Mother's Day

Today was a wonderful day spending time with family. Every Sunday we are lucky to have a home cooked meal made by my Mom. Today, everyone did their part and we put together a feast for Mother's day. My Mom couldn't stay out of the kitchen and had to contribute something. We limited her to steaming the broccoli. I am so grateful for my Mom and the example that she is to me. I hope that one day I can be a mother like her. 

A lot of people have asked after everything that we did, how were we able to get pregnant. With some of my posts at the end of last year, I led you to believe that we were going to move onto IVF. And that was the plan. We left the meeting with the doctor knowing that was our next step. I was ready to spend our savings on getting our baby right then and there. My sweet husband told me a few days later he didn't feel good about it. I was crushed, I had my heart set on a baby and we had been told IVF was our only option. Bob mentioned a miracle baby or maybe going with adoption. So after a few days, I realized I would be ok with starting the adoption process. I told Bob I was going to get the information and we could start working on the paper work. And once again, he told me he didn't feel good about it. I felt as though I was left with no options. He sweetly kept telling me that we would have a miracle. I couldn't accept that a miracle would happen when we had worked so hard for the last 2 years with the doctor in trying to get our miracle. 

I like knowing what the next step is, and being able to work towards it. This was right around Christmas and the first of January. I knew that if we both didn't feel good about our next step, we wouldn't be able to go forward with anything. I told myself I was going to get healthy, get back into my exercise routine, and give up white flour and sugar and all processed foods. (This would be my next step and distraction, until Bob came around to IVF or adoption :) 

After day 28 of my cycle I always take a pregnancy test. If I don't, I start playing mind games. Why am I late? Am I pregnant? And so forth. So on Friday, March 2nd - I was 29 days. I took the test and waited out the time like the last 100 times. But this time, I saw something I had never seen. There was a 2nd line. I panicked, freaked out, started crying, and broke open another test. (I have an unlimited supply.)  While the second test was in process, I ran into the bedroom crying and jumped on the bed to wake Bob up. He was in a panic until he was awake enough to realize what I was saying. What a special morning it was for us. Here was our miracle!!! I am so grateful for my husband who listened to the Spirit and was inspired for us to just wait. I'm sorry to say I was so obsessed and I'd say self absorbed in my trial, that I didn't take the time to listen. 

On my lunch break I ran to the Fertility Center to get my blood drawn. And for the first time ever the sweet lady called me with good news to let me know that I was in fact pregnant. They scheduled me for my first ultrasound a few weeks later. Because we had been working with them for the last year and were figuring out IVF, they let me come back for ultrasounds until week 10, when I was released to my OB. I love everyone who works at the Utah Fertility Center. They were so kind, loving, and I knew that they cared about me and my family. It was a bitter- sweet day when I left after my final appointment with Dr. Foulk. 

Today was a special day in the fact that I could reflect on my journey to becoming a mother. Baby Barber isn't here yet, but I worry about our little baby everyday. I pray for our baby's health and strength and can't wait to see this baby in a few months. 

And here's a glimpse of our little baby tot waving hello to the world. (This is from our last appointment with Dr. Foulk @ 10 weeks, and our baby was moving like crazy.) 

Sewing & quilting kick

Even before finding out I was pregnant, I have been on a baby kick. For the last two years, I have obsessed over the things I would do for our future children. I have bought enough fabric to decorate a million onesies. Earlier in the school year one of my good friends Karie found out she was pregnant. I have loved seeing her belly grow, and for all of her baby updates. Last week we had her baby shower at lunch. It was low key, in the faculty room and at lunch, but it was so much fun. I am sad I didn't take 1 picture, I was too busy eating the food and loving all of her cute gifts to do anything else. I was really excited to give her the gifts that I had made. Obviously I am obsessed with making onesies so I made a few of those. I don't know what it is about them, but it is one of my favorite things to do. A few months ago I found this gem on Karie's pinterest.

I loved the idea, but I am NO PRO when it comes to computers. But I do know how to stitch. So I printed off the information (all but the day of the birth) and took it to my Mom's. My mom is actually the professional stitcher of the family. She helped me piece it together and trace the writing. I'm fairly certain I will be able to do it on my own next time. But being as how important this gift was, I wanted it to be perfect, thus I had my Mom trace it.

I spent the new few days stitching, I forgot how time consuming stitching words is. But all of the time was totally worth the outcome. I am still awaiting the birth of baby Stockton, so the date is missing, and I have yet to get a frame to put it in. So just pretend it's finished!

Our house has horrible lighting, and I am no photographer. I apologize for the poor quality. But I hope you get the idea. I can't wait to make one for my future babe.

On to my next project. Another good friend at school is our librarian Keely. I just love her. She is so easy to talk to and always willing to help me out. Every few months she will bring in another beautiful quilt that she has completed. I've told her a million times that I wanted to start one, but was too nervous. I can hardly sew. I do have a sewing machine and I've tried a few things, but usually my friend Amber has to thread my bobbin. SOOOO embarrassing. Well a couple weeks ago Keely brought all of her quilt patterns to school and let me look through them. She showed me her basic quilts that she had made for her kids. I picked the easiest one and was on my way.

After my doctor appointment the next Monday I stopped at the Corn Wagon in Springville. (In my mind I always call it the CornCob, I think it's a better name... haha.) Let's be honest, I have little fashion/matching sense. I found a charm pack that I loved (according to my directions from Keely), but had no idea what would match as the border. Finally after searching around the store and comparing, I asked the lady cutting fabric if she had any ideas. No more searching for me, I'm all about asking for help. She found the best fabrics for me to choose from. I ended up buying the charm pack and green border. For the 2nd border I'd come back when they had the same fabric from the charm pack in bulk.

I went home and pieced it together. Within 2 days I was finished sewing all of the pieces and border together. I wasn't feeling a drive to Springville so I went to American Quilts (or something like that) on 800 North in Orem. I'll admit I was a little more confident this time. I had my pieced top, and I started looking at materials. I found one I loved, but questioned if it was too busy or if it really even matched. So I found a lady, I know how helpful they are and asked her. When she saw my quilt she asked where I got the charm pack. She told me they had just got theirs in, and all of the employees loved it so much, they didn't think they would be able to put any out in the store. That made my day. I do have good taste!

While I was there I  found a cute kit for a baby boy quilt. It came with everything, so I decided to go with it. Obviously we don't know what we are having, so I need to be prepared for boy or girl. I bought the kit and that weekend, finished both the boy and girl quilt tops. The boy kit came with a blue minky fabric to go on the back. I want to do the same thing with the girl. Who knows where to find good minky that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

So after I just wrote the novel about my first quilting experience, here they are, in their glory. These are my first, so there are a lot of problems. Let's just say Ric Rac is NOT my friend. But I'll get better next time.

Again, sorry for the poor lighting, and horrible pictures. I promise I'll have better pictures when I post the final project. Anyone know someone who does quilting? I'm hoping to have them do the binding also, that scares me.

Surprise for Elder Hales

We are counting down the days until my brother Dan comes home from his mission in London, England. It doesn't quite seem like it has been 2 years, but I do feel like I haven't seen him in a while, and I can't wait to see him in just a couple weeks. He will be home in less than 3 weeks. As a family we have been discussing what we will do when he gets home. Where and what we will eat, when we can get the boat on the lake, how he will have changed, and other random things. Our time around the Sunday dinner table is centered around Dan.

My Dad is probably the most excited, to finally have his handy son home to help with the yard work and to even out the boy to girl ratio at home. My Dad bought some golf passes at an auction for different courses in the county. It will be fun for Dad, Dan, Brent, and Bob to all golf together this summer. Although Andrea and Brent got married while Dan was gone, Brent met Dan before he left, so he isn't too much of a surprise. My Mom actually is the most excited I bet, and it's not just because she got a brand new car this week so Dan can have her old car. In preparation for his arrival at the airport, I have been making a few posters for Bob and I to hold. I can't wait to see his reaction.

I think Bob will hold this poster:

And I will be holding this poster:

Do you think he will like them?

Spring Break 2012

I had such a wonderful/relaxing/lazy spring break, I slacked on the pictures. We left Friday after school, drove to Kanab. The next morning we drove to Mesa for Easter weekend and spent Monday-Friday in Rocky Point, Mexico. Here are some of the highlights. 

(Everyone laughs or doesn't believe me when I say that we drive to Mexico!!!)

- While driving to Kanab we talked the whole time. (Usually, I read.)

- Touring Uncle Ed and Aunt Carrie's new house, aka the Mansion.

- Seeing my Grandma and Grandpa Hales for the first time in 4 months. Sitting on the deck talking and enjoying the sun together. 

- Going to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple, and hearing it in English. (Last year it was in Spanish) 

- Dying Easter Eggs with family even though the youngest in the crowd was 17.

- Eating a wonderful Easter meal with a Bunny Cake and playing games.

- Having a large shrimp cocktail when we arrived in Mexico.

- Sitting by the pool in the late afternoon feeling the sun on my face.

- Tacos, Tacos, and more Tacos (A girl in my class warned me not to eat any Tacos from the street. I told her I was sorry, but that is all we eat when we go.)

- Picking out breakfast pastries at the grocery store. 

- Reading by the pool all morning, every morning (I finished The Book Thief and loved it.)

- Watching both of my parents go down the slide (Our balcony was the one right above the slide)

- Spending time on the beach

- Searching for hot, fresh churros 

- Looking for a few trinkets to buy and take home, even though over the past 20 years we have already bought 1 of everything... haha

- Going to the fish market

- Eating a foot long burro (burrito that might have been my best meal)

- Searching for my Dad's missing tennis shoes

- Snacking on fresh coconut

- Drinking 2%, because it was 2% or whole

- Daily visits to the main lounge for wifi to email Bob

- Watching Nacho Libre while in Mexico

- Driving from Mexico to Orem in one day, just 14 hours

Teacher Appreciation

The week before Spring Break, my room mom emailed me about having some parents come in before Teacher Appreciation week. We figured out the best time was the Friday before the break, since the she needed things right after Spring Break. On that Friday one of the moms came in and said she would just need a few minutes to take pictures of the kids. I was going to work with some kids at the back table while she took them and I was surprised to find out she wanted me in the pictures too.

*Rewind to the night before. I hosted a girls night and was up late packing for my upcoming Mexico trip. I woke up late Friday morning, threw my hair in a messy bun, skipped the make up, and ran off to school. I was so happy that Spring Break was about to begin, to care what I looked like. (Also worth mentioning is the mountain of a zit growing on the side of my chin.)

I sat in a chair in front of my smartboard (a nice white backdrop) and one by one my students came and stood by me. Let's be honest I am not the best picture taker. I usually ruin the best family pictures with my squinty eyes. 30 pictures later, I was done. I could only imagine the horror of what the pictures would look like when they were developed. My kids on the other hand were having a ball teasing me during our pictures.

Here is one of my favorites. I feel like we are twins, although I am not missing a tooth.

Here is my cute door decorated. Even though I don't look great, it is so much fun to look at. My kids are darling and I have had a lot of laughs and good times this year. I also have to say that I have the best room mom and parents. They have spoiled me this year.

I needed that...

Teaching is a great job. I love love love working with kids, and my coworkers. I also love that I am able to take a summer break each year. But teaching is hard! Sometimes I feel like I am doing a lot more managing then teaching. This year I've had 31-32 kids all year. It can be crazy day in and day out. Sometimes I forget why I chose this career when it's been crazy and hard for a long time.

I've been working with a student all year with some issues and behaviors. I think we have both learned a lot this year, and it has been hard for both of us. Most of the progress I have seen, has been really small. A lot of the time I feel like this student hates me, because I am getting after him constantly. I never see any emotion from this child.

He has been working to earn a Star Wars sticker book that I bought for him at the book fair in January. When he had 15 positive days, he got the book. Today was the 15th day! He didn't know I had totaled the points and when I called for him to come see me at my desk, he came over and said, What? I told him he had done a good job and I was proud of him and that he would get to take his book home today. He looked at me and was shocked. Then he shocked me. I was sitting at my desk, and he came next to me and put his head on my shoulder. This might seem like nothing to you. But I honestly got tears in my eyes. Here was my little tough student who hasn't shown any emotion all year long. And I honestly felt like he hated me. Here he was giving me a little hug, letting me know how happy he was. I gave him a little pat on the shoulder and congratulated him.

It's moments like this, that make you remember why. I became a teacher, because I love working with kids, I love teaching them, and being a part of their lives. They may drive me crazy, and I go home everyday exhausted... but after today, I remembered how much I love my job.

baby showering

Last Saturday I was able to attend one of my good friends baby shower. As I was driving to the shower I thought that they might ask how everyone knew Brittany. I thought back to when we met at EFY and how we had been good friends since. And then I remembered that I went to EFY when I was 14 or 15, and now  we are 25. It is so crazy that we have known each other for over 10 years. That made me feel really old!

We gathered and ate yummy treats and talked. The game of the shower was "higher or lower" for baby items. There were 10 items with a price attached. (Diapers, wipes, outfits, toys, etc.) Each person had to write if they thought the real price was higher or lower than the price stated. I think I was 1 of 3 who don't have kids and I got 100%. I was pretty proud of my mad skills and was happy to bring  home a $10 Cold Stone gift card. Bob was even happier.

It was so good to see Brittany and her baby bump. She is one of those people who always looks good, even pregnant! I am sad that after the baby is born, they will be moving back to San Diego for Tristan to work. Brittany is soooo happy to go home, so I made her future baby a onesie so she would never forget Utah, and the good times here.

And because I know that their baby will be a future surfer, I made these two.

I can't wait to see and meet baby Perdue!!! Congrats Brittany and Tristan!