...for the party to stop!

We're in the final countdown of the pregnancy. The due date is quickly approaching and I am SO done being pregnant! I'm ready to hold.love.kiss our baby and to be able to walk without waddling or eat an entire real meal without fear of it immediately coming back to haunt me. Looking back over the last 9 months, I've had it pretty easy (compared to many other pregnancy stories that you typically hear about). I probably couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy (even the doctor made a comment about how nice it is to have healthy people every now and then).

Anyways, since school is out, I've been brushing up on my couponing skills. Honestly, I'm getting pretty good at it! I'm saving money on things we NEED/USE, not on crap just because I have a coupon or just because it's a "deal". I don't have a 'stockpile', per say, but I do have enough laundry detergent, body wash (his and hers), deodorant (his and hers), shampoo/conditioner and toothpaste that Kris won't have to be doing any shopping for those things for at least a month post-delivery. I think the general stigma that people have with couponing is that it's for "poor people". Well, it's actually for people who don't see the need to spend asinine amounts of money and over pay for things...all while setting that saved money aside for things that they WANT (vacations, cute shoes, etc.). It makes sense (as long as you're doing it responsibly...no need to turn into hoarders).

Aside from the couponing and being massively pregnant and ready to pop, nothing new is going on in the Thompson household. Nothing worth blogging about, at least.

Enjoy the heat!

for baby K to arrive...

We had the last of the baby showers this past weekend. Some very sweet ladies @ the church did a fantastic job putting together such a great shower for baby K! We got lots of great things : ) We are so blessed to be part of such an awesome church family! Thanks to all who were there and sent things and helped make it happen! Below are some recent pictures. Enjoy!

Check out the curtains my mom made! They are so stinkin cute and go SO well with the Rangers/Cowboys theme!

Baby shower : )

The moms, the preggo person and THE cake...oh, it was DELICIOUS!

My dear sweet Candace who drove in from Galveston for the shower!

....and updating

It's been a while since I've updated this...

...but don't be fooled! It's not because I've had such restful, sleep filled nights during the 3rd trimester! It's because Nick at Night has such a phenomenal lineup starting at 3:30am...it's hard to beat Boy Meets World, Home Improvement and Full House!

So, here's the update : )

School is out for summer!

All is well with baby K. We had another baby shower last weekend and were showered with LOTS of great things! The theme was 'vintage baseball' and there were hot dogs, lemonade in old Coca Cola glasses, silly games, lots of Texas Rangers gear, great guests from near and far and some delicious cupcakes! We had the car packed to the brim with all of the goodies.

I've been feeling pretty well...just tired (but that's to be expected at this point).

One of the coolest things that has happened recently is Bentleys attitude/role. Bentley is a 95+ pound boxer who we have deemed as having the personality of a fraternity boy....always looking for the party! Over the last few months, he has become increasingly more protective of me, which I have pointed out to Kris several times. In the past week, his protectiveness has grown even more, so much so that Kris has noticed. When I get up at night to go to the bathroom, Bentley (sluggishly) gets up with me. When I can't sleep and end up in the living room (like right now), Bentley sleeps by the couch at my feet. Over the past week, he has approached me 2 times, very cautiously, and put his nose on my belly and just sniffed it for several seconds. I've always viewed Bentley as just a big, dumb, jock-ish, frat-boy kind of dog. Turns out, he's very intuitive. He doesn't jump on me. He doesn't try to rough house play (like he does with Kris). People sometimes don't give animals credit for their smarts, but I've seen a different side of this dog than I've ever seen before. I can't help but think it's because he knows something is different. He may not know that there is a baby inside of me, but he definitely knows that there is something different that means that he needs to be more protective and careful around me.

That's pretty much all that's gone on in the past few months. It's not very exciting stuff, but it's the only stuff I've got to blog about : )

...for the last Monday of school to come and go

It's been a while.

Doesn't mean I've been sleeping at night, it just means that I've found other ways to utilize the midnight hours (couponing, cleaning, etc.).

I've entered the full blown 'nesting' stage of this pregnancy. I've always liked things to be tidy and clean and organized but am now taking it to a whole new level. This weekend, I cleaned out my husbands closet, organized his shirts and pants by size and ironed everything. I've also been doing the couponing thing, which has been pretty interesting. I recently watched a series on TLC called 'extreme couponing', which is what got me start on coupons in the first place. No desire to ever get THAT out of hand, but definitely looking for ways to save money. So, I've been cutting coupons and checking ads. The problem is that very seldom do things beat the Wal Mart price. Well, I say that's a problem. It's actually a double edge sword. It's a problem because I've wasted time looking at other ads when, at the end of the day, Wal Mart prices win. On the flip side (in the event that I need something and find it cheaper in another ad), Wal Mart will match that price (so I don't have to travel all over to get a deal). Though I haven't had any major hauls and saved bunches of money, I have had progress saving money on things we need/use.

So, that's what I've been up to. This is the last week of school for the 2010-2011 school year and I am so excited to have the next few months to do NOTHING (until the baby gets here....)!

...for Easter!

It's Easter Sunday! It's 4am on Easter Sunday but it's still Easter Sunday : ) I love Easter and all that it means. Jesus was killed, crucified in such a brutal and inhumane way, buried in a tomb and then a few days later, was alive again! I mean seriously, how cool is that??!!

So, as you and yours get dolled up in your pastel print dresses and your new Easter baskets and head out for your family gathering, remember what Easter is REALLY about. It's not about the Easter bunny, the eggs, the candy, the new clothes, getting to wear white shoes or having a good lunch. It's about a Savior that died for us and even death couldn't keep him. That's pretty powerful/intense!

...on so much to change

Yesterday started off being one of the most challenging days I've had in a while and ended as one of the best. We were supposed to have a faculty meeting at 3:30 so Laura and I were getting ready to head that way at about 3:25. If you know me at all, you know that "on time" means 5 minutes early and actually arriving at the time of the event is "late" for me...which drives me crazy. So, I get ready to go at 3:25 and Laura is just taking her sweet time...which IS driving me crazy! She's talking and running around doing this or that. We finally headed down to the library at about 3:30 so we were a few minutes late once we got there. We walked in and (because it was supposed to be a "faculty meeting", I didn't really look around, I just went to sign in) everyone yelled "Surprise!" I just kind of looked at Laura, finished signing in and kind of shrugged. She leaned over and said "This is your baby shower!". THEN, things started to make sense. DUH-a faculty meeting wouldn't have cupcakes that look like Texas Rangers baseballs or gifts or huge home made pennants! I was COMPLETELY surprised b/c my baby shower @ school wasn't supposed to be until NEXT Monday! They had planned it the whole time and I was the ONLY one who didn't know! Such a great ending! Baby K ended up getting a lot of really great things. My 'special' team spent a LOT of time planning, decorating and organizing and the shower was GREAT! I'm so blessed to work with such an awesome group of ladies!

all of Baby K's shower stuff and

the CUTEST cupcakes : )

...on sleep

The third trimester is kicking my butt. I guess it's about right since the first two have been a breeze. No morning sickness. No weird cravings. None of the typical 'pregnancy' stuff....until now. I wake up at least once, sometimes twice, a night to go to the bathroom (and then I can't fall back asleep). When I'm awake in the middle of the night and am trying to fall back asleep, I have horrible anxiety about very very small things. My back hurts in all kinds of ways I never knew before. I have zero energy (since I don't sleep after my bathroom trips) and, in the event that I actually do sleep for a 4 hour stretch, I wake up STARVING. So, that's where I am at right now. In an effort to help the situation, I've been getting massages every 2 weeks (which actually does help for the few days following). I've adopted the "sleep when you can (except at work)" philosophy and I am making sure that I get enough exercise. Aside from that, there isn't much I can do.

The most annoying part of this whole deal is when people talk to me and say "Oh, you think you're tired now? Just wait until the baby gets here". Oh, really? I'm not going to get to sleep when he gets here? I had no idea...wow! And THANKS for the uplifting words or encouragement or suggestions about how to actually GET some rest right now. Call my cynical, but it drives me crazy. Yes, I'm aware that when the baby gets here, my sleeping will be drastically limited. Yes, I'm aware that I will be tired beyond all tiredness. Got it. Thanks. So, in the future, before starting the "Oh, just wait until the baby gets here" stuff, stop and think.

I've been awake off and on since 2am. I've got an important thing at work today that's followed by a rough day at work yesterday. TAKS is a week and a half away. You might want to steer clear for a little bit....because at ANY given time, I might (and probably will) bust out in tears for no good reason. Good luck if THAT happens while you're around.....

Oh a lighter/happier note, the babies dresser came in yesterday! I love assembling furniture but THIS was ridiculously out of control. I swear, there are over 100 pieces (not exaggerating) and not once single piece is labeled or numbered. I spent the first hour organizing things with sticky notes and muffin tins. I finished the first 11 steps and got tired of being on the floor so make Kris take over. It's still not finished but it's closer than it was when I gave up. Hopefully it will be done by the weekend. Then, we can FINALLY start getting things organized and situated in there. At one point during the assembly, I walked back into the room and said "Are you following the directions?" Kris just looked at me, shrugged and said "Babe, those are really more of a suggestion....". Apparently, I've married Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor.

...and deciding what to eat

Almost made it to 5am. Almost.

Baby K's dresser should be here in the next couple of days along with the rest of his room decorations! I'm so pumped about finally getting things in order and looking like a nursery! Once the dresser is in and put together, we can start filling it with all of our baby shower gifts...woo hoo!!! We are blessed enough to be having a shower a month for the next 3 months and I am SO excited! I can't believe we are just a few months away from Baby K's arrival! WOW!

Overall, we've had a pretty good pregnancy (I hope I'm not jumping the gun on anything!). I just keep reminding myself that if I can just get through May, EVERYTHING will be a little smoother. Just have to survive. Actually, the hardest part is going to be getting through APRIL (TAKS testing : / ) Once that's over with, it will be even easier because we spend the last few weeks of school doing something totally different (ART)! SO excited for THAT!

...I'm actually accomplishing things

The sleeping has been a little better for the last 2 nights! Saturday night, I woke up once for less than an hour and fell back asleep until 6. Last night, I woke up once for about 30 minutes and was able to sleep until 5! That's progress!!

So, since I've been up since 5, I've balanced the checkbook and uploaded/edited some pictures and had a very healthy breakfast.

Not really much to say for a Monday morning. Don't want to blog about things tooo deep right now (b/c what will I blog about on my 2am mornings?!?)

Hope your Monday is a good one : )

....for the store to open

Wide awake since 4am.

Big surprise.

I have a WalMart and grocery store list but the store doesn't open until 7 so I've got some time to kill : /

So, in the mean time, I'm checking the registries and adding even more stuff (yes, it IS possible)...

The rest of the furniture should be here next week (along with the rest of the room decor) so that will be fun to assemble and finish..probably in the wee morning hours : ) Sometimes, I just sit back in his room and look around. I'm nothing but amazed that we have been given such a great blessing. The scientific, biological side of growing a baby is amazing, let alone the fact that it's actually far less of a science and way more of a God thing. There's a much bigger picture than science. Way bigger. I can't imagine how/why people could ever doubt the existence of God after all of it. There are A LOT of things that happen at just the right time, in just the right order, to sustain life. Science doesn't get to take all of the credit for it. Definitely Gods hand at work. Creating. Sustaining. Just wow.

In the meantime, I'm growing out of everything but am determined to spend as little money on clothes as possible (which is easier due to my sister in law and best friend) because once school is out in 7 weeks, I have every intention of sporting Kris' tshirts and workout shorts until D-Day.

Aside from that, there's nothing really new to report here. Nothing at all. 7 weeks of work until summer. 2 weeks until TAKS. 1 week devoted to testing and letting the kids just chill. A few weeks of some awesome art projects then summer will be here. Amen. AMEN.

....on 6:30 to get here

I made it until 4:30 this morning. That's 2 hours longer than I've been averaging but 0% chance I'll actually fall back asleep. I'm utilizing this time to prepare for a meeting that I've got at 10am, finish planning my post TAKS lessons, do some light facebook stalking and a little online shopping.

Last year, after the TAKS test, I decided to reward my hard working kids with 3 weeks of art. No, no coloring pages. Not construction paper. Not printouts that you cut and glue together. Full blown ART (history, application, technique, etc.) and the kids LOVE it! We learned about Van Gogh and Monet last year and we incorporated 'hatching' (technique used by VG), photography with digital cameras, watercolors and history into it. Turns out, my kids are awesome. They enjoyed learning about both artists (and have even told me "I went somewhere this weekend and saw the Van Gogh picture with the stars"). Pretty impressive, if you ask me : )

This year, we are going to spend 3 weeks learning about Andy Warhol. I've been working on my lessons and activities and have kind of kept it a secret from the kids so far. This years lessons are going to be SO much cooler than last year (and yes, it IS possible)! They work so hard all year, especially this time of year (TAKS prep), and really do deserve something different. I might be more excited than them about this! This year, we are using photo editing, making stamps, using digital cameras (and learning basics of photography), learning about contrasting colors and visual appeal! It's going to be so cool! Plus, it should make May go by pretty fast...which is also very exciting!

That's all for now. I've had this window open for over an hour now as I type a little on here, flip back to work on my meeting. It's probably time to finish the meeting prep stuff and do be a little more productive : )

While I'm waiting....

For anyone who actually reads this, you may have noticed a change in the title to "While I'm waiting...". Let me tell you a little bit about it....

Insomnia. Up at 2:30. Sometimes I fall back asleep, sometimes I don't. I've done some reading, some talking and some googling (which we all know is absolutely without error and 100% accurate *note: sarcasm). Many suggest that just laying there and trying to make yourself fall back asleep can make the situation worse and just make you become even more frustrated. It's encouraged to get up and be productive (housework, homework, schoolwork, social networking, etc.) and then to try to go back to sleep. So, that's my new plan. And I'm going to attempt to update this thing with my 'deep/insightful/profound/non-asinine/logical' thoughts that are happening at 2:30am...while I'm waiting to fall back asleep. I don't know how well I will actually do at updating this, but at least its SOMETHiNG to do. I'll give it a shot.

Day 7

Day 7: Post a picture of your most treasured item

Day 6

Day 6-Post a picture of a person you would like to trade places with for a day.

Duh.

Day 5

Day 5: Post a picture of your favorite memory.

This is a tricky one....

{first time Kris and I met}

{honeymoon in Kauai'i Hawaii}

{zip lining through Hawaii}

{good friends}

{getting hitched}

Missing:

Group picture from a ski trip

Day 4

Big surprise...I managed to go the entire week without updating this thing! I'll try to do better this week though : )

Day 4: Post a picture of your night (my night was beating Kris at words with friends)

Day 3

Day 3 - Post a picture of the cast from your favorite show

Day 2

Day 2: Post a picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

Hmmmm....this could be tricky since I'm not sure if its talking about friends or family.

Day 1

So, all of the Facebookers are doing this thing called '30 Day Photo Challenge'. Basically, it's where you have to post something about a specific topic/picture/event/etc. for 30 days. Since I've neglected this thing for the better part of a year (but have recently been inspired to get back to blogging a little bit), I have decided that I will do the 30 day challenge on here. So, here is day 1.

Day 1: Post a picture of yourself and 10 facts (see picture above)

Fact #1-I'm happily married to a pretty cool guy : )

Fact #2-I love Colorado.

Fact #3-I haven't skied in over a year...

Fact #4-I listen with a critical ear.

Fact #5-I hate being late to places. HATE.

Fact #6-I have 3 dogs who may be THE most rotten dogs EVER.

Fact #7-I can get very fired about about injustices.

Fact #8-I refuse to watch this season (and any future season) of American Idol.

Fact #9-I enjoy running.

Fact #10-Coming up with 10 facts has been incredibly hard

We will see how long the 30 day thing lasts...I give it a week!