Showered with Love

I have to start by thanking Jennifer, Alexis and Sarah for giving me, and the baby, a very lovely shower. It was a wonderful time to see family and friend, while sharing my excitement about the little guys arrival. Thank you ladies for the time and energy you put into the shower for us. It really means a lot to me!And I feel so incredibly blessed by all the wonderful people in our lives. Gabe's mom and aunt Joann drove up from Oakridge to be there. And Joanne came from Eugene. It really was wonderful to have everyone there. I truly appreciate all the wonderful words of blessings and gifts that were given to us yesterday. I am immensely thankful for everyone.
Gabe's mom found some really special things that Gabe had as a newborn. There were quilts and little outfits that his grandma made and some other outfits he wore. You can tell by the outfit he was a spring/Easter baby. I'm so happy Winnie put those together. They are so special.It was a really beautiful afternoon. The little guy has a huge library of books now and I am so thankful for everyone who was there to celebrate our joy and excitement.
-h

Does picking strawberries help turn a breech baby?

I'm going with no. Although I made an attempt today. I heard somewhere (or read somewhere I can't remember now) that bending over allows the baby more room to move around. As a picked today I ignored how badly my back started hurting, and instead focused on giving the little guy a chance to get into position.
I'm pretty sure the baby is breech because I get lots of kicks very low in the abdomen and I feel the pressure of his head on my right ribs most of the time. At the doctors a week and a half ago I told him what I thought and he sort of agreed. When he tried to hear the heart beat in the lower part of my abdomen (where it should be if the little guy was in the right spot) it was very faint. Then he put the doppler on the upper part of my abdomen and it came through loud and clear. My doctor isn't worried about it yet, and he encouraged me not to be concerned yet either. I suppose we'll probably talk about it more at my next appointment on Wednesday.
I am going to get something out of my berry picking, even if it's not helping to flip this stubborn little guy. Can't wait to make some strawberry short cake this evening!!! Yum Yum!
-h

Here is what's going on around the West pad...

Big surprise this weekend...Becky came up from Vegas and only told my mom (and Gabe) the plans.
So after our breastfeeding class on Saturday we were suppose to meet Tricia and "some friends" down at the Saturday market. I was tired and just wanted to take a nap so I bailed. Little did I know, we were going to meet Becky and her boyfriend. So after my nap there's a knock at the door and SURPRISE, it's Becky! We hung out, went out for dinner and played some guitar hero. On Sunday we went out to lunch and Becky gave dad a big father's day surprise too.
Yesterday we took a "family" trip to the beach. The weather was sunny and it felt good to put my toes in the sand for a little while. Gabe didn't join us because he had to go to Detroit. Sadly, he'll be there until Thursday. I really hate it when work takes him away from me. It's not very often but I miss him.
Today I spent the day downtown in jury duty. I've actually never had to report for jury duty before. I know...shocking! When my alarm went off earlier than I get up during the school year, I was not happy! After going through the long courthouse security line, I couldn't believe how many people were reporting. Must have been about 300! My name was called for the first trial of the morning. We went up to the the courtroom and listened to the judge explain the jury selection process. The lawyers introduced themselves and the case before asking us all some questions. After a short recess they called the names of the 6 people they wanted and the other 9 of us had to report back to the jury assembly room to be put back into the jury pool. I was really hoping they'd have the people they needed before lunch and the rest of us would be excused. No luck! Before lunch they assured us there were trials scheduled for the afternoon and would need us all back. Finally, about 2:30, they decided that for the last 2 trials of the day they would only need 21 people to stay. I have to admit I was really hoping my name would not be called. Doing nothing can really be exhausting! The only thing I could think about after lunch was a nap. I got a lot of my book read but it would have been more comfortable reading at home. So when they got through the list of 21 names without calling my name, I was pretty excited to be out of there and off into the sunshine. My civic duty is done. At least for 2 years.
-h

Summer is here!!!

Grades are done. My classroom is clean and organized. Now I'm relaxing at home for the rest of the afternoon. Summer has finally started!
I still don't know for sure what's going on next year. As of right now, I'll be staying in my building but I will probably be switching teams and kids. Looks like I'll be teaching English and History. Which means I'll also probably be going back to school so I can be "highly qualified" since I'm not endorsed to teach English. It might be a rough year. But here's the silver lining...I don't have to think about it for another 6 months! I'm hoping that I'll know more in a few weeks but it's more likely that I won't know anything until closer to August.
For now I'm going to start getting through the books I've been collecting, enjoy the sunshine, and start some packing!
Did I mention that summer is here?!
-h

We made an offer!

And it was accepted!
Since things were moving along with our buyer (inspection fixes agreed on and appraisal set for tomorrow), we felt we were finally in a position to make an offer. So we wrote one up on Friday for the house we definitely like the most. It's at the high end of our price range but has the most square footage of any of the houses we looked at.
Here are a few pictures:
It's a tri-level. It looks really small from the front but that's deceptive. The front door opens into the main living area (living room, kitchen and dining room). Then at the back of the main living space are 8 stairs going up and 8 stairs going down. Upstairs is the landing with a small library space, master bed and bath, one bedroom and bathroom. Downstairs are 2 more bedrooms and another bathroom, the laundry room and a small room that isn't technically a bedroom because there's no closet. We like the inside space but one of the definite drawbacks is the yard. It's small and shady. I don't think I'll have much of a garden, especially if we want to have a place for the little guy to play.
The next step for us is to set up inspections on the new house and see how that goes. Right now there's a 3 week difference between the date our buyer closes and the date we'll close on the new house. Our buyer is willing to let us rent back for a few weeks but that still leaves us homeless for about a week. That means we'll be working out some way to store our things and be without a home while in transition. I really wish things could have worked out better but there isn't really anything we can do about it. Hopefully things continue to move along well.
-h

More Stress?!

I got some word at school today that adds more turmoil to the already tumultuous life we're living right now.
I'm sure most of you are aware that schools are making cuts for next year because of decreases in tax revenue and funding. Well, due to lay offs next year, I am being involuntarily transferred elsewhere in the district. Based on seniority I'm being bumped out of my job. So, my principal doesn't have all the answers yet and she's really trying hard to keep me in the building, but I have no idea what's going to happen. This was all news I received this morning about 1/2 an hour before kids walked in the door. It was not the last day with my kids I had hoped for. It's hard to celebrate, and listen to them tell me how excited they are to see me when I come back next year, when I know there's a big chance I won't be there.
With all the other life changes that are happening right now, I'm having a really hard time keeping things together. I wish I didn't have to go back tomorrow (for 8th grade celebration) and Monday to clean up my room. Instead of cleaning my room I guess I'll actually be packing it up. I was also going to meet with my long term sub next week to plan for the fall but what am I planning for now? I have no clue what I'll be walking into in January. Being the planner that I am, all of these unknowns are really hard for me to deal with. My master plan to leave for the summer and have things squared away until I return in January has completely fallen apart.
Hopefully I'll know more soon!
-h

Work Baby Shower

Thursday my co-workers had a baby shower for us. Gabe was invited but decided he didn't want to leave work early to come down. I think he was just afraid he'd be the only guy there. I think he forgets that almost half of our staff is male and there are 3 males in my team of teachers. He would have been just fine. Or maybe being the center of attention is hard for him too. No...that can't be it!
Anyway, it was nice to share my excitement with others, have some cake and receive many thoughtful gifts. That was until the "storm" rolled in. As we were finishing up the party, the clouds and wind started to roll in. I was literally drenched when I got home just walking from the driveway to the back door. As soon I came in the door the lightening started. Pretty crazy for these parts.
These are all the wonderful things we received. I still don't have a nursery to put them in, but I'm trying really hard not to stress out about it.
-h

House Hunting

All I can say is that I really hate looking at houses!
In a week we've looked at about 25 houses. It's exhausting. I just don't understand why we can't find exactly what we want in our price range. I don't feel like our list of needs is that uncommon or ridiculous. Maybe the house that's right for us just doesn't exist. I never would have believed a house with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, big kitchen & dinning, big yard, and 2 car garage (in a good southwest Portland neighborhood) would be impossible to come by. We've found a few that are fine, but we definitely haven't walked into a house and had the "this is the one" feeling. With trying to end the school year, and dealing with this house stuff, I'm really feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I need just one thing off my plate. Good thing next week is finally the last week of school!
What also doesn't help my sense of urgency and stress, is hearing back from the buyer today. Her inspection period is almost over and she's got quite a list of things she wants us to fix. So we need to sit down this weekend and decide what our response will be. Of course we're fearful that she'll walk away if we don't agree to fix the things she's asked. But we also feel like some of the things she's asking for are not exactly reasonable. If she wants them replaced, she might need to do it her self. After all, our house is 80 years old...welcome to home ownership. Can you expect a house that's 80 to be in perfect condition?
I don't know what we're going to do. It's all just so stressful and I'd like to be settling in, getting ready for the little guy to come. I'd like to have a nursery together before he actually gets here. They threw me a baby shower yesterday at work. I have all of these baby things now and no where to put them. It's all getting very overwhelming. If only I could have a drink. (Don't worry mom...I'm only kidding). I might have to get myself in a better mood by posting pictures of all the great gifts we received from my wonderful co-workers yesterday. I'm going to make a confession and I feel really bad about it. I was sort of nervous about the shower. Dreading it might even be a better word. I really hate being the center of attention. It makes me so uncomfortable. I never know what to say and do. And I can't stand everyone staring at me expecting me to say or do something. But to be honest I had a really nice time. It's fun to hear other people's excitement about having the little guy here soon. I can't wait to take him to school in September and share him.
Keep us in your thoughts. Who knows what will happen next.
-h