Words of Encouragement

Yesterday afternoon was rough. My 7th and 8th grade choirs were not very cooperative.
I didn't get a very good night sleep last night, so I was dreading them today. At lunch time, I remembered some stickers that my friend Amy had given me along with a gift for Bekah around Bekah's 2nd b-day. I pulled them out of my desk and looked over them. 3 really stuck out to me, so I put them on notecards and taped them to my piano where I could glance at them from time to time during rehearsal today. They are not scriptural or anything, but they were very encouraging to me today, and I really had a wonderful afternoon because of it. I thought I'd share them with you.

-Smile often, just for the fun of it!
-Sing your own song in your own special way.
-Live in peace and peace will live in you.

I hope that these encourage you today.

4 Days, 3 States

Thursday- Drove to Indiana, ate with Bobby's parents and sister, Faithe's husband, Nathan arrived in the evening


Friday- hung out, ate, ate some more (still in Indiana)


Saturday- got up, drove to Columbus, OH to help my sister and fam move to the house the just bought( I babysat the 3 kids), spent the evening with my parents


Sunday- got up, went to church, back to my parents' for lunch, packed up, back to my sis's to help more, headed back to Kentucky around 4:30 pm.





Finally home around 8:30 pm. Watching Colts game, trying to catch up.


A few pics from the weekend.

Thanksgiving (so far)

We have had a lovely break so far for Thanksgiving. We arrived to Bobby's parents' house around noon yesterday and have been enjoying visiting with his parents, and Faithe and Nathan. We have been eating, watching Bekah play, playing with Bekah, eating, playing games, taking walks, eating, and did I mention that we've been eating?
Tomorrow morning we head bright and earlly to Columbus, OH. My sister and her family are moving into the house they just bought. Bobby will be helping with the move, and I will be babysitting Bekah and my nephews. We will have a bit of family time with them later in the day and on Sunday.

That's all for now. More later. :~)

20 Weeks

She's definitely growing!! (Please ignore the wet hair!!)

It's A......

GIRL!!! Yeah!! Mommy got what she wanted. Daddy's a little sad, but he's glad that I'm happy. Sarah Catherine Fannin currently weighs 15 oz. and is 10 inches long.

I think that Bekah's "underneath" view was a lot more clear, but the ultrasound tech. went at it from several different angles and it was obvious there is nothing there. The printed/scanned picture is just not extremely clear.

The first picture is Bekah's "underneath" view, while the second one is Sarah's, and the 3rd one is Sarah's profile.

The Holidays are Coming

You want to know how we can tell around our house? Bobby has to leave for work earlier. Today he should have left around 3:40 to give himself the amount of time he mornally likes to leave. I can't leave school till 3:45. If you know our daughter at all, you know she is very active, and it is no longer plausible for me to try and have her at school with me after school. Because of this, I got home at 3:47 (we live less than a mile from my school), and Bobby left at 3:50. He still got there in plenty of time, but not quite as early as he would have liked. :~)

One more day of school!! Ultrasound Wednesday at 12:40 pm to find out what this baby is. I'm still hoping for a girl and Bobby for a boy, but neither of us will be upset if it's what the other wants.

The pictures included are from after school a few minutes ago. Bekah is engrossed in Dora, and the other is my attempt at taking a descent picture of the two of us. Believe me, this one was the best.

FYI- If the baby's a girl, the name will Sarah Catherine (Catherine after both my and Bobby's grandmothers that are no longer living, and Sarah for no reason other than we like it and we wanted an H on the end like Rebekah, Biblical.) If the baby's a boy, the name with be Paul Robert. (after my dad and Bobby's dad). We thought about Robert Paul and calling the baby Paul, since we don't need any more Bobbys or Bob's , Bobby is a Jr. already, but we really like Paul Robert.

2 More Days

I took a half day today because Bekah finally gave me her cold. I had the "medicine-head" feeling without taking any medicine. 2 more days of school until my 5 day weekend. I am ready for it!! I am also ready to have our first ultrasound for this baby. We're very excited to find out if it's a boy or girl.
Thanksgiving here we come!!

19 Weeks

Non-maternity shirt, maternity pants

Weight gain- approx. 10 lbs.

Little Panties and Sitting on the Potty

Bekah's little panties are too cute not to show. Here they are next to my hand. I have a small hand (long fingers, but small palm) so you can see how cute and tiny they are.

Here is Bekah sitting on the potty last night while watching Dora. She is very accommodating when you tell her she can watch Dora. She has yet to actually go while watching Dora for me, but twice for Bobby. Oh the joys of Toddlerhood.

2 nights in a row

She's slept through the night 2 days in a rows. She didn't go to bed until 10:15, but that's okay. I slept completely uninterrupted from midnight to 6:20 am. Same position!! Rolled over and slept till my alarm went off at 7 am. Another victory.

On a side note, Bekah went potty on her little potty yesterday morning and this morning while watching Dora, of course.

Faithe and Nathan

When we went to South Carolina last month, we met Bobby's sister (Faithe) and her husband (Nathan) in Spartanburg, SC. They live in Atlanta, GA. It was about a 3 hour drive for them. I neglected to post any pictures from the time we spent with them.

2nd Graduate Class

I am officially 1/3 of the way through my second graduate class. It is called Assertive Discipline and Beyond and is through Indiana Wesleyan and Canter. It is a video class. I started taking these classes that I can renew my Indiana teaching license by April in case we move back to Indiana after seminary.
I am learning a lot. I am glad we made the decision for me to take these classes to renew instead of starting my masters right away. I will have my electives done for the IWU masters of education online when I start sometime in 2008 or so, and the classes have helped me a lot in my current teaching situation.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

She slept through the night!! Yeah!! She went to bed after 10 pm, but she slept through the night. I didn't even get up to go to the bathroom. Yeah!!

First Hair Cut

Today I cut Bekah's hair for the first time. A few weeks ago, I trimmed her bangs because they were in her eyes, but not more than that. Today we trimmed it up. Because she twists her hair so much and gets her fingers stuck in her hair, she had some dead ends. I had a lot of fun evening this out. She was a trooper. She was engrossed in Dora.

Small amount of her hair that actually was cut off.

Last Night

Virtually the same as Friday night. Only difference, she finally went to sleep around 2 am, and we got up for Sunday School at 8 am. We usually get up at 7:30, but when my alarm went off Bobby said he'd get in the shower so I could sleep longer. He went back to sleep and I woke up at 7:55 and neither of us were showered. We still left by 8:41 to get to church by 9.

What a Night!!!

Last night, Bobby and I went on a date. If you know us well, you're probably wondering how this happened. It was a Friday night. Bobby always works on Friday nights. Well, each year, Bobby gets 5 discrentionary days/personal days. They run out/start over each year. Bobby hadn't used 2 of his soon because he won't be able to use them between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are tooooo busy!! Because of this, he took 2 nights off this week. It was really nice!
Last night, our friend Jean came over and watched Bekah so we could go out. We went and saw The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 finally. After it was over, depending on what Bekah was doing, we were going to grab some dinner or actually stop and eat. I called, and she had just gone to sleep at 7:45. She had had no nap during the day, and she's on some medicine for congestion. So, we stopped and ate. Jean was at home plugging away on assignments for her masters' classes.
After getting home around 8:45, Bekah woke up crying around 10 pm. After much holding, she just wouldn't go back in her bed. Finally, I settled down with her in our bed and watched some TV while Bobby did who knows what somewhere else in the house.
We fell asleep (probably around midnight). Bobby put her back in her bed. She woke up at 2:30 am. Would not go back in her bed or back to sleep. I took her in her room and laid with her for a while. Couldn't handle it!! At 4:30 am, Bobby and I switched. He must have got her to go to sleep finally, because he didn't come back in bed till at least 6:30. It is now 9:30 and they are both still sleeping.
As for me, the very uncomfortable pregnant women, I only got 2 hours of sleep, then several hours later, 4 more. I think she was teasing us this week when slept really well, or it was because she was sick. I was wondering how Bobby and I would get back into the hang of this of sleepless nights when this baby comes along. The only difference is that we will not have to get up and go anywhere at 8 am so like I do now. It will be summer!!
Come on Bekah, give Mom and Dad a break. We don't get an afternoon nap every day!!

Potty Time

Well, last night, Bekah finally went potty on the potty. Yeah!!!!! We sat for a while reading, etc. then I decided to get a cup of warm water and put some animals in it. She kept dropping them in and reaching in to get them out. About 10 minutes later, she stopped and went. I got really excited, gave lots of high fives, hugs, etc. After we finished playing with the water, we got a diaper on and got our reward. Lots of M & M's. She loved it!! I hope she now realizes what she's supposed to do while sitting on the potty.

Being a Parent of a 2-year Old......

Is very difficult. Potty-training went okay. It is certainly not over. The only victory of the day was Bekah saying, "wet," running to the bathroom and going on the floor. Other than that, she wet on the floor around the house and only really noticed immediately when she only had underwear on, no pants. It's going to take some time, but at least it's started.




She also didn't allow us to get much quality sleep. She woke up both Friday and Saturday night. Saturday night, neither of us remember her coming into bed with us, so we must have been exhausted. She did let us sleep last night. We went to bed at midnight, Bekah at 11, and I got up at 7. I didn't even get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Major victory!!



The included pictures are from Sunday morning. I try to do other things with her hair, but she always pulls them out immediately. I have included them though so you can see how cute she would be with her hair up.
The other picture is of me and Bekah hanging on Sunday night watching the Colts play.

What the Rest of the Night Held

She went to sleep at 6:30 PM.

She woke up crying at 7:30 PM.

Held her on the couch till 8 PM.

Woke up crying, "Mommy, Mommy" at 8:30 PM.

Back in bed at 9 PM.

Ran out of room towards living room crying, "No, No, No." at 11:30 PM.

Crashed in bed with Mom watching Gilmore Girls while Dad worked on his midterm in the office until 11:45 PM when it was obvious that she wasn't going back to sleep any time soon, and Mommy needed sleep!!

Mommy woke up when Daddy came to bed at 1:45 AM. Bekah had just gone to sleep.

She gets out of bed and climbs in our bed and goes back to sleep at 6:15 AM.

Wakes up at 7:45 AM as Mommy's finishing getting ready for school.

Mommy settles her on the couch watching A Bug's Life while eating cereal and drinking juice, and then leaves for school.

Daddy finally gets up (he says) around 9 AM.

For the first year and a half of her life, after the initial first 4 months, have been wonderful with her sleeping through the night. I wish we'd get back to that!!!

Who Knows what the REST of the Night Will Hold

After going to bed at 9:15 last night, getting up before 6, taking a nap from 11-12:30 (very early for her), Bekah fell asleep on the couch at 6:30 PM. She is now in bed. Who knows what the rest of the night will hold. I'd better get some work done. Probaby a very sleepy Friday for me at school. Thank goodness it's the weekend after tomorrow. On Saturday we will be attempting the Dr. Phil 24 hour potty training. Pray for us.

Our Little Giraffe

Bekah dressed up as a giraffe for our Fall Festival at church on Sunday afternoon. She had a lot of fun running around and jumping in the blow-up toy, but didn't really understand the concept of playing the games and getting candy. Bobby and I were incharge of a game, so she kept taking candy out of our bowl.

When I came home from school yesterday, Bekah was stuffed up and it was raining and cold outside. Because of this, I ended up not taking her trick'or'treating. At first I felt like a bad mom, but when she woke up even more congested, etc. I felt like I'd done the right thing. She doesn't even know what it's all about. She didn't even realize we were going.

On a side note, I have started my second graduate class. It is a lot less time consuming that the first. In 3 days I've done 2 out of 15 sections. I plan on doing another one once Bekah is in bed. That will make 3 in 4 days. I should be done in a month with plenty of time to work on the final project and get my Indiana teacher's license renewed by April.