My Little Alien

I've been wanting to get Gavin moving in my belly on video for quite a while. Just like in the ultrasounds, he is quite camera shy! I hope he grows out of that when he's born! Ryan and I will keep getting the camera out to try to get him kicking on video and he always stops RIGHT when we press record! So Sunday night while I was watching TV, I was determined. I took video after video and finally got this one! This is really and truly what he does all day long! He doesn't really kick me much, just rolls back and forth, back and forth. These are his feet/legs moving from my perspective. I promise I'm not moving my stomach at all!

My Aunt Joanna sent me this picture in an email. I would LOVE to see this, but this is not me...
Have any of you pregnant moms seen that???? That's what Ryan kept saying in the video. "Lift your shirt up and see if you see his foot." You would think my little guy would be so crammed in there that we'd see this all day long! :)

Good-bye, Mrs. Hughes

Friday was quite an emotional day for me, to say the least. It was my last day of teaching after 5 wonderful years. Even when I was a little girl, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. It is not the easiest job in the world, that's for sure! But it has brought me so much joy over the years. I particularly love teaching kindergarten because they learn SO MUCH in just a matter of months and it is so rewarding to see their progress and know you had something to do with it!

I took a video of my classroom to remember it if you'd like to see (and beware: I look awful because I had been crying all day and I had worked a 12 hour day setting up for my replacement). Probably boring to anybody but me, but I thought I'd put it on here:


I was praying Friday for the Lord to give me joy that I would get to stay home with Gavin instead of being sad about leaving my kiddos. My long-time friend Jeanette said it best in an email yesterday when I told her how sad I was to leave. She said, "Right now there is just a 'your kids'-sized hole with nothing to to fill it." That's exactly right! So once Gavin gets here, I know I'll be so excited and not even think about teaching!

For those of you that don't know, I'm going to be a stay-at-home Mom for at least a few years! It is so kind of the Lord to provide Ryan with a job that allows me to not have to work. Now don't go thinking we're rolling in the dough! Hardly! We'll definitely have to cut back and budget much more tightly than we have been, but it'll be so worth it to not have to miss anything my little boy does!

So I'm looking forward to being able to rest and relax for a few days before the little guy decides to make his appearance. We'll be updating the blog as soon as he arrives, so stay tuned!

Winter Wonderland

My Mom and I have always been huge fans of snow--we're both teachers, so of course we love snow days! I think we wait for it more than the kids do. So when I moved to Knoxville 4 1/2 years ago, I told her I'd be calling her when I got out of school and she didn't. Well, it hasn't happened yet--until this week! Check out our snow from Monday!

I was determined to make a snow angel--even at 37 1/2 weeks pregnant. I needed a lot of help getting up! :) Check out the mound protruding from the snow. Wow. And notice my outfit--my regular ski bibs unzipped completely so my belly could poke through!

We had to get all of us dressed to play in the snow--even Dakota!

We finished our snowman right about dinner time. It's almost as tall as me! The snow was wet and stuck together perfectly!

It also snowed here a couple of weeks ago--pretty pitiful compared to yesterday. Dakota just LOVES the snow. She likes eating it especially. If you like dogs, you'll get a kick out of this video...

Look at this pitiful face.

Pregnancy Pictures

One of my best friends, Sharon, is certainly gifted at photography. She was kind enough to take time out a couple of Fridays ago and get some great shots of Ryan, me, and my huge belly! :) Here are my favorites:

Across the street from our neighborhood. I just love this fence! I'll be taking Gavin here to feed the horses soon!

In our backyard...

...sitting on Gavin's bedding!

In the nursery

By the way, the huge rock on my finger is fake. :)
My fingers are swollen and I can't fit in my ring! Thanks, Elizabeth, for letting me borrow it!

Sharon's sister Lillian needs to get the credit for these next 2 pictures. We stole the idea!
Thanks, Nancy, for letting me borrow the blocks!
I think these are my favorite of all.

9 Months

Ok, let me do the Math to make sure I'm right: 36 weeks/4 weeks in a month = 9 months. So it is true that you're actually pregnant for 10 months! That is unless the little guy decides to come tomorrow, which from the looks of my belly, he might! But if he's on target, we've got 4 more weeks. Can my belly get any bigger in 4 weeks!?

Super fun thing right now: Gavin is getting the hiccups! My first thought was that my little boy had rhythm because he was kicking me every few seconds on a beat, then I realized what was actually going on!

Fun quotes from my kindergartners to share with you:
At the beginning of the school year when I first told my class I was pregnant, Peter said:
"I'm glad I didn't eat a baby so I don't have a baby in my belly!"

This past week, Taylor said:
"Mrs. Hughes, if your belly gets any bigger, your shirt is going to rip!"

Taylor also said:
"Can you still fit in the car to drive, Mrs. Hughes?"

Grant said:
"What does it look like when you go to sleep? Do the covers stick way up?"

Emily said:
"Your belly looks like a snowman, Mrs. Hughes!"

Reagan said:
"I can't even fit my arms all the way around you anymore, Mrs. Hughes!"

Asia says almost every week:
"Mrs. Hughes, you're gonna cry when you have that baby because it's gonna hurt!"

Sydney laid her head on my belly and said:
"Yep, he's ready to come out."
Most of the girls in my class give "Baby Gavin" as they call him a hug every day. They put their little hands on my belly and lay their head on him. I need to get more pictures because it is the sweetest thing ever and I don't want to forget those precious moments!

My Growing Boy

We had another ultrasound today! We could at one time see him from his head to his feet on the screen, and today his face took up the whole screen! Look at my sweet little boy...

His face looks kind of smooshed here (I think from him moving) but I think his mouth looks just like Ryan!

He weighs 5 lbs 15 oz right now. No longer measuring 2 weeks ahead! Praise the Lord! He's right on schedule. Dr. Roberts said he'll probably be 7-7 1/2 lbs at 40 weeks unless he hits a growth spurt.

And the heartburn rumors are true! He has a full head of hair!! I can't tell in these 4D pictures, but Dr. Roberts saw it right away on the 2D.
He was also opening and closing his eyes and mouth the whole time. He even got the hiccups while she was trying to get a good picture of him. He's such an active little guy!

Mom reminded me that I was this size when I was born 3 1/2 weeks early! I was 5 lbs 13 oz. Just a little one--imagine that! :) Because I was so early, I've planned to be ready by January 20 this whole time. That's tomorrow!! And we're as ready as we can be. All his things are washed, put away, and he has a hospital bag ready! I'll be packing our bag this week. It's getting so close!!

Church Shower

This weekend, my wonderful friends from church threw me a shower for little Gavin! It was such a blessing to our little family. I never dreamed that you would need so much stuff for a little one! Here are a few pictures from the day (thanks for taking the pictures, Julie!)...

The amazing planners: Sharon, Melanie, and Elizabeth
The girls did a nature theme because of Gavin's bedding. It was perfect!
One of Gavin's future girlfriends, Laurel. :)

Opening presents...

The family that we got Dakota from had these onesies monogrammed with "Boxer Buddy"!
Gavin better be a dog lover!HUGE gift from our Care Group--a 3-in-1 exersaucer. Thanks, guys! Gavin's going to love it!
Playing "The Price is Right" game. I really liked winning all the prizes even if I didn't get the answer correct!
Hanging out after opening presents.
Chocolate fondue--my favorite!
Wow, can I just say how pregnant I look in this picture!?
Gram and Nani can't wait to meet their grandson!Thanks so much to everybody who planned, helped, and came to the shower!
It was so wonderful and such a blessing to us. Now, off to organize all of Gavin's new goodies... :)