Christmas #1 (December 22)

25 Weeks

Sarah grew a lot this week!!

(Christmas pictures to come soon.)

24 Weeks and some other cute pictures

This is me at 25 weeks with Bekah. Do keep in mind the angle of the photographer.

24 weeks today. Go to the doctor tomorrow morning. I feel quite a bit bigger than with Bekah.

My slipper socks that Bekah insisted on wearing.

Bekah sleeping about 15 minutes after I brought her home from playing with Anna, Abby, and Aaron on Sunday. She was exhausted!!!

I Am Still Alive

The day is over and I am still alive. Now I have 9 school days without seeing students. Yeah!!

Silence is Golden

All I have to say is, ONE MORE DAY!!!

What do 6th, 7th, and 8th graders want to do when they get to chorus after they've been taking finals in all their other classes? NOTHING BUT TALK!!

I have a sick headache. I'm going to go lay down now.

December 17th......

8 Days till Christmas, and it's currently 64 degrees outside.

Bobby is at work. He's been there since 1 pm. He left right after church. He probably won't be home till 10 pm. On a normal night, they have 90,000 packages go through. Today they're dealing with over 200,000.

Bekah is down the street playing with Anna, Abby, and Aaron so I can get some things done around the house. Thank you to Amanda and Jay for including Bekah in their family for a few hours today. It is greatly appreciated!!

I must get back to work and take advantage of this "Bekah-free" time. It doesn't happen very often. If I'm not at school teaching 200 children, I am at home entertaining a 2-year-old. I don't get much "Paula-time."

Suggestions?? and Top 100 Baby Names from BabyCenter.com

Anyone out there have any suggestions for keeping a 2 year old occupied from around 4 pm till 10 pm without watching too much TV? Keep in mind, I am 5 months pregnant, I teach middle school choir/general music FULL time to 180+ students at a Title I school which means meetings and paperwork, I am trying to work on a graduate class, my husband works M-F, 3;45 pm-11ish, and I am just plain tired!! Most nights I don't start school work (my own or the planning/grading of my MS students) until at least 10:30 PM. I am rarely in bed before midnight, but don't have to wake up till 7 am, unless Bekah gets up in the night or I have an early meeting. I am struggling to play with her and keep her occupied because I am soooo tired. She love Dora and Diego and will do other things while she watches, but she always wants it on. Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
On a side note, in my e-mail from BabyCenter.com this week, it listed the top 100 baby names of 2006. Rebekah will probably never make it because of the spelling, but Sarah was #12 this year. I have added the top 20 for your enjoyment.

1 Emma
2 Madison
3 Ava
4 Emily
5 Isabella
6 Kaitlyn
7 Sophia
8 Olivia
9 Abigail
10Hailey
11 Hannah
12 Sarah
13 Madeline
14 Lily
15 Ella
16 Alyssa
17 Riley
18 Chloe
19 Lauren
20 Grace

Stuff

My concert went well. The 6th graders kind of lost it during the first song, but they recovered during their other two. The 7th had one shaky song, but the 8th grade did wonderfully. They would be even better if they would focus all the time. The only down part was that I had to take one of my 6th graders home afterwards cause her mom was taking a final exam. It took me 20 minutes to drive her home in the rain, dark, and winding roads. Then it took me 20 minutes to get back. I won't be doing that in March when I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant.
My students are driving me crazy. I never remember being this crazed in Ft. Wayne. And it's not just the pregnancy. I was pregnant there too and they never drove me crazy like this. They talk constantly, don't know how to be quiet during a test and are just out of control. 3 more days after 1:40 PM. I have my planning at the end of the day today, so I teach, teach, teach, and then can "relax" while I get ready for tomorrow.
Have a great day!!

4 More

Must I say anything else?

The Time Has Come

Christmas concert tonight. Last year, my Christmas concert got cancelled because we went home from school early because of some slush on the roads. I'm exhausted. My 8th graders had to take the risers down to the cafeteria today for the concert because the janitors at my school are lazy, so things were just crazy this afternoon. I am so thankful that tomorrow afternoon during normal chorus class time I will be working with our media specialist on curriculum ideas for my music theory classes. Better go. Have to decide which outfit I'm going to wear and get Bekah some dinner before my friend Jean comes over to watch her during the concert.
Say a prayer for strength if you read this before 7 pm, December 12th.
(Only 5 school days after tonight!!)

The Tree is Finally Up

Yesterday we finally went and got our tree. It was a lot of fun. Bekah was running through the rows of trees, saying, Whoa, whoa, and stopping and hugging all the little trees. We brought it home, put on the lights and then gave up on the decorating. After Bekah finally went to bed at 11 PM, Bobby and I folded and stuffed most of our Christmas cards till almost 1 am. (We still got up and made it to Sunday school by 9 am)

Today I put the ribbon on and most of the ornaments. Bobby helped a bit after he got up from his nap. Does anyone else find it weird that he's taking a nap while the 5 months pregnant woman decorates the Christmas tree?

Pictures from the fun below.

All bundled up in my new hat from Old Navy.

Wandering amongst the trees.


Pre-lights and still a bit crooked.

Lights only.

All finished!!

Active Daughter

I was kind of hoping that daughter number 2 might not be quite as active as daugther 1. Well, the last few days, Sarah Catherine has been kicking me constantly, just like her sister, Rebekah Janae did in the womb, and sometimes still does when climbing around on my lap. I don't think I have enough energy to deal with both of them if Sarah is as BUSY as Bekah.
On a side note, for the last few days, I have been asking Bekah, "What's your sister's name?" And without hesitation, she replies, "Sarah!!" with a huge smile on her face. I think she's going to be a great big sister and friend to Sarah. Hopefully she'll be over the "mines!!!" stage by the time Sarah's old enough to want to take her toys. (She adds an S to the end of words when making them plural, it's so cute!)
One more day this week, 5 next week, then 2. I hope I can make it. The kids have been crazy this week. One good/pleasant thing was when I took my 8th graders to sing to their teachers and the principals during their planning. They sang Carol of the Bells accappella 3 times. They did an AMAZING job. I was so proud of them.

New Windows

The new windows are in, as of yesterday!! Boy does it make a difference. I no longer feel a draft while sitting on the love seat in the living room, and as I sit at the kitchen table typing this, again, no draft.

The new windows even have screens, so in the summer/spring, we will be able to open them and get a breeze. The little things in life are so exciting. (our really old windows didn't have screens)

Graduate Class #1 (Motivating Today's Learners)

5 minutes ago I found my graded graduate class material lying on the kitchen table. Bobby neglected to tell me that it came today. He does have an excuse though. The Christmas season has arrived, which means that he leaves for work earlier. Today he had to drop Bekah off at school to me at 3:35. This is 10 minutes after the last bell. We said hi/bye and gave each other a quick kiss. Not much time to tell me about my class coming back. Anyways, I was happy to see that I had gotten an A on the class. Out of a possible 930 points, I got 916. All that hard work was worth it!!

Bekah's 2 Year Appointment (almost 2 months after her b-day)

Today was the first available appointment around her birthday (2 months later)

Statistics- 36 inches tall (90th percentile)

30 lbs. (75th percentile)

This is the most Bekah has grown since she was born. In the last 8 months, she grew 4 inches, and gained 6 1/2 pounds. She is such a big girl. She has almost doubled her birth heighth of 19.25 inches, and weighs more than 5x her birth weight of 5 lbs. 14 oz.

She is in 2T shirts because she is so long waisted (like her maternal grandma, my mom), but in 24 months pants (rolled up or with a belt). She can wear 2T pants, but they're usually huge. I have to buy her 2T dresses though because of her long waist once again.

Bekah and I had a fun day yesterday together. Bobby had to work from 1-7 (got home around 8 and left right after church to go to work), so we had a lot of time together. We played outside, built towers with dominos, read books, colored, cleaned up toys, played with her new nativity set, and generally had a good time. There was only a little bit of Dora and Sesame Street in there along with a bath.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Bekah and Mommy sleeping after another 4 am wake-up call. Daddy got up at 7:30 am to go to a church men's breakfast. (He slept in Bekah's bed for the last 1 1/2 hours because she wouldn't go back to sleep.)

Jammin' with Dad.

It's cold outside, but we're still gonna play.

The neighbor's outdoor cat that love's chasing Bekah around.

Another Week Down, 12 More Days to Go

Another week of school is over. It's pretty sad that we're (teachers at my school) counting down again right after we come back from a 5 days weekend. It's been a busy/crazy/long week.


I came home to find new windows sitting in my kitchen. Our landlord has been promising them for over a year and they are much needed, but I dislike that they're in my house taking up room until he puts them in. We're having company tomorrow night and my kitchen is filled by windows. Oh well!!

Bekah is currently watching Minnesota Cuke (Veggie Tales). I have included a picture of her for your enjoyment. Have a great, relaxing weekend!!

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.