Oh, My Armon!

Armon Johnson is my favorite Blazer. About a month ago, Doug and I got VIP tickets to a Blazer scrimmage, and afterward, we got to meet the players in the Player's Lounge. We went around and got autographs and met the team. While he was signing my pennant, he noticed my wedding ring. He started talking to me about diamonds and diamond cuts. Now it's not like I'm sportin' some big ole' rock or anything, so the whole conversation kind of caught me off guard. And in reality, I'm not a huge jewelry or diamond person. The whole time I'm thinking, Okay, the diamond in your ear is 3 times the size of my diamond.

The conversation continued as Doug approached us and the conversation shifted to my pregnancy. He tried to convince us to name our child Armon. After explaining to him that it wasn't really a good girl's name, we came up with the name Armoni. We got a picture with him, while he made some comment about my height. His personality was adorable, and he's quite cute.

Fast forward to a few days ago... At another event, Armon approached the lady who got us tickets. He asked her if I had had my baby yet, and if I was going to name her Armoni. Now this is impressive for multiple reasons.
1. He's famous, and I'm not.
2. He remembered the details of our 10-15 minute conversation. I don't even remember the details of the conversations I have with people I know, let alone strangers.
3. Almost a month has passed since we met him.
4. The woman who got us the tickets was never with Doug or me when we were talking to him.


I also just discovered that his birthday is the same as Braelyn's, which makes him even more special.

I hope the Blazers keep him around. He seems like a really nice, genuine person and being a dang good little point guard doesn't hurt too much either.

Large and In Charge

For those of you who haven't seen me, I am getting huge! My shirts barely cover my belly and am seriously getting worried about how I am going to go to work actually clothed. I hear on a daily basis, "Wow! You've gotten so much bigger since the last time I've seen you!"

And then there is my principal who said, "I just think pregnant women are so cute. I love their bellies."

I responded with an eye roll and laughter and added, "My husband used to think so too, until I was pregnant with my first."

My stomach is constantly bumping into walls, doors, cupboards, and human beings. Functioning at a low level is getting more and more difficult.

For example, we took the girls to the pumpkin patch yesterday. I made my way through the farm waddling slowly. (Waddling does make pelvic pain worse, but I can't really help it.) Madi got hurt twice (fell on her head and got kicked in the face by another girl) while we were there, and Doug was busy somewhere else with Braelyn both times. Consequently, I had to pick up my 42 pound child and comfort her. She was my primary concern. As the hours went on, pain in my stomach/uterus/legs got worse. I could barely walk to the car. Once we got home, I was so physically tired, I rested for the remainder of the day.

Fast forward to 3:00am...I woke up with a bladder that was about ready to explode. I couldn't move my legs because the pain was so intense. I had to wake Doug up so he could physically lift up my whale-sized body so I could pee. Each time I took a step to the bathroom (which is about four feet away), I had to hold my stomach and concentrate very hard to lift up my leg and place it back on the ground. So I sat in the pitch black bathroom, thinking How in the heck am I going to work for the next 8 weeks?

Each pregnancy has been so incredibly different. I would probably rank this one as the most difficult because I have two small children to take care of, and soccer season is going on right now, so I am pretty much a single parent for most of the evening. (There's one week left of soccer...yahoo!) It's been physically draining. I'm trying to keep this all in perspective because in 9 short weeks, I will be emotionally, mentally, and physically spent, perhaps going partially crazy taking care of three small children on very little sleep. After all, it is much easier to take care of infants before they are born.

The Job

My position this year as an instructional coach has been interesting and intriguing to say the least. I am very thankful that I stayed put and didn't move to another school. (It's another one of those unanswered prayers.) I've had so many terrific opportunities to work with teachers and to watch outstanding teachers teach. Through all of the trainings I've attended, the collaboration I've participated in, and teachers I've observed, I have learned a tremendous amount of things.

I've had the opportunity to find and create activities for teachers and co-design classes and curriculum with them. It is a lot of fun. However, I find myself being pulled in a million different directions. It is still stressful and tiring, but in a different kind of way. I absolutely love my new boss. I really hope that when I go back into the classroom, I can continue to work for him.

With that being said, I feel as if I'm missing something...the kids. I absolutely love teaching teenagers. I love interacting with them, helping them learn, listening to them, and joking with them. When I decided to take a leave from coaching basketball, one of my biggest passions, I still had the connection with students in the classroom. I don't have either right now. I love it when my former students come to say hello. Some of my most difficult students have come to visit me most frequently. It makes me happy that although I was extremely frustrated with them last year, I still made a difference and a connection with them.

One question remains at the forefront of my mind. Knowing all that I know now, could I actually successfully implement all that teachers are being asked to do this year? I see the purpose, the point, and I believe in it. Is there enough time? Is it possible? Could I do all that I want to do? With this being the last year that coaches are funded through the federal grant, it is a very real possibility that I will be back in the classroom next year. (On top of massive budget cuts and a change in the bell schedule, which includes reduced prep time.) As I work with teachers, I keep this in mind. People who believe that anyone can teach or that teaching is easy are so wrong...but that is another topic for another day.

Buggy Boo

Braelyn has become Miss Personality. She is so fun to be around. It seems that in the past two or three weeks, she has really started to comprehend what people are saying. Here are some things she really likes:

• Singing the alphabet and other songs
• Dancing to Dora's "We Did It!"
• Throwing things away in the garbage
• Putting her shoes away and cleaning up her toys
• Reading books
• Coloring
• Chalking in the driveway (and attempting to eat the chalk)
• Riding her trike (Okay, so we have to push her)
• Chillin' with her daddy ~ Since she only sees him for about 30 minutes a day, weekends are really special to her and doesn't let Doug out of her sight.
• Going to bed~ Sleep schedules have always been so important to us, and as a result, as soon as she finishes dinner, she climbs up the stairs and asks to go "night, night."

She is growing up fast and is going to be a big sister very soon.

Ethel

Little Ethel is a rockin'. Today, especially, she has been a mighty kicker. Tomorrow I see my doctor, and I believe I get to schedule my C-section. Yahoo! It is also the beginning of my bi-monthly appointments, which I think are a total pain. (But hey, they are better than the weekly ones.)

Madi kisses her new baby sister and talks to her. It is really cute. She is getting really excited. Braelyn, on the other hand, doesn't really understand or seem to care. Madi was the same way when Braelyn was born.

We believe that we've finally decided on a name for little Ethel. This poor child is going to have an identity crisis because she has had about 5 different names. We know that once she is born, we'll know if her name fits her. Madi's name always fit her, but we changed Braelyn's name after she was born because it fit her better.

We are stocking up on diapers, thanks to my sister finding some great clearance deals. We also found a cute little bassinet on craigslist for $20. (We sold ours when we moved because we thought we were done poppin' out the kiddos.)

Ethel will be here before we know it. This also means that Christmas is about 11 weeks away so get working on your Christmas shopping. :)

Monthly Meals and Other Blessings

As the school year quickly approached, Doug and I got a tad worried. Our plans to save over the summer did not work out at all due to things that were beyond our control. Consequently, we had no idea how were going to afford an additional $500 a month on daycare (for a grand total of $1500 per month). We contemplated getting rid of our cell phones, tv, etc. I started looking for jobs at nights and on the weekends.

After a few weeks of searching, the idea occurred to me to make a monthly meal plan. I planned out all of our meals for the entire month of September. We made one huge Costco and WinCo run on the first Saturday of the month and bought all of our groceries for September. This way we only had to run to WinCo on Saturdays for little odds and ends like milk and fresh produce.

September went fairly smoothly, and we saved a lot of money. We're doing it again for October. It is also nice because we don't really have any repeat meals, which we did with making a weekly meal plan.

I also got the opportunity to pick up a few additional jobs at work, which made it so that I didn't have to get a second job. Also due to my new job, I can tweak my maternity leave a little bit. Things will work out. We're having to make some major changes, work a little more, have longer days, but we are definitely blessed.