17 Weeks and My Thoughts So Far

Well today is my 17 week mark! My little baby is about the size of my open palm...  

(ps. Taking pictures of yourself in the bathroom mirror is more difficult than you may guess. Who knew?)

So far, I LOVE being pregnant. I love feeling like I have something to look forward to in a few months. I love feeling like I might have a greater purpose than just a wife and a teacher (which I do think are important), but a mother also. I love how I look now that I'm pregnant... I can just be chubby and it doesn't really matter. I used to always care if I looked thin, and if I had a flat stomach... it is refreshing not caring and just loving my new belly! I absolutely love feeling my little baby kick around inside of me... it seriously makes me want to cry every time I feel her. (We don't know that it is a "her", but for some reason we have just been calling the baby a girl lately... I guess we just got tired of referring to her as "the baby" or "it"... who knows, we might have to change it to "him" in a couple weeks. :)

Speaking of which, we get to find out the gender at our next appointment in 23 days! I will be just a little over 20 weeks, and WE. CANNOT. WAIT. Holy moly! SO exciting! 

Bryce and I cannot wait to meet our little baby. The excitement, stress, love, and joy we feel towards our child is sometimes overwhelming. Tears are always close to the surface for me, but, rest assured, they are tears of pure happiness. Twenty-three more weeks, little baby. I love you. 

School Stories... Just for Kicks

I just had a couple of stories from school. They are a couple funny stories that I didn't want to forget.

#1: Show and Tell

I had a student come up to me one day and say "Hey Mrs. Call. I brought something I want to show the class. Can I show it after lunch?" I said, "Yah sure, as long as we have time." She was happy with that response. As I ate lunch, I got to thinking that I should probably see what she is going to show the class before shows everyone. When I brought the kids in from lunch I said, "(Name), how about you show me after school what you brought, and then we can maybe show the class tomorrow." She said, "Yep that's fine." You will never guess what she brought.

A tupperware container.
With a dead bird inside.
Partially wrapped in saran wrap.
She found it on her lawn the day before.

Barf.

Haha glad I checked what she brought! I told her it probably wasn't the best thing to show the class. She said, "Okay!" and went happily on her merry little way.


#2: Was that a Bomb, Mrs. Call? 

I have a boy in my class that is kind of a trouble maker. But one thing that happened the other day was totally priceless. He went back to the sink to fill up his water bottle. It was a store-bought plain old plastic water bottle with the small threaded opening at the top. For whatever reason, he decided to put his water bottle all the way up on the faucet. There must have been a pretty close seal between the faucet and the mouth of the water bottle, because as he began to fill it up, it began building up pressure inside the water bottle. The pressure built up and built up and built up... and suddenly....

BOOOOMWHOOSH!!!!!!

All eyes shot in the direction of the sink. Students around the room were saying things like, "Oh my gosh, Mrs. Call. Was that a bomb?

I look over at (Name) at the sink. His face was p.r.i.c.e.l.e.s.s. He was soaking wet, head to toe. The ceiling above him was also dripping water, as well as the Idaho state flag on the wall behind the sink. He was staring at me with wide eyes, a gaping mouth, and an expression that said, "I'm going to be in so much trouble."

At the time, I didn't laugh. I just told that next time he shouldn't put his water bottle all the way on the faucet, and to go ahead and take a seat. But almost every day since then, the image has replayed in my mind, and I have laughed out loud every time. I wish all of you could have seen it! It has definitely made my week.

Getting a Little More Real!

I'm 16.5 weeks. I popped out a legitimate baby bump this week AND the best thing ever... I'm definitely feeling little baby flutter kicks in there! It's so happy! Yay! 

Baby Call Coming Soon

Bryce and I have the happiest news to share! We are expecting our first child in the beginning of March. We could not be more thrilled!

For most of my first trimester, I threw up every single day. I had some good days and some miserable days. Personally, I was just happy that I had the summer off work! Now that I am finally in my second trimester, I have been feeling a LOT better. I still get nauseous for part of the day, most days, but not nearly as bad as I used to feel. Hooray! Also... I have gained a bunch of weight already... more that I am supposed to, but that's okay. I am already too chunky for most of my pants. Oh well. Everyone says, "oh you won't start showing until ________ week..." Yah yah. I might not look a whole lot bigger, but I can definitely tell you that I am showing. Even if I am the only who can tell. (Although I know some people can tell)

Anyway. We are so excited to add a new little member to our family. This is something we have wanted for a really long time, and we are happy that the timing is finally right :) We feel so blessed and so excited... Yay! Six more months! Can't wait to be a mom!

Ultrasound at 9.5 weeks:

My phone lock screen: :)

How we announced to our family:

How we announced to Facebook:

Me at 12 weeks:

Me at 14 weeks:

How I announced to Bryce:

4th Grade So Far

So far, I have loved 4th grade! It is definitely more work to be an elementary school teacher than a secondary teacher (now that I have taught in a middle school). The more work is attributed to the fact that as an elementary school teacher, you have to plan and teach every single lesson for every single subject every single day. You also have to be better at time management because you don't have a bell that cuts you off every hour.... you have to keep track yourself and be sure to not spend too much time on one subject, because then you cut into the time of another subject.

Besides the extra work, I have loved being a 4th grade teacher. It is so fun to work with the same students all day, and have a class all to yourself that you can call your own. They are so cute and so fun, and just happy kids. My students are great... and I think I got really lucky with the class I was given. They are the best 4th grade class at the school!

Here are just some pictures of my classroom... I have a rock climbing/oh the places you'll go theme. :)

Hewlett Packard

This summer Bryce had the opportunity to do an internship at HP. He really enjoyed his time there and he got the chance to help develop some really awesome software! I would attempt to describe to you what he worked on all summer.... but I know I would butcher it. So, for now, in summary, Bryce helped develop printer simulation software so that HP could run tests on thousands of printers at the same time without needing the actual, physical printer in front of them. I promise it was cool. :)

Anyway, the best news is that Bryce was offered a position as a college hire, meaning he can work for HP remotely for the remainder of his college career. This is awesome because he can work from home and set his own hours. It is just part time, but that is great while he is going to school.

The college hire position is pretty cool... but the BEST news is that Bryce was offered a FULL TIME JOB at HP for when he graduates!!!!!!!! His official start date is August 16, 2015. We are so excited to head back home and we are so grateful that we already know what we will be doing a year from now. I am so proud of him!

3 Years and Counting

Bryce and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on Labor Day this year... I can't believe it has been 3 years! It is amazing how much you can love someone. I don't think Bryce and I have ever been this close. I can't wait to spend eternity with this man!

9.1.14