Carson Lee Wacker

Baby Carson will be the primary topic of conversation for this particular blog, so I feel like I should apologize in advance for all the baby chatter. : ) Tabitha (Mason's older sister) had Carson last Tuesday (April 12th), and he was 6 lbs. 10 oz. I was pretty surprised, and I think others were as well, that he wasn't bigger than that. But he sure is a cute little thing. Since it was the middle of the week that he was born, Mason and I had to wait till the following weekend to go visit. That actually worked out pretty well since they stayed in the hospital until Friday. We got up to St. Joseph on that Friday night and were able to spend some time with Tabitha, Greg (her husband), and Carson before we all called it a night, which was very nice. I'm typically not what one would call a "baby" person, but I sure loved getting to hold and love on him! He is a very mild-mannered baby, and doesn't seem to get too shook up about anything. He didn't seem to particularly enjoy having his diaper changed, but that was mostly because of the cold wet wipes, I think....On Saturday we spent about half the day there and then went to do some shopping with Mason's mom, Shelly. I found some super cute baby sunglasses, thinking that they would fit great, only to find out they were actually quite large on the handsome little man.

 

We stopped by again Sunday morning for a few hours before we came back down to Edgar, and I had the chance to feed and hold him again, which was great! I never thought I'd be so excited to have a little nephew, but it's sure a neat feeling, especially since I'll get to see him grow since birth. I just wish we all lived a little closer so we could see each other on a more regular basis. 

As you can see, Mason is pretty smitten with the little guy as well! He'll be a good uncle!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my friend Cara who is stationed in Georgia with her husband Joey, is also pregnant, with TWIN boys, and is due in August. I actually just had an amazing conversation with her tonight, and she is having a wonderful pregnancy, which is great! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her at the wedding, so hopefully everything will continue to go well for her! I definitely can't wait to meet those two little boys either!

Completely switching topics, Mason shot a turkey this morning! Looks like turkey breast for supper tomorrow night! Yum! He went out at about 5:45 this morning, and had one by 6:15. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone at home so he wasn't able to let me know until I got home. It was a pretty good-sized turkey, weighing around 20 pounds. The beard was about 9 and a quarter, so he seemed to be pleased with it! It wasn't quite as big as the bird he got last year, but at least he didn't cut open his forehead this time! I tried to upload some pictures of his turkey, but for some reason it didn't want to let me.  Mason also found about 70 mushrooms the other day, so we got to chow down on some fried mushrooms. Completely unhealthy, but totally worth it! : )

Other than that not too much has been going on. We celebrated Mason's 22nd birthday on the 10th. He was hopeful that Carson would be born on the same day, but it just wasn't in the cards. We celebrated by going out to dinner at Colton's Steakhouse with a couple of friends. He got a scope, a pair of boots, and a cute cake from me, and I think he was happy with that!

I also found out I'm probably going to get to teach summer school which is also great! Our school year officially ends on May 25th (completely unbelievable..this year flew), and then summer school will start May 31st and go through June 17th. Summer school is only half days, which is nice. It will be perfect timing, because that will still give me about a week before the wedding to prepare for whatever we need to do when that time comes. Speaking of which, on Monday there will be exactly two months until the wedding. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly excited to marry Mason, but I'm also very excited to get to see everyone!! Invitations have been sent, so hopefully we'll start getting replies soon!

It's Spring!

A lot has gone on in the last month since I have written on here, and for the most part, it has all been awesome! I could definitely tell that cabin fever had set in with all my kiddos, because in the weeks before spring break, they were (to put it nicely) insane! However, I can't say that I blame them; I was the same way! It's been great to finally have the windows open and not have the heat run constantly, and to be able to go outside in just a t-shirt! And even better, I don't freeze to death every time I let the dog in or out! Hey, it's the little things, right?! ; )

Despite the craziness of the kids, and teachers at times, school is continuing to go very well! I feel more confident each day with the content and kids I'm teaching, which is great. I've heard that it takes at least 3 years to really start becoming comfortable with a teaching style and with the content that is taught, and I definitely feel that next year (being my third year with 7th grade language arts) will be very promising! On a side note, please try not to judge any errors I make in this just because I'm a language teacher. : ) I have to say I can't believe there are only 9 more Mondays before the school year is OVER...where on earth has the time gone?! It seems like we just barely got started!

As I said, a lot has gone on this month, and it started with a fun weekend in Hannibal with Sara (my aunt) and Amy (my cousin). We met in Hannibal on the morning of the 12th and had lunch before we were able to check into our hotel room. We had big intentions of going to do the touristy stuff when we got there, but we had too much fun chatting in the room that we never actually left (except when our power went out). Don't worry, we got it turned back on. : ) After ordering in pizza and talking about just about everything one could think to talk about we decided it was probably a good idea to go to bed around 2:00 am. The next morning we got up and moving around with the hopes of doing the touristy stuff that day, momentarily forgetting it was Sunday and nothing opened until around noon. So...we went to the same restaurant as the day before and then wandered around to the different shops downtown and went on a little tour that had information about Mark Twain; all the while we made sure to keep an eye out for Injun Joe, just in case. ; ) Shortly after, we decided we better head our separate ways, but it was definitely a fun weekend that I hope we can repeat soon!

Once I got home on Sunday, I did a quick-clean on the house, just in time for JJ (my brother) and Bailey (his girlfriend) to come down for spring break! Mason and I were both supposed to work on Monday but Mason got rained out so he was able to keep our guests company for the day. On Tuesday, JJ, Bailey, and I made the trek to the lake. I took care of the cake stuff for the wedding, and then we did a little shopping at the outlet mall. From there we went back to Edgar so we could meet Mason for supper before he had to go to class. However, the little stinker that he is, skipped class, so we began a vicious game of The Farming Game. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the best game EVER! Seriously. I still need to purchase myself a new copy from when it burned in the fire, but luckily my brother brought his down and the farming began! We played for a few hours and then decided that if we were going to be coherent for our trip to St. Louis we had better go to bed.

Our first stop in St. Louis was the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Although I've been here several times, Mason had never been, so we wanted to make sure he had the opportunity. It's probably one of my favorite places to visit in the city. No, not just because of the product they produce, but it's really a unique place with some neat history!

After going on the tour and spending some quality time in the hospitality room trying some of their frothy beverages, we went over to the Science Center. It's a pretty neat place too, but seemed to be geared more toward kids. Don't get me wrong, we had fun, but I don't think that we'll go again until we have kids of our own that are old enough to enjoy it. After the Science Center we were on a mission to find food (I get cranky when I'm hungry...). We wanted something different than normal, but literally every place we stopped at was either closed down or weren't open yet for the day. So, we settled for Long John Silvers. Definitely not our first choice, but by that point we were desperate. We scarfed down and went to one of the malls to do a little more shopping. Unfortunately, I got sick from good ole Long John Silvers so we came back home to finish our Farming Game we started the night before!

Thursday we pretty much just hung out and lounged around all day, which was kind of nice. Since it was St. Patrick's Day we decided to go to The Tater Patch and have their amazing tenderloins and celebrate there. Our friends Duane and Paige both came as well, and we had a good time singing, dancing, and just hanging out. We got home around 12:15 and received a surprise phone call from our friend Adam who had literally just made it down to Missouri and was at the Tater Patch looking for us. He was originally going to come down but then was unable to, so we weren't expecting him. So he ended up driving the rest of the way to Edgar so we could all hang out. Even though he didn't get to celebrate with us, it was still great to see him!

Here are just a few pictures of our St. Patrick's celebration. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of Adam this time around. For the next few days I felt like a terrible hostess, because I literally felt terrible. From Friday to Monday I had terrible abdominal cramps. It felt like someone was taking my stomach and twisting it like a rag. I thought it might be food poisoning, but never did find out for sure. It was the worst on Saturday. I had good intentions of going to school on Monday, but the pain was still bad enough that it just wasn't going to happen. So instead I spent about 3 hours at the doctor. They took my blood and let me know that I didn't have appendicitis and that my kidneys and liver were functioning properly; essentially taking my money without really being able to tell me anything. At this point I feel 100 times better, so I guess that's the most important thing!

It was definitely an eventful week, but one that Mason and I thoroughly enjoyed! I can't wait until we go up to Iowa the beginning of May for my bridal shower so we can see everyone again. I'm still continuing to plan the wedding. Even though it's coming quick, I can honestly say I'm to the point (again) where I really wish we would have eloped. Although I'm incredibly excited for it and for everyone to be here, I feel like it's becoming a bit of a hassle for everyone involved. Maybe that's just the stress talking. Everyone says it will be okay, so I'm hoping that's true!

Anyways, if you actually made it to the end of this novel, I applaud you and I hope this finds you well! I'm sure there will be more updates to come! : )

School, Babies, and Life in General

I just felt like writing tonight, so if you are reading this, please bear with my random blabbering because it's quite possible it will be all over the place! Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Everything has been going well in the Steffen/Heavin household, just busy, busy! I believe I mentioned in one of my last posts that Mason was going to be taking the paraprofessional praxis. Well, we found out that he passed it according to Missouri standards! So, we were definitely very excited about that! That means he can apply to be a paraprofessional this fall, so we're hopeful that a position will open up that will be a good fit for him. He has also been busy this semester with classes, especially since he is working full time as well. The last couple semesters he was able to have class on just Tuesday and Thursday nights, but this one he has class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Though I miss him when he's gone, I can catch up on some other important stuff...like The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, and Grey's Anatomy. : )

School has been going well for me as well. I've never referred to "school" as "work." Even though teaching is definitely challenging at times, I've never really looked at it as a job. I just really enjoy going and getting to work with my students (most of the time). : ) I'm really fortunate this year because our team has a pretty good group of kids, and I have a great team to work with. So even on those tough teaching days, it's refreshing to know that during 7th hour, we can all chat and I have that support system available.

On another note, Mason and I had an enjoyable weekend. His mom Shelly and step-dad Eric came down from St. Joseph for Tabitha's baby shower. It's crazy to think that she will be having a baby in mid-April. We're definitely looking forward to meeting Baby Carson, and are excited to be getting a new nephew! Tabitha's baby shower was given by her in-laws up in Owensville, and it was a great day aside from the yucky weather. Everything looked super cute, and Tabitha seemed to have a wonderful time which is the most important thing. Let me just say, that is going to be one stylish kid! I don't think I've ever seen so many baby clothes! Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but he does have a lot of super cute clothes!

This is a picture of Tabitha and her husband Greg, along with Carson of course! :)

Speaking of babies, I think there must be something in the water because A LOT of people I know are expecting, in addition to Tabitha. My Uncle Joe and Aunt Renee are due in August (if I remember correctly), my good friend Cara who is stationed in Georgia with her husband are having TWINS in August, Mason's Aunt Avery is due in May, my cousin Jess is due in June I believe, plus there are a couple ladies at school who are expecting this summer. Sorry if I forgot anyone... It's super exciting, and it will be fun to meet all these tiny humans!

In other news, Mason and I are REALLY excited for spring break because JJ (my brother), his girlfriend Bailey, and possibly our friend Adam are coming down for a visit. I'm not really sure what we are going to do, other than visit the Tater Patch, but I'm sure it will be a good time. It will definitely be great to see some familiar faces from my Iowa home since I probably won't be up there again until May. That will make almost 5 months since I've been home or seen anyone from up that way, so it will be great!

Other than that, we haven't been up to too much. We've just been hanging out and getting ready for the big day. Only 123 days left....CRAZY!! I'm so ready for it to be here, along with our trip to Cozumel, Mexico! :) Well, it's almost time for this girl to head to bed, so I hope all is well with everyone, and have a great night!

Snow Day #3

Hello Everyone! As you can see from the title of this post, I am working on snow day #3, of this week alone. And, I just found out that we will be having another snow day tomorrow. I think it's safe to say that I can kiss most of my spring break goodbye, which definitely stinks because JJ and Bailey (my brother and his girlfriend) were planning on coming down. We have kind of made it our yearly tradition, but I guess we'll have to play it by ear now!  Despite the fact that I may not have spring break, we (Mason, Gus, and I) have enjoyed our time together, as you can see from the picture below. Gus is pretty spoiled! :)

Most of the time during snow days, I am completely unproductive, but I have to say that this time around I am pretty impressed with the progress I've made, with the exception of cleaning. I've decided that cleaning doesn't count though, because that's supposed to happen even if there's not a snow day. I spent a lot of time Tuesday working on our wedding programs. Now, I realize that's still pretty early, but at least all I'll have to do is put in the information I need and print them off. I also got the wording figured out for our invitations. I made a very strong attempt to print them off, but for some reason I just couldn't get the settings right on our printer, so it was decided that we would take them to this printing place in Rolla and save us the trouble! The RSVP wording is also ready, along with the maps to include in the invitations. It's just a matter of getting them all printed off and put together, so that makes me feel better. We are under 150 days until the big day, which is crazy! Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly excited, but I'll be happy when the day is here and we can just enjoy it along with our family and friends.

I also got my taxes done and filled out the paper work to get my student loans consolidated. Talk about depressing. Not so much the whole taxes thing, because I'm looking forward to getting my return, but realizing just how much I owe on my student loans is definitely not fun. Oh well! I suppose it'll be worth it in the long run! :)

Mason and I did get outside a little bit the past couple days. We played outside for awhile yesterday with Gus, and found a fun hill back in the woods behind the house. We don't have a sled but it was steep enough that we were able to slide down on our behinds! It was nice to get out of the house for awhile. Today we ventured out for a little while too. We went to Rolla and visited with Mike for awhile at his shop while I got my oil changed and Mason got his front tires changed. I went to Wal-Mart too, and of course spent too much. That darn store gets me everytime! Ha! But, I did find some stuff for the wedding and a few cute things that I had to pick up for Carson. Mason's sister, Tabitha (and husband Greg), is due with Baby Carson in April so we are excited to have a nephew. It's coming up quick, and we are definitely looking forward to it!

Above are a couple of pictures from the last couple of days. Other than that, not too much is going on. I'm going to head to Springfield tomorrow with a friend of mine because I need to pick up Mason's ring from the jewelry store, and to shop of course! :) But that means I need to go through some of Mason's clothes today so I know exactly what he has before I buy him anything else. So, I guess I should probably go for now. I'm trying my hand at ham and beans, so I need to keep an eye on that as well! For those of you blocked in by the snow, enjoy your day(s) off! TTFN, ta ta for now! :)

This n' That

As promised, I said I would post some pictures of our house. I'm only going to post a few because I already added some to Facebook. It's actually Mason's Aunt's house, but she has graciously been letting us live here. For those of you who saw the house in the beginning stages of remodeling, it was definitely a scary sight. A large tree had fallen down in front of the house, so not only was the house a disaster, but so was the yard. Mason spent a lot of time cleaning up both the yard and the house (I helped a little), along with his dad and a few of his friends. Shockingly, there was enough junk left in the house to fill a 40-yard dumpster! To put it nicely, when Mason told me he planned to move into the house I smiled and gave words of encouragement, but secretly thought he was half crazy for even considering it. That's how bad it was. It has come a long way, and it actually feels quite cozy now. Even though I don't want to live in Edgar Springs forever, it's a good starting point.

This is our bedroom. There is also a VERY tiny closet to the right of the nightstand.

This is looking at the back of the living room from the kitchen. There is another full size couch to the left, and the front door is on the right side.

This is a view of our kitchen from the bathroom door. The living room is directly to the right, and our laundry room is that door straight ahead. It's kind of scary in there right now so I chose not to take pictures. It's purpose is laundry/Mason's closet/wedding storage/dog sleeping area so it's slightly messy at the moment! :)

This view is from the center of the kitchen looking toward the bathroom door (it's the one that's open). The door opening to the left goes to the living room, and the closed one directly ahead is our pantry.

And last but not least, here's our bathroom. The door and toilet are to the left, and you can see where the shower is from the reflection in the mirror. When the fire first happened, I had absolutely no desire to decorate anything because I had literally just finished decorating my apartment the weekend before it burnt down. But, I've picked up a few things here and there and have gotten a few things from people, and it's starting to look like a nice little home! :)

School started up again last week, and I have to say that it was the Longest. Week. Ever. The sad thing is, we only had four full days with the kids because we had a work day on Monday. Having the luxury of sitting around for two full weeks definitely made it challenging to go back, but it was nice to see the kids and all of my coworkers again! Speaking of school, Mason made the Dean's list last semester! He is very excited, and I'm very proud of him as well! He is taking the Para-Praxis test this Saturday so hopefully he will pass and be able to get a position as a paraprofessional in one of the schools nearby this fall. He will be a great teacher someday, so hopefully this will be a stepping stone in the right direction! Unfortunately, this means we will not be able to go to Illinois like we originally planned. :( My Aunt Sara (and her husband Eric) had baby number two, Parker Steffen Shook, at the end of December, and his baptism is scheduled for this weekend. Since I clearly didn't plan ahead very well, we had to back out because I didn't really plan on making the trip on my own.

This past weekend I spent some time with a couple of my girlfriends who I haven't seen in awhile. The day was complete with a lot of not-so-good food and a chick flick (The Backup Plan). It was very relaxing, and it was great to see them! After that, I met Mason down at the river where many of his family and friends congregate to go gigging, boating, fishing, and in general, just hang out. Since it's gigging season, we got all bundled up (I now own Carhartt bibs, a coat, hat, and a nice pair of Muck boots) and hopped in the boat. For those of you who don't know what gigging is, you take a jet boat that has lights on the front that look down into the water so you can see the fish. Up on the front of the boat is a rail where the people gigging stand with their gig. While the boat is moving you take the 16 foot gig that has a trident-like spear on the end, and attempt to stab the moving fish. As if that isn't difficult enough, you also have to take into consideration that it is extremely cold and your fingers are like ice the majority of the time. Having said all that, I finally gigged my very first fish! I've been gigging a couple of times, but was not very successful. It's definitely a sport that takes a lot of practice, but I'm hopeful that I'll get better! Poor fish..

Other than that, we haven't been up to too much. We have started meeting on a more regular basis with the deacon who will be performing our wedding ceremony. We both really like him a lot. Mason actually graduated with one of his sons, and since we have the opportunity to get to know him more, I think it'll make our ceremony a little more personal. Last week we met with him at a local micro-brewery that just opened in Rolla called the Public House. His daughter and son-in-law just opened it, and since Tom (our deacon) has been helping them out a lot, he asked if we would be okay about meeting there. It's a really classy place with a unique atmosphere. We are looking forward to meeting with him again this week. We have our readings all picked out, so it's nice to see that things are starting to come together. It's easier to imagine what our ceremony will be like now, and it makes it even more exciting! In fact, we just got our invitations today too! Nothing fancy, but they will do the job. Now I just have to figure out how in the world to tie the ribbon without it looking silly! Haha If anyone has any pointers let me know!

So far, 2011 has been pretty uneventful, which I'm happy about. Last year there was a little too much excitement, and not in a good way! Well, Mason is attempting to fix our Direct TV (he messed it up the other day..), so I'm going to go see if I can be anymore successful!