Mother's First

Our hospital offers a series of classes through their Mother's First Program and I finally had the opportunity to sign up for a few! Linc and I went on our labor and delivery tour a few weeks ago and this past Saturday I attended a breast feeding workshop. Now, I had always assumed breast feeding was simple and there was only one way to do it, but it is much more involved than I had originally thought. We learned different ways to hold the baby, tips and tricks on a pain free experience, and took pages upon pages of notes about how to actually go about doing it. I really feel like I learned a lot and will hopefully remember all of this once Baby H makes his debut.

In January, Linc and I will pair up again for a Baby Essentials class which teaches about changing diapers, giving baths, circumcision care, baby first aid, and a whole bunch of other topics that we need to learn before caring for an infant! I can't wait!!

Two Down, One to Go!

Trimesters, that is! I can't believe we only have twelve weeks left to finish cooking this baby and get everything ready for his arrival. If he weren't so active (and the fact that I look like I am carrying around a beach ball up my shirt) I might not even believe I was pregnant! I have still been feeling great these past few weeks and can only hope the "honeymoon phase" will continue a bit longer!

I had my 28 Week check up this morning and everything looked great. Baby H was rocking and rolling with a heart rate of 137 bpm. I only gained two pounds since my last appointment (YAY!! I survived Thanksgiving!!), I found out my glucose score from a few weeks ago was a nice, low 96mg (135 to 140 milligrams is considered the threshold), and my blood pressure was a steady 110 over 64. They also checked my iron levels and measured my belly from top to bottom (28cm) and said everything is right on track. I am done having to draw blood at every single appointment and have now graduated to seeing my midwife every two weeks! For the next few check ups they'll just do weight, blood pressure, and various tummy measurements for me and heart rate for little H.

Speaking of Baby H, he may be dreaming about me! Brain wave activity measured in a developing fetus at 28 weeks shows different sleep cycles, including the rapid eye movement phase, the stage when dreaming occurs. By now, he weighs in at about two and a half pounds and stands at almost 16 inches (measured head to toe). He has added blinking to his growing bag of tricks as well as other new talents like coughing, more intense sucking, and better breathing. He is also supposedly settling into the proper position for birth, with his head facing downward.

Fa-la-la-la-la

School is over and I am finally on vacation! Now that all the cards have been addressed and mailed out, I thought I would show the blog world our Christmas card. Hopefully I don't spoil it for anyone still waiting to get the hard copy, but I just couldn't resist. You all know how much I enjoy photoshopping so here is the finished product! (click to see it bigger) Merry Christmas from the Hamiltons!

Christmas Tree Skirt

If you haven't noticed, I have some pretty talented ladies in my family headed up (and no doubt passed on) by my sweet mother. She has spent the last few weeks recovering from major surgery and during that time got to work on hand sewing a tree skirt for me and Linc. We have been using a simple white skirt around our tree for the last two years that she loaned us when we moved into our house. I knew she had been working on a new one and had a vague idea of what it would look like, but when I went over to my parent's house for dinner last night I could not believe the finished product! She did an amazing job and I am so excited to display this work of art around my tree each year! Thank you mom (and Alex for your help)! I love you!

Ta-da!! The finished skirt!

The Hamiltons
Westin, Me, Baby H, Linc, and Tessa

Close up of puppy Westin and me as a snowman!

Close up of Linc the snowman and puppy Tessa!

On display under my mom's tree!

Holiday Concert

Each year my school has a holiday concert and invites friends and parents to watch the students sing. This year, in addition to singing three songs, my kids performed a sound story to The Night Before Christmas! I was so proud of them for memorizing their lines, playing their instruments, and putting on a great show.

My sweet class all dressed up for the concert!

Some of the Sound Story Performers-
MaKye, Jordan, Jacob, Jaire, Eva, and Elizabeth

Posing with my class!

Me and my student intern- Lauren May

I team teach Special Ed math and reading with Sandy Rodney! LOVE her!!

Second Grade Team
Lynn, Amy, me, Sandy, Annie, Kelecia, and Jocelyn

Talk about a small world...Lauren had Sandy
as a teacher back in the seventh grade!!