Twas the Night Before Chirstmas

We (Hayden) is desperately waiting for Santa....




The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. I am so glad that the stockings are done!! They turned out so cute. I hand sewed the things on to the stockings. I can't believed I did all this by myself (except for sewing the stockings together). It was a lot of work but so worth it...I would do it again. I love that I put Hayden's name on his train. I hope to keep these for years to come.




Yesterday we made cookies and rice crispies for Santa. Hayden made a train for him. David and Hayden decorated it!

Happy Days

I am so excited that I more than half way through my pregnancy. I have only 19 weeks to go! I can't wait to meet our baby. Our lives will be turned upside down as we all learn to adjust to the new arrival. I think a little struggle in the beginning will be worth it to see smiles and hear laughter in the end. Hayden has been such a troop. He loves to include baby brother in everything. If we are playing he will let him play too. He wants to teach him everything...how to play sports, make a train, do puzzles, and run fast. At night Hayden will tickle baby and then he asks is he laughing. So precious.... I have been feeling a lot of movement. The baby doesn't like me to lay me on my belly and moves like crazy. I am having pain as my belly grows. Picking up things and sweeping are really uncomfortable because of the weight of the baby. We went to the doctor today and she said all of that was normal. She said the more babies you have the hard it is. I also didn't gain any weight the last 4 weeks which is surprising because with the holidays and the good food I figured I would. We went for an ultrasound and it all came back normal! Oh, what a relief. The heart looked and sounded good. The baby weighs 11 ounces which is on track. We are so glad everything is going good. My due date hasn't changed so I will be due on May 15, but we will have a schedule c-section the week before.

Don't Tell

The other day I was wrapping presents and the mail man came and dropped off David's presents. Hayden was begging to open the box. I told him that we could once David left. So Hayden opened the boxes and was playing with David's presents. I went over and over the rules of not telling David. I told him that you can't tell him no matter what, even if he asked you to or tells you he will give you something. He said okay mom, I won't tell it will be our secret. So of course I believed a four year old. When David got home we were eating lunch and not even 5 minutes went by before he spilled the beans. It wasn't like he made a mistake and told no he just blurted it out. Then he brought him the presents that were wrapped and told him which ones were what. Needless to say David and I opened our presents already!! I think we learned we can't let Hayden in on any secrets. Oh the joys of a typically four year old boy! I am loving staying home and learning so much from him.

Cousin Time

Last weekend Emily and Jason came to town. We did a lot of stuff together. Friday night, we went to ride the train at Living Stones. Before we went Hayden was talking about how much fun playing with Ava is. I told him he had to include Laney too. He didn't like that so much, but then I reminded him how would baby brother would feel if he didn't play with him. He said okay mom, I will play with her and take care of her too. He did do that. On the train, Hayden was sitting next to her and wrapped his arm around her and held her tight so that she wouldn't fall. It was too cute!! He also sat on Santa's lap for the first time but didn't say a thing. I think he was scared and shy! After the train ride Emily and Jason spent the night. It was long and crazy night, all of the kids were excited and wouldn't lay down to go to sleep. Hayden was the first one out...he usually goes to bed at 8 but it was after 11! The next morning they were up early and eager to play!! They really had a blast and enjoy spending time together. Laney is a lot like Hayden she likes puzzles and tools. They went out on the deck and were "working". I am glad that Hayden is close to his cousins. That night we went to the parade in Friendswood. Hadyen love the marching band and the fire trucks. All in all we had a great weekend and Hayden really misses his cousin Ava.

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Smarty Pants

I know this is a never-ending subject with me but I know my kid is smart, but not just a typically 4 year old smart, but like crazy smart! Let me just give an example of a few things he can do..complete a 100 piece puzzle, read books, solve math problems, and retell stories and nursery rhymes. During the summer, Hayden went with me to set up my classroom a lot. He was busy playing and I was working. He got very familiar with a few toys. The other day he asked if I could bring the punching guys home so he could play with them. I couldn't remember to bring them home. I told Hayden he would have to write me a note. So he did...he said the word punching over and over again until he was listening to the sounds and on his paper he wrote PNG (if you know anything about invented spelling then he is on the right track... invented spelling is writing the sounds that you hear and he did just that)!! So then for guys he wrote GYZ. I was a proud mama! So him writing words brought me to the conclusion he is ready for more. So yesterday he read 2 books (we talked about putting sounds together when you come to a word you don't know and really took off with that) and learned two new words and wrote this....



All of this smartness got me and David thinking that he is ready for more. So we are looking at private schools for next year for Pre-K. He is already in the highest group of kids at his school now and is one of the smartest one's there. He is always eager to learn and wants to be taught things. The next thing on his agenda is counting to 100. I am hoping that will take awhile!!

Great News

The last time I received a phone call from my doctor it wasn't news I wanted to hear. Last week she called with great news. At my last appointment she said that she still wanted me to go for the special heart ultrasound. She said that after talking with the heart specialist they agreed that it wasn't necessary for me to go unless my normal ultrasound showed something wrong with the heart rate. My doctor thinks that everything will be fine. We think so too! I was so thrilled to call David and tell him..the whole time he has reassured me and let me know everything will be okay! He has such a positive outlook on things when I only see the bad.

My classes are officially over until January. But one of my teacher sent us this.



*You might want to fast forward to the singing because it is kinda long*

I truly love teaching, really teaching special needs. I know some days are difficult but I will take the bad with the good. I love how it took 4 months to teach one of my kids subtraction but last we he did it on his own! I love how it took 3 months to teach one of my non-verbal kiddos to sign his my name is ________! I love that I taught my anger issue kid what to do when he gets mad and how to stay calm and how he can't start the day without telling me a story or leave without giving me hug! I am truly enjoying each day I spend with them and I would take a few home with me if I could. Many times people think the these kids will be a burden on society yes, some of my students will have to go live in a home when their parents can no longer provide care for them. Others will live a great life and function on their own and if I can teach one thing to my students it is that they are loved and are here for a purpose.

Santa, Santa

David and I love telling Hayden about Christmas. So the other day Hayden got a letter in the mail from Santa. He wasn't sure who it was from and at first he was looking for something inside and when nothing was there he looked puzzled. Hayden has the card in his room and often rereads it and says Santa elves are watching...! He really enjoys it.



The Monday of Thanksgiving week David had told Hayden that he needed to make a list for Santa. He got me up early, all ready to get started on it. He was asking how to spell this, is this right...I figured instead of spelling each toy out he could cut it out. What I love most about it is that he copied words that he asked me to write. I have a weird thing, I love kids beginning handwriting. I think it is because their handwriting changes and it is neat to go back to see how much they grew. In case your wondering it says Dear Santa I want..on the back he put Love Hayden. Oh how I love it!

Black Friday

I have been meaning to write the post but last week was filled with 2 finals and company. Amy came down for Thanksgiving and we had a blast. It was really fun to have someone go shopping with and look for crazy deals. We spent a few days at aunt Ann's and then geared up to go shopping. We had a plan and got a lot of great deals. We went to ToysRus, CVS, Walgreens, Target, Jcpenny (stores in the mall), and BabysRus. I am so excited because I got finished shopping for Hayden . We also play a white elephant game on both sides and finished that too. My favorite purchase that day was a new crib and changing table that I picked up for the baby. We only spent $140 for both, less then the price of a crib. I am pleased as punch with all of the money saved. I hid a lot of stuff so, Sunday I was running around searching for everything because I can't remember where I put anything(it has to do with being pregnant)!! Anyways, Black Friday morning David and I were looking at furniture deals. We desperately needed a new couch. So we went to 3 furniture stores, we found a set of leather couches at Gallery. David finagled a good deal so that night we had a new furniture in the living room. We love it!! We finished all of our shopping with the internet, so I won't have to brave the crowds to pick up any last minute gifts. I will have to go for groceries but that isn't too bad. I am glad that Black Friday is over and done with because after being up for 24 hours and only about 4 hours of sleep I was exhausted.

Baby Update

Last Monday, we went back to the doctor for my monthly check up. She did some blood work for a few test, everything came back fine. The exciting news was we heard the heart beat with the Doppler machine. It was so refreshing, what made it even sweeter was the heart rare was in normal range. When the baby moved and she had to find it again the heart rate did jump up like it can. So what the doctor basically said was go to the heart ultrasound in a few weeks but she didn't see a problem. I love good news!! I find that the weeks are passing quickly and I am not paying attention to the baby. I felt the baby move last week but I didn't feel it again so I figured it was something else. Tonight, it was strong and occurred often so it has to be a baby!! It only happens when I am still and laying on my back. I don't sit still long enough for it to happen. One of my kids at school was asking me, what's wrong with your belly, it keeps getting bigger and then looks at it again and say I don't see a baby! Currently I am 17 weeks and counting...19 weeks will be half way for me!! I am tired but no other complaints. I love the second trimester, it is the easiest for me.

Tomorrow Hayden Christmas list to Santa and then rewind to Thanksgiving break.

Graduation!!

Last week was crazy busy!! David school was over on Thursday so last week meant a lot of late nights for him, so he could study. For Hayden and me, a few projects to do. I am so relieved and happy that David is through school and passed everything with flying colors. David is crazy smart, I say it all the time but it is hard for me to comprehend how he gets things and how easy it is for him. He really shined on Friday. He won Top Gun Award, which means he was the best shooter out of his class with close to a 96 average. He was .300 away from being top of his class. He really worked hard. He is going to be good on the streets. He reads people like a book and is a lot smart then the average Joe which will pay off. We aren't sure exactly when he will start work, but the testing process will begin tomorrow. I think he is itching to start working. Hayden did so well at the graduation. He was clapping and so proud of his Dad. He tried so hard to understand what we going on, but loved it when David won his award. I am so proud of you, all of the late nights and the law books were so worth it!

Okay, so we let a four year old take picture a few days ago and we didn't get a chance to clean the camera or fix the settings. I think I took around 100 pictures but only 3 came out.....


I love this picture of "my boys"! They were both so happy. Hayden. I think because he got to hold the special award!!

Christmas Cheer

Oh, how we love Christmas. I am not over obsessed with it but I like to decorate and love the lights. We haven't put our tree up or anything else. We try to go it that Saturday after Thanksgiving but it didn't happen. So, yesterday we decorated the tree. It was fun, except something is wrong with the lights so we have few sections that aren't working...David gave up after 45 minutes of changing stuff out. Hayden had a blast and we only broke one ornament. Hayden likes the ornaments that are his, a truck and train. He even has a few that he has made from school. Today, when we got home we put out some stuff for outside, but it was too cold to hang lights up so we put up a blow up dog. Hayden loves it...and of course we had to name it. Later this evening we put lights in the windows and window clings on. I made stockings over Thanksgiving break and can't wait to hang them up. I am in the process of hand sewing Hayden's so maybe next week I will finish and take a picture. Here are some pictures...Love this Christmas spirit. Also, ask Hayden to sing some Christmas carols...let's just say we have been practicing a lot!!