Babies, Babies, Everywhere

I thought I would blog about how some of my closest friends are being blessed by little human beings. Here are my dear friends, Luke and Beth and their little baby girl, Maia! Yay, Maia (pronounced Mya or Maya). She was born March 11th to two very excited parents who will be amazing.

Chris also has a good friend, Josh, who has his own little Maya. Who is going to turn one at the end of the month. This month included, all our invites have been to baby-related events. I love it, but I'm sure it makes Chris nervous.

Another great friend, Lara, just had a little girl (and now her and Scott have a girl and a boy) and you can see their pictures at their family website here. I wanted to post a picture Lara put up on their January 2008 album of her two days before she gave birth to Addison and I thought she looked so big and beautiful with her pregnant belly.

Here's me, Trebeca and Talia, visiting in Tahoe. We get to see Trebeca and her husband, Jesse, when we vacation in Tahoe because they live near there. She is precious to me and I am excited to meet her second baby who is coming this May.

Here are Nikki's precious little girls, Layla and Isabelle, who are some of the cutest little girls in my world. I met Nikki because she was the little sister of my boss, when I was a nanny. I love this picture because you can see Layla talking to her sister - too cute!

So now, along with waiting for Trebeca's baby in May, my other friend, Joy is expecting. This little baby is a little bit of a surprise for her, but God doesn't make mistakes. I hope and pray her baby girl will bless their family.

Look at these two - aren't they too cute? I think they will have a lovely child. I'm invited to her shower in April, so Chris and I are going to try to make it out there. It is always nice to have a little getaway (it's three hours away).

Babies, babies, everywhere... God be with you, my dear friends! Hugs and Kisses. I'll have to try and visit in the summer before I start teaching.

Let's not forget my family's new additions! Here on the left is Thomas, Gabriella and Liam. I made Thomas a red baby blanket when we were eagerly awaiting his arrival. To the above right is my cousin, Mya's family. Their youngest, Morgan, was born around the same time as Thomas, and it said to be even more adventurous than her big brother, Jack. We are surrounded by the babies! Love you all!

It is coming together...at least today.

As my previous blog entries have demonstrated, being a graduate student and earning your teaching credentials is, at times, very stressful. So it is nice when you have a day where the hard work feels like it is paying off.
Today I had, what people in the teaching field call, a Solo Day. This is where the student teacher (that would be me.) plans for the entire day, even the minute details. Like how many copies to make for a certain activity or, exactly who I would like to call on for an answer, finds its way onto my plans. I planed for three whole school days and it seemed to take forever Friday and Saturday - making me stamp my feet and pull my hair a little bit. But all that planning, once it was done and printed out with all the other prep-work done, allowed me to sleep soundly on Sunday and have a smooth day today. Thank you God.
I know Mondays are usually brutal and not-so-fun, especially after “Springing forward” this last weekend, but I am on point the first day of the week. It is Wednesdays and Thursdays I find my energy waning and my caffeine addiction intruding into my thoughts. “Maybe I can get to a Starbucks during lunch recess…”
But today I was on top of it: I had my plans and I was teaching and things felt like they were coming together.
So maybe all those tears cried over homework were worth it? I am not so sure about crying over homework, but I do feel like Student Teaching has been a valuable time of learning for me. Thank to my five-week computer class, that all credentialing students have to take at State, I have taken the Multiple Intelligences online assessment. It showed that I mainly learn by “doing” or kinesthetically. Possibly I’m a boy, like I always thought I was, or the world has come to grasp that girls, too, like to learn via hands-on activities. For example, in my samba class the instructor was yelling at me to turn right and since that didn’t compute, I shouted back to him, “Show me!”
I am a very competent copier. Watching then being able to practice is the best way to learn for me. And I thought I learned best through silliness. My intelligence is being ridiculous. Well, at least that is how I like to see it.
Chris also surprised me with bedside tables today! Today was a really good day. It is incredible how grown up you feel when you get bedside tables. And they are matching. Before these two wonderfully crafted tables we had been using two wooden folding chairs, who did their jobs great, except they were slightly tilted. I could not have a glass of water next to my side of the bed and that was not cool in the flu season. The story behind those previous bedside tables, I mean, chairs, was that were some of our first furniture -- ever. In our first rental, a little 1907 detached cottage in Chico, with a slanted kitchen floor and no insulation, we lived out of our suitcases for a while. Some friends of Aunt Lo and Uncle Greg let us borrow a blow-up bed, meant to make camping experiences pleasant, for what had to be 6 months. We eventually popped it, not due to any newlywed activities, but because Chris was trying to make it as firm as possible. So it blew a seam, giving it a hump in the middle.
You cannot imagine all the goo-ing and gaa-ing sounds that have come from my mouth since we brought these bedside tables in. We are getting there and making our duplex a “home.” Those bedside tables were definitely a figurative “piece” of my home “puzzle.” Like you never knew what you wanted until it is sitting there next to your side of the bed and you are arranging your bedside books, oh, and finally have somewhere to put your alarm clock. Things are coming together, for sure.

And before I forget, here I am with Beth at her baby shower (she should be in labor or holding a cute little baby by now). I made her this blanket. Super fun because she taught me how to knit in the first place. So, sorry to all my other pregnant friends. I would love to knit everyone's new bundle of joy a blankie ala Christy, but they take 4-6 months.