Hello, Summer!!

As of Thursday afternoon at 2:30, summer officially started for Mason and I! Although this year was a bit rough at times, it's great to have another year of teaching under my belt. This was Mason's first year as a para and he really enjoyed it. It has been really nice just relaxing and not having to worry about anything these last few days. Although, we did go on a field trip to Silver Dollar City with several of my NJHS kids the Saturday after we finished school. With only a few minor set backs, it was a great day and the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves.

Thursday, however, I'll have my nose back to the grindstone with the start of summer school. Luckily, they are only half-days and I'll be finished by June 22nd, which isn't bad as far as I'm concerned! Mason will actually be going back to work with his old boss for the summer. We figured that since he still gets paid through the school it would be nice to bring in a little extra money to prepare for this little bundle that will soon be greeting us! Plus, Mason is in the process of getting a different truck. It needs a little work, but it is in significantly better shape than the Nissan. That poor truck has seen much better days..

There's been so much going on lately that I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a lot of it. The one major thing I do remember is that my little sister, Laura, has officially graduated high school! Mason was unable to make the trip to Iowa with me because his cousin got married that same weekend and we wanted to make sure that at least one of us was at each event. Plus, I made a long weekend out of my trip and Mason didn't have any sick days left! ; ) It was a great time and it was wonderful to see everyone and spend so much time with them. I'm really excited for Laura because she earned some scholarships and will be attending my alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa, this fall! Go Panthers!! Here are a few pictures from her graduation:

Mason also ran his second 5K, yesterday actually. They had a fun run here in Rolla on Memorial Day. Mason has been working hard to get back in shape and he decided another 5K was in order. He wasn't thrilled with his time, but he ran the whole thing which he was very happy about. The last time he had to stop because he was having a hard time with his breathing (he has asthma and allergies), so he did very well!

Otherwise, we've just been doing some random odds and ends around the house to try to prepare for Baby H. His/her room is pretty well ready to go and we have a massive stockpile of diapers, thanks to everyone's generosity! I even did my first couple loads of baby clothes yesterday, which was weird. I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose all the baby socks before he/she even arrives! I'm already going to the doctor every two weeks, so it won't be much longer now! I am also excited to report that I do not have gestational diabetes. I failed my one-hour test, so I had to go in for the lovely three-hour where they take your blood four times instead of just once! It definitely wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world for someone who gets light-headed when they take my blood, but I survived, and had a good outcome! So no complaints here!

We are also looking forward to the end of June, when we will celebrate our one year anniversary! I can't believe it's already less than a month away. I'm not exactly sure where the time went, but it definitely flew by! We decided that we are going to spend a weekend in St. Louis, have a nice dinner, and do some shopping and exploring. We've been to St. Louis several times, but considering I'll be a little over 34 weeks at that point, I didn't really want to go much further away than that. Though I'm sure I'll be a blimp, I'm very excited!!

Like I said, it's been so busy I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but those are the main highlights! I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend and had a great kickoff to the summer with friends and family!!

T-25 Days......

...until school is OUT for the summer!! But who's counting? I'm loving this amazing weather and I can't wait until I can enjoy it during the day. Granted, I'll be teaching summer school but those are only half-days so I'll still have plenty of time to do whatever in the afternoon. Being a teacher definitely has its perks! It'll be nice to spend some more time with Mason too, I suppose. ; ) Although, he'll probably be busy as well because he's going to be taking a couple of summer classes plus he's planning to work a little on the side as well.

In other news our nephew Carson officially turned ONE on the 12th! Where did the time go, seriously?! Mason and I made the trip to Camden Point (up by St. Joseph) for his first birthday party which was wonderful. He had a sock monkey-themed party that was super adorable. Everyone seemed to have a good time and Carson made out like a bandit! Here are just a few of the pictures from his party:

His super cute cake!

 The birthday boy with his mom and dad!

 Too cute for words!

 Checking out one of his presents.

 Tearing that cake up...what a stud!

 Then he decided he was done and threw it on the floor! 

Mason's birthday was also this month, but on the 10th. He didn't get much since he got the gun safe, but I did buy him a movie and some new headphones so he had something to open. Not to mention the lemon meringue pie I got him from Slice of Pie (amazing!) here in Rolla. That's his absolute favorite and he seemed pretty excited about it! The Friday before we went to Matt's Steakhouse here in Rolla and had his birthday dinner. That's our birthday/anniversary restaurant so we always take full advantage and splurge when we go!!

This weekend (after Mason hunts of course..) we will be heading up to St. Louis for the day to register for baby stuff and just do some general baby shopping. I can't wait!! We've been picking up a few things here and there and are getting quite a stash together! In fact, I managed to find a used bumbo seat and tray for only $20 and it hardly looks used....I love a good deal! Everything is going well, and my last appointment happened to land on Mason's birthday. And it was there that I found out I had gained 6 more pounds...oops! ;) The doctor didn't seem too worried about it so I'm not going to either! I figure I'll get back on track after the baby comes so I may as well enjoy it while I can! I am 25 weeks today and I can't believe how quickly it is going! Now if only this kid would lay off my bladder....there are times where I'm pretty sure that he/she is trying to escape alien-style!

25 weeks

Well, I'm off to grade some papers before I lose all the motivation I have. I've done the dishes and now have written this blog so I suppose I better stop procrastinating. Have a good night, all!!

Baby Heavin

Here's a quick update on our little bundle. I have officially made it past my halfway mark (assuming he/she decides to come on time), and have continued to feel great!  My clothes are definitely getting tight and I can no longer button my pants, but that's a good thing despite how hard as it is to see those numbers go up on the scale! ; ) We have been very fortunate so far to have such a smooth pregnancy and we pray that it will continue to go well.  We went in for my ultrasound last Tuesday. At that point I was a couple days short of being 21 weeks.  The baby was moving like crazy!  The doctor said that he usually has a specific order that he tries to get measurements in, but Baby H wouldn't have any part in that. He/she was rolling over and just all over the place!  We were lucky enough to get some great pictures, despite all the in utero dancing, and were able to see everything a lot more clearly than before-- hands, stomach, kidneys, bladder, spine, arms, legs, the whole kit and kaboodle.  And yes, we also got to see what gender this little one will be!  We are very excited and thankful we have a healthy little baby! Here are a few pictures of him/her....I'll post more later to Facebook!

It's kind of hard to see, but that is a picture of the baby's top lip.  If you look closely you can see the two little nostrils above it.  It's turned sideways.

This past weekend was a busy one.  Tabitha, Greg, and Carson came down for a quick visit so we spent some time with them which was nice.  Carson is getting so big and I can't believe he'll be ONE already next month.  We also went over to Mason's dad's with Tabitha and Greg and spent some time with him, Mason's step-mom Darla, his step-sister Mariah, and her son, Gentry.  Mason's other two step-sisters were at work, and Mariah's daughter Nevin was spending some time with the other side of her family.  Later on that afternoon, Mason and I went to Lowes to get some block to start doing some landscaping out in the front of our house.  I can't say that I was really a lot of help, but Mason has done a fabulous job so far!  Now we just need to get some more dirt, find the flowers/plants we want to plant, and then put some mulch on top.  We're still debating on whether we want to do the side of the house yet or wait.  The only reason we're considering doing it now is just in case they would discontinue the same block we used for the front.  I don't really foresee that happening but you never know.  Here's a few pictures of that.

Mason's truck dominated those ugly bushes.  Nissan: 1 Bushes: 0

The before picture of the left part of the house.

Mason working diligently.

This is directly below the kitchen windows on the right side of the house.

Here's the after picture, prior to dirt and flowers, obviously.

And here's the left side again.  This side needs a little more dirt, but then it should be good to go for us to plant!  Now we just need to figure out what we want to plant....wish us luck!

I think that's all for now.  Here's hoping the rest of this week flies by so we can hopefully enjoy some more nice weather this weekend!!

Spring Break

As always, we have been very busy! Though everything has been going well, we did have some unfortunate news in our family. My Uncle Mark had been battling cancer and passed away on March 8th. Since the funeral wasn't scheduled until the following Wednesday, my brother and his FIANCE Bailey were still able to make the trip down here to Missouri to visit us. They got here early that Friday morning and then slept all day while Mason and I were at school. Since it was so nice that Saturday we decided to take a trip to Elephant Rock and Johnson Shut-ins, which are two very beautiful state parks. We packed a lunch and enjoyed spending time hiking around in the great outdoors. Because my sciatic nerve has been bothering me I didn't do as much hiking as I had hoped, but we still had a great time! Sunday we had a chill day and just stayed home which worked out well since it rained pretty much all day. We had an intense battle playing the Farming Game. I'm still pretty sure the only reason JJ won was because he was banker and was padding his money stash with everything the rest of us had to pay in! ; ) On Monday we made the trek to St. Louis and did some shopping. Mason got himself some new Reebok Zigs so he was a happy camper! 

Tuesday morning came and ended JJ and Bailey's vacation, but not before coming to my doctor's appointment. They were very excited to hear their new nephew/niece's heartbeat. Though I was shocked to hear that I had gained 6 pounds in one month, everything else looked and sounded good!

Once in Iowa we got to spend some time with family and friends, even though it was under no-so-good circumstances. I also got to see some family that I had not seen in years, which was wonderful. Uncle Mark had a beautiful service and it was definitely hard to say goodbye. But at least he's not suffering anymore and he's in a better place.

On Thursday Mason and I came back to Missouri and had a little down time. Friday my Grandma Steffen and Aunt Kathy came by to see our new house on their way back to Iowa. We had a quick lunch at McDonalds and chatted for a bit before they had to head out. It was definitely great to see them and have them over, even though it was just for a little bit!

That brings us to Saturday. Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and so we ventured to downtown Rolla for the parade. It was pretty good, but we actually left a little early to beat the rain. After such a full spring break we decided to relax Saturday and Sunday, which was definitely needed!

Oh Happy Day!!

I am so very happy for two special people that I had to write a quick blog about it! My brother, JJ, has been dating Bailey for roughly 5 and a half years, and yesterday they got ENGAGED.....finally!! The poor girl thought she would never get married.

I was one of the fortunate people who knew right when JJ bought the ring. Of course he swore me to secrecy, which I was more than happy to do! Bailey could obviously tell this story much better, but long story short, my brother went to visit her last night since he works in Waterloo and she lives in Iowa City while she finishes grad school. In the 5 and a half years of dating the man had not bought her a single flower. Seriously, JJ? I mean I love ya, but for goodness sake, splurge on some flowers occasionally! ; ) Bailey, of course, was so blown away by the unexpected flowers that she really about died when he pulled out that gorgeous ring! She was also shocked at the number of people who already knew the news, including some of our family, her family, as well as friends of the family. Obviously, she said yes, or in JJ's words, "Yep, turns out she wants to marry me too," per the text message I received at about 10:30 last night. He also informed me that after they got engaged he was going to see if she'd give him a haircut since he was giving up his bachelorhood. That brother of mine is quite the charmer! ; )

We are definitely very excited to add another sister to our family! It's weird that my "baby brother" is going to be married sometime in the relatively near future, but we are so happy for them! Now we just can't wait till they come down to visit so we can celebrate. Wedding shopping, anyone?! I think so!! Congratulations, JJ and Bailey!!