It's been so long!

Between pregnancy, illness, and exhaustion from teaching I haven't posted in awhile! I think daily of what I could write on the blog but then I'm always too tired to actually sit down and type it out. Where to start? Well first off student teaching is going great. I finished up with my first assignment yesterday in third grade. I really loved those kids and my teacher was so amazing- I'm super sad she's PCSing to DC this summer- but there's always facebook!
I have finally gotten over my horrible sinus infection. I know, I know a sinus infection is no big deal BUT imagine not really being able to take ANY of the meds that work for you! About three weeks ago Matt had a slight cold (runny nose and cough that lasted maybe 3 days) but of course he passed it to me. Well when I got it it somehow mutated into this horrible cold. Not being able to take anything (except the following: Mucinex, Robitussin, Sudafed, Benadryl, and Tylenol- all the regular stuff: no PE, Multisymptom, Cold Flu, nada. Just the plain jane stuff) that works I suffered through for a week and went to the Dr (who just gave me sudafed since no where on post carried the plain kind). She said come back in a week if it's not better. Well 4 days later I woke up and felt like I had been repeatedly punched in the right side of my face and like the right side of my head had exploded. I managed to make it to school but as soon as I walked in the classroom my teacher asked if I was ok and I broke down sobbing. I was in so much pain (and that's AFTER taking tylenol). So I went back to the Dr. and saw a different one this time and at first he was just going to diagnos an upper respitory infection (gotta love military doctors) but I finally ASKED him to check my sinuses and yup HIGHLY infected (as in it should have been got the last time). He prescribed the only safe antibiotic for pregnancy and tylenol (thanks doc). I spent the rest of the day in bed. The next morning I was slightly better but stayed in bed. By the weekend I was cured mostly (I'm still coughing up the army green slime but at least I can breathe!) Matt was an excellent nurse and mostly spoiled me.
Matt has been working hard of course and is going to the field for a week sometime soon (no fun for me) and then turning around a going to a class the last half of April (DOUBLE no fun for me). I told him I could sue the Army because I won't have any food source if he leaves (he's been doing most of the cooking). I don't think it'll work...
As for Baby Barr- well he/she has a name, we've just gotta find out the gender (March 11- 7 days away!!). We haven't decided if we want to share the name or not. I've already gotten rude comments about names I like and quite frankly I don't want to listen to it. If we wait until the baby is born then people don't have the nerve to talk crap about the names to our faces (except maybe my Dad)!! Plus don't you think it'll be fun waiting for the big surprise?! LoL I do...especially since we can't keep the gender a surprise. (You can thank my friend Lisa for this- she did this with her last child and gave me the idea)
Another frequent topic of mine is weather which has been PHENOMINAL!! So beautiful. 40F and sunny skies (which isn't a big deal to you Americans but when you haven't seen the sun since Octoberish and it's been below freezing for 3 months it's AMAZING!!!!) Last week we FINALLY started having outdoor recess (instead of watching movies blegh) since the snow was mostly melted. Now the snow is all gone and I'm amazed at all the greenness! I forgot what grass looks like- funny huh? And of course we got our snow tires in today go figure lol. BUT it may snow this weekend so guess we'll get a lil use out of them this season after all.
I know there was so much I wanted to talk about but I can't remember (which happens way more than I'd like these days). I honestly thought the whole pregnancy memory thing was a big myth but no. It's not. I wish it were. I forget WORDS I want to use, people's names, EVERYTHING. Today I forgot my meeting with my supervisor. It's getting really embarrassing and I'm over it. 4 1/2 more months though!! Well as I remember things I'll try and jump on here and post. I will also try and get some pix up this weekend!

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14 week checkup

Both Baby Barr and Mama are doing great! I've only gained about 5lbs (but that's weighing the afternoon in full winter geat) ;-) Baby Barr has finally caught up on growth. Normaly he/she has been measuring about a week too small but now he/she is about 3 days-a week bigger! We like big babies!!! We got to see the skinny little legs and feet which Baby decided to keep nice and tightly closed for us so we still don't know the gender. In fact we don't even know how adorable our baby is because he/she kept it's face hid. The baby was turned towards my back so all we could see was the cute tushy and spine and back of the head. The Dr. tried forever to get a good shot and even jiggled my belly around to see if the baby would move but no such luck. She even showed us in 4D but all we saw was back. Oh well I guess we'll have to be like everyone else and find out at 18 weeks. I go back March 11. It's so frustrating because everyone knows or is finding out next week and I have to wait :-( and 2 of the girls that know/find out next week are just as far along as me!!! And everyone is having girls. I said since the baby is keeping HER legs closed it means she's a girl lol. Matt wasn't as thrilled with this. In fact he was like a big baby himself and pouted as we left the office lol. We both just really want to start buying stuff but most of the stuff we can't because we need to know gender!!!

Well today we went to a german store called Baby Studio that a girl from the school said she'd bought an american crib at- pshaw. The store wasn't too impressive although they did have a larger selection that other stores we've been to. I still don't like the german cribs so tomorrow we're going to order our crib, glider/ottoman, and mattress from the PX. We have to order it now because it can take up to 6 months to receive it!! Oh and we've changed our mind on the crib because the one I originally picked out only came in one color (espresso) but we didn't like anything else in that color. This is the crib but we're ordering it in cherry (basically the color of everything in our house except the office lol). The glider/ottoman is also in cherry! The only thing we haven't decided on is a changing table. I want one that isn't an obvious changing table so we can keep it. I like the ones you can keep baskets- love the wicker basket idea. I also like the ones that are just normal dressers. But we may buy the changing bad and see if it fits on my dresser then viola we'll just take off my mirror and put my dresser in the baby's room for now! We also bought this portacrib a few weeks ago and wanted to put it together right away so that's what we did. But the top features (the changing table and infant sleeper) were such a pain we didn't want to take it apart lol. We'll let the movers do that (then they're required to reassemble it!) ;-) I love the colors of it and I don't care if we have a girl- I like blue so she can too! It also has a vibrating feature, plays different music/sounds, and has a night light. Oh best part about it was it was on sale from $150 to $99!!

Speaking of babies I also have a new baby in my life called Nikon. That's right after 2 months of waiting we finally got our Nikon DS3000 SLR Digital Camera with the extra 300mm zoom lens :-) Beautiful pictures to come!

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Career Worries

So I finally told the principal at my school about the pregnancy on Monday. Unfortunately she had already heard about it which is very disappointing seeing as how I only told a few people (and I told her that). She wasn't upset and understood I was waiting until the 2nd trimester began so that's good. In fact she gave me the great news that she would hire me for sure next year! So I asked if I could apply now to get the process rolling but unfortunately with this system you can't even apply until you have the degree/certification. So this uplifted my mood after a bad morning (see below).

However even with this great news I've been stressing with the decision of working. So many moms here don't work but I also know that's because the lack of jobs here. Here I am being offered one but not sure if I want to take it! Here's my thinkings. I am worried about being on maternity leave the first 6weeks of school and coming into a classroom that has been with subs the whole time. So I thought ok well maybe I don't apply for a job until later so I could start in January after the break. I am also worried about putting a tiny 6 week old baby into daycare! Another option I had considered was subbing a few days a week and gradually working my way up to full time. Or do I not work at all? So many choices!!!

Well yesterday I learned that my worrying is probably all for nothing. I guess that the principal can't say for sure that I will be hired (I'm hearing this from 2 other teachers) because the open spots depends on the number of enrollment. Also apparently the spots that are open must be made available to all other DoDDS employees and if any of them want to transfer to our school then they have seniority. Another new teacher was also told she was going to be rehired for sure next year but technically I have seniority over her because I was hired 2 months before her (yes it really does get down to that here). So if there is an open spot I should get it instead of her. I also heard another teacher's horror story. She had a job as a teacher 3 years ago but then the next year they didn't have one for her so she subbed. Then she was supposed to have a job this year but she had a baby in Aug. and another person (with less seniority) was hired over her to take the job. She assumes because she had the baby but really how can you prove it? Luckily another came available soon after so she did get one but still! So much trouble!!

So I have decided that if I get a job offer then awesome- I'll take it. I'm not worried about starting late in the year because I won't be the kind of teacher that just leaves everything up to the sub. Matt and I can come set up the room before school starts and I can have everything ready to go as if I would be there- lesson plans, procedures, everything. Then I can keep up with the sub daily through email and once a week I can go in and help prepare materials and check in - in person. I think this is something I need to discuss with the principal so she doesn't worry about the maternity leave either. I hope it works! But if I don't get a job offer for the beginning of the year then I get to enjoy my baby at home for even longer! :-)

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Finally catching up

Ok so let's just start with Sunday:

Great day Sunday just lounging around the house. Matt had 24hr duty the night before so he was asleep most of Sunday but we did plan our menu and grocery list. So we get in the car and we're starting up no problem on our way to the commissary. And then we attempt to go up the hill that our house is on. No go. Not even close. We just burned rubber and slid all around. Some german people walking by came and tried to pus on the car while we gassed it but still a no go. Then we couldn't even turn around to come back and park we were just sliding around everywhere so we just had to literally roll backwards back into our parking spot on the street. I figured if they had the time and energy to come ticket us for parking backwards on the street then they should have the time and energy to come PLOW! Ok so no groceries...and nothing in the house. Plus Matt and I were both stressed and arguing and talking in ways we regretted. So later on I'm in bed and trying to fall asleep but Matt is out on the computer. I was just having all these awful, negative, horrible thoughts about everything. I mean seriously I was like "I just can't do this anymore, I don't know why we got married, I don't even want to live" I mean just bad bad thoughts and in the corner of my mind I'm going- WHY ARE YOU THINKING THIS?! You're INSANE! So I called for Matt because I just wanted to be hugged and as soon as he came in the room and sat on the bed I just started sobbing. I mean heart wrenching, gasping, choking, sobbing like I've never done in my life. Of course he is FREAKED out like "What is wrong?! Are you ok?? Did you have a bad dream?" ANd I couldn't talk...I just sobbed. For about 20 minutes. And then I was fine! He said he'd go walk Elvis and come to bed with me and I was like ok. I didn't tell him what I had been thinking because after I sobbed- I didn't feel like that anymore. I felt completely normal (freaked out and scared but normal). What the heck?!?! SO I'm going to assume that was a pregancy hormonal thing that I would NOT like to repeat any time soon that's for sure!

Monday: Matt wakes me up at 5:45am because he can't get the car unstuck and he'd actually rolled in backwards or something (I thought it had slid during the night) but it was less than an inch from our neighbor's car- VERY scary. So I gassed it and he pushed and the car just laughed. Literally it felt like it was chuckling because it's just making all these jumpy motions but it ain't goin nowhere! So after 15 minutes of this obnoxious revving (that I'm sure the sleeping neighbors just LOVED) we called it quits for awhile. I knew this neighbor usually left around 6:45am so we thought we'd wait til she'd left to try (and hoping she didn't slam into our car in an attempt to get out of her spot- she didn't). So I'm freaking out because I'm supposed to start teaching the morning lessons this week AND my supervisor was supposed to come observe from 8:30-10:20 and I knew I wasn't going to make it on time. I felt like the most horrible student teacher to walk the Earth. THANKFULLY they are both understanding ladies and I was emailing back and forth with them in the morning so we rescheduled the observation and I was able to get the lessons in later on in the day. Anyways back to the car. So Matt goes out there later and is able to actually roll the car all the way back (after the neighbor left) and build up some momentum and make it up the hill where he parked the car. So then we have to walk up an icy snow covered hill. Fun. That was just one great start to the day let me tell you. Another blessing though was that our friend's invited us over for dinner that night since they knew we literally had nothing to eat at home. She's a fabulous cook so it was amazing of course plus I just love spending time talking! And the guys worked late so it was nice to not be home alone until 8pm waiting on Matt.

Tuesday was another joyous day but this time it was the end of the day. I had a very good day at school and Matt and I decided to just park the car at the top of our hill and walk down it instead of risking not being able to get out anymore. So that wasn't a problem anymore. However I was just emotionally exhausted. After school I had to go shopping alone and that's always draining then I had to rush over and meet with my supervisor which that turned out to go longer than planned so I was more tired. She even noticed. I mean I was so tired I just wanted to lay on the floor and cry at the commissary. My eyes just burned I was so tired. Anywho while in that meeting it started snowing very hard. Matt meets me there and we drive home together only to find out that we can't even go up the main hill (MOUNTAIN) to our neighborhood. We got halfway up this thing and we had 4 cars behind us and we just started sliding backwards. It was SO scary. So poor Matt is just trying everything he can and we aren't going anywhere. And some jerk decides to honk at us! Like we can help this?! We also had 3 cars on the opposite side come down towards us but by this time our car is literally perpendicular to the road so noone on either side can get by us. We manage to finally turn around and go down and then what does my husband decide? Let's try it again! I wanted to cry. I was so stressed and I could just see us hitting the wall on one side or the pedestrian on the other or rolling into a car...I just wanted out. I was so stressed I wanted to vomit. Horrible. Anyways it doesn't work again. So then we try to go a back way because I had thought that this other hill wasn't so bad (just as steep but shorter). Ha! We couldn't make it up that and it was scarier because it was so narrow with cars parked all around. So then we had to just go park at the bottom of this gigantic hill and walk up with our groceries. SO much fun! Half way through I was just fighting tears. I had also been fighting a headache all day so when we got inside I just laid on the couch and cried. Coming home shouldn't be so stressful!!!

Wednesday: Praise the lord it rained! Which washed stuff away and we had no issues getting to/from home!

Thursday: Another rainy day and it's actually "warm"! It stayed above freezing today and I didn't even need a coat (I think the high was 37). Hahahahhahaha that makes me laugh. So with our housing issue- we've been on the list since we moved here. We didn't choose to live off post- they wouldn't let us live on post because they reserved it all for Matt's unit which was moving from the post in Mannheim. So even though we were in the unit we couldn't have it because we came from the states. Made NO sense to us whatsoever. Anyways I told them to keep us on the list because we wanted on post. That was JUNE! It's been 8 months! We started at 72 or something and a friend who used to work there checked for me and we are now 35. That is just crazy. But she did say that by the end of the month we should check back because so many people are PCSing this month. So I pray we are moving on post in March but by then it's like winter's (almost) over so big whoop but still I will be grateful. We are just so tired of the driving. It'd be nice to get off work and just walk over to your apt or whatever. Or not be stopped by the weather from going to the grocery store- just walk to it! So that has been our fun eventful week. I know I've been blowing up my facebook with negativity but it had to come out somewhere and facebook was the safest lol

I have so much more I want to write about school but my hand is cramping so I think I"ll save that post for later. ;-)

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So much to say!!

I have so much I want to blog (ok...vent) about but each night I'm too tired! I WILL catch up tomorrow!!!

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Still no news

Man I am a boring blogger! Nothing to report for this week. Oh except that we might as well be in Alaska with all this snow we're getting! Two snow delays this week at school. Matt didn't work 2 mornings because he couldn't leave the house (though I could...Hmm...) Yesterday morning I actually looked around (the sun was actually coming up so I could see) and thought "Gosh this is beautiful. If I didn't have to drive in it (or if I had my own personal snowmobile) I'd love this." Oh well.

In baby news I did FINALLY have a baby dream. Lately I've been having weird, scary, sick, frightening, or disturbing dreams. Like the kind you wake up and you're either still terrified or you're sick to your stomach. But finally I dreamt about my baby. I had just brought him (yes- it was a him...I think. I don't remember seeing anything just having that feeling) from the hospital and I was changing him on the changing table and he started having watery poo. I mean this poo was going EVERY where but I was laughing and calling for Adri (who was staying with me) telling her to come look the baby pooed like Matt and I (haha gross I know). Then I had to hold the baby above the sink while she used the sprayer hose from the sink to spray the baby off. Not that exciting I know but when I woke up I could still feel the baby skin on my hands and I could remember how he weighed and felt...it was pretty cool. It was so real that when I woke up I thought that I'd had the baby and started to get up to check on him when I realized it was a dream.

In other baby news: still no bump. My stomach is hard (rock hard right above my uterus) but no bump :-( And I keep feeling little flutters but I know it's too early to feel the baby and that it's just muscle spasms but it's still cool to think about. ;-) I also feel like a total slacker. My friend Krystal is 16 weeks (just 3.5 ahead of me) and she's got the whole nursery completed. Hutch, changing table, and crib complete with bedding. I'm so jealous!! All I've bought is a couple of outfits that were on sale! Maybe next month I'll start slowly buying stuff like the high chair, portacrib, etc. We've already picked out what we like so just gotta start buying!

Well off to clean this house. I think I said that last weekend but of course it never happened. There's so much clutter lying around- and my floors are in desperate need of mopping! Hopefully Elvis and his friend Nutmeg (our bible study leader's dog we're keeping for the night) will stay off the floors so I can clean! Yeah right...

Here are a few pix of Daddy and Elvis playing in the snow!

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All's Quiet on the Western Front!

I should be posting how busy I've been starting student teaching BUT student teaching is about 80% easier than long term subbing in a first grade class when there is NO real teacher to make lesson plans for you and there was no routines or anything in place before the real teacher left! Even so this third grade class is wonderful thanks to the teacher's hard work. There are no real discipline issues, the kids are respectful, there is a routine, and everyone really tries! The teacher said that wasn't always the case but that's even more proof of what a wonderful teacher she is! This week was mainly observing but she did let me play reading games with some LI kids. Yesterday (Friday) I also ran most of the class because there was a sub. For student teaching I have to keep a journal for my supervisor to check and the easiest way I thought to do that was in a blog. Then I can even add that to my UTT porfolio. If you want to keep up with my student teaching experiences see http://www.mrsbarristeaching.blogspot.com/ ! I'm still looking for a good Teacher background so if you have suggestions please share!
Ok in baby news there isn't much to report other than last week/weekend was pretty rough. I thought I was finally going to get sick but not the case. Last weekend we went to Ramstein where there is a HUGE PX/Mall (Air Force always get the nice stuff!). We mainly went because I wanted Chili's soooo bad but we also wanted to check out baby items. First off let me tell you I actually experienced a little reverse culture shock by walking through this area and hearing the majority of people around me speaking English. For once (well in seven months) I didn't feel so claustrophobic in a store!! Well the baby items were a disappointment except we found a high chair that matches the travel crib we want- and it wasn't $200 like the only one at our PX! Chili's was fabulous and we even met up with the Barreto's there and ate with them. They had been in Heidleburg touring the castle so that was a lot of fun. I had my usual: mushroom swiss burger with fries and a bowl of skillet queso! MMMMMM

Baby Gadi was watchin Madagascar for the 800th time!

We stayed in the hotel that is connected to the mall which is SUPER nice (brand new) and very cheap. We paid $39 for the night! Can't beat it. We also enjoyed Manchu Wok for lunch that day and Cinnabon for desert that night! The next day we walked around the PX one last time. I really need maternity pants (yes- I am that fat. And it's not the cute fat with a baby bump...its just fat. My worst fear is coming true!) but again I was disappointed so I ended up buying another pair of my favorite Levi's (the no gap waist ones) in the next bigger size (and even THOSE are tighter than I thought...I should have tried them on!) Oh well. We also looked at couches because we both want new couches SO BAD. We bought these when we first got married because they were cheap but nice looking (gotta love Big Lots) and since they are brown we figured it'd be perfect with a dog and when we decide to have kids. Well almost three years later they are getting very flattened out and uncomfortable. Plus we can't comfortably cuddle on one together like we want. Matt really wants a sectional but I don't care what it is as long as I get a recliner OR a sofa that reclines. Now doesn't seem the practical time to buy a new sofa but it's getting pretty miserable...guess that proves you get what you pay for!
In other baby news I will be 12 weeks in two days! YAY!! One more week and I am done with my first trimester!!! :-) The baby must be growing because my tummy has been sore like I pulled a muscle or something so I guess it's stretching out. I have also had more energy the last two days which is amazing and much needed. This house is a disaster!!!! I have still be looking at baby items but I am just getting so frustrated shopping online. I want to FEEL things! Oh and question for those of you going to stores- is there really no more "normal" swings anymore? All I can find are the ones that are on the ground which I'm not crazy about because a) it's drafty down there and b) we have a dog (not that he'd hurt a baby but he WOULD jump in a comfy looking swing and sleep in it!) ?? What happened to the swings that were higher up? I guess I'm just being picky.
Well baby (haha ok ok Mommy) is hungry and I've gotta get started on this cleaning while I still have the energy! My "poor" hubby is recovering from a short bout of food poisoning (we think) so he won't be grilling for us tonight. Guess I'm switching my recipes around on my menu! I'll leave you with some pix of Daddy with his first baby :-)

When Matt came home from work this is where he found Elvis- that's our bathtub lol

Daddy and Son looking at me



Daddy and Son looking at each other!

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