to the test

My family and I decided to look up some old wives tales, and see how accurate they are before we find out the gender of the baby. I took two quizzes online that asked questions based on some of the old sayings, beliefs, tests, etc, and they both pretty much came out fifty-fifty, leaning slightly more towards a girl. Real reliable, right? I thought I would break down the myths, and let you all decide for yourselves, are we having a girl or a boy?

Here are the signs that the baby will be a BOY:

The hair on my legs in growing like crazy.
I did not have much morning sickness.
The sum of my age and the month of conception is an even number.
My urine is a brighter yellow rather than a duller yellow. (although it is usually clear, but that wasn't a choice.)
I crave cheese.*

Here are the signs that the baby will be a GIRL:

My pillow is on the south side of the bed.*
My feet are no colder than before I was pregnant.
I won't eat the heel of the bread.*
Dalan is not gaining weight along with me.
A ring on a string held in front of my belly moved in a circle.
Craving sweets.*
Baby's heart beat was more than 140 beats per minute.**
My nose looks the same.

So, GIRL BABY OR BOY BABY?

Also, those of you who have had babies, were any old wives tales true for you? Which ones?

* These are all things I do/prefer/crave whether I am pregnant or not.
** My midwife told me the heart beats per minute was not an accurate predictor a) really at all b) and especially not until later in pregnancy.

A shout out

It is spring fundraiser time at my school. Fundraisers are difficult at any school in any economy, but as you can imagine, a fundraiser at my school in this economy is near impossible.

However, two special women, my mother and my mother in law, have both come through for my school. My mom got her work to donate all kinds of fun things for our raffle, including a free-standing basketball standard and hoop. The kids were going nuts when they saw the hoop. It was very cute. And my mother in law bought books for my classroom at the book fair today, including part of the Fablehaven series, which the kids are obsessed with right now. She also bought books for Becca's room, and she did all this after volunteering in my classroom.

Wow, I feel so lucky to have these women in my life. Neither of them have school aged children anymore, and none of their children ever attended the school I work at, but their desire to help children, especially children with limited opportunities, is overwhelming! It is such a positive example of how we are all part of the same community, and we are all responsible to help out each other. I am so excited for the baby to grow up around these ladies modeling and teaching how to be a nice, kind, and selfless person.

Thanks again Patti and LaDene!

Easy come, easy go

It's back. For most of the the month of March, it was gone. I was witty, and interesting. I had cool things to say and fun things to share. Then I blogged about cutting my hair, and it crept back into my life. It's sad and it's true, but my writer's block is back.

I have narrowed down the causes to two possible things. The before mentioned cutting of the hair, maybe I am a modern day blogging Samson, and my hair was my power to post. Or maybe the baby growing in my womb is stealing all my great ideas and is going to come out a super blogging genius. You decide. I am really not sure.

Speaking of pregnancy, here are two of my pregnancy quirks.....

1. Foods I am currently obsessed with: peanut butter sandwiches, bagels, and chocolate donuts. Also cheese.

2. Favorite smell: beer on Dalan's breath. It is too bad he thinks this is weird, and won't let me just smell it outright. I have to be sneaky.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

I did it! I chopped off my hair today and donated it. It feels so good, but strange. I am sure I am going to brush my neck a few times, and put way too much shampoo on it when I was wash it. I cut it short now, because I was sick of it, but also so it could grow long enough to be put into a decent ponytail at the end of summer when the wee one arrives.

Yesterday with long hair:


Today with short hair:

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Yesterday was my mama's birthday! We had a great day. We started out at the St. Patrick's Day parade, and braved the elements to celebrate our Irish heritage. I think my mom is an eighth Irish, so that makes me a 16th, regardless we wore our green, and had a great time. The walk back to the car was miserable, but the parade was actually a lot of fun, even in the rain. Plus she ended up with her picture in the paper, how many people have that happen on their birthdays!

We ended the day by going to Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta for dinner. The food was good, the company was better. Too bad Cole had to work though. After dinner, we went to my Nana's house for cake, ice cream, presents, and visiting. We love Patti, and had a great time celebrating her birthday!

Famous

Here is my group of friends at the St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday morning from the Desert News. In the front row you can see Nghia, Kate, Paul, and Sierra. In the back row you can see my mama and my huz. It was good times! It rained. Of course, it rained. It also snowed. We got wet and cold, but it was good times. I hope the rain stops following us around sometime soon.

The night I almost got robbed

Tonight, I went to the ATM so I could get some cash to go to Costco. Dalan and I don't have our own membership, and we just go with my mom when we need some things. However, recently Costco changed their rules again, and they won't let a non-member use their debit card there. Whatever, Costco, and all your stupid rules!

On my way to meet my mom, I stopped at a grocery store that houses my bank, and went up to their ATM, which happens to be outside of the store. The ATM is located on the corner. Well, there was a sketchy dude standing around the corner smoking. He gave me a weird vibe, but I told myself not to be paranoid, and just get my money, beside he was probably just back there smoking. However, the minute the ATM started shuffling my money to dispense a sketchy woman popped out from around the corner, quickly followed by her sketchy male friend. I was sure they were going to rob me. The grocery store was super busy, so I made a quick plan in my mind to make a ruckus if they tried any funny business. Thankfully, they walked right by me and into the store. I am still not totally convinced they did not have more sinister motives for lurking around the corner, beside smoking. But all is well that ends well.

Tales from the fourth grade: Presidential Edition

Every year, I give my students to the assignment to write a letter to the president. The purpose of the letter is to practice letter writing skills, and to practice being an active/positive member of our community. The letter follows a three paragraph format, in the first paragraph the introduce themselves, in the second paragraph the explain the things that they think are currently working for our country, and in the last paragraph they talk about the things they would like changed in our country. Last year, we received an autographed picture, and letter back from President Obama. It was very exciting, and more than enough incentive for this year's students to try their very best. These are 100% their own responses, with NO prompting from me about what issues were or were not important.

Here is what is going right in our country according to fourth graders:

"I am proud to live in America. I love to go and see all the beautiful things in America. I love the choice of religion."

"I like living in Utah, because it's peaceful."

"What I like about our country is freedom of speech. We can say anything we want. I like the liberty we have. I liked how we helped the Haitians."

"America is my favorite."

"I am glad that America helped Haiti. I love liberty!"

"I like America because I have freedom, liberty, and electronics. I love it when the community goes green."

"I like it when America helps the Haitians. I think it is good that we get to make choices."

Here are some things fourth graders think need to be done to make our country better:

"I think there should be less pollution."

"There should be better public transportation. There should be less drugs, and more energy saving sources."

"I wish public transportation prices would go down."

"I think we should use electric power cars, and solar panels. "

"I think you should stop drugs to make this a more reliable country."

"I wish there was less air pollution. I wish we had new energy sources."

"If I had one wish it would be to have a dog." (From one of my African refugees)

"I think we should help the world and stop pollution. Pollution is a really bad thing. I hate pollution!"

"I think the gas prices should go down lower."

"I want new hospitals."

"I think it'd be better if you would make more safer, reliable energy sources."

"Lower gas prices, because my family is having a rough time with transportation right now."

Tales from the midwife's office

Saw my midwife today for my 15 week appointment...not a lot to report. Got to hear the heartbeat again, which is always neat. And my mid-pregnancy ultrasound will be in four weeks. I am very excited to get to find out the gender of the little fetus, and make sure it is progressing as it should in its development. Being at my appointment reminded me of some of the funnier things that happened at my 9 week appointment, but since the pregnancy was all hush hush, I never shared them on the blog.

1. My midwife complimented me on my urine. She told me it was some of the best urine she has ever seen. See having kidney stones and kicking my diet coke addiction did me some good. I now get complimented on my pee.

2. She also complimented me on my nipples. Apparently they are PERFECT for breast feeding. How often are you told that anything is perfect???? Who knew that I had perfect nipples?????
Well, I guess the whole blogosphere does now! When I started reading the book I have on nursing, they had a whole section on testing to see if your nipples were breast feeding ready. I did not bother. I already knew mine were PERFECT!

3. I had a slew of blood work done, including some routine STD and HIV screenings. I thought nothing of it. Then about a week later, I get called down the office at work for a phone. You know, the main office, where there are parents, children, secretaries, other teachers, the principal, etc. I take the phone call on the main phone in the middle of the main office. The person on the other line identifies himself as Adam, from the Health Department. I was mortified. My mind started racing, thinking things like, not only do I have an STD, but now I have to find out in a very public place in front colleagues, students, and parents. I was dying. Turns out, Adam was from The Truth, and wanted to set up an anti-tobacco assembly for the fourth and fifth graders. It was crazy timing, I would have never been worried about a call from the Health Department, but a week after having a bunch of blood work done. Freaked me out for about 5 seconds.