Dear Baby,

Dear Baby,
    I know you've only been growing inside my belly for 6 1/2 weeks, but I'm already VERY attached to you!  I hope you know how much I already love you.  Now that you know how much I love you, please stop making Mommy feel so nauseas, it's keeping me up at night!
Love you little baby!
Love,
Mommy
P.S. If it's in the cards, I'd really like you to be a girl please!

Dear Life,

Dear Life,
  Well you’ve done it again.  You’ve become crazy busy without my realizing it...again!  I had a beautiful vacation with my family.  My favorite part had to be taking Hayden to see the ocean.  I know there are million things that Hayden has not seen, and so most of his experiences are new, but I just loved watching him put is feet in and try to walk out further and further.  Of course I took a million pictures, I just have to find time to post them!  

Basically I have been very busy lately.  I have two graduate school classes, a baby, a husband, a full time job(that has students who I very much care about) and lots of other family and friends.  I really do try to make time for everyone. It can be hard.  
There is one thing that was I have been thinking lately and that’s church.  I have always thought I “tried” to make it to church.  Really I feel like I have let other people be my excuses.  I really do feel odd going to church without my husband.  This is likely because my husband grew up in this church and if he doesn’t come with me I always get asked where he is.  This makes me feel kind of awkward I guess. I’m sure no one thinks anything of it besides me.  Well, anyway, I am going to really put forth more effort to go on Sunday morning, or Sunday evening.  I need to not let OTHER people be my reason that I don’t show up.  So baring any illness or being out of town I am going to try harder.  I won’t be perfect but I will try harder.  I have also been trying to get in one of the prayers from “the power of a praying wife” book nightly.  Some people just have a gift with words, and my goodness that woman has a gift of writing great prayers!  
I have also been thinking about my close friends lately.  My dear life, you have managed to get hold of them too!  They have all been so busy and it’s hard to coordinate all of our lives together to spend time with each other! I look forward to my time with friends more now than ever.  It might be few and far between sometimes but I love those dinners or breakfasts or quick coffees or whatever! I enjoy the football games or belly dancing classes.  It’s all just good for my sanity, no matter how often it happens!
Well life, thanks for being full.  Thanks for having a ton for me to do, and giving me beautiful people to do it with!
Love,
Theresa

Dear Bed,

Dear Bed,
     I miss spending time with you.  I remember the times we used to spend all day together.  Since Hayden came into my life I just don't have the time to devote to our relationship I used to have.  I would say I am sorry, but I love spending time with Hayden.  Hopefully we'll have time to get together again soon.
Love,
Theresa

Caffeine Addiction

Hi, my name is Theresa and I’m addicted to caffeine. It’s been an on and off addiction I have had for a while now. I decided that I would give up caffeine yesterday. I just felt like I was relying on it every single day! If I couldn't get it I felt cruddy and I just didn’t want to feel that way just because I couldn't get my hands on some caffeine. So I decided to try life without it for a little bit and just see how it goes. So far I had an insane headache yesterday and a moderate headache today. I am hoping that means that by tomorrow this whole headache business will be a thing of the past and I can go on to live a nice caffeine free life. I did some research about the pros and cons of caffeine consumption. Really, most people say in moderation, it’s okay for you. Some people say it’s one of the worst things you can do to your body. Whatever, the point is that I am going to try to just quit it for now. Will I pick it up again? Maybe. I don’t really want to be one of those people who can’t function in the morning without my cup of coffee. Well, I don’t drink coffee, but if you insert “diet pop” into all those “gotta have my coffee” statements, that’s pretty much me! I will say this, so far today I feel far less focused and I have been hungry ALL DAY! I’m none too thrilled with the idea of giving up my diet pop if I have to gain 30 lbs to do it! Well, my head hurts again. I’m getting close to giving up on this dream. One moment at a time. We’ll see how it goes!

"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why."

Dewy and I took Hayden to the apple orchard.  Dewy was not exactly overwhelmed with excitement about this, but I told him I really wanted to take him, so we did!  Dewy says, “why are we taking him to pick apples?”  I said, “Why not?” I guess with logic like that who could question me? Either way, we took Hayden to the apple orchard to pick apples.  We got there and the “apple guy” gave Dewy a quick tutorial of how to use the basket on a stick to pick our apples.  I think overall we all had a good time.  Hayden liked the taste testing portion of our picking and Dewy enjoyed getting to use a big basket/stick thingy.  I’ll try to post some of the pictures from our venture!  

Hayden picking the apple!

Ahh...MOM It touched me!

I got this mom!

Oh, okay, that's what I am supposed to do?

No worms in there, right?

Gonna get it!

GOT IT! YUM!

Hayden and Mommy

   I have been in somewhat of a sour mood the past few days.  Why you ask? Who knows.  I am just feeling very complain-y, whinny etc. It’s probably PMS.  I do hate to use that excuse, but really it’s probably why.  Anyone who deeply offended that I would talk about PMS probably hasn’t ever experienced it, and can rest assure that my next paragraph will not contain anything having to do with menstruation.  Oh yeah, I used the “m” word.  I enjoyed a nice argument just last night.  I do not think it was a result of my PMS, because I am still feeling very justified as to the reason I was upset in the first place, but I did get snappy when I might not normally have been that way.  I also had a hard time letting go my frustration with the whole situation.    I am still feeling pretty hurt by the whole thing.  Darn tempers anyway! Regardless,  I’m praying, that helps me let things go usually.  
   

 My dad went to the hospital last night.  They are thinking mini stroke.  I’m just praying for a full recovery.  He says that other than a horrible headache, he’s doing better now.  Prayers are appreciated!

Well, I think it’s time to post this one and move on with my afternoon.  I try to keep some consistency, but I really just wrote most of this in a google doc and added to it when I had a free minute here or there.  Not that I feel like my blogs ever really flow very well, but I hope this one made sense!

Drama, drama and more DRAMA!

Drama, drama and more drama!  Wow.  So, can I just say I do NOT miss being a teenage girl.  Working with them daily reminds me how greatful I am that I am in a loving marriage that does not revolve around jealously or bitterness.  It just boggles my mind how much drama goes on with these young girls and their relationships.  It makes me wish that when we were sleeping God would sneak into our dreams and show us glimpses of our futures, and then they could see that this one event in life was not the "be all end all."  I feel badly for the guys that walk into some of this stuff unknowinly, but I feel some pretty huge amounts of anger for the guys that sit back and enjoy watching these girls fight over them(some of them litereally fighting)!  Lord, I pray for these young people!  I am sure their were adults who felt the same looking at my age group back when we were teenagers too.  I think that I was pretty lucky to avoid a lot of that when I was younger.  I didn't really "date" in high school.  I had lots of other drama and such.  Of course I still liked boys who didn't like me, but I try to "steal" any "taken" guys.  I guess in some aspects I was lucky, even if I didn't think so at the time. 

Dear Students

Dear Young Lady that is wearing a shirt that VERY low cut,
       The young men that are giving you a ton of attention because of your low cut shirt, are NOT the young men you probably are trying to get the attention of, nor are they actually giving you positive attention(contrary to what you might believe). 
Love, A concerned Teacher
Dear Young Man who is wearing skinny jeans that are a size better suited to a 2nd grade girl,
        I guess I missed the fashion boat on this one because I can not ponder how you looked in the mirror today and thought that this was a good look on you!  Furthermore, those jeans are so tight, I am actually able to see more things on your body than should be shared.
Love, A concerned(and confused) Teacher.

I am missing out?

Well, after a long summer break (not long enough) I have returned to school.  I love my job, I really do. I enjoy what I do, and I like the kiddos I work with, but I love my baby boy and I miss him. I had a blast with him all summer and really enjoyed all of those little things you get to see happen each day when they are little.  I am blessed with a really great job, so I will continue to work and savor my time at home. 

On another note I have been feeling a little torn the past few months.  I am aware that we all have different stages in our lives where things happen for us and opportunities are presented to us.  I am very content in this stage of my life.  I love my husband and my baby.  I enjoy being married and truly love motherhood.  I look to many of my friends lives and notice that we are in lots of different places.  This, of course, does not change my love for my friends.  It does make it more difficult to spend time with them though. 

 I have not been as good as I should have been about staying as close with my friends as I would like because I have been trying to put the majority of my time/energy into creating my family.  When I got engaged I worked very hard to become part of my husband's family.  He had this huge family, and I just wanted to make sure I fit in with them.  We do a lot of stuff with family.  That is the “norm” for him, it wasn’t for me.  I am so glad I took the time to really get to know his family, and become a part of it, but now I am at a point where I am watching my friends from the outside.  My dear friends Jessica and Erica are about  to end, and just starting two amazing journeys!  Jessica spent the past few months in LA working as an intern for the TV series, “Harry’s Law.”  She blogged about her  incredible adventures in LA, seeing celebrities, hanging out at Warner Bros. Studios and just the everyday life she got to lead while living the Hollywood life.  And now, Erica, has left for 12 weeks in Italy to do her student teaching.  She is also going to blog about her adventure in Rome.  She’s got some amazing sites to see and teaching to experience.   I have had some moments where I thought, “am I missing out?”  I went straight to college out of high school and finished up a short five years later.  When I was done, I got a great job at the high school I am still at 5 years later!  Consistency is a friend of mine =)  Still I wonder, am I missing out?  With all these adventures I see my friends having, and I know well that I would not be able to do at this point in my life, am I missing out? 

            My answer comes in the form of the wide open mouth kisses I got from Hayden this morning.  No, I’m not missing out; I’m just in a different place.  I have had adventures that some of my friends have not had a chance to yet experience.  I got married (which is its own adventure every single day) and had a baby!  I know that marriage and a baby might not seem the same as traveling the world, but it’s an adventure every single day.  I am SO excited for my friends getting to go do some amazing things.  I love getting to hear about all of the details of their journeys!  I sometimes need to take a moment to step back and remember that their journey is not going to look like my journey, and it doesn’t make theirs better or worse, just different.  I love where I am now, and how I got here. 
            Well this has been a very long entry.  Well people, take a look around and be thankful for your journey and where it has lead you!

I am not a runner!

I have been called many things in my life, and let me tell you that "runner" has never been one of those names.  Just look at me! I do not have the body of a runner.  I do not have the cardiovascular health a runner should have. I am in no way fit to be a runner.  What I do have is the williness to try new things.  Well I completed week one of the C25k work out. Couch to 5K, and I am not joking about the couch.  I think I did one other physical activity besides this(leading up to this point). 
Things I have learned so far
1. I shouldn't be doing my workout at night, it really doesn't help me sleep at all!
2. If I push myself I can do this so far, however, I still go a lot slower than I am sure some other people do.
3. Ugh, I am not in shape at all!
So I sure hope I can stick with this.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have never been skinny(okay I was a stick up until I was in first grade maybe.) My entire adult life I have been a bigger girl.  Even at my thinnest, I was still a bigger girl.  I am pretty sure that I didn't fit in with half of the people in high school because I never fit that mold of the average sized girl.  The point is, that I have become fine with my body.  It is what it is and I don't know if there will ever be a large change in it's shape and size.  I do not expect my body shape or size to change, but I am hoping I can build up some endurance and cardio strength to be able to do this.  So, I guess we'll see!  If you see me running(however slowly it may be) a 5K in October, you'll know I was able to meet my goal!

I should do___but I don't wanna

So today is one of those days where I have a lot of little things to do but don't really want to do any of them.  I think that right now I should be folding towels, and yet here I am, updating my blog instead.  Well, yesterday I started C25K.  I am not really under the impression that I could end up really running a 5K but I am going to try to stick with this program.  My reason? Well, I just want to be healthier.  I want to get in my physical activity.  I want to have more energy to run around with Hayden. I started yesterday and I still feel pretty good today.  The only thing that is really sore is my knees, and sometimes my knees hurt without doing anything the day before.  I really pushed myself to start yesterday even though my stomach was pretty upset.  Today, I must say my stomach feels worse.  I want to go run with Katie tonight, but I worry that I won't be able to keep up, because my run/jog is pretty slow.  We'll see though, I gotta get my tummy feeling better because at this point I couldn't run or jog or anything.  Maybe when I run to the bank I will pick up some tums or something and that will help? I don't know, we'll see. 
Well, I should not put it off any longer.  Hayden will probably wake up any moment.  I need to fold some laundry. I don't know what is so off with me today but I just am having one of those days where I could just sit and not move and be happy about it.

"No"

Well Hayden has gotten to that point where he crawls over to something....he's about to do something...and I say, "NO".  Right now he kind of stops looks at me and then goes on this way.  Or he stops, looks at me, and then bam goes right back to doing what he was doing. I don't want the poor kid to think his name is "NO" but there are so many things over here he can not play with and I can not put up because these are not my things and this is not my home.  He has a million toys but like any little curious guy he wants to play with household things! Ge wants to explore and I feel like I can't let him get into anything.  It is frustrating to say the least. If it were my stuff and I knew he wasn't in danger of hurting himself I would totally let him play with things...but when stuff doesn't belong to me I can't just make the decision that it's okay for him to bang on stuff! Well as we call all tell I am having a rough couple days.  I need to go take Hayden to my dad's place and cheer up!

Funk

Well, so far my summer is going really well.  I am LOVING spending time with Hayden.  I feel like he does something new every single day.  I love that little man and am thankful for him every single day.
Today has been a hard day for me.  I am feeling really sad. I need to pull myself from my funk.  You know when you just have those days where little things happen and they just build up until they overflow into a puddle of pity.  So this is me being upset and sad and swimming in my little puddle of pity.  I will hopefully wake up tomorrow and no longer feel this way.  Tomorrow is another day!

Summer TIme

Greetings from Summer Vacation!  Well so far so good!  I am LOVING spending time with Hayden!  I kinda of scheduled all of our doctors appointments for these first two weeks so I wouldn't have to worry to much about it later in the summer.  Other than the dentist, I hate the dentist, I will put that off.  I do have to wait a couple of days until the doctor gets my blood work back.  They are trying to figure out what is going on with my anemia.  It is looking like I might have to take something to help my body absorb the iron as well as taking the extra iron.  I have the gastric doctor tomorrow, and I am NOT looking forward to that either.  It's not so much the actual visit, it's the drive to Iowa City. 
Well, I can hear my baby, so it's time to go! He is playing with Daddy right now but I think that Daddy is going to play volleyball shortly.  I guess my 10 minutes of peace is over! I hope to update more often!  I just have to get into that routine!

7 hours...

Well...I only have about 7 hours left of work, not including the graduation I have to attend, until summer vacation.  I still remember one year of high school a teacher telling me, "You better savor these summers because when you're an adult your job won't give you all summer off." To her I now say, "Ha...take that!"  For all those people who wish they had a summer off(which for teachers is actually 2 months and a week)become a teacher!  Now if you have one of those jobs where you make a lot of money, you might think twice on this one because we are not exactly the highest paying profession, but our perks are pretty darn nice!  Orignally I had planned to become a nurse, which would have been great except that part where I walked in to view the human cadavers and I cried.  I know I know, the person isn't there anymore, they dontated their bodies, yadda yadda.  The only thing I could think was, "oh my gosh this was someone's grandmother...someone loved her...I can't do this to her!"  So I promptly when to the career development office and took some interests tests and five years later I got a degree in Speech Communication/Theater/Secondary Education and Special Education.  And now five years after graduating, here I am.  Un-like some others I do not complain about my pay.  I realize that I don't make as much as some other people who spent the same amount of time and work in college as I did, but ya know what, they don't get is much time off as I do either!  I also realize that up until last summer I always got another job in the summer, but it was still usually a fun job or something where I could be outdoors.  So in short...in just a few more "work" hours I'll be on summer break from my job, will you be?

Two Days To Go

Well...there are only two days left for my students(finals).  I can't believe how fast the school year has gone by, even though I know mine was shorter because of maternity leave.  I feel like now that I have a child things are just rushing by!  I am trying to savor all of the time that Hayden is little.  I know I will enjoy other stages of his life too, but I'm just trying to soak in these stages now. Well...that's all for now!  I have to get home and enjoy my little boy who is CRAWLING!!!!

Hello...

Hello my name is Theresa, and I'm addicted to sugar.  I think that it is the true downfall in my dieting life.  Weight Watchers has been going well, but I still get side tracked now and again by wonderful sugar.  I know I should just avoid it...but when they bring cake right in front of my face...it's so hard to resist!
On a separate note...not related to sugar...but still some what related to dieting.  Some of my friends from work(and our work "live healthy Iowa" team) said, "Hey let's do some sort of activity thing this summer together."  Well one of the gals found a belly dancing class we are going to take!  I know what you're thinking, and NO we won't be baring our midriffs or anything.  It will just be a great work out!  Obviously I'm not a thin lady that is at all willing to be showing even a touch belly skin, but I am willing to have a fun time working my long lost ab muscles with friends!  Even if the dancing doesn't work the abs...the laughter will! 
Well I was looking up news articles for my student and Harold Camping has changed his mind...the rapture will now happen on October 21st. Only five months off, oops.  Well Mr. Camping to you I say, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36 Maybe he skipped that section when he was reading the Bible. Who knows.  I think I'll just keep living my life and when it happens I will know that Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior and I have accepted him into my heart.  Until then, I'll keep doing my best to live my life, raise my child, and grow with God's help!  I think I am making pretty good progress, especailly when I look back at where I was with my relationship with God even five years ago.  So today i'll keep praying that God helps me grow each day.  I'm never going to be perfect, but with the help of the Lord I will keep moving forward.
So this morning I've talked about God, dieting and belly dancing.  How's that for a full blog!~

I'm hot, I'm cold, I'm hot, I'm cold

So the room in which I work is hot one second, and freezing cold the next!  Can you really get sick from dramatic temperature changes?  If you can then I will surely be sick soon because the temp in here is changing all the time! To top that off my allergies are killing me today.  I feel like I almost rubbed my eyes right out of my head!  Well it's the last week of school for the school year.  Two full school days followed by three days of finals.  I think I can safely say that the kids are ready...and so am I!

Sunday

Well a couple little updates...
My sister had updated that her cousin had his breathing tube removed and was moving his arms.  This is very good news.  I was also told that their baby was in the car during the accident.  I don't know how old he was...but apparently he was un-injured in the accident.  Also, good news!
Today was one of those..."we make plans and nothing seems to go quite the way we planned it" kind of days. Oh well, it was another day to spend with friends and family, and that makes it a good day. 
I watched a little of the billboard music awards.  There seems to be a lot of "flashyness" more than just good music, but who am I to judge I guess.  I did enoy the very sparkly piano I saw, it was quite shinny!

Life is Short

So some bad news that has been weighing on my heart today.
My family tree is crazy and out of control with all of my half sisters and brothers and step brothers and sisters, so this maybe a little harder to follow than I want it to be.  I will try to keep this as simple as possible.  My sisters cousin, whose name is Geffory went with his 18 year old son Shane to Des Moines a couple days ago to speak with someone about a possible liver transplant for himself(Geffory).  Well they were declined the liver transplant and so Geffory and Shane stayed the night in Des Moines. Keep in mind all these details were given to me second hand so if I get a few of the details wrong you'll have to forgive me.  So Geffory woke up on Friday morning and found Shane dead.  Shane would have been 19 this coming Monday. Well Geffory's wife Gina came to Des Moines and Shane is undergoing an autopsy...they ruled out a heart attack so the cause of death is still unknown at this time.  Today as Geffory and Gina were driving home they got in a very bad car accident. Last I heard Gina was in some sort of surgery and they have said Geffory is paralized from the neck down.  All I can do is pray for their family. Two pretty horrible things happening at the same time. Geffory and Gina have another older son as well, Matthew, and I am sure that all of this is truly causing him a lot of pain.  If you have a moment please pray for their family.
As my dad was explaining the things that have happened over the past few days he let me know that he had been reflecting on how short life can be.  Because life is so short, he left a letter for the woman that he loves and has loved for many years, for her at her house. He said that she should call him when she has read it...and I am really praying for him tonight as well.  He feels he is about to lose his best friend, but he had to tell her how he felt, because we are never guarentted our tomorrow. 
It seems people were in quite an uproar about "the end of the world" today(which by the way, we're still here in case you haven't noticed). If you think about it...anything could happen at any moment with no reason given. Take time to tell people you love them, take time to speak to God, take time to enjoy the blessings He has given us!

Do you remember back in the day?

So my dear Aunt Dawnelle made a comment about this house her friend had when she was growing up.  She loved this house, and it made me think of one of my friends when I was little, and how much I loved her house.  Their family room was about five steps down from the rest of the house.  Not quite a basement.  They had this fantastic fireplace down there and a big couch and nice family room tv set up. I had another friend who had an actual tree house.  It looked like a real house, and we played for hours...then her mom would make us peanut butter and butter sandwhiches.  Amazing what we remember from our childhood.  I wonder what sorts of things Hayden will remember.  What sort of things will stick out in his mind when he gets older?  I hope that we will be able to help him make great memories.  I know that we will be responsible for helping him make a lot of those memories.
Yesterday I was thinking about Hayden's Firsts. My husband's mother told me they were going to take Hayden to Chuck E Cheese over the weekend when they were babysiting.  They tried to keep this a secret from Dewy and I because they knew the first time he went there, we would want to be there with him.  I think it's only Natural for parents to want to see their kids experience things for the first time.  Hayden is our first child, of course we want to see him do things for the first time.  I am hoping very much that my husbands parents are understanding of that and don't try to take him sometime when they are watching him.  I am looking forward to taking him to a lot of different places as he grows up.  I hope that he'll form some good memories.  And every chance that my husband and I get, I hope we'll be able to be a part of most all of his childhood firsts!

Cold and Tired

So I gotta say this morning I can't get warm and I am super tired. Why?  Who knows.  The doctor had told me I had VERY low Iron levels last week...and I should make an appointment with the doctor to make sure that I get those checked out...but it's the last few weeks of school and I have kids coming in at all different times to get help/have a test read/asking what they are missing/needing materials/not understanding what the teachers are asking/wondering why the are still failing classes etc.
So anyway, I don't want to miss one of them coming in and needing something so I just can't take the time.  So until I have my physical I guess I'm just going to have to feel this way.
Well this morning I was running all over the place, and that was keeping me awake, now I'm at a stand still and I could just drop!
Okay...on to new topics! My dad is getting dentures this morning.  I find this crazy...he's going to have teeth! My poor dad has had dental issues since I was young.  He'll be really excited to get them!
The weekend is nearly upon us! We have SUCH a busy weekend planned.  We have friends coming in from out of town (who are also Hayden's God Parents) we have a work get together thing on Sunday, some grilling planned Saturday...and my favorite...I GET MY ANNIVERSARY GIFT! 
My husbands gift to me was taking me to see a play!  I have a degree in Theater, I love plays, my husband, not so much.  So his gift to me was to go to this play with me!  I am Super Excited to go with him.  Maybe he will realize he too loves the theater...hehe...maybe.
Well until later...have a lovely day!

Getting Better

Well my day has somewhat improved.  I think all I really needed was a little, "it'll be alright, you'll make it through, just keep praying." 
Sometimes we keep looking for solutions to our problems when really we just need to be looking to God.  God gave us good common sense to use, but we have to be faithful and pray too! So while i've got a plan...I've got my faith too.  Plans can fail, no matter how good they are, but my faith will not fail. I need to remember to keep focused on what really matters.

Good Morning Sunshine

Waking up with some sunshine makes for a much better wake-up.  The only problem is that I don't want to open my blinds before I go to bed...because then it would get very bright in my room before 5am...and I am not ready to get up that early...I'm VERY much not ready to wake up that early.  In fact I don't even want to get up when I do!  Regardless...as I was driving to work it was nice to have the sun shinning!
So today I am feeling kinda down in the dumps emotionally.  Igot a call about some past debt that I am going to have to pay off within two months or they are going to garnish my wages...so that pretty much set my day up for greatness. Exactly what I needed...really.  Just makes me sick.  I know that I screwed up with money and credit cards when I was in college...I realize that and am much more careful with money now, but that doesn't pay back my debt...not at all.
My husband has an interview this morning...PRAYING!!! He would really like this job...so it sure would be nice if he would get it!  It would also give him a FULL 40 hours a week...which we currently really need if we are ever going to be able to pay off a little debt!
Only 9 more days till summer vacation...it's one of the delightful parts of being a teacher!  I can't wait to spend time with my little buddy this summer! For now...I'm super tired.  I would guess this super low Iron has something to do with that...and the fact that I'm feeling like an awful person right now.  It's just not a good day.

Thanks for the well wishes!

Thanks to everyone who sent the well wishes during my unexpected hospital stay.  Here's what happened...in a nutshell!
I was having bad stomach pain on Wednesay night.  I went to Mercy in CR.  They did some tests and said they didn't have anyone who specialized in Gastric Bypass(which I had done in 2007) so they didn't feel comfortable analyzing my test results.  They did however inform me that my Iron level is at an all time low.  So...they sent me to the U of I hopsitals and clincs at 3am...where they admitted me.
They surgeon came in...told me to stop taking ibprofine for the rest of my life, then told me they were going to do an endoscopy to determine if it was the same thing that I had problems with last time(which was a gastric ulcer).  They did the endoscopy on Friday and said they didn't see any problems with the ulcer except that ya know...I have one.  They told me as long as I got my pain under control I could go home...so I stopped taking what they were giving me for pain and said I felt fine (I was starting to feel better...so I guess it was okay for me to say I felt fine). So they put me on some meds to reduce the acid (omeprazole) and sent me home.  I am supposed to check in in one to two weeks. and set up a doctors apt with my family doctor about my low Iron.  I am guessing that this low Iron deal is what's causing me to feel so tired.
So that was my past few days.  I've got bruises all over my arms from the IV's and I feel totally drained! But back to work I go! Hope everyone else had a much better past few days!

For my Ladies! Free Nail Polish!

Do you want to get a nail polish for SUPER cheap...pretty much free? You can use both of these coupons at the same time at Target and get a nice nail polish for almost free!  The price on the nail polish is about 2 bucks...and then you get two bucks off if you use both of these coupons!  So it's summer ladies...get yourself a fun summer color!
Target Dollar Off Sally Hason Nail Polish
Dollar Off Sally Hanson Nail Polish

So I had to get gas this morning.  I put 20 bucks worth of gas in the tank...and it only got me a quarter of a tank!  Really!?  It's not like I'm driving around a Hummer people...it's a regular, average size car! So to gas prices I say...please stop going up...I can't handle it anymore!

On another note....my husband got his licence renewed, and they don't give them to you anymore!  Now they send them too you! Well, he got his new one in the mail yesterday and I must say...it's ugly!  The only thing I find neat about it is the fact that it has an actual texture to the signature!  You can feel it, it's weird! It has one of the new giant windmills on it too...very odd...I didn't realize our state is known for this!

Tuesday...but it feels like Monday

Good Morning!  So it's a Tuesday but it feels like a Monday.  I posted the newest professional pictures of my little man!  He's such a cutie if I do say so myself...and I do! He's our future Hawkeye for sure! I saw some pictures of when he was little come across my electronic photo frame today...I can't believe how big he's gotten.  I am aware that this will just keep happening each day as he gets bigger.  I will look back on these pictures and think to myself...wow, look how small he was then!  Pictures are a great way to remember these days that pass by all to quickly. 
My first mother's day as a mother was great.  Well, technically I was a mother last year...but Hayden was in-utero!  At this point last year we had not even decided on a name!
The end of the school year is getting closer.  I am really looking forward to spending time with Hayden!  I can't wait to take him to the pool, to the park, on walks, and just play in the back yard!  And of course we'll be working on all those new fun skills like crawling forward, walking and saying MAMA! 

My Future Hawkeye!

My little buddy loves to clap!

He has this tounge thing right now...I think he's teething...it's just so cute!

 He just can't wait to get his hands on that football!

My little buddy...7 1/2 months old!

What a day, or should I say night?

So today is our 2nd year anniversary of marriage!  I'm thrilled, but having trouble showing it!  My little boy turned 8 months old last night and decided to wake up every 20 minutes till 3:30am...when my husband finally gave him a bottle and he still stayed awake a bit longer...then finally went to sleep.  I would say I am running on about 2 hours,maybe a little less, of sleep. My goodness I am tired!
Positive things for the day...
1. It's my second anniversary!  So what are you supposed to get for that anniversary? I read cotton or straw...socks it is!
2. Hayden turned 8 months old yesterday...he's getting big way too fast!
3. I had my first mothers day yesterday!  I love being a Mommy...even when he keeps me up all night long!

So today is going alright...but I'm feeling kinda crummy!  It started with me waking up late(grr...forgot to turn my alarm on).  Then I get up and I have a headache.  I'm thinking...this day needs to start getting better real fast!   Anyway, got Hayden to my mom's house(she watches him on Fridays) and then got to work.   Along with my headache I have gotten my monthly visit with brought cramps with it.  So overall I have to say I feel pretty cruddy.  We found out that my husband didn't get the job he had applied for...which is such a bummer.  On Wednesday night my Mother-In-Law had to go to the ER for some awful back spasms.  Wow...I just realized how depressing this post is!  Oh to some better news!

So first of all, my Uncle got a call to go do some testing for a job he applied for!  I will keep praying his test goes well so that he gets an interview and eventually a job he really wants!  I know that things like this are in God's hands...but throwing a couple requests via prayer sure doesn't hurt! I am excited for the first step in this process for him!

I know God has a plan for us all(including where he wants my husband working)so I try to just give things to God...but it's also just part of my nature to worry about things.  I want my husband to find a decent paying job that he doesn't dread going to every single day.  I know God will put him where he wants him...but it would be nice to get a break soon. 

Speaking of God, tonight is our Woman's Retreat out at the Janda Retreat Center near Anamosa.  I am very excited to hang out with the ladies from Church.  I am bringing Hayden with me this time.  While he is still a baby I am trying to take him where I can.  I know once he's a toddler I won't be able to just bring him along to these sorts of things...so I try to have fun taking him places now, when it's a little bit easier. I am really looking forward to this.  The fellowship with the ladies will be just what I need after this long day.  It will also be a good chance for me to get in some extra prayer time.  I can use as much of that as I can.

Going to these sorts of events makes me so thankful that Dewy introduced me to his church in 2007.  He brought me to his church the first time we started Dating in 2007.  I LOVED it the moment I walked in.  http://www.firstopenbible.com/

There was something very different about this church.  I felt God's presence when I walked in.  I joined the choir about 6 months later...by that time Dewy and I were not dating...but I still loved him.  Of course, eventually, Dewy came around and realized that he loved me too(how is that for the power of prayer!)

Even when Dewy and I were not dating, I loved the church.  I loved the people, the atmosphere, everything.  I knew I had found my place at the church.  I have learned so much about God since I have been there, and I am at the point where knowing more about Him is something I feel I want to seek out.  When I went to high school(Catholic) I took religion classes, but I didn't really take the time to learn about the Bible.  I feel like I wasted time I had to study the Bible because I wasn't interested then.

I feel like I have changed a lot since then when I comes to religion...well, when it comes to most things I guess!

My break is over and kiddos are about to get here! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

~Theresa

The end of the school year rolls near!

As I look at my calendar I am reminded that the end of the school year is getting near!  16 days left! I can tell my students are starting to get antzy! Our Senior homeroom got their caps and gowns today.  I then realized...I am about to complete my fifth year as a teacher. I remember hearing about the "Five Year Burnout" when I was in college.  I am thankful I don't feel that way.  While my job does have it's stressors, it gives me some down time now and then to reflect. Those times are sometimes more rare, and sometimes more abundant. While I am writing this, I have a few moments!  I love my job, and I love the kids I work with.  They drive me crazy sometimes, but truly I care about them and their sucess in life.  I hope to show myself as a good example to them.  I pray for my kids and pray I can be a good teacher to them. 
Last night my husband informed me as to what he is giving me for our anniversary!  It will be our 2nd anniversary on the 9th!  One day after Mother's day!
My husband bought us tickets to see "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe"!!! I am so excited.  I haven't been to a play in a long time and Dewy(my husband) does not go to plays.  But he says, "he'll go for me!" This is a big step for him!  Maybe someday I can get him to take me to a musical...okay...that's a stretch!
Happy Thursday Everyone!

New Look! New Prayers

I am trying out some new looks! Purple is pretty...what do you think?
I have a prayer request for anyone who reads this! I spoke with a young lady today who informed me that she had a miscarriage a few weeks ago.  I think she is okay for now, but she really could use prayers! Such a hard thing for Anyone, let alone a teenager to deal with! So please say a prayer!

The women's retreat is coming up on Friday for our church.  I am really looking forward to this.  I love sharing time with the great ladies from church.  I want to spend more time with them! In fact I feel like I have really had a lack of any sort of socialization with friends in the past few months! So just remember...I need you all!  It's hard sometimes because I am at a different place in life than a lot of my dear friends that I have had for a long time, and I don't want to burden them with stories of my kid all the time...not to mention I have to now find someone to watch Hayden if I want to go hang out without my little man.  Then it is also hard with my lovely ladies from church because everyone kind of has their own little groups already of their dear friends and I hate to feel I am intruding on their spaces. I want to have those close friends at church who keep my accountable in a Christian manner, and give me positive influence in my daily life!

So I found out yesterday I had a kidney infection.  Man O Man that hurts!  I thought it was a stone...but nope...it's the kidney.  Hopefully i'm feeling better soon because I do NOT want to have to go get IV antibiotics. Praying for a quick recovery!  I wanted so badly to break my diet yesterday when I stayed home...being sick=no diet...right?  Well I did stick to it...but I used a couple of my flex points for the week to get me by.

Picture Time!!!

Hi Mom! Why are you taking my picture again?

Grandpa Roberts and Hayden Celebrating Easter!...Grandpa tried to feed him chocolate!

Great Grandpa Wyman and Hayden.  Hayden just got his first Glow Worm!

Aunt Dawnelle stuffing Eggs!  And looking Good~!

Uncle John...the grill master...or so he thinks!

Whitney taking that pinta down!

Best part of it is the candy

Daddy and Hayden Easter Sunday

First Family Easter Photo

Second try...it's hard to get a baby to look at the camera.

What a pain in the...kidney

So...I am home today with a kidney infection.  It is really killing me!  Lots of pain...nothing fun about it.  Hayden has been laying next to me taking a nap, but he just now woke up...so I better keep an eye on this little joy of my life!  He's such a doll!

Big Smiles

My little man...7months old!

Weight Watchers

So I just put in my weekly weigh in...3 weeks in...11 pounds down! Woo Hoo!

Pure Easter Excitement!

Students...

Today:
Student: "Can you read this to me Mrs. Gail"
Me: "Yes"
long pause
Student: "Well?"
Me: "You asked me if I could read it to you, not if I would read it to you"
long pause
Me: "So...what do you want to ask me?"
Student: "Well can you read it to me?"
I think this may have been to deep of a thought for a Friday!

Continuing on with my life...

Yesterday I never got to finish telling about my crazy past few years!  Well my husband and I got married in May 2009 and got to know each other in all kinds of new ways once we finally lived together.  It was a little rough some days.  Living with someone 24/7 shows you a whole new side of things!  We had some pretty bad fights and we had some pretty great days too.  In December 2009 we went to Disney with his dad, his step mom, his younger brother and sister.  I had never been to Disney(not only happiest place on earth...possibly the cleanest as well!) We had a blast!  We didn't have a honeymoon...so this was kind of our big trip!  When we arrived in Chicago on the way home we got snowed in for the night...thank goodness we bought the insurance policy for the vacation! It was a nice relaxing trip!
One month later, I found out I was pregnant! 
Most of my pregnancy was great.  I had two little problems.  I had a lot of pain where I had my appendix removed when I was a kid.  The doctor said my scar was stretching out...that hurt a lot! Second small problem...I swelled up like a blimp!  My poor feet...I didn't know if they would ever go back to their original shape!  I was feeling uncomfortable at my job(Teacher) even though we had just begun the school year...I was ready to have that baby out of my belly and into my arms!
Then on a lovely Wednesday in September we had our baby boy!  I had to have a C-Section due to him being breech.  They tried moving him...but he was stuck in their pretty good.  I thought that the kid must weigh like 12 lbs. at the least with as much weight as I had gained!  60lbs! He came out a perfect 7lbs 14oz.  I almost cried thinking I would never lose that weight again! ***Side Note***in July 2007 I had gastric bypass surgery and had finally lost about 85lbs...only to gain back 60lbs when I got pregnant!
So...I had my beautiful, perfect, little boy...along with a bunch of extra weight hanging on my body.  The doctor said..."Don't worry, it's mostly water weight, wait for the swelling to go down."  Well speaking as a girl that has always had issues with her weight, I thought for sure she was crazy and that weight would never go away again!  About a week later I was back to the weight I was before Hayden(our baby) was born. The problem was that due to my indulgence while I was pregnant I feared that I had re-stretched out my stomach to the previous size before my surgery.  While I have no way to really figure that out...the next couple months showed me that this was probably true. 
Well...it's about 7 months later and I feel my fears were confirmed!  I gain about 10lbs since Hayden was born!  This is quite a hit when you have been used to slowly loosing weight over the past few years. I felt I needed to try something else. On April 11th I joined Weight Watchers.  It's quite the new system from what it was back in the day when I tried it! 
So here I am.  New Mom, New Wife with my New Life!  I am working on weight loss...balancing new motherhood and attempting to be a good wife and keeping up with my teaching career!  I will also begin the new membership class at our church on Sunday.  I want to be more involved with our church.  I belong to the choir...but becoming an actual member will mean a lot to me!
Well...more to come soon! Maybe I'll actually make it to present day soon!

So...just a little warning for you!

I just ask people to keep in mind that the advertisments on my blog are random and do not reflect my opinion or preferences in any way! More to come later today!

My First Blog!

Well in the new age of "blogs" I guess I was bound to start one up!  I had tried to blog before, and realized I didn't have a whole lot of time.  Well now that things are settling down a little bit...I guess I will start again.  To begin, I will share a bit about myself. I have lived in the same city my whole life.  Grade school, middle school and then high school...all in Cedar Rapids!  Then college...still in Cedar Rapids...my first big kid job...still in Cedar Rapids!  I met my husband here...had our baby here...and here I am...still in Cedar Rapids.  I must love it here, otherwise I've wasted 28 years of my life.  Well my husband asked me to marry him December of 2008...we got married May 2009 and we had our baby boy in September 2010...that's a pretty busy couple years! 
When asked how i've adjusted to marriage...well you just do it!  We didn't live together before we were married(I know kids these days think that's kinda old fashioned...but we didn't).  There was a LOT to adjust to when we moved in together.  We had some pretty good fights after that first "honeymoon" month.  I was lead to believe that the "honeymoon stage" was supposed to be the first year!  But I guess that's how my husband and I do things...fast!~
Well more about my history in tomorrows addition of my little blog. I am off to get my little boys pictures taken...I'm sure I will post at least one of those when I get them back!
~Theresa