A Learning Experience

Michael and I had a learning experience on Friday night. A long time ago we offered to babysit our friends' two boys. The boys are three (in February) and 16 months. Their anniversary was this week so they decided they wanted to rent a cabin out at Mozingo. So we watched the boys on Friday night.

Michael is WONDERFUL with children. He played with the boys and was EXTREMELY helpful. He still has a lot to learn about children - hence the title of this post. (Disclaimer - I do not know everything - I babysat a lot when I was younger and have been around more kids than he has!)

I went with my friend to pick the boys up from daycare. She wanted me to know their check out procedure. They are expecting another boy in March and we're one of the people who may have to watch the boys while they're in the hospital. So I ran around with her and then hung out at the house until both of our husbands showed up. By the time the husbands arrived we already had the boys feed and I got the run down on the nightly routine and morning routine! :-)

So our friends left, leaving us with their kids overnight! We played with the boys until it was bath time! I went to run the water and asked Michael if he could take the boys clothes off and diapers off. He sent in the three year old and I put him in the tub. Then I hear this, "Do I need to wipe the poop out of his crack before the bath?" My response, "Um, Yes!" (This was said sarcastically if you didn't pick that up!) I hear the 16 month old crying and then Michael brought him in. So I put him into the tub. All of a sudden I see things floating in the water. Upon looking a little closer I realize that the floaters were poop! I start draining the tub and explain to my husband that you have to wipe off all of the poop before putting the kids in the tub. Michael proceeded to tell me how bad he felt because the 16 month old has HORRIBLE diaper rash and he was crying while he was wiping him off! It extremely sweet that he didn't want to hurt the youngest boy - he definitely has a tender heart! Anyway, I drained the water and ran some more and the boys enjoyed their bath. After than we got the boys through their nightly routine and sent to bed. We were in bed by 10:30.

Saturday morning went really well and we didn't have any major problems except for a diaper attempting to fall off on one side and my husband getting attacked by the diaper genie! Both boys slept until 7:30 - which was good because their mom told me that the oldest would probably come in and wake us up around 6:30. We got up had breakfast, changed diapers, and all that other good stuff. The boys played and had a good morning. A little later in the morning Michael tried to convince me that the diaper I had put on the 16 month old was falling off because it was so low. I told him know it was filled with poop! I went and changed the diaper. After that he changed the three year olds diaper and realized that it was falling off on one side. So I got to make fun of Michael a little bit because his diaper was ACTUALLY falling off and mine never was. Then we had a mini tutorial on how to make sure the tabs stay where they're supposed to! :) We talked to the boys' mom and let her know what a great evening we had and that all was well. She told us she'd be dropping by just to check on them later that afternoon. Michael went and got Old McDonald's for lunch (McDonald's as most of us know it) and the boys chowed down! After lunch Michael was changing the three year olds poopy diaper when we heard the garage door open - Mommy was home. Michael had a heck of a time changing the diaper because the little boy wanted to get up and go see mommy. He finally got finished and the three year old ran out to meet his mom. I was out in the living room with the boys and had no idea that my husband was getting attacked by the diaper genie! Apparently he put in the dirty diaper and was trying to push it further down and got his hand stuck in it! He had a heck of a time getting it out. Currently points: Diaper Genie - 1, Michael - 0. Maybe that score will change when we have our little guy!

As you can tell our evening with the boys was completely a learning experience. Michael really did well with the boys and I was very proud of him. :) He's going to be a great dad and lots of fun!

Oh, and last night we went out to the cabin with our friends for an adults only party. We were celebrating the boys' dad's thirtieth birthday! We finally made it home around midnight. Let's just say my husband had a VERY good time!

It's a BOY!

Today we found out that we're going to have a little boy in June!
After school Michael picked me up and we went to the hospital for the ultrasound. My mom, dad, and Michael's mom went with us. My dad and mother-in-law were pretty excited because they had never seen an ultrasound before! We went in and the tech started the ultrasound. She started showing stuff that we haven't been able to see before because her machine is a little more powerful than my doctor's! We got to see the stomach, bladder, kidney, diaphragm, brain (both hemispheres), spinal cord, heart (all four chambers), feet, hands, face, profile, legs, arms, and of course all the things that make the baby a boy! :) She was even able to measure the baby's femur bone, diameter of the stomach and head. It was really cool to see all of the parts up close. While she showed us stuff like the stomach, she explained they were dark in the middle because they had liquid in them, which meant they were working properly. We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was 152 beats per minutes! That was a really AWESOME experience. The tech commented on how active our little wiggle worm is! Sounds like Michael's child for sure! She measured everything and said that our due date should be around June 9th which is only one day before the due date the doctor gave us! Oh, and the baby weighs NINE oz.! We got five pictures from today so that's exciting because now I can show the little guy off and call the baby him or say his! :-) Also, I can start shopping!!!
We called/texted everyone to let them know. I pretty sure that my mom and Amy G. were the most shocked about the baby being a boy. Amy was just SURE that it was a girl. So much so that a couple of weeks ago she bought a girl outfit! :-) hehehe So last night she went and found a boy outfit! :)
I was in a little bit of shock myself. I've had soooo many people certain it was a girl that it kind of got in my head. Either way I'm just happy that everything looked good and is developing the way it is supposed to! :)

Snow Days Galore!

Last week was our first week back to school. I headed back on Monday just like normal. We made it through Monday and Tuesday with no major issues and then Wednesday came. We ended up getting out of school on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. We got another big snow and then we had lots of blowing wind. Basically the wind ended up drifting roads shut! We didn't have school on Thursday because of the drifts and on Friday the roads still weren't great but we also had frigid temperatures! So no school on Friday either. So instead of getting back into the swing of things we ended up back at home! So I had a nice little extended vacation that wasn't planned!
Today I headed back to school and hopefully, fingers crossed, we'll get back into the swing of things!
The big news is that tomorrow (Jan. 12th) we're going to find out if we're having a girl or boy. Michael thinks that the baby is a girl and I have absolutely no idea if it is a girl or boy. Some of the teachers are going to wear blue or pink shirts tomorrow based on what they think the baby is. It should be pretty fun to see whose right and whose wrong! I'm also going to ask my students and we're going to make a graph!
I'm really excited and I'm also happy that our family is going to join us. Michael's mom and my parents are going to go with us! :)

Christmas and New Year Update!

We had a very busy couple of weeks and unfortunately my break is coming to an end quickly! It doesn't seem like I should be going back to work on Monday. This break has literally flown by!
My last day at school was the Tuesday before Christmas. We had a half day and then the teachers all went out and ate lunch. It was nice to hang out together and eat a lunch that lasted more than 20 minutes! :)
Wednesday Michael and I went to the doctor again for our monthly check up. This was our 16 week appointment. The doctor had told us that we were going to get to hear the baby's heartbeat so we were really excited for the appointment. We went in and the doctor put the heartbeat microphone thingy on my stomach and we heard this thunk... Apparently that was the baby kicking where the microphone was at! I guess we have a stubborn baby. The doctor kept trying to get the microphone where we could hear the heartbeat and the baby kept moving. So since she couldn't get the heartbeat with her microphone she decided to do an ultrasound to check on the baby. So we got another couple of pictures of the baby. Let me tell you that this baby has at least doubled in size! He or she is also VERY active. The baby was kicking it's feet and moving it's hands and doing flips! Anyway, partially through the appointment a nurse came in and told our doctor that she had a phone call. So my doctor proceeds to ask Michael, "Do you want to play with this?" and hands him the ultrasound hand thingy. So Michael and I got to run our own ultrasound for a while! It was AMAZING. Michael absolutely loved running the machine. We even got to see the baby's spinal cord. It was just soooo COOL!
Anyway, after the appointment we went to lunch and then I came home and packed my clothes to go to my parents' house that evening. Michael drove me down to their house that evening because we knew that there was supposed to be a big snow storm coming through. Our plan was that Michael would come down on Christmas Eve if possible and if that didn't work Christmas Day! Of course, anyone who was in the midwest knows we got a MASSIVE snow storm. So Michael and I weren't together for Christmas which was pretty depressing! :( I finally made it back to Maryville late Saturday afternoon. My mom, dad, Michael, and I opened presents together at our house and then we headed to Michael's parents' house to open presents there.
Sunday we went to church and then hung out with Michael's family all day! Then Monday afternoon I hung out with my niece and nephew. We had a really good time.
The rest of this week I've basically rested. I got another cold so I've felt really yucky. I did get our Christmas decorations down and most of them put away and I've kept the house clean too! :)
On New Year's Eve we went to Doug and Janette's for a small get together. It was really funny to watch the kids running around. It just reminded me again that next year we'll have our own little rug rat with us! :) Again that just totally blows my mind. Michael and I talked about that the other day.
I am excited to say that we do have a babysitter. That is a sigh of relief! I'm also really happy that we got in where we wanted. I think we'll be really happy!
Tomorrow we are going to have my extended family Christmas at my parents' house. Michael is going to cook the meat for everyone to eat tomorrow! I'm excited to see everyone. The last time I've seen some of them was our Vegas trip this summer. :-)
Well, I hope that updates everyone and that everyone had a good Christmas and New Year!