living

The holidays approach. I know this because my adorable hubby has already begun to hang Christmas lights on our house. (I did, however, convince him it was a little early to cut down our tree.) Needless to say, we love the holiday season and the warmth, love, family, and relaxation that it brings. Although yearly bliss is coming, I can't help but relish in the mundane tonight. As I sit in my couch nook watching football with Michael, a kicking Liam, and a giant bag of gummy worms I feel so content. Don't get me wrong, there is a sea of things to do in my worlds of homeowner, teacher, photographer, children's minister, mom-to-be, etc. But at this moment...I say time out, take a deep breath, and just soak it up. Because life is good. Because life is in the everyday crazies, joys, and timeouts. Because I don't want to live for the next big thing. I want to live fully in the now and whatever it holds. So here's to lazy Sunday nights! Cheers!

Happy Halloween

Michael and I have gotten to be a part of several fall festivities so far this year: corn maze, pumpkin patch, fall festivals, etc. We are both so excited to get to share these experiences with Liam next year. We can't wait to meet him! Here are a few photos of Liam's halloween costume this year. My first graders loved it.









We are currently 23 weeks into our pregnancy. I cannot believe I am over half way there! It has flown by. This stage of pregnancy has by far been the easiest and the best. Besides tiredness and some nightly aches, I feel really great! No more food aversions. Instead, I am craving all food...all day. As a result of this, and the growing baby boy, I have grown out of almost all my clothes. Growing, gaining weight, and changing shape are very new for me, but I am really loving it. My favorite thing of course is the sweet kicks I feel through out the day. It makes me feel so connected to our Liam. Michael talks to the baby every night. He shares stories, music, and tells Liam how much he loves him. He is already such a great dad. He also takes great care of me when I drag my giant pregnant self into the house each evening. I couldn't ask for a better husband! I already love our family of three! I greatly anticipate February while still soaking up and truly enjoying pregnancy...a journey so much more amazing than I could of dreamed.

The Name Game...

Although this is our first baby, I also have 17 babies of my own that I spend each weekday with...of course they are all 6. My first graders have loved asking about our sweet baby ever since I told them a few weeks back. Some of my girls will sweetly tell the baby they love him and pat my bump as they walk by. Some of my boys will so politely state that I am much bigger and the baby will probably come soon...awesome news considering we are only halfway there. Earlier this week I had my kids make their guess at boy or girl. Most the class said girl. Our morning work for Wednesday was a paper proclaiming It's a BOY! They all then wrote their name suggestions and what what they think little baby boy Sawyer will look like:




and I will now be praying every night that our child does not look like this...



The name list includes Benton, Jordan, Caleb, and several votes for Bob. I believe we even had Borton suggested. Although we were almost swayed with having baby Borton, I am glad to announce baby Sawyer will be named
William Edward.
We plan to call him Liam. This is a name Michael and I have both been in love with for years. We knew from the moment we got pregnant that, if this baby was a boy, his name would be Liam. Now we know way we struggled to find a girl name...because it didn't matter! Michael and I feel so much more connected to the kicking bundle inside when we can call him by name. It makes this all the more real.

We love you Liam Edward...

It's a...

There will be ultrasound and baby bump pictures to come...But for now, I just need to share with the world that we are having a boy! The last week has been filled with little kicks and I have felt more and more connected to the little angel inside. Today when the technician said it was a boy, I completely fell in love. I have never felt more like a mom. I feel so blessed and so anxious to see his sweet face. I am starting to picture and dream about our future family of three and all the love and memories to come...deep sigh...

Michael and I have felt like we would have a boy since we got married 4 years ago. Michael has been saying "he" all along and was thrilled that his intuition was correct. We have already started planning for our Mr. By that I mean, I have spent all evening bugging Michael with all the sweet nursery ideas I see online :) I am ready to make our new house his home.

Disney World

This post is way over due, but here we go. Michael and I had an amazing vacation to Disney World this summer. Being pregnant made the trip a little different than we had envisioned (no rides, nausea, and two hour afternoon naps). We loved the whole week, especially The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was magical and definitely a wonderful week. Here are a few photos from our trip.

Our Peach

So we we had our 12 week ultrasound this week. Michael and I were completely amazed to see our packing peanut from four weeks ago looking and MOVING like a baby! For the first 10 minutes or so, Sawyer was completely asleep. He/she would just roll over or move his/her arms... not really cooperate with the technician. The first time Sawyer moved, Michael and I became wide eyed and speechless. It was amazing to see our baby wiggle around and hear the steady-paced heartbeat. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is moving. We will be holding Sawyer in our arms before you know it...I can't wait.

And the two shall become...

THREE! Michael and I found out on Father's Day that we are expecting our first child. Words can't express how thrilled we are. We feel so honored/terrified at the gift of becoming parents. We already feel a great sense of responsibility for taking care of our little one (whom we are affectionately calling Sawyer until we find out the gender). Today, we are 10 weeks and 2 days. Our estimated due date is February 25th. From what I hear, I am experiencing all the awesomeness that goes with the first trimester: exhaustion, nausea, funky cravings, and complete body changes. Although I don't look pregnant yet, I feel it in every way. We go back to the doctor this week and our next ultrasound is in two weeks! Overall, we are both so thrilled and anxiously anticipating the day we get to love on our sweet Sawyer. 1/4th of the way there!

sidenote: for those of you who come across this before August 11th, we are keeping it kind of hush hush before I start the new school year. Thanks for helping us keep our secret until then.