It's 7 o'clock in the morning...

Do you know where your teacher is????

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On the couch at home, watching the Today Show!!!....

• No, I'm not in labor
  
• No, I'm not sick
  
• No, I'm not playing hookie
  
• It's a SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like to think God sent the snow just for me. He knew I needed a break. Each day at school gets harder and harder.

I have big plans for the day. I've already cleaned the whole kitchen and started on the laundry. I'm going to finish painting the letters for Ethan's wall, write some thank you notes, pack my hospital bag, (unfortunately) grade some papers, and who knows what else?! But don't worry, I'll be taking plenty of breaks in between to put my feet up (they're not looking so cute and dainty these days). And, oh yeah, I'm taking a nap!!!!!

Since I'm a BIG-TIME morning person (thanks Dad!), I was already showered, dressed, and ready to walk out the door when I got the phone call that school was cancelled. So Lonnie and I took advantage of the extra time and took some belly shots.

Update 2/1: It's Snow Day, Round Two!!!!! They cancelled school around 4pm yesterday, so this is the first snow day I've gotten to truly enjoy. No alarm clocks were set - I just woke up when I felt like it (which, of course, was still 6:30 - but that's a lot better than 5:00!!!) Every other snow day I'm showered, dressed, fed, and on my way out the door (if not already half-way to school) by the time they cancel school. Yea for snow!!!!!

Only 4 weeks to go! (or maybe less!)

Today was the big day for the ultrasound and doctor's appointment. We started with the ultrasound, and the tech determined that Ethan weighs 6 pounds and 12 ounces (give or take a pound). That sounds HUGE to me, considering I still have 4 weeks left, but it's surprisingly only about 1 week ahead of where he should be. The doctor told us he's in the 78th percentile for his size right now. His heartrate was 134.

He said that babies will gain between a quarter pound and a half pound per week during the last month. So if you do the math, that means he could gain another pound or two. Let's hope for one rather than two!!!

I'll go back in a week and a half, and he said they'd start checking to see if there's any progress at that point.

I'm taking predictions on Ethan's birthday.

• I predict Feb. 12
• Lonnie predicts Feb. 13

I don't really want him to come super early, but the thought of being done feeling yucky is quite appealing. I really can't complain too much since I feel like this pregnancy has been fairly easy, but I'm beginning to feel miserable. I'm exhausted by 9am, I feel obese, my ankles have started swelling (well, really just my right ankle - weird!), and I itch all over!!!! My doctor said I've developed a 'pregnancy rash,' which is apparently quite common towards the end of pregnancy. My belly, arms, and legs itch uncontrollably!!! I asked him what I could do to make it go away and his reply was, "have the baby." So, it looks like I'm out of luck until Ethan decides to make his grand appearance.

Sorry to be such a downer....I guess I just needed to vent a little. But it will all be worth it when we get to see precious little Ethan Daniel!

We Have a Winner!

Just in case you're curious...

Remember a few weeks ago I asked you guys to go to kirklands.com and vote for my friend's photograph? SHE WON!!!! She had the #1 photograph in the country! So on top of winning $5,000, her print will be sold in Kirkland's across the country and she'll receive a portion of every sale. Yea! Thanks to everyone that voted for her!

Nesting

So I've had a lot of people asking me lately if I've started nesting. The answer is...
NO. NOT AT ALL. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I HAVE NO DESIRE TO CLEAN OR ORGANIZE.

But guess who does?
That'd be Lonnie. The past week he has been on a cleaning/organizing kick. I love it! He's gotten several "sore spots" in our house finally organized and has been working hard to keep everything neat and tidy around here.

I've never heard of a husband nesting before, but I'm going to enjoy every second of it. Our house needs all the help it can get these days!!!

Baby Lamp Has a Name!!!!!!!!!!!

I know you've all been waiting for a long time, so here it is...

Ethan Daniel Lamp

It's passed all of our tests:

• Not easily made fun of
• Acceptable initials
• No negative connection to any of my students past or present
• It's not already taken by anyone close to us
• It's yellable ("Ethan Daniel! Get over here right now!")

We love it! Hope you do too (and if you don't, you're kind enough to not tell us)

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I got a good laugh at school today - thought I'd share it with you...

My classroom is next door to the Behavior Classroom. Several times throughout the day we'll hear shouting, screaming, and banging on the walls. My kids have learned how to tune it out quite well. Shortly after recess, we heard someone screaming in the hallway, but didn't think much of it. About an hour later, one of my students randomly raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Lamp, we heard your baby crying earlier." Several other students smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. Let me tell you, it took everything I had to not crack up. But I wanted to play this out a little. I asked them who else heard my baby cry, and 6 other kids raised their hands. Can you believe that? It's so hard to remember that they're only 6 or 7 years old, and I have to try to look at things in their eyes. How could they know that a baby in-utero can't cry? When would they have learned that? So we had a nice little discussion about what babies do when they're in their momma's bellies. It went well with the lesson we had yesterday about how baby is taking up so much room in my belly that he's squishing my lungs, which makes it hard to breathe. These kids are learning so much more than they ever bargained for!

34 Weeks

Another good appointment (aside from waiting AN HOUR before seeing the doctor!). Baby's heartrate was 144. My belly measurement was 35, which is a little over a week ahead of where it should be. We'll go back Jan 25 and get an ultrasound to determine exactly how big he is.

And, in case you're wondering, still no name! But hey, we at least have a nursery now!

Baby Shower

Our wonderful church family had a baby shower for us yesterday afternoon. Rachel hosted it at her house. We got spoiled rotten! We feel so blessed to have people that care about us and Baby so much. It's great to know that Baby will have a loving, supportive church family to surround him as he grows up.

(please ignore the fact that I look like I weigh 300 pounds in all these pictures)

Hostesses: Rebecca, Tracie (my pregnant friend!), Stacey (my pregnant friend), Rachel, and Melissa

The hostesses went together to get us a Pack N Play. Yea! We were so surprised at the generous gift! That will definitely help us in May when I go back to school and we pass baby around for the month.

Rachel made me a scrapbook for baby. All I have to do is add the pictures. Now that's the kind of scrapbooking I can handle.

The card reads To: Baby, From: Caden - Caden wrote it all by himself!

Thanks to everyone for a great afternoon!