Smorgasbord #7

Last weekend, we went to register for Eli at a few stores and Brianna and Marley joined us. It was very overwhelming. I made a list on my phone of things to register for, but in my absent mindedness I somehow deleted it and had to start from scratch. Bad idea! Especially a bad idea when the saleslady tells you where you need to start and what they suggest you buy and how many. Thank goodness for Brianna and her new mommy expertise. 

A couple of hours later, we finished our registry with only a few things that will need to be deleted because they are doubled or Chris researched them a bit further (big surprise!) and saw that they weren't as good as what he found online.

Here he is checking out a jogging stroller. We did not register for this stroller, but another one that was a bit lighter and fit the baby at all sizes.

While we were registering, Miss Marley wanted to get a good view of the lights. Bri tried out her new baby carrier and Marley enjoyed the ride.

On Sunday, Chris and I hung around the house with the dogs. Mr. Bates was being especially cuddly and plopped himself behind me for a nap.

School started this week. The first couple of days have been very exhausting and a bit more exhausting than usual as I am now 8 months pregnant. My coworkers have been great by checking on me and giving me much needed bathroom breaks that usually happen in the middle of class. 

On the first day of school, my principal and vice-principal brought around gigantic cupcakes. I picked out this chocolate chip one and took it home to half it with Chris. I had to use a fork to eat it because there was so much icing. It was delicious and I was told it was made by Gigi's bakery in Dallas. 

Bri invited my dad, Corey, and myself over for dinner this week. It was nice to kick back and cuddle up with Marley. This little girl has my heart and I just can't stop oohing over her. Here eyes are so blue and she was so active. She wanted to see everything.

 

This weekend we are packing up and heading to West for West Fest. Once again, we have a spot on the campgrounds and are borrowing a camper from our friend's parents. Weather is looking like triple digits, so it's going to be H-O-T! Bringing plenty of water and planning on staying cool as much as I can. This will be our 5th year to go together and our last one as a family of two!

School's Back in Session

School officially starts next week, but for teachers it mentally started about a month ago. As the days got closer to inservice, we began thinking about our Pinterest ideas and how we would design our classrooms and lesson plans for the upcoming year. Since I came late in the year, I inherited a plethora of teaching supplies that needed to be filtered through. I pretty much left the room as is when I came in February, but was very excited to give it my own spin when I got in my classroom a few weeks ago.

My brother came and helped me by hanging border around the room. He did a great job and really saved me because this pregnant lady isn't getting on a ladder.

To bring more of my personality to the room, I bought a Mumford & Sons and a Downton Abbey poster to represent my British taste.

I saw this on Pinterest (this phrase has become a common saying out of my mouth lately) and really wanted a Boggle board for my room. These are actually Scrabble tiles, but I made them work. I'm hoping that I will remember to change the letters around every 6 weeks or so. This will be a fun activity for the students to do when they finish their work and keep their brains active.

I also saw this on Pinterest and thought it fit so well with junior high students. It says, "Before you 'message', 'Facebook', 'Skype', 'phone', 'Instagram', or 'tweet'...THINK! Is it?... True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?" I need to remember this as an adult as well. Bullying gets serious in this age group and maybe this will stop someone from making a bad decision.

 

My classroom in a collage

One more Pinterest idea...I promise! 

We have open house this week and I wanted to give the students something to remember my class and let them know that we are a team. I got the inspiration from Pinterest, but created this on my own. 

I created a tag using shapes in Word and added the text, "We're off to a bright year!"

I attached glow sticks that I got on clearance from Walmart and tied a ribbon using school colors.

Here's the final product.

 

I'm really looking forward to this school year. There are so many positive changes to my school and I cannot wait to see how we will all grow. I'm going to miss the last of the fall semester, due to Eli's arrival, but am working with them to find a suitable substitute for my time off. 

Here's to a successful school year to all of my fellow teachers!

30 Weeks

Ahhh! Am I really at 30 weeks?? I know it's cliche, but where did the time go? Only 10 more weeks and we get to meet this little Gilburt. We've been busy working on Eli's room (see post on it here). This has been a huge check mark for us. I've been working on a rough registry list for Eli, but need to actually make it by going to the shops. My baby shower is planned for the end of September, so I really need to get on the ball and do it. My sis volunteered to go with us and help us decipher what we really need and what is unnecessary.

I also contacted my photographer for maternity pictures for the next couple of weeks. I'm really excited to take these and capture this temporary and beautiful time of pregnancy. I'm waiting on a custom item from Etsy to come in for the pictures, but it's not expected to ship for a few more weeks. I may have to make a replacement.

I went to the doctor at 28 weeks and when I got on the scale they said, "Oh!" I asked what that meant and looked at the scale to see that I had gained 8 lbs. since my last appointment (24 weeks)!! I was a little disappointed, but the nurses reassured me that I had only gained a total of 11 lbs. in my pregnancy. The next two weeks consisted of our birthday celebrations with lots of cake, take-out food, and mindless eating. It should not have surprised me when I went back this week and I had gained another 5 lbs. Now I am at 16 lbs. total gained. Eeesh!! I am back to focusing on whole grains, fruits, and protein. It's going to be hard with school starting up, but I want myself and Eli to be healthy.

At this past appointment, I had another sonogram and we got our last picture of Eli in the womb. It was neat to see him moving around and putting his hands in his face. He looked quite comfortable in there, but is going to run out of room very shortly.

I'm now at 2 week check-ups, instead of once a month, and will start weekly check-ups in 6 weeks. Can't believe we are this far. Eli has already changed our lives and we can't wait to see how he will continue to do that.

Chris's 30th Birthday

Chris turned 30 this past week and I wanted to do something big for him. 30 is a huge milestone in adulthood as it makes us realize that we are no longer in our footloose and fancy free 20s and need to start getting our stuff in order.

 I decided to throw Chris a surprise birthday party the same night as my dad's rock 'n roll band, Studebakers, were playing at a local bar. Since we frequently go to hear them play it was an easy place to host the party. 

I had a lot of help from close friends and family to pull this off. A friend of ours, who works at the same company as Chris, arranged for Chris to get out of work early and to have a drink with him at Chili's while I got things ready at the bar. My BIL met me in town to take the cake and bring it to the bar so Chris wouldn't see it when he got home. I had one more appetizer to make for the party and went to the garage freezer to retrieve it. I noticed water coming out of it and opened the freezer to find all of the food warm. I had just gone to Sam's a few days before and stocked up on food for when school starts in a few weeks. We lost about $50 worth of food, but I tried not to let it ruin the evening. 

Our friends and family brought some delicious food for the party: caprese salad, fiesta ranch dip, bacon wrapped Smokies, jalapeno poppers, and rattlesnake eggs. The cake turned out great, too. H-E-B did a fantastic job at a reasonable price. I had them put the phrase, "Pip Pip Cheerio The Brit is Turning the Big 3-0" on it.

I remembered to get one picture of us

Some of our friends who came out to celebrate

He was so happy to be turning 30. He walked into the bar with a surprised look on his face to see some of his closest friends waiting for him. I later found out that he knew about the party. A few weeks ago, he opened up the laptop and the first thing that popped up was my Facebook page displaying the party. I was a little disappointed that he knew, but I'm glad that he was a good sport and went along with it.

My dad's band, Studebakers

Last Tuesday was Chris' actual birthday. He had been wanting an Xbox 360 for a bit and thought that would be a good gift to give him from his mom and grandad. He was so excited to open it up when he got home at 10:30 at night.

The day after his party, I woke up to this in the living room. I think I traded my 30 year old husband for a 15 year old boy.

Chris' dad and I got him a new power saw. I also got him matching shirts with Eli. Chris' shirt is on the left and it says, "Pint". Eli's is on the right and it says, "Half Pint". It was the perfect gift to give my British husband and British-American son. (The rest of the outfits in this picture are deals I got on Zulily and Baby Legs for Eli.)

As Chris turned 30 last week, I turn 28 this week. I'm hoping to go to Pizza House in West for some skunk eggs. I went there last year for my birthday and it was a nice hole-in-the-wall restaurant to get us ready for West Fest in a few weeks.

Getting Ready for Eli

A few posts ago, I compiled a list of things to get done before Eli gets here. I made Sunday afternoon the time to get Eli's room together as much as we could. Chris started to put the crib together and had a bit of help from the dogs.

Once he got the crib up, we started moving other furniture around. We brought the glider and a toy chest to place in the room. Chris also brought in his baby blanket and we put it on the back rail of the crib.

 He wanted to add a few of his toys to put on the canoe shelves. When it was complete, I had one item on the shelf, my old Glow Worm, and the rest of the shelves were filled with Chris' stuffed animals and toy cars. He was so excited to show me all of his cars and I can't wait for him to show that same excitement to Eli one day.

After all of their work, Doris and Mr. Bates decided that they needed a break. I think they are starting to suspect that something or someone is coming. They wanted to stay in Eli's room the whole time and sniff it out. 

Based on how they've been acting around Marley, we think Doris is going to be our Nana and Bates is going to be our scared baby. When I was holding Marley, Doris put her head on my lap and didn't want to part from the baby, while Mr. Bates couldn't run fast enough away from Marley. Although a few nights ago, I had a couple of my cousins over and their 15 month old daughter loved Bates and kept sitting on top of him like a horse and pulling on his ears. Mr. Bates never budged and didn't seem to mind any of it.

Ultimately, I think they will be just fine with our kids and will find themselves in a new role as big brother and big sister.

Summer Wedding

This past Saturday was my cousin Cassie's wedding. Brianna and I were both in the wedding and had a great time planning and enjoying the big day.

 Cassie had her wedding at St. John's and reception at the KJT Hall. She added some really cool aspects to their wedding. Cassie and Daniel are huge sports fans and arranged for the announcer of the Chicago Bulls to introduce the wedding party in the hall. They also sent an invitation to the Dallas Mavericks player, Dirk Nowitzki, and he replied by signing their invitation. 

Dad, Bri, and I

The Mikula girls. Cassie looked absolutely stunning

Mr. and Mrs. Mach

Had to get at least one of us

And the new Lytle Family

Since my sis was busy getting ready for the wedding, my mom was in charge of Marley. She sent us this pic to tell us that Marley was ready to party. She looks a lot like my sister in this picture.

We had a great time at Cassie's wedding and Miss Marley was the life of the party. She looked so cute all dolled up and didn't mind people holding her. She even wobbled for a bit with me. 

It will be awhile before we have another family wedding. I hope there will be one soon enough to take Eli to and dress him up.