Saturday, May 29, 2010

Memorial Day Splash

To celebrate Memorial Day, we went to my aunt's house in Hurst to swim and for a cookout.  This was Abigail's first time in the pool since last summer, and I was excited to see how she would react.  She loved it last year, but that was a whole year ago.  This time was no different - she loved it!! 

She cried when she first got in, but I think it was because my cousin Turman came over and was trying to pick her up, not because of the water.  She's a little in the "Stranger Danger" phase right now.  When he backed off, she warmed up to all the new faces and really loved the water.  She opened up and was able to play with her cousins with no hesitation!  While in the water, she loved the diving rings (Megan and Brandon would retrieve them when she'd dump them) and would even kick her feet.  It was a fun time!



Sunday, May 23, 2010

Happy Birthday to...Me!

Today I turned 26!  I had a phenomenal weekend.  The best part was that my mom was able to come to my house and spend the night; she hasn't been able to come up here since Thanksgiving, so it was especially nice to have her here.  We had a fun time shopping and driving around; Robby stayed home with Abby during Abby's nap time and Mom and I were able to go to Lowes and pick out some flowers for my yard (she brought some Tyler rose bushes for my yard, too, so I can always remember home!).

The plan was that she would watch Abigail while Robby and I went to the movies and then to dinner.  Notice I said "plan."  As it turned out, Robby was a little under the weather yesterday, spending most of the day sleeping, so we decided to skip the movie and go out to eat.  However, when we got to the restaurant, the smells made me sick to my stomach.  This baby didn't want us to forget that it was part of our plans, too.  Heh.  Back home we went, but not before Robby gave me my present:  two new Pandora charms from Jared's!  I love them!  When we got home, Robby and my mom ate Weinerland while I had a sandwich.  Whoo-hoo, fun.  Actually, I wouldn't trade it because I loved spending time with my mom in my house!  I miss her.

This morning, Nani and Abby took it upon themselves to make me a birthday cake!  It was beautiful and delicious!  Thanks for making my birthday extra-special, Mom!





Who cares if all the dots are in the same spot?


Trying a little bit of the icing!


The cake, complete with confetti sprinkles, finger smudges and 26 candles!  Perfect!

Friday, May 21, 2010

SURPRISE!!



Between 2nd and 3rd periods I usually have to run down the hall to the faculty restroom (this is a new development from Roden Baby #2!) and today, when I returned to class, my lights were off and there were "no kids" in there. Actually, I could see them hiding beneath the tables (we don't have desks) and behind columns, but I decided to play along like I do with Abigail when she is squatting behind a chair.

I called another teacher over to my room, and said, in a loud, very obvious voice, "WOW! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE MY STUDENTS ARE? NO ONE IS HERE TODAY!" My colleague just kind of looked at me like, "What?" and when we walked into my classroom, the lights flashed on, and all my students jumped out from their hiding spots and yelled, "SURPRISE!" My feigned concern works as well on 16 year olds as it does with my sweet 18 month old. Funny how they never outgrow it! :)

Ha! Even though I picked up on where they were hiding, what I wasn't expecting is that they surprised me with a small birthday party - cake and cookies and confetti! They made me a nice, sentimental card talking about how much they enjoyed having me as a teacher, and they all signed it with a handwritten message. :) That was truly the best part! This class is my AP English Language class, and since there are only 11 students (it's a junior level class, but all these students are sophomores - GT in English), I have gotten to know each student on a more personal level than I do with the majority of my other students. It has been nice to get to know these kids! They are a great bunch!

It is really nice to have such thoughtful students who celebrate my birthday, even if it's just to get food in the class! I'm impressed that they coordinated this all on their own! The cake said "Happy Birthday Mrs. Roden!" so I know they had to pre-plan! Wow!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

First Art Lesson

Robby's dad came over today to play and visit with Abigail (and Robby and me, I suppose!), and while he was here, he showed Abigail his mad skills on the magnadoodle. He was actually very good! In return, she showed him her dance routine! It was a fun mid-week visit!

(On a side note, I was watching a video of her dancing at 14 months and noticed how much her dancing has changed in just 4 short months! )







**I tried to upload the video of her dancing, but it wouldn't work. I'll try again another time!**

Sunday, May 16, 2010

And Baby Makes 4!

Well, 5, if you count our furry baby, Chance! Yes, we're pregnant!

Robby and I are very excited about the new addition to our family! The baby is due December 5, but since I will most likely have a repeat c-section, our doctor wants to deliver on November 29 - just 21 days after Abigail's 2nd birthday! If you remember, Abigail's due date was November 25 (even though she came 3 weeks early!), so it is funny to Robby and me that "we do the same things around the same time of the year" as our ob/gyn put it. This time, I blame our 2 week spring break. What else were we supposed to do with our time?! :)

We've already had two doctor's appointments, one on April 13 to confirm pregnancy (sonogram!) and get all the lab work done, and one this past week, on May 12. On May 12, my doctor jokingly said that I am "boring" because I have no HIV, no syphilis, no thyroid problems, no UTI, no infections, normal pap, A+ blood type, good blood pressure and the like. Hey, I'm okay with being boring when it comes to my health!

Today I am 11 weeks pregnant - just shy of ending my first trimester! The first few weeks were awful. Even though I have only been physically sick once, I have had nausea and aversion to most food as early as I can remember. It just doesn't feel good and every smell makes me wince. I hate the smell of food! I'm hoping, as I near the 2nd semester, that I will start feeling better very, very soon! It's already improved, but I still can't look in the refrigerator without gagging.

We found out we were pregnant (for sure) on March 24. On March 17, my non-pregnant indicator was due (aka Aunt Flo), and when it didn't arrive, I took a pregnancy test - negative. Yes, we were suspicious. On March 21, I took another pregnancy test - negative. (This is no surprise to me, though, because when I was pregnant with Abigail I got back a negative BLOOD TEST at the hospital when I was really pregnant. I guess I feel pregnant before I am actually pregnant enough to turn a test positive.) With two negative tests, we didn't know what to think, and just thought that the stress from the TAKS test and stuff must have altered the dates of Flo, but when I cried THREE times during one Biggest Loser tv show, on March 23, our suspicions just increased.

That same night, I had a dream that God placed a baby in my arms! Now I KNEW that I was pregnant! I awoke extra early, rushed in the bathroom and took a test. This time, the test was positive! I didn't tell Robby right away - he's very sensitive to change and big news like this; I didn't want to freak him out before going to work - so I opted to wait until that evening. Plus, I had to think of a cool way to tell him.

On the way home from work, I had to stop at Walgreen's for...well, I can't remember what now...but when I was checking out, I saw Willy Wonka candy bars with "Look for the Golden Ticket Inside!" on them, so I picked up two. (One for RKR, and one for me, of course. They looked delicious.) When I got home (yes, Robby was already home, so I had to be sneaky), I found some yellow paper and wrote "YOU FOUND THE GOLDEN TICKET! I'M PREGNANT!" on it. Now, the most difficult part: I unwrapped the candy bar and placed the "golden ticket" inside, then wrapped it back where you couldn't tell I had opened it! Okay, okay. You could tell, but only if you looked closely. Robby didn't notice.

Then I told Robby that I got him a surprise at the store and handed him the candy bar. At first he said, "Thanks. I'll eat it after dinner," (he's never one to spoil his appetite or eat dessert first!), but I persisted and said, "No! Look! It says Golden Ticket on the front - just check and see if you won!" After a little more persistence (okay, demanding), he opened it. I wish I had the camera on his face, because when he saw the yellow paper, he honestly thought, at least for a second, that he had the Golden Ticket! It was priceless. Then he realized it was just yellow paper and my handwriting. "What the heck...?" he said, then I said, "Read it!" Tears were welling in my eyes, so he didn't even have to read it. He said, "OH! Uh-uh. Are you...?" and then he read it and just stood there for a second. "How do you know?" he asked.

So I led him into the bathroom and showed him the result: Pregnant. It wasn't one of those "figure it out by interpreting the lines" type of test, it was very simple. Pregnant or Not Pregnant and ours said Pregnant. (I learned from the first time. Because with Abigail, I showed Robby two positive pregnancy tests with the lines, and he said, "Uh-uh. No you're not." This time, I wanted it to be matter of fact. Pregnant!)

After reading the final word, he sighed a little bit (after all, this wasn't really planned!) then hugged me and less than 2 minutes later, we were both excited! I was excited the whole day, but I was anxious to see his reaction. He just needed a little processing time. Ever since then, after those two minutes of letting it sink in, we've been overjoyed with our pregnancy and the thought of having a new baby.

Everyone knows it was no secret that we want more children, and more even after this one, so although unexpected at this time, this baby is in no way unwelcome. We are so excited and happy and Robby already talks to my stomach and loves the baby, as do I. We are so, so happy and blessed to have this addition. We can't wait until November/December!



Looks pretty good, right? This is after I put in the Golden Ticket!


No doubting this. Pregnant!


Abigail squealed when she found out she will be a big sister!


Very, very happy!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Racing

Just a precious moment I want to share:

We took Abigail to the playground at a nearby elementary school today and let her run around. After playing on the equipment, we walked over to the field and chased each other. While we were doing this, she said, "Two. GO!" and took off running. It took just a moment before we realized she was racing us! We did this several times, and she won everytime, although I have no idea how: she laughed so much that I was SURE she'd fall down! (She never did!)

What a fun, happy, competitive little girl!

Where'd You Go?

I caught a few pictures of Robby and Abigail (and Chance) playing Hide and Seek!

Abigail loves to sit in the window sill behind the curtain and wait for us to find her!

Robby's turn to hide!


Robby hiding again - and being found by Abigail!

Robby's new hiding spot!

This little game of theirs was so funny to watch! Abby was so patient in her hiding spots - she would sit and sit and sit while we "looked" for her in all the wrong places! Of course, it was usually the giggling that led us to where she was! The more we "looked" and couldn't find her, the more she giggled!

Robby and Abigail started off just playing in the curtains, but Robby thought it got too predictable because she ALWAYS found him, so he started hiding in different places. In these cases, Chance always led Abigail to where he was, because if Robby hid behind the couch, Chance was running in circles around it, and if Robby was in the closet or hiding behind a wall, he'd sit there and bark! Chance was a good "seeker!"

Sometimes Chance and Abigail will play hide and seek behind the curtains by themselves. Abby will go to her famous hiding spot, and if Chance sees her, he will sit there and paw at her or lick her toes or whatever. Abby squeals and squeals when he plays with her! One day, I will have to get that on video!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

April - May 2010

Well, I am a little (to say the least!) behind on blogging, so here are some pictures from the past month! I am so sad that I missed pictures from Easter Day, Mother's Day, my mother-daughter tea party at Abigail's school, and a few other special occasions - I am just not as good about taking out the camera as I used to be!

The egg hunt at church - and this was just the toddler area! 4.3.10






Her bucket got too full and some spilled out!



Picking them up for the second time!


Easter presents from Mimi!



4.6.10


One of the gifts from Mimi - a hula skirt and shell top! We put it on Abigail, and she started dancing away!



She had to pause from dancing to tend to her baby.



Reading with Mimi.



"Shhhh!" she says. "Seep'n." Yes, this is how we spend our Saturday mornings - playing with babies!



Woah! Watch the road! 4.17.10



Driving over to Colby's house.


Laughing with Poppy. 5.1.10



We just got back from a baseball game, and she was still rootin' the team on!



Abigail is the "How to Wash Your Hands" model at school. :)



Walking for a cure at American Cancer Society's Relay for Life! 5.7.10


Daddy's turn for a few laps.


Family photo!

A country girl! Just sittin' on the porch watching the dogs play! 5.8.10

Stopping to smell the flowers!