A few fun things.....

At Gatti Land last week, I totally played Dance Dance Revolution, or as we call it in the office - DDR. It was pretty intense. I won't lie. I was sweating when I was done. My good friend Lindsay and I started out shaky, but eventually ended up even making it to the next stage! We were pretty proud.

I went to see Step Up. That's right. I'm not ashamed. I love any dance movie. And this one was GREAT! The dance scenes were awesome, and the acting wasn't too bad. Man. I wish I could dance. But, just ask my mama. That's never gonna happen.

The Office won best Comedy!! I was so excited! Pam/Jenna the receptionist is my friend on Myspace. Yes, I have a myspace. She even posted a comment! I feel like we are BFF. I can't wait for the new season to start.

ACU is back in session. The "hill" is alive! All the kids are back, cars driving way too fast down our street, longer lines at Rosas, the chapel bell rings, my student workers are back with fabulous summer stories... it's a much more exciting place around here!

The past couple of days Kaitlyn has been talking to me more in Spanish than she does in English. What is that all about? She has Spanish time every morning at school. Mix that with a few episodes of Dora a week, and you have my bi-lingual child. Well, maybe not quite bi-lingual...

A New Day..

I am much happier today. Thanks to some awesome friends at work, a good late movie last night, a precious daughter, and the fact that it's Friday and my boss is taking us all to Gatti Land for lunch.

So... no more Debbie Downer for me. Thanks for your sweet comments!

This is just how it is.....

WARNING!!! VERY HONEST AND BLUNT BLOG TO FOLLOW.... I do not intend to offend anyone in this blog, it's just how I feel lately.

Parenting just sucks sometimes. Sorry Mom, but it does. I keep trying to convince myself that where Kaitlyn is right now is "just a phase." What does that really mean anyway? A phase. A better way for me to put it is, "A time in your child's life when you just really suck at being a mom."

I am so tired of the attitude! It seems like I am always threatening to spank or put her in time out. She has learned to "talk back." This probably comes from being in a class of 15 three and four year olds and one teacher. Which really makes me mad that I have to work. Anyway, she is always saying things like, "You're not my friend!", "I don't like that!", "I don't have to!", "I am very upset at you!" And she doesn't just say these statements - her voice is definitely elevated.

NOTE: I LOVE Kaitlyn. And for the most part, she is a precious, sweet, smart, funny, beautiful little girl. But she is also 3. And I've never been the parent of a 3 year old. And sometimes, I just don't know what to do.

It's so hard for me to read the blogs of so many moms that seem to have it all together, and have everything figured out. Seriously? Are you really that put together? Because I have a lot to learn. Teach me please!

It is really hard for me to work 8:00-5:00 everyday too. It kills me that freaking Teacher Kathy gets to see Kaitlyn more than I do. I don't like it that some days Kaitlyn could care less that I walk through the door at 5:00. I don't like it that my time with her each day is from 5:00-8:30, when I am totally exhausted from my mindless job, and just want to be selfish and lay on the couch.

I just want to do things right. I know I'm a good mom, and lots of kids don't have moms....
But I long so badly to be a better one. I know I can be better. I just hope Kaitlyn knows that.

Gymnastics

Here is Kaitlyn in her first gymnastics class. Pretty funny!

Picture... finally!

Here is my 20 week picture!

OH MY....

I'm so sorry that this picture is so enormously huge!! I don't know how to do this!!! I'm so frustrated.... I'll try to shrink it. This is so humiliating!

20 weeks!

20 Weeks!

It's kind of hard to believe that I'm already half way through this pregnancy. But, in other ways - it seems like I've been pregnant forever! It has been SO much different this time around. I felt fine with Kaitlyn - but this little stinker has not been so easy. It's getting much better though and for that I am very thankful!

The doctor's appointment Tuesday went really well. I was so nervous for some reason! He could tell right away that it was a girl, but went back to check 3 times just to make sure. Kaitlyn came with us and she thought it was pretty cool. She was a little more interested in the "green jelly" that the doctor put on my tummy - but she enjoyed looking at the pictures. The doctor even gave her her very own picture to take home of her baby sister's foot. She looked at it for about 3 seconds and then she was done. Hmmm...
My parents were also able to come with us, so that was special to have them there.

I am still right on track for December 31st, but my doctor asked me how I feel about inducing early. Ummm - SURE! So she'll hopefully come right before or right after Christmas. Yay for the tax break!

I finally caved in and told James to take a picture of me for all to see. I'm not excited about this - but oh well. Sorry - no bare belly shots! It's no surprise that blogger is not letting me post the pic. I'll try a new post.

Oh- and baby sisters name will be Cora James.

A Baby Brother or Sister?!?!?!

We found out yesterday that Kaitlyn will have a











new










baby











SISTER!!!

Everything looked wonderful and healthy. I'll write more about our day and post a belly shot later. Have a good morning!

Top 10 Things I LOVE right now....

1. 24. James and I are hooked. We have never watched it before and just rented Season 1. It is so good!!!!! Jack Bauer is my hero - even though he's only 5'1".

2. Friends. We have made some of the most fun friends in Abilene. We are still getting to know a lot of people - but it's rare that don't have plans scheduled with someone. It's fun to see Kaitlyn really start developing relationships with her friends. We will be here forever probably, so I like to think about what they will be like when they grow up. Way far away, I know - but I still think about it!

3. Our high school huddle group!! I blogged about this a long time ago when I found out we would be doing it, but we finally get to meet our kids next week! We met with the other leaders last night and started making plans. I am so excited to see how God works through this over the next four years. We decided to take our Freshman on a trip to float down the river in a few weeks - how fun is that? The guys are already talking about making T-shirts. Hilarious. But I can't wait to start this new adventure. Weird to think that Kaitlyn will be 7 when we are done with this group! That is second grade people!!!!

4. Feeling the baby. James even got to feel it last night! He/she moves around all of the time. Especially when I am being still, or right after I eat. We find out on Tuesday if it's a boy or a girl! I'm so ready to find out. Mostly I just want to make sure everything is okay! Not that I think anything is wrong, but it's a good feeling to know for sure!

5. The smell of Sharpie pens and markers.

6. Ray LaMontagne. This is my new favorite guy to listen to. A friend at work introduced me to him, and then Kelly Clarkson sang one of his songs at her concert. He is awesome and has the greatest voice. Check him out if you get a chance - my favorite song is Shelter.

7. Kaitlyn was moved up to a new class at her school. She is now officially a Chipmunk. She is one of the only 3 year olds - the rest are 4. I was a little nervous about this at first, but so far she has done really well! Kaitlyn is a smart girl - and if she gets bored, it's not pretty! So, this teacher is really into teaching them new things all of the time, and keeping them busy. I really think she will do well.

8. I get to go home to Lubbock this weekend! I think it's been since early June since we were there. There's just something about it that just makes me happy!

9. Watching Kaitlyn dance. We went over to some friends house on Tuesday night and Kaitlyn and Olivia put on full ballerina outfits for us. Her parents turned on the soundtrack to Forrest Gump (this is Olivia's "ballet" music) - and the girls danced and danced. We don't get to see Kaitlyn be a girly girl very much, so it was really cute. They twirled and did jumps and everything. I'll post pictures when they get emailed to me.

10. Pickles, tomatoes, and beef jerkey. These are the three things I have craved with this pregnancy. I mean CRAVED. My hands are always so swollen in the mornings b/c of all the salt. But, man, It's worth it.

Kaitlyn and her lizard....

Here is the "lizard" that Kaitlyn is so very proud of. (Please excuse her extremely dirty face!)

Concert, weekend....

Kelly Clarkson was awesome! Granted, this was my very first concert to go to - but I thought it was GREAT! She is very good live - and really fun to watch. We had a blast singing along with all of her current songs - and hearing some new ones that she will release in February - yay!

The rest of the weekend we got to spend with James' family in Dallas. Saturday we took Kaitlyn to Sandy Lake park which is a mini amusement park. It was fun to go there with James because he used to go there when he was growing up. Kaitlyn was fearless as usual, and enjoyed riding all of the little roller coasters. It wasn't crowded at all, so was the only one riding a lot of the rides. She really had a blast. It was really hot - but thankfully, this place even had a huge pool! We cooled off in that for awhile before heading back to Nana and Papaw's house. Sunday we just relaxed around the house, played games, took naps.. then headed home!





We'll end this blog with a picture of Kaitlyn and her "lizard" that she caught a few days ago. She was so excited about holding it, and she CRIED HER EYES OUT when we had to let it go outside. She said she just wanted to keep it forever. I'm sure, unfortunately, we'll find another one in or around our house soon enough....

Never mind. Uggghhhh. I'm done with blogger.