Where are my Ankles?

I've always heard stories about how pregnancy makes you blow up like a balloon but never really believed it until now. At some point during my crazy, hectic week (see previous post) I noticed that I have developed the dreaded cankles, a condition contributed to a lack of definition in the calf and ankle areas. I guess it was bound to happen to I was so hoping it wouldn't. Oh well, if this is the worst that happens, I can deal with that.

Not only have my calves and ankles been working overtime, but so has the rest of my body. I had another appointment yesterday where I learned exactly how much I've gained as a result of vacation food. While I am still safely within all the recommended amounts, I still dreaded the number laughing in my face. My baby books say BABY is picking up weight at a whopping 1/2 pound each week so at least it's not all me. He sure is getting big!

BABY has really become active in the last few weeks. I constantly feel him flipping, kicking, punching, and practicing his UFC moves already. While on vacation last week, Chris was finally able to feel a whopping drop kick!

We've also spent the last few days putting together the baby crib that's been sitting in our hallway for about a month now. The bedding arrived while we were on vacation last week and we were finally able to get things partially set up last night. We still want to re-paint the room but I'm so excited by the progress we've made so far:

View from the Door

Teaching Joys

Part of being a teacher in Ohio is participating in continuing education courses in order to renew your certification. We must take at least 6 semester hours of courses before our certification expires (5 years for me.) Although I still have 3 more years before my certification expires, I decided to use this summer to complete my 6 semester hours so I wouldn't have to worry about it after the baby is born. I am enrolled in a class called SOSI that lasts 8 hours a day for the next 10 days. SOSI focuses on teaching science content and methods to science teachers. Yes, I know I'm not a science teacher but did I mention that the 6 semester hours are FREE?! Yes, free compared to the roughly $4,500 I would have to pay a college in order to earn those hours. Sounds like a good deal to me. While the content is completely useless to me since I teach Language Arts and Social Studies, I'm learning some new teaching methods that can hopefully come in handy in my own classes. I do have to say, however, I now know what it's like to be the slow learner in class! Trying to sound and be smart in an area where you are mostly clueless really SUCKS! This is one of the few times you will ever hear me say I can't wait until (insert day of the week here.) I can't wait until next Friday!

Gulf Shores, Alabama

During the week of July 3-11, Chris and I went on a much needed vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama with his family. We left on Friday, July 3 and drove to Decater, Alabama where we stayed the night in a hotel and ate at some BBQ joint featured on the Today show. The next morning we continued our drive and arrived in Gulf Shores around 3 or so. Our condo was situated across a small street from the beach where we spent most of our days. We did have a day and a half of rain and storms but we just spent that time watching the Michael Jackson funeral on tv. Each night we ate at a different local restaurant from Lulu's (owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister), to the Original Oyster House (yummy salad bar!), and a place called Doc's (1 lb of crab legs for $16). The weather stayed close to 90 degrees most of the trip with a few days peaking closer to 100. While there didn't seem to be a whole lot of sight seeing available, Gulf Shores is a great place to go if you're looking for a relaxing vacation with plenty of touristy hang outs. I'm so so grateful that Josh was willing to house/doggy sit while we were away. Our pups can be a real handful but he did a great job and even vaccuumed the place for us. Thanks Josh!

Lazy fun filled Uno night (I won both games!)

Cheesing for the camera


Beach front houses

White Sandy beach