Kindergarten Round-Up

What am I supposed to do for two hours? The house is quiet. Really quiet.

Luke is at Kindergarten Round-Up… at the same school I went to.
… the same school my mom and uncles went to. Weird.

He's been so excited to go to school. Real school. And to ride the bus. He told me the other day, "I want to go to school ALL DAY, and get my work DONE!" He is so smart. Such a love for learning. Today is his first day. I can't wait to ask him all about it. When we got there he held my hand while we walked down the sidewalk and in through the front doors. There were already families congregated around the entrance, so we stood for a little bit. There was a mom that introduced her kid to another kid right next to us. Luke jumped in and said to me, "Hey, I'm 4!" So I told him to tell the kids his name. He did. Maybe that put him at ease a little… I don't know. He seemed calm.
I had to sign some paperwork and the secretary is who I knew as the lunch detention lady. (She gave me a pink slip for yelling, "Food Fi!" I didn't even get the -ight out.) As I was doing the papers, Luke told her his first and last name, age, etc. It was cute. We were practicing some things on the 10-minute drive out.

Soon after the teachers announced they were ready and the doors opened. I took him to the door. They asked for his name and White, Chocolate, or Strawberry Milk. He told them everything. Luke Alvidrez, Strawberry. Little weirdo. I'll have to teach him chocolate is best.

We found his name on a desk. (Earlier he had asked if he would have a table and I said I didn't know. So to have a desk is exciting.) He put on his name tag and sat down. I told him to give me a kiss. He did. But then he stood up and gave me another and a big hug. That's when I could have cried, but didn't. I might in August. I told him I liked the room, that it looked like a fun place. He agreed. I told him to listen to his teachers. He said he would. And then I told him I would come back to pick him up in a little bit. (It's 2:40 pm right now and I'm like on the edge of my seat, ready to go pick him up… Round-Up is from 1:15 to 3:15… haha!) As I left, I kept looking back to see what he was doing. To see if he was watching me leave. Or talking. Looking around. I don't know…
He was just sitting there, straight and tall, about ready to color this paper in front of him - which of course, he didn't know the directions for, but he saw other people doing it. Maybe he asked for directions, maybe he didn't. Maybe he waited, maybe he didn't. Maybe he started talking to himself… I don't know. My boy is growing up… (maybe I'll cry now…)

Ready for "Big Boy School" - Kindergarten Round-Up

So now, looking at the dates - I thought that our family trip coming up might be a little tiring since there's Easter, then homeschool and prepping, youth camp planning, pregnancy, etc. - I am happy we are going on a family trip. Luke will be in school in August. Full time. This is the last time he won't be in school. From here on out, he'll spend much of his life with kids his age and someone else who's not his mom or dad. Eating food that wasn't prepared by a family member. Fixed up by a school nurse. Playing on playground equipment and stuff. 

I will cherish our Family Trip 2015 and being his mommy. <3

Gender Reveal

Same Day

I had been drinking water all day because I knew that I had to for the appointment. So when we got to the doctor's office, I had to go to the restroom really bad. Immediately they pointed us to another waiting room for the sonogram. They said to wait and ask the technician, but I couldn't hold it and nobody was coming, so I went. (I've done this for 9 mo. with Luke and 4 mo. with this one… you think I would be a pro at the pee test, but I'm not.) I guess while I was gone, the technician came out two times looking for me. Oops. So when I got back, we were led to the room right away - a small room, some seating on the left, my spot in the center, a tv screen in front of me on the top of the wall, and her computer station on the right of me. She got out her squirty stuff and wand and found the baby right away. But, of course, someone called her out of the room. As she left, she swiped the wand across my belly, so the tv still showed an image of the baby's face, but it was sort of stretched.
While she was gone I whispered to Aldo, "Hey, it kind of looks like a chimp."
Luke overhearing said blatantly, "Mommy, the baby can't be an animal. It's a human. You can only have humans." Precious. The whole time I was thinking, Luke would think the baby looked strange, and maybe one day when he's mad call the baby "ape face"… but no, he's a sweetheart and would think nothing of it.

When the lady got back, she scanned my tummy again. She had to take measurements while looking at everything. So first we looked at the baby's whole body. She said that the baby was skinny looking because there's hardly any muscle right now. So the bone structure, etc. will all look thin. And then she skipped to the privates. I didn't think she would tell us right like that, but she did. She said, "See these three lines…" And I thought, "Yes, two legs and something in the middle… it's a boy". "… it's a girl." WHAT?! I had to look at Aldo to make sure I heard right. We were both open mouthed. I think Aldo teared up a bit. Luke was excited. I was in shock I think. I was certain this baby was going to be a boy. Just because I've been knitting girl things, everyone's been saying how we need a girl (like I can control  it), and because the odds weren't looking that great. Wow, a girl.
So I guess, when looking at those pics, if you see three lines that are the same length, it's a boy and if you see a W then it's a girl. Sounds complicated and too close to me. Afterward, I asked her about it - I said, "Now, these things aren't certain, so how sure would you say you are with that reading?" 98%.
We're having a girl!!!!

The rest of the time she measured and counted things. Head length. Arm bones. Leg bones. Placenta. 2 arms, 2 legs. Lip attached. 2 kidneys. Everything looks good, everything is healthy. Right now she is breech position, which means she would come out booty first. HOWEVER, the lady tech also said that she is "feisty". She would not hold still for any of the measurements, she'd move for the pictures, and she wouldn't get in the right position either… the doc wanted a nice profile picture, but she kept looking right at the camera it seemed… and then she turned around completely. Hahaha! Doomed. We are all doomed. :)

The tech gave us a lot of pictures! Probably because this is our first sonogram with this little one. My appointment with Dr. Holmes was cancelled, so we had to reschedule for Thursday.

On the way home, we decided to eat and call the family. I had a gender reveal planned… Luke opening a box of balloons, either blue or pink coming out. What I failed to realize is that it's March and there are no leaves on the trees at our house. An ugly background. We threw that idea out the window and decided to call. First calls were to Lily, Vero, Lalo, Dad, Mom, Maecy, Stacia, the Gutierrez family, and Zac & Rose. I later in the day let the Tomlins, Springers, Jul, John Stalic and Ruby know. Somehow Jerad found out (Ruby!), and when we went to show Granddad mom's new utility vehicle, we announced that we were having a girl to him and to Millie. On Saturday, Mom, Luke and I helped paint the new church building and I had to tell all of the Pastors. So… there's not too many people left to tell with a gender reveal. But we're going to take a picture anyway and post to Facebook. I bought the pink shoes for it! It's a must!

Aldo is excited and nervous. What is he going to do with a girl? We've never raised a girl before… He wants to take the childbirth classes again. I'll tell you what though, this family is amazing. I'm blessed.

Baby Girl Alvidrez - March 24th, 2015 - 4 Months Along

Smiling at Luke

When we left, Luke asked which pictures were his. I said he could have the one where she's smiling at him. Then he asked for more - 4 to be precise.

Skinny Butt

She hasn't developed a lot of cushion yet they said. I guess we'll have to wait and see who she takes after here.

The Reveal Photo

Do you see the "W"?

Boy or Girl?

20 Weeks

Today's the day! A while ago I was excited and couldn't wait for this day. About two days ago I started getting nervous. (I have no idea why, I'll be happy with a boy or a girl.)
Last night I couldn't sleep! We stayed up late watching some tv episodes; I was so exhausted and could have gone to bed early, but apparently my subconscious was anxious and kept me up all night. And my mind was BLANK. For the first two hours I thought of nothing. The rest of the night is kind of blurry - I don't know how it went so fast. At one point I do remember a dream about eating a cup of frosting in the snow…???
Anyway, the day is here. The minutes are ticking by.
This morning I asked Luke one last time what he wants (he's such a flip-flopper). Girl. "Because she can help beat up daddy." But then he said one of each. Then he said there has to be two boys and two girls altogether. I don't know if he was including Aldo and I in that count, or if he was thinking 4 kids in the family. All I can say is - we'll see.

Told You So

I told you. I just looked at the last two posts. I re-wrote some things. Pregnancy brain.
Clearly I didn't make a "What to Write About" checklist on those sticky notes...

The Pregnant Mama's Brain

19 Weeks, 5 Days (Only 142 More Days To Go)

Every time I write something, I think … Is this TMI (too much information)? So I apologize if anything makes you blush - chances are that if you are, I was too in writing it. Don't worry though, I'm not planning on writing anything awkward at this moment.

Recently I have realized that pregnancy brain has been a pretty big deal this time around. Just the other day I forgot what year it was. Is it 2014 or 2015? … It's 2015. It has been for three months. There have been worse cases, I just can't think of any. Ha! I can't keep our plans straight (and we have a lot of plans what with me teaching and doing the library newsletter, Luke starting kindergarten, an up-coming and necessary family trip, church meetings and camp, not to mention my pre-natal appointments, etc.), so sticky-notes and that convenient little notebook phone app have become my closest friends. There are a lot of things in the works right now; it's kind of like that "calm before the storm", although in this case the storm really isn't that bad - it's just a bunch of scheduled things I need to be prepared for.

Mainly I've been anxious about naming the baby and re-arranging the room. And these aren't even a current MUST DO. It's just that I heard that the second trimester is when pregnant mamas have the most energy, so I'd like to get furniture moved and get the house clean now before I'm too big and can't bend over, or before I'm too tired. Except it all seems to revolve around March 24th... the day we find out if baby is a boy or a girl. I can't decorate the room and make plans if I'm set on girly stuff for a girl, and neutral stuff for a boy. Sorry boys, blue is overrated. Aldo wants to wait to even think of baby names. He says we didn't have any names for Luke before we knew what he was (Untrue. We had a girl name picked out. And we can't use it this time around because someone else got to it before we did.) If it happens to be a girl, here's a reminder: pick a boy name out too. Just in case. Doctors can sometimes miss things on the screen and surprise, you have a boy when you were expecting a girl! The odds aren't in our favor either. Aldo and I both really want a girl. Everyone at church has had recently or is expecting a girl. We already have a boy. Chances are… we're having a boy. I dreamt I was having a girl though, so that's something I guess. But Miss C said she had a feeling we're having a boy.
Feelings… ugh. And as I was writing this up, I looked to the Chinese Gender Chart which predicted it's a girl. March 24th, you couldn't come soon enough!

The second thing on my mind right now is our family trip. Here we come Omaha and St. Louis!
I picked some places based on where to travel in April, then we narrowed it down by process of elimination. We got down to Omaha and St. Louis and couldn't decide. Aldo wanted Omaha because our first experience was shared with another family - Did we miss out on things we would enjoy? I wanted a place we've never been before - Would St. Louis meet our expectations? We made a pro/con list and you wouldn't believe it, but by going to both we're doing what WE want to do and saving money. We've booked the first hotel and kind of planned out where we're going in each city on what day, but we still need to make reservations on a few more things.

There's so much more on my mind, I'd like to put it all down, but just typing them is kind of overwhelming. I'm trying to take one thing at a time and keep my stress level low.

Some high points:

- The other day, we drove around in the car looking at houses for sale in different areas. We saw what's out there. And explained to each other what we were looking for. It was nice. One day, that dream house will be there. Hopefully a little sooner than later. I'm ready for us to be on our own. I'm ready for a house warming, for cook-outs and play dates, and sunlight!

- I'm feeling kicks. I might have already said this before, but baby is AWAKE at 2:00pm and onward. Someone told me I should keep track of my kick count?? Never heard about that with Luke, so I've just been making sure there's movement daily. We're all good.

- Maecy got married! Mom, Luke, and I went to her courtroom wedding on Friday, March 13th. At Christmas, they kind of hinted at it to the family, and about a month ago Maecy sent us a picture of the ring. Then about two weeks ago, she called me up and said she had some news and she was afraid to tell me. Did you get married already? Nope. We're pregnant! Maecy and Juan are preggers!! She's due at the end of October! Honestly, I couldn't be more excited. I would love for our babies to be close in age and for Mace and me to share pregnancy stories and frustrations with each other as we're going through it. There's no one else I'd rather be pregnant with. There's no one else I'd rather plan a nursery with (Aldo just doesn't get it - sorry, no offense honey) and no one else I'd rather buy tutu's with.

So come on March 24th - you're only a week away.

Announcing Mr. & Mrs. Tarin • 3/13/2015 • Outside the Johnson County Courthouse

Guess What? - Surprise #2

18 Weeks

Really there are two surprises. The first surprise is that my sister is getting married. It's weird that she's getting married at age 20, the same age I did. Was I really that young? She told me this a while back. Actually, I found out through a text message of mom's. She didn't even tell me. She sent mom a line of pictures of her modeling and then a picture of her ring at the end. They are getting married this Friday in the courthouse.
The second surprise is that she's having a baby! Due at the end of October. I've only known for five days, but it's been the funnest thing. We've talked about us both having girls and dressing them and decorating the nursery. I also like being able to give her advice on applying for health insurance and choosing an OB/GYN. You know, important stuff. And confirming her pregnancy symptoms (Today she asked if itchiness and bad gas were side effects. Hahahahahaha. Sorry to tell you that those aren't the worst of it.)

A good place to tell you what's going on with my body at the moment…
• My skin has been really dry on my face, and sensitive. It burns to put on moisturizer.
• I guess my belly "popped". To me, it just looks like I can't suck in my fat anymore. When I tell people they're like - Oh, I guessed or wasn't sure, but I wasn't going to say anything; you're so small. In other words, GEEZ GIRL! YOU'VE GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE I LAST SAW YOU! It's okay though, no offense taken here.
• Nausea is gone! Smells are still strong, but not sooo strong. (The couch still stinks but I can sit in the living room. I don't like when the trash wafts throughout the house. That's a normal thing though.) AND, I can eat ice-cream again! And drink milk! The other day I had two bowls of cereal. I was so happy. For the longest time I've been staying away from dairy. Almond milk just doesn't cut it. Right when I discovered Dark Chocolate Almond Milk - yummmm - the joy of regular milk has come back.
• Having it rough sleeping at night. I remember when preggo with the first that near the end I'd get up throughout the night having to go to the bathroom. Not so here. I'm only 4 months pregnant and I can't get comfortable in bed. Ever since I was sick with the cold I can't breathe out of my right nostril when I'm laying on my right side. So… I sleep on my left side. (Sleeping on the side is doc's orders.) Sleeping only on my left side makes my arm and shoulders and back and neck hurt. Switching back and forth relieves the pain, but it's hard to sleep on my right when I can't breathe. Ugh. And switching back and forth doesn't help when you're trying to have the best sleep of your life. You know the kind… when you are so out, you start drooling?
• The best part, I'm feeling movement! About 2:00 in the afternoon every day, I feel a couple of arms maybe and also a torpedo roll or something. Sometimes at night before bed. Not so much in the morning. If I had to choose… I'd sleep in too.

I've discussed with Aldo how we need to start thinking of names, but he insists we wait until we know boy or girl. I'm still thinking though. I've come across some names that I liked from the Bible - Solome and Tamar - but both having not bad meanings, have terrible stories. Promiscuity, conspiracy, abused, etc. I think not. I look for names when I can. Books, movie credits, etc. Aldo has so far vetoed Baelfire (Once Upon a Time, TV Series) and Hiro (Big Hero 6, Movie), Wolfgang (man whose cabin my family stayed in a while back when we went to Wyoming) and some others… basically all of the cool names. 

Looking forward to March 24th! The day we find out…
Be ready to see an announcement!