IT'S A BOY!!!!

Up to this point, I thought I was carrying a girl. Most of our family and friends thought so too. Josh and my mom and my Gram thought it was a boy (or as Gram told me this afternoon, "I was secretly wishing for a boy!"). This morning I woke up and thought I just might be carrying a boy. I'm carrying kinda high (like my mom did with my brother) and after my cousin and sis-in-law are carrying girls, I wondered if God would bless our families with a baby boy. Well He has!! It was neat to see the baby and be able to actually make out some body parts. He's right on schedule with his growth and his heart rate is right in the middle (120). We saw his spine and bones and his kidneys and his brain and his heart beating. He was moving his arms and legs around some. Everytime the woman tried to get a good shot of his face he would tuck it down so our picture isn't great. Apparently, he's either shy or stubborn already. I'm pretty sure I started feeling him move about 2 weeks ago, but I wasn't sure. Most women told me when the baby moves it feels like a butterfly. I thought it feels like he's poking me or like a bubble bursting. I ran into my friend Seungeun yesterday (she just had her baby this summer) and she described the baby moving like I did. So I'm pretty sure that's what I'm feeling now. If that's so, I've felt him move everyday for awhile now. We are excited - it's so much fun to know what we're having! We're keeping the name a surprise until the birth. So no begging or offering to make a bargain like my neice Tana did this week:

Tana: What are your names for the baby?

Me: Oh, we're keeping that a surprise until the baby comes.

Tana: Oh, you have to tell me! I have secrets. I'll tell you one of mine if you tell me your names.

Me: No, you'll just have to wait.

Tana: Let me talk to Big Josh one more time.

She then proceeds to make him her secret-sharing offer. It's going to be tough withstanding her pressure!

Check Josh Blog

Because I know many of you have had those sleepless nights wondering when will Josh return to the blogging world, I am here to inform you that he has returned.
Check out his blog (via the link on the right). It's a pretty funny entry about one of Josh's "theories".

College Lessons

Last week my parents were in town (pictures from the fun coming soon!) so I didn't get a lot done at school. Today I was back to the old grind trying to get things done. Due to the overwhelming amount of people on campus and the lack of parking (there's construction everywhere), I was lucky to get a parking spot in the overflow lot. It's quite a walk from there to my building (especially in the heat carrying a laptop) so I ride the bus. It seems that every year I have at least one bus story - especially after a long break of NOT having to ride the bus. I always forget about the bus culture over the summer. I was reminded of it today.

Annoying Things About Riding the Bus:

1. Girls wearing extremely short skirts so when they sit across from you, you can clearly see their underwear.

2. The bus driver has the music up so loud (I'm sure he thinks we're enjoying it after a long day of work), that you have to read lips when talking to someone.

3. The bus driver playing some random stupid music that you really don't like.

4. Waiting for the bus in the hot sun because you barely missed the last one (happened both times today to me!).

5. Getting on the wrong bus and driving all over campus...then having to get off where they picked you up in the first place.

6. When the bus is so packed that you have to stand and hold on to the bar and try not to fall. Thankfully, I had a seat both times today. I've already decided that I'm going to give someone the guilt trip if they don't offer their seat to a pregnant woman when the bus is full. Ha!

I also taught my class today. It was a short lecture with a quiz. Here are a couple of things I think all college students should know:

1. Every student should know what section he/she is in - it's on their schedules and the way they are organized in my class. (I had to look up about 20 students so I knew where to find them on my grade sheet.)

2. Have some integrity. (It's obvious when you cheat - I either will see you or can tell from what two of you write. If you both think that P stands for Plutonium (it stands for Phosphorus) among other similar wrong answers, I'm pretty sure you guys were looking at each others' papers.)

I had a good class despite the minor annoyances. I ended up talking to a couple of students and was able to help them. I have some good students. I'm learning a lot too as I prepare for my lectures. I think I'm really going to enjoy the semester.

What do you want to learn?

The school semester started back up again, and I'm teaching a lecture course this semester. It's been a lot of work getting it all together, but I think I'm going to enjoy the assignment. As usual, the students are a great source for entertainment. I asked my students what was one thing they wanted to learn about chemistry in this class this semester. Here's some of the most interesting responses....

"Pyrotechnic displays."

"Anything and everything you have to teach us!" (I giggled when I read it - what enthusiasm! I wonder if it's sincere..hmmm....)

"Nothing is related to my field of study so I doubt I'll learn anything I'll like."

"How to make slime."

And the best one? "I want to learn how to blow things up. I'm going to work in a bank some day."

Nice. A little scary, but for the most part, I have some enthusiastic students. Now I just need to find some cool demonstration I can do in class that involves bright colors and fire.

Sunday

We got up and I was feeling good so I was able to go with everybody to bible class AND worship. Before we left, April wanted a picture of the Bartees all dressed up. We got thrown off after our picture taking. After we arrive at church (45 minutes away), Amy and Jonny discover they forgot the diaper bag. I think Amy had to "borrow" diapers from someone at church for Alex and Caleb was in the nursery during worship since none of his things-to-do were there. It was kinda funny - but I learned another lesson: don't get distracted and forget the diaper bag. haha The class and worship were great. I really liked their church. Then after two quick stops for drinks and buns, we headed home. Amy and April cooked some yummy burgers for us and we visited the rest of the afternoon. Can you tell from the pictures how awesome Aunt April is? Caleb was crazy about her! After a short nap, I drove home. I had such a good time seeing everybody! I can't wait to do it again - and next time, I'll have a baby with me!

The Rest of Saturday

After our late lunch, we went back to Amy's for awhile and then set out again to go shopping for me. I needed some maternity clothes. I had a good time. It was great to have someone with me who could give me advice about how the maternity clothes fit. AND I had 3 other girls getting clothes and sizes for me. April took a picture of me in the dressing room with the fake belly around my stomach. I guess that will be what I'll look like when I'm 9 months pregnant...or hopefully I'll look like that : )

After I spent all my alloted budget, we went home. Nobody wanted to be tempted to spend money. haha For four girls together, we did really well.
We had a good time visiting together that evening and I slept great. I must have been worn out.

Lesson Learned

April and I left Andrea's around noon to meet up with some more friends in Ft. Worth for lunch. After our hour drive with me following April across the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and neither of us dying, we found the restaurant. Charity, my college roomie, got there at the same time. It was soooo good to see her and laugh together again. We waited for the Bartee family to arrive while we visited and the waitress ordered us around on the best possible seating arrangement for a baby. I decided to get rid of my gum and stuck it inside a little piece of my napkin. I just set the napkin-gum wad on the table thinking nothing of it. The Bartees arrive - Amy, Jonny, and their 1.5 year-old Caleb and their 6-wk-old Alex. While we all got settled (after moving AGAIN because April wanted to sit by the baby) and started catching up and ordering, Amy asks Caleb, "What do you have in your mouth?" I said, "It looks like paper." She replies as she takes it out of his mouth, "No...it's gum...Jonny, did you give him any gum?" I look down at my place and realize. Little Caleb had found a treasure on the table - a wad of napkin to chew on with gum inside!!! My gum. Amy said she's glad it was mine and not some stranger's. I guess I learned that kids REALLY do stick anything in their mouths.

Fun Weekend Start

So I left on Friday to meet up with April in Dallas for a girls' weekend. We met at our friend Andrea's house that night. Andrea and Kevin just had a baby girl. She was three weeks old and about 5.5 lbs - she's a little cutie! We had fun talking - especially about pregnancy and babies.

Then the next morning April and I decided to go out and get her some caffeine and me something more to eat. As we traveled around Carollton trying to stay near Andrea's house, we almost gave up finding a donut shop. We both saw it at the same time and felt the need to shout, "DONUTS!!!" We bought donuts for everybody, caffeine for April, and I got a breakfast burrito. AND we found our way back to Andrea's. I was very proud of us.