Happy Halloween!

First, I need to pause and take my dog out. 


Next, I need to fill Jake's kong with peanut butter because it is Halloween and he should get some treats too. 


Finally I'm going to start my post.


Obviously today is Halloween. As an Elementary School teacher this is a day that basically gets "mailed in" for kids. There are parade's, performances, and parties for all of the kids. To top it off, our school building decided to play a trick on all of us and lose power at some point in the wee hours of the morning. Thus, we had school sans power. Yes, there was a generator. Yes there was heat. No there were no lights in the classroom. No there were no fans to blow the heat around the rooms. Thankfully, from what I've heard, the heat was restored at 6:05 this evening and we will not have the day off tomorrow. I think now I'm sad about that...but so very glad that we are not going to have to make today up in June! I feel bad for those districts that are going on their 2nd day off tomorrow and especially bad for those that had days off for Irene. Goodbye June!


My bro-workers and I dressed up as crayons. One of the ladies purchased the materials and over the last week did a lot of work to make them come alive! We all had a different color shirt that had stripes and said crayola with a matching hat that was to simulate the tip of the crayon. It was cute to see the kids reactions ("hey, you're a crayon!" or "there's another one!"). This is a costume that I will keep and hopefully next year we can repeat...but maybe make a box for us all to pose behind for our photo op. 

On the way home from work I told Jesse I was sick of facebook. He got excited. Then I said I wanted a Mighty Meal from McDonald's and his excitement disappeared. He didn't think I was serious though, because he drove right by. So as a compromise we had chicken patties for dinner. I also had a kumato and mozzarella cheese on the side. My belly is now sufficiently full - maybe too full! 


We had a special visit from the Westfield's - they stopped by with the kids for some trick-or-treating. Lots of pictures were taken and hopefully I'll get my hands on some so I can share :) 

20 weeks, 4 days

I checked my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" app and was shocked to see that I am farther along than the amount of time that I have left! Whoa!

Jesse and my weekend started out with a trip to the Banana Republic Outlet where they advertised 70% off - which some things were but not enough. I meandered through the store with less enthusiasm than I typically have because...well...it's just not worth shopping there since I can't fit into most of it. Banana Republic does not make maternity clothing! But, I did get a comfy gray sweater that will work nicely as I continue to grow :) We did go to Carters and get this adorable onesie! 

Then we went down to the Johnson's for relaxing and Piezoni's - best pizza ever. I promptly fell asleep on their couch shortly after 9:30 as well as continued to blow my nose all over their house. I missed a dosage of my antibiotic and I swear that made my evening less enjoyable! Jake and Oliver definitely had a good time chasing, biting, and rolling around with each other. 

Saturday I woke up and began to straighten my hair to attend the nuptials of my friend Rachel. However, the weather report quickly nixed those plans in predictions of 12+ inches of snow in the VT area...and we planned to drive home after their wedding. We would have been driving home through the back side of a Nor'easter. We contemplated finding a place in Keene to crash - but we hadn't arranged dog care so unfortunately we missed that once in a lifetime moment. It actually might have been for the best because I went through about 1/4 of a box of tissues...I couldn't walk around and move my head without snottage leaking out. Attractive, I know. We went grocery shopping and built a fire and watching the snow come down. Jake...well, Jake slept the day away, exhausted from his time with Oliver. 

Yes, that's him UNDER a blanket on the couch. He's such a sad sack. 

Today was a football day. Another missed special moment was the wedding of our friend Heather. Because I've been so sick and yesterday was still not better Jesse made the decision that we weren't going to attend an evening wedding, get home late, and then have to go to work tomorrow. 

I've spent a lot of time this weekend staring at a clock picturing where we'd be at what time - but it is what it is...like I said all week - this was not the week for me to get sick! I'm hoping that at some point this week I can stop walking around with a pocket full of tissues or pre-warning members of a meeting that I might leave to blow my nose or sleep through the night without choking on my own post-nasal drip. 

Tomorrow is Halloween - it's always a crazy day at work and I just realized that I never picked up pumpkins this weekend to bring to school to clean out and decorate with my students. I'm not a very good teacher...

20 weeks and 1 day

This picture might appear confusing so let me fill you in. Last spring, when Jesse got alerted to his new position (I call it a promotion, he disagrees), I bought him an Arc notebook by Staples. Of course, I also bought myself one...but for the record I got him a leather one and myself a cheapy plasticy type one. I also stocked up on the Arc paper options and got some dividers and note tabs. 

Of course I took mine to work and got some of my coworkers excited about it. I really should have been a salesperson! Laura went out and bought one and together we purchased one for our Mentor, Victoria. This year I showed it off again and another co-worker went out and bought one. (your welcome staples)

The fun thing about this notebook system is that it comes with rings (in multiple sizes) that the paper clings on to. You can gently tear out a page and then pop it back in. Great for a meeting when you want your notebook to be closed, but then you can organize your notes without snapping closed three deadly metal rings and pinching your fingers. Then it has all these fun "accessories" that you can get to really customize it with different colored tabs, dividers with pockets, a selection of post-it tabs, and tabs that stick out on top that you can leave notes for yourself. And, as Victoria found out, PLANNER PAGES for those that love to schedule (that may be my next investment). 

I wrote staples an email letting them know how much I love this product line and gave them a few suggestions. One of which was a hole punch so that you weren't limited to buying their packages of paper (as nifty as the different types of paper are...). Of course staples responded back within 24 hours and thanked me for my suggestions and let me know that the hole punch would be coming out late in 2011. 

So I waited...and waited...and a few weeks ago I finally saw it! It was $39.99 but with the number of co-workers I have who also have this notebook, and the tip jar I'll put out, maybe it'll bring the cost down a bit. I literally waited until I saved up enough spending money to get it. This is the first "big" purchase I've made since embarking on the Conant budget (which consists of me having cash only and no debit card...talk about open communication regarding spending habits)

So above is a picture of my inaugural hole punch. I didn't have time to make it artsy - I just punched those holes and tomorrow that paper will get lovingly put into my notebook...and maybe I'll snap a picture of my notebook to post on here :)

It's the little things that bring the most joy, and speaking of little...Adin is kicking up a storm this evening! 

20 weeks...HALFWAY!

Today is going to be a history lesson. And for those who know me, you know I'm not a history buff so I'll include a link at the end so you can get the facts and not my convoluted portrayal of them. 

But before I start that, I wanted to apologize to Josh. You are right...dads do get left out when in fact without the dads many (not all for those amazing single moms out there) of us would be lost without your support and contributions. 

Ok, so I wanted to tell you all a little about my favorite town, or village really with it's tiny size. It's a place called Hopedale. It was founded back in 1841 by a guy named Adin Ballou. 

He was a pastor that worked all over from New York City to Boston and in-between. He worked for a few different denominations and found himself fired from some positions as his ideals changed and no longer matched those of the church he was working on. 

He ended up in Milford and found himself on the outs with the church he was working at. So, he purchased some land and and christened it Hopedale. He wanted Hopedale to be a utopian society. Some businesses were opened and the Draper's moved in. It didn't take long for the ideals of a utopian society to begin to collapse, so the Drapers pulled their monetary support from the community. Soon, the Drapers took over the industry and a very successful mill town was born. 

For more (accurate) information, visit this site on Adin Ballou 

For those of you wondering why my love for this town is so great that I would dedicate my halfway-through-pregnancy post to it, well...it's also a kind of announcement. 

Our son's first name will be Adin

The middle name will be announced later!

19 weeks, 6 days

Well, the belly is getting round but the scale is staying the same! I think because I'm not feeling well and not eating really well it's contributing to my lack of poundage...but we will see once I get my health back!

Even though the third times the charm and Jesse and I figured out that he needs to pause his tracing when I start breathing (and I can't hold my breath for the life of me these days), I am noticing that the belly is becoming nice and solidly round. But it's still amazing that each morning I wake up and don't look necessarily pregnant, but by the end of the day it's fairly clear. I saw a shirt online that said "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant" and I almost want to purchase that. 

I'm also going to post a new poll for those "already mommies" out there who read my blog. I'm intrigued about the diaper situation. There are brands (like store brands) that are much cheaper than Pampers or Huggies. However, I find that even my most frugal of friends still put forth the extra cost and get a name brand. Please leave comments as to why you chose the diapers you did and what other brands you've tried and vote so I can start catching deals in preparation for AKC's arrival.