The Last Stretch

Joe made me promise yesterday that I wouldn't say that Tuesdays are the worst way to spend 1/7th of your life. Yesterday wasn't too bad -- but I would like to say that:

The last week of the quarter is the worst
way to spend 1/9 of the school year

Remember college. FINALS WEEK!!! It is awful! You are trying to cram everything in so you can salvage your grade -- or keep it nice and high. You study for hours. No play time ... no friends ... just work. Okay so the last week of the quarter is very similar ... only worse for a teacher. I have 200 students who are trying to salvage their grades. They are cramming, working, pushing to the end. Consequently ... I am overloaded with work. I hate the last week of the quarter. I have late work coming out of my ears!! This is crazy!! I am sure that all of you middle/high school teachers get where I am coming from. I don't know how bad it is for the el-ed group. They don't have 200 kids ... but I don't have 8 subjects either. (I could never be an el-ed teacher!!!)

Okay ... so now you have all listened to me vent ... I feel much better!

Forcing Music

I hate hold music. Not a big fan of elevator music. I love you all ... but don't really enjoy being forced to listen to your songs as I read your blog. NOW before you get offended -- this is not a request for you to turn off your music! (I usually do that myself when popping over to your blog.) Please... understand -- I am the kind of person that has to have it silent in order to concentrate. If there is background songs on ... I have to read a passage several times before it makes sense. (I am a math person ... can do it in my sleep, (ug -- sometimes I do!!), but I can't read the same way). Now I feel obligated to say that I don't turn off your music because I don't like it. Only because I have "personal issues."

Ironically enough ... I vowed never to put music on my blog. Oh wait ... what is that you are listening to?

In July I posted something called: "I am a CookieMonster". It is still true to this day. My poor husband has to deal with the fact that a small (quite small) piece of my heart belongs to David. (I tell him that we understand each other ... I don't know if he believes me. I mean I CRIED when David did on Finale Night ... how much closer can we get ... really!!). I guess the main reason that I liked him so much on the show was because he was brave enough to do his own thing. I truly believe that he said "This is me ... take it or leave it." I also really like Blake Lewis for the same reason.

I always get excited for November time because the current Idols release their albums. Believe it or not ... I am quite excited for David's. I was looking on iTunes yesterday and found that the first song from his album is already available ... I couldn't help but get it!! Poor Joe was probably thinking: "Can't you wait 2 weeks to get the whole album so we don't have to pay for the song twice?!?" Nope. I am a cookie-monster and I admit it, and I can not wait two weeks. I hope you enjoy the song ... (and the eye candy I provided!!)

The "Monday" Philosophy

I had a college professor that had a plaque on his wall that said:

"Mondays are the worst way to spend 1/7 of your life"

I can totally see where he is coming from!!!

Do You Ever Have Those Days That ...

You just feel lucky to be you?

(You thought this was going to be a negative post!)

I am just sitting here in 3rd period listening to 16 young minds working hard on adding fractions ... and I started to get an overwhelming sense of "I am so blessed!" (I better be careful ... I might start to cry ... I do that a lot lately!!) Here are the things that I am particularly grateful for right now:

1. I have a great job ... and I work with great people! I don't know of another school that is as good as mine! We have the best kids in the state, the best parents, and with that ... the best test scores! It is so easy to work here ... I am spoiled! I was talking with someone and she has the head of two rival gangs in the same class ... talk about tension!!

2. I have a nice home. It has a lot of things that need to be done with it -- but at the end of the day it is mine! I am grateful to those who have lent their home to us in the past ... Mom & Dad Boucher, Grandma Fautin, and all of those great land lords out there ... but I love my home and my neighborhood.

3. Joe and I are "living good." It was hard waiting so long to add a member to our family ... but we have a lot of comforts now that we wouldn't have if we would have gotten pregnant right away. I would trade them all for my family ... but I am glad that I don't have to worry so much about what I have and need. I hope that I said that right without sounding too materialistic.

4. I have a great husband!!! I know that he is exactly the right person for me! We truly are best friends. He is my partner in every way. He is great! (And it was nice to see him last night! He only worked for 12 hours yesterday!!!)

5. Every day I go home and look at the cute pictures on my fridge. It is such a weird thought to think that I will be a mom soon. I will be a mom. I can't wait until I get to see what he looks like (I mean 9 months is REALLY a long time!!) I can't wait to see what kind of trouble he will get into and how we will deal with it, (maybe I shouldn't wish for that ... ). I can't wait to hear I love you. I don't even know how this change will alter my life ... but I am SO SO excited for it!

I feel so lucky to be me!!!

I DO Have a Husband!!

Joe is such a hard worker! I can prove it! Yesterday he left for work at 6 a.m. and arrived back at home at close to midnight. That is a 18 hour day! He (obviously) came home and went straight to bed. He woke up early again, got ready and left. It is currently 9:00 and I haven't seen him yet. I promise ... I have a husband ... even though I don't quite remember what he looks like :)

He has been working on a project and his customer arrived today. Apparently his project had a couple of "bugs" and he has been working hard to get it ready. There is a lot going on right now and he needs to finish this project so that he can start on the next one.

I hope it lets up soon ... so we can return to doing nothing together!!

How my Stamp Ladies found out ...

Here is the last "HOW THEY FOUND OUT" post. I wish that I was able to tell all of my friends in some cute way ... but we couldn't!

I hold a stamp club once a month at my house. There are 10 ladies in the club, and we share turns being the "hostess" for Stampin' Up! It is a great group ... and I wanted to make sure that they learned about the news in an exciting way. Our theme was dry embossing, and I made a cute little baby boy card. (I will post a picture as soon as I get my camera back from the Ephraim bowling alley). As I was cutting the last piece of ribbon I said: "Now don't put my name on it just yet ... I won't know if it's a boy or a girl for a couple more weeks." It was GREAT to see their faces light up as they realized what it was that I was telling them. Their eyes got a bit wider, they sat up a bit straighter, then smiled! It was great!

**Funny story: I was so nervous to give my big line ... that I cut my finger with the scissors as I was cutting the ribbon. OOPS!

Baby Boucher

Joe and I had a great weekend bed and breakfast hopping. It was nice to just be us. We went shopping on Saturday afternoon in Park City. There were so many baby shops! We went in to peak at the cute mini clothes ... but didn't really feel like we could splurge since we didn't know the gender. We finished off a good weekend today with our doctor's appointment.

I am a worry-er ... especially since this isn't our first pregnancy. I truly think that 4 weeks between appointments is way too long. I haven't felt anything yet -- so I was getting nervous that something was wrong. I got to the office and they were running behind. We sat down on the bed ... and they "slimmed" me up. She asked if we wanted to know the gender ... and I said YES!! She put the "thing" on my belly and we saw the head! The baby kept opening and closing "it's" mouth and leaning it's head back. The baby was very very active! She took measurements of it's head, belly, and femer to calculate a due date. She got to the gender shot and paused it. She asked again if we wanted to know -- but even if we didn't I could TOTALLY tell! Every bit of his "manhood" was displayed right on the screen. She told us it was a boy and then took a couple more shots. I KNEW it was a boy! I don't know why ... I just knew it. I am going to have a son ... which is totally weird to me ... but we are SO SO excited! She said that everything looks great, but she wants to get another ultrasound in 6 weeks to check the heart chambers better and to check the spine again. Nothing was wrong -- we were just a bit early ... and it was hard to see what she needed to. She was able to calculate a due date -- and now we are due on March 29th, (instead of April 5th).

After I cleaned of the goop we went to see Dr. Merrill. I really really like my doctor and his office. I took all of the vitals and sat down in the patient's room. He checked the heart beat -- and everything was perfect. It was a pretty quick visit. I had more blood work done, (I mean you can't go in without getting poked once or twice! The heart beat was 153 beats per minute. It is such a crazy sound -- I love it!!

After dinner, (Red Robin), we went to Babies R Us and picked out a crib and changing table. It is off-white. It is crazy cute and should be in about my birthday. My favorite part about it is that the posts are triangular shape instead of cylindrical or square. We paid half now and will finish it off when we pick it up.

Yeah for happy news!!! :) :) :)

How the Boucher Kids Found Out

Okay so Joe has started asking when I was going to post the next story! Here's the story ... pictures might come later.

Joe and I started to think about how our kids will fit in with all of the cousins. Our first will be grand-baby #12. 12 ... a dozen. We decided that we would make a little package to send to all of the siblings. We got enough easter eggs and egg cartons to send to everyone. On the eggs we printed the birth date of each grandchild. If you opened the egg up you see a picture of each child as a baby, (or young child). On the last egg the "birth date" said April 5th, 2009 (ish). Inside there was a script telling everyone that a new "egg" will be "hatched" in our home soon.

We didn't want it to be obvious that the package was from us. We put Jake and Cody AND/OR Andy and Becky as the return address. We figured that when they read the last egg they would understand it was from us. That was not the case. Each sibling had a different story about their "why did it come from Jake?" story ... but Jake's is my favorite.

Their return address was labeled Andy and Becky. They opened it -- looked at one egg -- and figured it was some random FHE project and put it aside. We were planning on going out on a double date with them ... and I am showing a bit. I wanted to make sure they knew ... before they saw me. Joe called and talked to Jake ... this was their conversation, (or something close):

Joe: Did you get a random package from A&B?
Jake: Yeah ... what's that all about?
Joe: I don't know ... weird!
Jake: What are we supposed to do with it?
Joe: I opened mine.
Jake: Me too.
Joe: No, I opened the eggs.
Jake: ALL of them?

(Joe and I are laughing now ... almost uncontrollably)

Joe: YEAH!
Jake: I only opened one.
Joe: Open all of them.
Jake: we will before dinner.
Joe: See ya

(More laughing)

We decided that they were playing dumb ... there's no way that he didn't check all of the eggs. We got to the restaurant before they did and waited. When they came in Cody gave me a big hug and Jake proclaimed: "You're having a baby!" Oh my! (took him long enough ... haha!!)

This Weekend

Yes, yes I have more "how they found out" stories ... but they are coming to a close ... and I want to keep you guys coming back :) SO today I am taking a break from the stories and sharing about my future week.

Any teacher will tell you that EVERY day we have off for a vacation is well needed! I actually think that they give us a summer break so that teachers don't "get rid of the teenage population". Literally ... how can you handle 200-14 year olds ALL year long?

This weekend is Fall Recess (formally known as UEA) and this is when Joe and I ~were~ going to go to Elsinore to "spread the news" ... **Think about it -- you all would not know my secrets yet had we waited! Be grateful :) We planned a nice weekend -- but since the trip to Elsinore has already been made ... we decided to make it a great adventure!

We are going to go to Manti on Thursday night ... stay at this cute bed and breakfast across from the temple, (you can see the picture at the right ... it is the beige building) do a session the next day and visit our favorite spots in Ephraim/Manti. (You know Fat Jacks ... Don's Gallery ... ) Our story started in Ephraim ... so we really enjoy returning and paying tribute to such a great little town!

We will then travel to Midway on Friday and stay at ANOTHER bed and breakfast. Each one is a bit expensive ... but we figured that we needed to end our "couple only" years with a nice bang! Really ... this will be our last couple vacation that can be made without very careful planning! We will go shopping on Saturday down in Park City and enjoy the day. We might go on a little hike and just have a good time together.

We have been waiting a long time for a family ... and I have always thought about my "issues" as a trial. I was talking to my sweet dad a couple of months ago ... and he told me that one day I will look back and think: "Man I had a great 8 years alone with my husband!" He told me that is what he thought with my mom ... they had similar issues getting pregnant, (it only took them three though). He is so wise! It totally changed my focus! Joe and I are great friends -- and get along so well together! It has been a great 8 years to be us ... and I don't know if I can honestly say I would change them. They have been great! We are very excited however to be "the three of us" soon.

On Monday we both have to go back to work, but will be able to get off early because that is when my first ultrasound is! (I hope that I get more). When I went in for my first appointment he told me that I was measuring a week or two big ... so it is possible we are further along than we thought. I believe this is just a due date calculating ultrasound ... but it is possible that we can tell the gender on MONDAY! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. We are 15 1/2 weeks now ... CRAZY! Okay this picture looks a bit alien like still -- but I think that it's cute! Look at the fingers! He looks like he is just thinking away ... This is at about 13 weeks ... so we are bigger than him. We are close to 4.5 inches now! WIERD!

If I can survive Tuesday and Wednesday ... this is going to be a GREAT week!!! And I was excited to share :)

A Trip to Elsinore

Joe and I were browsing online a couple of months ago at silly pregnancy t-shirts. We saw two that we really like -- one that said FINALLY with an arrow pointing towards the belly, (I still want that one ... ) and one that said "Nobody Knows I'm Pregnant". We thought that this saying would be quite humorous if I stuffed a pillow down my shirt and walked into the in-law's home like nothing was different. We looked at the size charts and ordered what seemed appropriate.

I got the t-shirt a couple of weeks later ... and it fit ... skin tight. UG! There was no way that I was wearing this one -- maybe next pregnancy I'll start of smaller and it will fit ... who knows! ANYWAY -- we didn't want to pay another small fortune to get the shirt again so we decided to make it. My sweet Joe made the t-shirt while I corrected tests and updated my grades. He did it perfectly.

We told the parentals that we wanted to go and help them bottle tomatoes. I have bottled tomatoes with my grandma since I was just a baby, and really enjoy it (when I'm not the one in charge.)

We got down to Elsinore pretty late. They met us in the front yard. My heart was pounding! I was so nervous! They showed us inside and we walked down to the room we were staying in. We were staying in the room that was the furthest down the hallway, and Ann, my mother in law, was walking behind me the entire time. Nothing. I even tried to make opportunities for her to see my shirt. Joe and I eyed each other a bit as we walked back into the kitchen to enjoy some long awaited chocolate zucchini cake. We walk all the way back down the hallway, almost into the kitchen ... and we hear a giggle. "Really" she asked. (Yeah ... I would never joke about this one!) We then stayed up (WAY) past my bed time talking about her 12th grand-baby and how excited we are to bring "it" into our lives!

I am pretty excited to wear the shirt while I am huge! I think that it will be quite funny :)

How My Parentals Found Out ...

Because of a previous loss, Joe and I were very reserved to tell anyone our news until we were sure that it was going to stick. It was so difficult to go around people that we loved and not sport a big poster declaring "you're going to be a grandpa ..." or whatever. We weren't going to tell anyone ... anyone ... until conference weekend. At that point we would be about 14 weeks and feeling pretty safe. BUT after holding the secret for 7 weeks ... I had to tell someone. My parents live very close to us, so naturally it was easiest to tell them first.

We planned to meet my parents at the Olive Garden at 5:30 one Saturday night. They thought we were going to have a nice double date -- and go play afterwards. Joe and I got there early to make arrangements with the waiter. We gave him gift cards to cover the meal and a note to put inside of the ticket once the dinner had been served. We asked him to bring it out just shortly after we received our meal. My parents got there and we ordered and chatted for a bit.

Our dinner came and we started to eat. Jakob, our waiter, brought out the ticket and set it in front of my dad. He eyed it for a little bit but just continued eating. I wanted to make sure that he saw the ticket far enough before we left for them to freak out and get all excited. He wasn't checking the ticket though. I couldn't think of any way to get him to look, so I asked "aren't you going to look at it?" He opened the ticket, smiled and handed it to Rayma. It was fun to watch her read the ticket ... and see the lightbulb "click". She smiled from ear to ear and started clapping her hands. It was very fun to watch their reaction.

SO ... what did the ticket say? "Thanks anyway Gramps and Gram ... but this one is on me! Love Baby Boucher. P.S. Please do my mom and dad a favor and not tell anyone about me for a couple more weeks." or something like that. We even found a really cute "kid" font online that we could use.

Last time we told them we were pregnant we went over to my parents house one night for dinner, and Raym was not there. She called to apologize for being late and then said she finally found someone she loves shopping for other than her :) She came home with several baby outfits. IT WAS SO CUTE! SO at dinner that night, my dad looked at her and said "you can start buying stuff again!" She smiled and said "BABY SHOWER!"

I love my parents very very much and I know that they will make fantastic grandparents! I am excited to watch them with my little baby soon!

Hey Dad or Raym -- if you still have that ticket will you take a photo of it and email it to me? I will post it here. I was silly not to take one myself! What was I thinking?

How "I" Found Out

When I went to see my new doctor, he put Joe and I on a "trying to get pregnant" schedule. We were to take pills on certain days, take our temp every morning, etc. In July we didn't follow any of the rules. We thought -- ah the doc told us it would take three months or so to get my hormone levels functioning well enough to begin to really "try". Needless to say -- we figured we would just try again next month. I have to take progesterone to get my period to come, (a lovely side effect of PCOS).

I have "missed" a lot of periods in my life -- but never one I was expecting to come. I took the progesterone and waited three days ... nothing. Day four ... nothing. At that point I knew I was pregnant -- but didn't dare hope ... because I have not been pregnant for a long time.

Day one of testing:
I took a test on Wednesday morning -- 4 a.m. (I was excited to get a YES). It said NO. Totally not expected. Joe looked at it when he woke up, gave me a kiss and told me he was sorry. When I woke back up ... I saw the positive line ... barely! But can you trust it after an hour? I don't know.

Day two of testing:
I got excited again to take a test. At 2 a.m. I woke up and was determined that I couldn't go back to bed without visiting the bathroom. I took the test and it said NO again. WHAT? When we woke up in the morning it looked just like it did yesterday ... faint YES line -- DARK test line. What does this mean?

Day three of testing:
Joe made me promise not to test today ... I need my sleep! I woke up at about 6ish with him ... and then he told me I could test if I wanted to! I did -- stared at it for the full five minutes ... the test line came up. Four minutes in I saw a FAINT FAINT positive line. BUT sometimes if you squint the right way -- you can see a positive line, so I didn't know if my brain was seeing it ... or if it was really there. I called the nurse and she said to wait a week.

I waited a couple of days and figured ... forget this! I am buying a digital one!

I got the digital test and took it ... beep ... beep ... beep ... (these are all silent)

POSITIVE!

I'm having a baby!! haha. The picture on the previous post is how Joe found out.

Here's the Story

I have decided that I will post a "How they found out" once a day. It will showcase how several important people in my life found out we are expecting. (My computer takes the reflection picture ... so you have to read pregnant backwards.)

First of all ... here are the important dates "to remember:"

Joe and I have been married for 7.3333333 years + 1 day. We never "prevented."
We lost a little one in October of 2006 at 9 weeks (about)
I changed OBs in May of 2008 and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
Joe and I found out on about July 25th (ish).
We are due April 5th (ish.)

This baby is highly anticipated ... and will be well loved!

What's on Your T-Shirt?

My Sweety

For our wedding we were given a vacuum. It was a nice one that lasted us more than seven years and we are very grateful for it. The problem is that four years ago we started adding to our family -- DOGS! We have been amazed at how often we need to vacuum our carpets and how quickly the bag fills up. Literally we can vacuum once or twice and it is overflowing again. Because of this we are spending a lot of money on vacuum bags OR we are emptying the bags ourselves to conserve the paper.

After vacuuming last Friday, (I had the day off!), I decided that it was time to upgrade. We went to Costco and purchased a new Bissell Healthy BAGLESS Vacuum. We spent $200 on it -- but found it for around $250ish online. I had Joe put it together and vacuum the SAME room I vacuumed the day before. He had to empty the container before he even finished the room! I was quite disgusted ... but very grateful that I now have a vacuum that can successfully battle my dog's hair!

Last night I was vegging watching "The Biggest Loser" and I heard him start to vacuum the living room. He literally vacuumed for 1.5 hours straight! He pulled the couch cushions off and got all of the dirt out, took care of the stairs, and straightened the room! I couldn't believe it! He is so good to me! I guess now I should go invest in a super special vacuum and duster ... ...