Last. Day.

I don't feel like writing too much.

Other than today was my LAST DAY of work!!! And of course we had to go out with a bang --- we took all three first grade classes to the Grand Rapids Public Museum for the day... thankfully we had lots of parent chaperones so the kids were in pairs or triples and I got to float between groups. I'm grateful to the other teachers and parents who rode the bus because this nine month pregnant lady was not about to ride the bus an hour each way with 60 screaming kids. :)

We have no school tomorrow for Good Friday and then next week off for Spring Break then my maternity leave begins! It hasn't really sunk in that I'm not going back because EVERYBODY is going on break next week. It will probably hit me next Monday morning when I'm home and everyone else is going back to work.

So here's some pictures and a BRIEF description.

The other day I went on a cooking spree. As in I started making some dinners and freezing them now so when baby gets here we'll have so ready to go options. 

One of the things I made was these egg casserole bites. I didn't follow a recipe or write anything down... so you'll have to bear with my explanation then experiment on your own.

Egg casserole bites

First, I cut up some whole wheat bread into cubes and put a few in the bottom of each muffin tin (which I generously sprayed beforehand with cooking spray). 

Next, came the bacon (cooked and chopped), a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, and some diced onion.

Then, in a separate bowl, I whisked up some eggs with a splash of milk and added spices that I like: salt, pepper, parsley, and garlic.

Finally, I poured the egg mixture over the top of the bread, bacon, cheese, & onion. It didn't take much to fill them up - don't overfill them because the puff up a bit when you cook them!

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I let them cool and froze them. They're easy to reheat in the morning and put on a piece of toast or an English muffin. I even got the Zach stamp of taste approval for these - and he's NOT a breakfast person!

Here's the past two weeks of baby bump photos:

37 weeks

38 weeks

Easter is almost here.

Baby is almost here.

Spring break IS here.

I'm a happy camper.



Love,

Sarah

Mid-March

Somehow we made it through two WHOLE weeks of school without any snow or ice days! 

(Shocking. I know.)

And I'm exhausted! By Wednesday night I was ready to sleep for 24 hours straight --- and probably could have if I got the chance.

Only two weeks until spring break, which means only two weeks left of work! Nine school days until I'm DONE! :) At least this class of kiddos has been better behaved so it makes leaving a little sad. Kinda. Especially when they write me notes like this:

 This Saturday (tomorrow) will be my classroom work day as I try to clean up all my little messes and piles of papers everywhere and get things all mapped out for my long term sub - who still remains to be determined...

March is Reading Month and our 1st grade team choose the Froggy books by Jonathan Landon as our book of the month. After reading a few Froggy books to our classes, here's a peek at the 1st grade bulletin boards in our hallway.

Mrs. Kostecki's Frog Life Cycle

Mrs. Seaver's Frog Facts

Mrs. Cook's Frog Reading Recommendations

During the month of February, Robert Munsch was our Author of the Month. Every day I read the class a different Robert Munsch book. They are SO funny and the kids always laugh because he has a great way of taking ordinary life events and turning it into something crazy! If all you know Robert Munsch for is the cute-sy "I'll Love You Forever," then you need to head over to your nearest public library and check out a a bigger stack of his books. Also, his website has audios of him reading his books aloud! Very funny to hear him read his own stories! All you have to do is try to keep up with turning the pages as he goes.

A few kids in my class recommend "Andrew's Loose Tooth" and here's why:

"I like this book because it was funny because the tooth fairy had a motorcycle."

"I liked this book because when the dentist tried to pull Andrew's tooth with a rope and his car fell apart."

In other happenings at home, my mother-in-law threw us a great shower on Saturday. A bunch of the O'Neill and Cook women came as well as friends and family friends. The basement was all set up with cute little clothes on a clothesline and an adorable diaper cake! Topped with a pink pig of course! The tables were red & white gingham and the food was delicious. Not to mention all the lovely gifts: things from the registry like the jogging stroller & bouncy seat. Homemade things, like a cool ABC crochet quilt. And creative things, like an airplane toy from the cousin who is a pilot and a children's story Bible. I had a really great time and was so thankful for all the people who helped out, especially since Zach's mom's back was still incredibly painful (this was before her surgery this past week - which went extremely well and she is now home recovering!).

This past week I had planned to make crescent rolls as a side with the spaghetti dinner I made. Then I decided to spruce them up a bit. My first thought was to spread them with butter and garlic before I rolled them up and baked them - kind of a twist on garlic bread. But then my mind really got churning when I saw the cream cheese in the fridge... so I scooped some of the cream cheese into a bowl, tossed in some salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and parsley and stirred it all together. I spread the mixture on top of the crescent dough. Next, I sprinkled a little mozzarella cheese on top of half of them and rolled them up. On the remaining four crescents I sprinkled mozzarella cheese and bacon bits. Those were for Zach. He loves bacon bits and I can't stand the taste/smell of them; not now, not ever, will I like them...

Spruced up crescent rolls - pre-bake

Post bake - cream cheese & cheese on left -- cream cheese, cheese & bacon bits on right

They turned out delicious! I suppose a shortcut would have been to just use an onion and chive cream cheese but I was cooking and inventing on the fly.

The Little Cookie is still in there a-growing away! The top of my stomach is really starting to hurt/ache because I can feel my ab muscles pulling apart... that's going to be fun to try to put back together after she's born... 

In some ways I feel like I'm back at the beginning of my pregnancy again: the frequent bathroom trips, waking up feeling ravenously hungry even though I just ate something before bed, and the tiredness... except now my belly is 10x bigger!

Doctor appointments are now every week. This week her heart rate was 144 bpm and she still measured right on for 36 weeks. The doctor also did the Group B strep swab and checked my cervix, which to my surprise is already dilated to 1 1/2 cm. Now, I know it can be dilated like that for the next four weeks, but I had quite the reality check that she really could come at any time now! 36-40 weeks is considered full term so now they won't do anything to stop labor once it starts!

35 weeks

36 weeks - 9 months!

So much to do and so little time - like prep my classroom, clean up the nursery enough so a person can actually walk in there without tripping, falling, and dying, write thank you notes, spring clean, and oh yeah - I should probably think about packing a hospital bag! We have the outfit all picked out that she's going to come home in!

Anything you were glad you had at the hospital (for you or baby)? 

Leave a comment!

Love,

Sarah

Moo-ving Along

The title will make more sense when you see this picture:

Cattle on the loose!

A couple weeks ago the neighbor's cattle got out. Zach called me on my way home from work and said to be careful when I turned onto our road because the cattle were out and a van might have hit one. I drove VERY slowly - 1. because I didn't want to hit a cow and 2. because the road was so icy - and sure enough I saw two of them off to the left side of the road against the fence where the other group of cattle were. I honked and chased them onto the road and slowly drove behind them as they limped down the road. Poor fellas were the ones who got hit --- and to think the van didn't even stop!!! There were pieces of their vehicle laying in the road; you'd think they'd stop to assess damage and try to find their owners. Anyway, you can see Zach's truck and more neighbor's vehicles in the road with hazard lights flashing! Then there was me, cattle ranching in my Vibe... After a little while, they were all back in the pasture and everybody went home.

In other news, we have a crib and carseat! Funny story about the carseat is how we got it. One of Zach's customers from work gave him a hard time about having kids and offering to pick up baby gear: "Zach, I saw carseats on sale at Wal-Mart. Want me to get you one?" and comments of the same sort. Zach always said no. Until the day came where we were actually having a baby and when his customer asked Zach if he wanted him to pick up a carseat, Zach said yes! Needless to say, the guy was a little surprised and then congratulated him and said he would really get the carseat for us! :)

The other funny thing about the carseat was that when we looked at it in the store, we couldn't figure out how to get the gosh-darned thing off the base! Zach said, "I hope we get this thing soon so I can read the user's manual!" Oh my. My husband and I are SOOOO different in personalities! I would have just kept tugging and pulling until I got mad and figured it out or broke it --- and he wants the user's manual. At least one of us is logical. :) And once we got it, we did figure out how to get it off the base. I have a picture of Zach reading the user's manual when we opened it up but he threatened many bad things if I posted it anywhere. Ha- ha!

I suppose the little lady can make her appearance any time now because we've got a way to transport her home and a place for her to sleep.

We also have a SWEET changing table/dresser that Zach refinished! Here's the before and after photos:

Before

After

It used to be Zach's when he was a kid and I'm really glad with how it turned out! He did all the sanding and painting the past few days (even with a sore back and two nights of fire department training!). The only things are the knobs. They used to be wooden drawer knobs painted red to match the rest of the dresser and these are white ceramic. Slap a changing pad on top and we're good to go! Cute table and ensemble for such an unglamorous job of changing dirty diapers!

The Little Cookie - she's getting quite big! She's been getting the hiccups almost every night for the past couple of weeks. It is the weirdest and coolest feeling all at once! She's still as active as ever: wiggling, kicking, elbowing, scraping my ribs with her little knobby knees and feet, and I'm pretty sure I've felt her little fingers tapping away too. Only five weeks left to go - give or take - and I'm hoping (well, my ribs are hoping) that she slows down a bit soon because things are starting to get uncomfortable!

And it's making my job of teaching 20 six-year-olds quite difficult! Mrs. Cook doesn't tie shoes or pick things up off the floor anymore. :) Good thing I don't sit down much during the day because that's when she's all crammed up in the ribcage! Standing up, reclined, or laying down seem to be the most comfortable lately.

Anyway, I suppose it all comes with the territory. I'm still doing okay. No bad swelling in my feet, ankles, or hands and I'm hoping it stays that way! It's starting to get more uncomfortable now though. She pokes and jabs harder against my ribs - ouch! There's no more "just suck it in" to get through or around somewhere because my belly is permanently out. :) Also, doing the dishes is a bit rough because the counter & sink are right at belly height. So I either have to bend over funny or stand on my tiptoes so my belly goes over the counter. But you know what? I'm still glad she's in there. She's healthy and growing and has a strong heartbeat at each appointment. She's active and wiggly and gets hiccups. And I can't wait to hold her on the OUTSIDE.

Here's the last few weeks of belly photos I haven't posted:

32 weeks

Somehow I missed 33 weeks in there. Oh well.

34 weeks

35 weeks - with a fresh haircut & color! 

 35 out of 40 weeks. Whoa. Time is a flying past! She'll be here before we know it!


Cheers to the last bit of good sleep for awhile,

Sarah