She's Here!

I did it! I had my first baby :) I don't have time to do a real post. A quick summary pregnancy...easy, labor & delivery...not bad, postpartum...has been difficult. No sleep, trouble breastfeeding, random boughts of crying, and trying to adjust to our new life. All of that aside :) She is gorgeous & a gift from God! I am really enjoying watching her & Adam together, that has been such a blessing!! So here are some of the thousands of pictures that have been taken of her in the last week in a half :) Enjoy my friends!!

Taking a nap in her bassinet

Taking a nap with Daddy

Sleepy baby after her bottle

Mommy trying to burp her

Her proud Mamia (Grandma in Romanian)

Proud parents a couple hours after Genevieve was born

Right after her first bath

What I was craving after delivery

Genevieve with Auntie Jani

slowly going crazy...

ok i am at the point i promised myself i wouldn't get to :( i am caught in the oh-so-fun mental battle that is the 9th month of pregnancy!! i am having a hard time cuz everyone keeps telling me how close i am & looking at me like i am going to spontaneously give birth at any second. i have made a lot of progress & made the mistake of sharing it with people when they ask (currently 4cm dilated & 70% effaced). needless to say this has exacerbated the problem of people trying to make me crazy! ;o) we have 8 days until our due date & my midwife has talked to us about inducing (because i am so favorable). we said no we would like to wait to go naturally into labor. so, we have another appt. on wednesday to get checked by our midwife & take it from there i guess. i am having a heck of a time going to work everyday....this is not helping me with all of the craziness that is happening. although it does help me stay busy & not obsess about water breaking or contractions! :) so cross your fingers that i can stay strong & wait for this pregnancy to turn into labor!!

39 Week Belly Pic

So much trouble!

Oh my goodness I can not believe how long it has been since I have posted! Lots has gone on & apparently that has shown with the lack of TLC for the blog. Dinner is going to be ready soon, so I am going to make it brief. I have been craving BBQ Pork Sandwiches & the meat has been bubbling away in the crock-pot all day & smells delicious!!

*I have officially graduated with my Master's Degree! I got my raise on this check & it made it all the work worth it :) I am super glad to have it done & behind me. If we decide to come back to Oregon when Adam graduates, I am hoping it will help me get a job.

*Adam is about 1/3 of the way through his semester. He has some hard classes this semester: Microeconomics, History of Economics, Quantitative Statistics, Buisness Online, and World Culture of Music. He has been trying to balance his nesting (hehe) with his homework :)

*The baby is due in less than 8 weeks. I feel like I am running out of time & trying to get prepared as much as possible. I have been wearing out super fast, especially after working all day long. I am hoping I can make it the rest of the way, it is definatley getting physically harder (I guess emotionally harder in some way too!)

Ok the timer has gone off for dinner, I will go into more details soon :)

Thanksgiving

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come & gone already. We stayed in Utah again this year. It turned out to be for the best because there were terrible snowstorms all over. The freeway going North out of Utah into Idaho was closed for awhile. Luckily, my brother (some of you know him as Jeff, but I have called him Goober/Goob for a long time now) flew up from sunny San Diego to join us in the Winter Wonderland! Goober came up last year for Thanksgiving, and we all enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again this year.

The trip down to Salt Lake to get him was a bit treacherous. They were closing schools/stores/work down early around the area to prepare for the big storm. My principal said we all had to be out of the building by 3:31 before the storm came. So, this was what we were looking forward to driving in. I obviously wasn't going to leave him stranded at the airport! :)

We drove about 25-30 mph the whole trip, and witnessed multiple accidents along the way. It usually takes between 45 minutes to and hour to get down there. It took us almost 2 hours. Goob was supposed to arrive at 7:15 pm. We found out his plane was delayed until 7:50. We thought no big deal we will still leave on time to make sure we can take it slow. He arrived in Salt Lake on time, at which point his plane circled the airport for about an hour. He was then rerouted down to Las Vegas so the plane could get gas. The Goob then flew back to hover some more, land, and FINALLY get off his plane at 11:30 pm. We did not want to make the 2 hour trek home, just so we could turn around & come back. We sought refuge in a Denny's about 15 minutes from the airport. It was hard waiting at Denny's when we were so excited to see him.

Needless to say we were ALL exhausted & had a long drive home. We got home about 1:30 am. It was the latest I have stayed up since I have been pregnant! Late nights, stress, and long drives do not agree with this preggo mama :)

We had the best time while he was here. We had a wonderful dinner that we all worked to make. The boys were so great at doing ALL of the dishes! :) There was lots of male bonding while playing Call of Duty, mini golfing, bowling, movie watching, nursery organizing, putting up Christmas lights and chatting. It was sad to have to take Goob back down to Salt Lake, which by the way was another storm-we were calling him the weather curse. It was time to settle back into reality on Monday. It made me realize how blessed I am to have such loving & fun men in my life! :) We all wish we lived closer together, maybe someday.

Uncle Goober got to feel little Genevieve kick while he was here & that was exciting. He can't wait to be an uncle. The baby girl is doing really well & I feel like my pregnancy is flying by! Everyone keeps telling me it is because I have so much going on. I thank the Lord everyday that it is going to smoothly, such a blessing. I also have to remind myself when I get stressed or someone shares one of their horror preggo stories that I am not in control of this pregnancy...God is. I often try to fool myself into thinking I have control. But I know Genevieve is in much better hands with the Lord than me! :)

Here is my one & only pic from the whole Thanksgiving trip. I guess we were so busy I am lucky to have gotten one! :)

Are you ready???

IT'S A GIRL!!



Her name is Genevieve Addison & we are thrilled :) I was hoping for a girl. I honestly had kind of silly reasons for it. I have a hot pink baby blanket we bought in 2007 from the Pendleton Woolen Mills. I also fell in love with some girl baby bedding at Babies R Us. Plus girl clothes are SO much cuter & more fun than boy clothes. Like I said silly reasons! Regardless of the reasons I am glad she cooperated at the ultrasound & now we know who our little darling is :)

Our most recent ultrasound picture. We go back in again the middle of this month.

Baby Blob & Masters Classes

I will share the more exciting of the two topics. We had a midwife appt. last Wednesday, and people kept asking if we would be able to find out the sex. My midwife hadn't mentioned anything about it at the previous appt. therefore I did not think it was an option. Plus, I was almost 16 weeks at the time, and thought that was too early. When we were waiting the nurse told us they would be able to check the sex....YAY! We were so excited and anxious to start calling the baby by its real name and not Baby Blob anymore. My midwife looked for about 10-15 minutes, and Baby Blob would NOT uncross her legs! :( She laid there with those ankles locked and no matter what we tried there was no telling the sex of the baby at this appt. So, we are going in next Wednesday to do round two of will Baby Blob cooperate and let us see if it is a boy or a girl. People are also starting to ask about our names, which we have had our first two picked out since we were dating! If it is a girl it will be Genevieve Addison and a boy will be Tyler George. The girl name has no family ties, but George was Adam's Grandad's name & they were very close. I am so looking forward to next Wednesday, hopefully Baby Blob will work with us! :)

I am on my last Masters class and I have a bad attitude about it. I am already beyond tired, it is just more than I can handle at this point. Pray for me! I need to graduate in December :)

~Homesick~

HOME SWEET HOME *PTOWN*

It could be the hormones, upcoming holiday seasons, or a combination of things. I have been homesick for Portland & my family/friends. I am crying about it more frequently (pregnancy!) I just miss being around the fam and friends my age going through life at the same stage I am. I have been blessed with some great friends here in Utah, but they are all AT LEAST 15 years older than I am. I think I am going to have to make a better effort to reach out to people my own age at church. We are planning to stay here for at least the next 3 years. Good news though....Adam met with his advisor & *to make a long story short* he can take summer classes and graduate June 2012!! That is a year sooner than we were orginally planning :) If I have learned anything in all my years of having a relationship with the Lord, it is He knows the plans He has for me & they are often not aligned with my own plans...All that to say we have NO IDEA where the Lord will have us living when Adam graduates. We want to be in His will, even when it is emotionally hard for us. I do have more good news, I start my last graduate class in 2 weeks. I am so excited to be finished with this program, it has not been easy to work full time & do all the masters work. Plus, I will get my raise in December! Adam bought me the entire Twilight book series for my birthday & it is time to get back to what Bella & Edward are up to ;o) I am choosing to watch the movies first & then read the books last. SOOO, if you know what is happening after Eclipse...I DON'T want to know! :)

So I think you all know...

...but just in case I thought I would make it official. I am preggo! It has been a whirlwind so far. We were praying like crazy that we would get pregnant, and we were hoping to do it within a time frame. I thought, yeah right this is never going to happen. The first month we were trying....my monthly friend never showed up! We were hoping to get pregnant in August or September so that I could have the baby in May/June. I do not have very good maternity leave, and so we were concerned about financial issues if I am out of work. I have to use any sick time that I have, and I only have 5 days from last year. I have 56 hours for this year, so it is definitely not 6 weeks worth :( This also means no sick days for Mrs. Farmer this year either. We are praying and trusting the Lord will provide. He gave us this sweet miracle, in spite of doubts, and I know He will take care of us and Baby Blob.

I am 13 weeks today! My due date just got moved to March 28th. My midwife said either I am earlier than we originally thought or I am growing a huge baby :) One of the best parts of this whole process is how it has brought Adam and I that much closer. To see the light in his eyes when he sees Baby Blob on the ultrasound, has been one of the greatest joys for me. We are so excited to be parents, and I could have not picked a more wonderful father for my children!!

The most disappointing part of this process for me has been that I am NOT SHOWING AT ALL! :( I was so excited for my big pregnant belly to pop out...nope, not even a little. I tell people I am preggo and they look at me and say, "Really?" So, I am really looking forward to needing some maternity clothes and looking like I am preggo, haha! I keep thinking if this baby is so big shouldn't my belly be sticking out yet?!? This whole process has been about growing, changing, and learning. Thankfully I did not throw up in my first trimester (knock on wood!) I was pretty much exhausted all the time, and I can tell that is starting to get better :) The other part I am dying for is to find out if it is a boy or a girl. I do not know if I will be able to live with the anticipation much longer....It does not matter to us either way, I am just so ready to know.

Here is our little Baby Blob at 12 weeks! You will be happy to know my midwife said the spine is all intact, no Spina Bifida. Baby Blob has all four extremities and is facing down. Baby's sweet little foot was kicking & arms were moving. I could not believe it! It all seems too good to be true :)

4th of July with Adam's Family

Hey it is better late than never...I guess!

We had Adam's family come visit over the holiday weekend.

We went to Adam's college to show the fam around.

We also fed the ducks at the college pond.

I think I already shared about our redneck 4th at the Demolition Derby.

It was a super fun time!

Of course, we also had to go mini golfing a few times :)

Here are a few pics from their trip!

Jean and I at the duck pond

A big goose

Weber State Duck Pond, so gorgeous!

Adam & his Mom
Jonathan feeding the ducks

Our niece, Liberty, was obsessed with the guniea pigs. She would run over to their cage and say, "MEOOOWWW!" So cute!

Summer

It was sunny & I love the face Roxy is making

I can not believe how quickly this summer has gone!

I go back to work in two weeks.

I am excited about meeting my new first graders,

this year is going to be a new adventure!

Other work related news:

Our contracts are still being negotiated, but

I am not worried about my job.

The union has hired a lawyer to fight the school board.

They are disagreeing over our yearly pay raises (the

more experience you have the more you are supposed to get paid).

My raise was going to be about $600 for the year, but I will

most likely not be getting that this year.

The school board also wants to cut days out of the school year,

so we get paid less. Also, possilbly not paying those of us that have

gotten our Masters degree.

I am two classes from graduating with my Masters, I am so excited!

The timing turned out to work out perfectly.

I will be really happy when I do not have to spend my evenings doing homework.

We have had a lot going on this summer.

We are getting ready to go camping next week.

It will be our first/last vacation for this summer.

We are going to Bear Lake, so I plan on lounging by the water & relaxing!

We were able to briefly run to Portland the beginning of June.

My youngest sister graduated high school.

It was a super fast trip, because I had to get back to teach Summer School.

Adam had to get back to go to his summer classes.

Adam has officially completed his first semester back at college!

He took 5 classes, and got A's in all of them.

I am so proud of how hard he worked.

So, with all the homework we have been doing there

has not been much time for anything else.

We celebrated Adam's 27th birthday last Saturday.

We had a fun day, just the two of us.

We went to dinner and mini golfing.

For those of you who know us (how competitive he is at mini-golf)

I had a really good game & we tied!

He was not happy, I was :)

I have enjoyed sleeping in, reading for fun, and spending

lots of quality time with Adam this summer.

We have been taught some important lessons this summer.

The Lord has used some friends, His Word, and my favorite group FFH

to guide and direct our hearts and lives this summer.

The verse I have clung to is: "Do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

make your requests known to God."

I often fall asleep repeating this verse over and over.

I tend to be anxious about lots of things!

Here is to continuing the journey that the Lord has planned for us all.

*Cheers*

Oh my where has the time gone??

Ok I PROMISE I am going to make an effort to do better about posting on here. But, not tonight.
-It is late
-I have a meeting in the morning
I will be back soon....

Ready or Not....Here I come!!

I am excited...do you want to know why?!? I have three Mondays left of the school year! It makes getting up early tomorrow morning feel a little brighter :) I have been taking my two graduate classess + working full-time (which btw Adam pointed out I have not done...EVER). I have always been a student with a part time job. But it is pretty much killing me and I am just trying to limp through the last few weeks of school. My kids are already starting to get super excited about the end of the year....summer is so fun! I have had some of them ask if they could be in my class next year (so cute). I think they are starting to feel as emotional as I am about them leaving me soon! In the last week I have gotten two apples, a container of cashews, and a card. I get a little teary when I think of these wonderful kids not being with me again. I am not ready to retrain a whole new group yet! :) I swear sometimes the little munchkins can read my mind (and they get my sense of humor!) Oh well, everyone tells me that part of this attachment is because they were my first group of kids. I will still see them next year. My new classroom will be next door to one of the second grade teachers, and they were excited that I will be next door to some of them. So cute! Off to bed to start my Monday countdown!!

An official zoo!

I am not referring to the craziness that is our lives right now. No, I am talking about all the animals that now reside in our home. Adam and I have both always been animals lovers. It is funny when you become an adult there is no one to tell you no you can't have that pet. I am sure Adam's job at Petsmart only exacerbated the problem. I always teased him that it was like an alcoholic working at a bar, too many good things to choose from. He got a discount that we used weekly! :) What can I say we are passionate about our pets!!
We officially have:

1. One dog
2. Two firebelly toads
3. Three gerbils
4. Four fish (in our Adam's new 37 gallon tank)
5. Two guinea pigs (Chloe and Lacey...they are so cute)

So we will be charging admission for anyone that would like to come visit our menagerie of animals...hehe!

Adam went to his first class today, and had a positive experience :) I am so proud of him that he is getting back to school. His class tonight was an Accounting class. We are talking about buying a laptop to use at the house. I pretty much monopolize the home computer with my homework for grad school. It is just hard to spend that money!

Really...Already!?!

I can hardly believe how the time has flown this year. I have a little over one month left of this school year! I am dumbfounded that I made it through in one piece! :) Now I never have to be the "first year" teacher again...YIPPEE! The good news is that I have a job next year, we had 10 teachers displaced in our district :( Thankfully, I was not one of them. I am at the largest Elementary school in our district with over 820 students. This means that the numbers of students SHOULD stay about the same from year to year. So, relief there! I will have to pack ALL of my stuff and move to another classroom on the other side of the school. I am trying not to think about how much work that it is going to be ;) I also feel a little sad cuz I will be leaving my first room, which has special memories. But again, I am mostly super excited to be back at my same school, with the same team, principal, and students next year! Now it is time for a Sunday afternoon siesta before tackling more homework....

P.S. A few spring pics of me that Adam snapped the other day before school!

Me in our backyard..the trees are starting to bloom!

Candid as you can tell!

You know you have been wondering...

We have been a little bit all over the place. I fear this is how it is going to be at least until next December when I finish my graduate program. So, since I don't have much time but lots to update I will make a list for you!

• I have 6 weeks left until Summer Break! I can not believe it has gone so fast/I am not sure I am ready to let my kids go yet.
• I have had a great group of kids this year (some of the parents have been debatable ;) The current kindergarteners have quite the reputation as a group...one of them is called "arm licker" need I say more?!?
• I just started graduate classes 4 & 5 this Thursday. I have 10 classes total that I have to take. When Summer Break comes I will be about halfway done with my Masters.
• Adam is registered for full-time classes this summer! He is officially a Finance major :) He is taking accounting, math, geoscience-volcanoes and earthquakes, an online computer class, and most likely some kind of music class (he is still working on figuring out his last one.)
• He is also SUPER excited to give Petsmart his two week notice soon.
• His summer term starts on May 3rd....so really soon!
• I am teaching Summer School all of June. I get some extra pay, experience, and get to work with a few of my friends!
• Brittany graduates high school in June. We will be coming home for a short trip in June. As of right now that is our only planned vacation for this summer :(
• You should hear our summer schedules!! No rest for the weary my friends.
• We have been blessed to have lots of family come and visit us. It is so nice to have a house big enough to have company stay! My father-in-law will be up this next weekend, and we are always excited to have family. My brother and his girlfriend are going to try to come up again this summer too!
• Adam went to Pendleton for Easter break & I met the fam in San Diego. Yes, we took seperate vacations and yes everything is fabulous in our marriage!! :) We did not have anyone to take care of Roxy if we both went to San Diego. Adam took her to Pendleton with him.

I think that is it for now. Enjoy the list and I will post some pics soon!

Busy...Busy!

After Christmas break it seems like I have had to hit the ground running! We have had the majority of our snow in January. As I have previously mentioned there are no snow days in my district, they don't believe in them ;) What this means for the teachers is that when it is too cold & snowy outside for them to have recess the kids get to stay inside in the classroom & play. I still get to leave for part of the time, but it makes a big difference trying to teach kids that have had fresh air & exercise compared to children that have been trapped inside all day. It was exhausting trying to get much done with them for about half of January! Thankfully now the weather seems to be in my favor and is warming up and the sun is shining again :) Feburary is going to be a busy month at work we have Groundhog's Day, 100th Day of School (yes I have made it in one piece! :), Valentine's Party, and multiple district meetings that I need substitues for.

Adam is still working away at Petsmart & we are slowly building a zoo here...hehe. We have 2 cute little guniea pigs that have recently become a part of the fam. We are at 1 dog, 2 guniea pigs, 3 firebelly toads, and 3 gerbils. We said we are done that we won't be adopting anymore animals. We both love animals & they are hard to resist! Adam has also decided that he will be going to Weber State in the fall. The online classes are expensive & more difficult than a 100 level class should be. He is going to take full-time classes & work towards his degree quickly. Hopefully, with my pay increase next year he won't have to work part time to help pay the bills & he can concentrate fully on school.

So, with everything going on around here we haven't gone anywhere or done much Utah exploring. We did go on a movie date a couple weeks ago to see the Blind Side (amazing movie if you haven't seen it...GO!)

Holidays

As I mentioned in my previous post we were feeling very homesick during the holidays. We decided to be spontaneous & drive to Pendleton on Christmas Day! The Lord provided a chunk of time off for Adam (that he had not even asked for...I told you it was God ;o) He got five days off in a row & that was all we needed to hear! We packed up our trusty Mazada & made the 9 hour drive on Christmas Day. One major thing we overlooked in preparation of our trip was food. We ate a small breakfast Christmas morning opened our stockings from each other & my fam, finished packing the car & headed out. We just assumed we would pick up some lunch on the road...WRONG! We didn't think about it being Christmas & that all the fast food employees needing a holiday too. We stopped at multiple places for about an hour trying to find something open. Now, you also need to keep in mind the majority of our trip is in the back hills of Idaho...there is not alot going on! We finally found a gas station to fill up/have our Christmas lunch. Adam had a (sidenote-SUPER SPICY) beef jerky stick, chocolate donuts, and Mountain Dew. I had a blueberry muffin, brown sugar poptarts, and a Diet Pepsi. We did not feel so hot an hour or so after eating our "lunch." We got to Pendleton about 5:00pm & we were straving! They were not planning on us getting there until 6:30, so we had to wait for dinner. Which was amazing! :) It was wonderful to get to spend time with our family, & be back home in Pendleton! We got a few phone pics of our time in Pen-town, mostly of our niece Libby!

We had a super fun Christmas Eve together. I really wanted to go downtown & enjoy their beautiful lights. I drug Adam & Roxy down there to see the sights. Oh my goodness it was SOOO cold! It turned out to be a balmy 17 degrees!! We just about froze to death! We walked around for about a half an hour & then couldn't take anymore. Plus, it was really crowded (apparently everyone else had the same great idea I did) & Roxy was scaring the children. Most young children tend to be deathly afraid of her & her size! :( We then came home & opened presents. It was really special! I have a few pics from our Christmas Eve festivities.

Adam on his ladder that I bought him.

Our disatrous living room after Christmas Eve.

Yay! My new food processor.

Roxy had to be at the center of all present action!

I got some pretty glasses that I had been wanting.

The Christmas lights downtown.


Rox & I downtown in the COLD!


Beautiful lights!

Under the archway.

Ok I am just going to say it....

....being out of state at the holidays is harder than I thought! I am very homesick for friends & family. Plus (as previously mentioned) Adam is working a ton, and it has not been fun for me on the weekends :( Mom told me right before I moved to remember that it takes about a year before a new place feels like home. I have to remind myself that we have only lived here for 4.5 months. Also, that we are both Oregonians at heart. Adam has never lived anywhere but Oregon. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of things that we are loving about Utah. Like the cost of living here is much better than in Oregon. The mountains are beautiful, the snow is amazing, my job is a HUGE answer to prayer. It is just hard not being home at Christmas. We are hoping the weather stays calm & we can drive to Pendleton over Christmas break. I think it is just what Adam & I need right now! :) Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

LET IT SNOW!

It has been coming down here for a couple days now! The snow is about a foot deep & higher in places that have been piled from shoveling. It has made Christmas shopping a little tricky! I am just hanging on until Christmas break at school. My students are WILD! Between the snow falling (which means no recess, just playing games inside) and Santa coming soon they are beyond control! I am exhausted!! I have 6 1/2 more days until break...YAY! :) Adam is still working at Petsmart & having some trouble with the hours they have been asking him to work. He got hired part-time & he has been working 30-35 hours every week (which is full-time at minimum wage jobs!) He is also taking online classes and feels like he doesn't have a day off. He working about 6 days a week. When he talked to his boss about it the boss said well it's the Holidays & we need you. We are praying for wisdom cuz what I want to do is tell them they can take their job & shove it where the sun don't shine! I just don't like to see him unhappy....

On a happier note Roxy is loving the snow! She loves to play in it & run around. I hope I didn't bum you out too much, but honestly we are hanging in there right now....some pictures might cheer you up! :)

Better late than never!

I thought I should post our Halloween pics before Thanksgiving! :) Adam & I had a fun Halloween this year. At school all week we had "Red Ribbon Week" which is the elementary school version of spirit week. It was a CRAZY week! The 1st grade team decided to dress up as witches. I wore my witch costume, and we had a big party. We went to a friend's house for dinner after the wild day. It was really nice to hang out & play games! On Halloween we carved our pumpkins (mine was super cute! :) Then we made caramel corn....YUM! We had a bunch of trick-or-treaters come to our house. We went through 3 1/2 bags of candy! Adam & I finished off the night with Phantom of the Opera. It was a super fun day! Here are some Halloween pics...

Adam's pumpkin (yes it is EATING a baby pumpkin!)

My cute, round, starry pumpkin!

Our pumpkins glowing in the dark
My pumpkin all lit up