2013 in Review

I guess it's about time to say goodbye to 2013, and get geared up for 2014! I haven't really planned a post, but am just browsing through my phone's camera roll and past blog posts to gather some of the highlights of the past year!

January. I started the year off on a fitness high. My line sister, Melanie, and did our first Big D Climb...that's 52 flights of stairs people. We had a great time and were grateful for the elevator ride back down to the first floor.

February. My birthday month brought one of the coolest gifts ever. Hubby and I had recently watched the movie Step Up Revolution and were on this dancing kick. The movie was filled with flash mobs. From the date we watched that movie, I had been telling hubby how I wanted to be in a flash mob. Well, I didn't participate in one, but I did get flash mobbed by my friends for my 31st birthday!
March. I found my favorite recipe of the year... Deep Dish Taco Pie.

April. I decided that I would probably be going back to the classroom as a teacher as opposed to the leadership position that I held last school year. This got my wheels turning and thinking about lots of new things to try with students.

May. I enjoyed going home and celebrating one of my favorite girls, Ashley! So excited for her marriage and the impact she and her husband will have on those around them!

June. Our home got a little makeover with new floors...and we treated ourselves to a vacation in Jamaica. We worked hard over the previous year and paid for both in cash. Felt good to treat ourselves!

July. As the school year ended, I got to have one last hoorah with my former co-workers as we ventured to CAMT 2013. Mikayla, Elaine, Samantha, and I had a blast in San Antonio. It was fun to learn together and play together!

In addition, I got to meet one of my math teacher crush, Dan Meyer.

(Side Note: In last year's review, I mentioned how I had not pictures of me and Trista together. This year, as I looked through my phone, I found three! Woot! Woot! ^That's her in the green!^)

I also got to spend time with friends for our annual couples retreat while in San Antonio! Our stop at Big Lou's Pizza was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

And, I got to see the one and only, Beyonce in concert!

July was a busy month!

August. I had a blast decorating my new classroom and had a great first day of school.

September. At girls night, The Cups Song, made an appearance!

And I found out that I was preggo!

October. I got my first view of the little one and was given an expected due date of June 8, 2014.

November. We celebrated my father-in-laws retirement and my little brother's 30th birthday!

December. We celebrated hubby's 30th birthday with a fun night of karaoke! I survived the first trimester of pregnancy and started showing this week. I started a great devotional that really has me feeling more connected to my God and my little one.

Deuces, 2013! I am truly waiting in wonder of what God has in store for 2014!

Sayonara, First Trimester! {14 Week Bumpdate}

Today, I'm officially 14 weeks and in my second trimester of pregnancy. I feel like it's been the longest three months ever. Part of that though has to be the fact that we were holding on the this big secret that we so desperately wanted to share. It was so fun to finally announce our pregnancy last week. You can read about that here. It's hard to believe that three months (13 weeks)...33% of my pregnancy is behind me. (The way they count pregnancy is so weird.)

Morning Sickness: I scored big in this area. I thought I'd totally escaped it, but not quite. I had my first bout with it this last week of the first trimester. Gingerale and Saltines got me through those few days. I am thankful that most of my first trimester, I only experienced fatigue.

Food Cravings/Aversions: I can't say that I crave anything in particular or have any food aversions. But, when I say I need to eat, I need to eat...like right then. So, I've been keeping plenty of snacks on hand.

Weight Gain: At this point, I've gained 0.4 pounds from the day I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks. Woot! Woot! During the first trimester, I lost weight up until about week 8, then the numbers on the scale started going back up. You'd think with my husband being a photographer that I'd have a picture each week to see my progression, but nope. It's crazy how difficult it is to get him to snap a picture of me. And then there's me who wants to put on make-up and do my hair if we're taking a picture and that doesn't happen often. So between our schedules and the prep, it hasn't happened. I haven't even been taking selfies so that I can at least have some type of record on my phone.

Clothes: As of right now, I'm still wearing my clothes. Nothing maternity has made it onto my body. There are a few pairs of jeans that are tight, but they were already tight before. I'm looking forward to purchasing a belly belt (that my girl, Angela, told me about) so that I can stretch the life of my pants. I also purchased two of these belly bands to hide the open zippers when it comes time.

Purchases: I couldn't let Black Friday/Cyber Monday go by without making some purchases...online, of course. I bought maternity clothes from Old Navy, Target, Asos, and H&M. I figured there was no better day to take advantage and buy things I knew I'd eventually need. All of the items I bought were at least 40% off...some more! My favorite pieces that I bought are this Liz Lange denim top from Target and a great lace top from H&M. I wanted to buy baby gear, but I have no idea what I want yet. I also splurged and bought this Skip Hop diaper bag at 40% off through Amazon.

Baby Prep: The biggest thing we've done to prepare for baby is pray and pinch pennies. While I thought we'd have all this savings for buying baby stuff, turns out most of it will be going towards bills to actually have the baby. I learned that at my most recent OB appointment when I was given an estimate of my financial responsibility.

In addition, we've set up tours at two of the three hospitals where we can deliver and we've started contacting day care centers.

Researching: I spent most of my Thanksgiving break researching cloth diapering. When I tell people this, most responses are shock and awe. I haven't made a decision yet, but I am seriously considering it because of how much money it can save us. I'm looking forward to going to a cloth diapering class at The Nappy Shoppe in a couple of weeks. It's a local store that has many of the popular choices in store for you to see and touch. Luckily, I also have a few friends who are CDing their children and they have been a huge help as I navigate through making my decision.

Best Moment: At my 10-week appointment, we got to hear baby's heartbeat. It was exciting and the confirmation I needed at that moment. I'd been a little worried, because I wasn't experiencing most of the symptoms of pregnancy that I'd heard from others. It was nice to know that our little one is doing well.

    Baby Howard's Heartbeat by kdhoward
Looking Forward to: I can't wait for my 19-week appointment in January. I've had one sonogram so far and that was at my very first appointment (6 weeks). While it was neat, it didn't look much like a baby.

I'm looking forward to getting a new picture that looks a bit more human. This is also the appointment where we find out the gender. I'm not sure yet if we're going to find out. Willie still wants to know, and I'd be okay not knowing. I'm starting to consider his feelings and may give in (but don't tell him that)!

Foldable Fun + Goodbye Student Teacher

I am a huge fan of foldables in my math classroom.I think they make note-taking so much more interesting. My first year of teaching, I remember going to a Dinah Zike's workshop and falling in love. My students had foldables galore that they put in a sheet protector in their binders. When I asked students to pull out their notes though, very few still had them.

Then, interactive notebooking inters my life. My students now use spiral or composition notebooks, have a table of contents, and their foldables are glued in on a specific page they can find. Now,more students have their notes and can locate them at a later date to study if needed.

Then, I attend CAMT 2013 in San Antonio, and not only does Jennifer of 4mulaFun do interactive notebooks, but her foldables (flippables as she calls them) are interactive too! I was coming up on the topic of converting rational numbers in my 6th grade math classroom. Taking notes for converting between fractions, decimals, and percents can be a long process and very cumbersome...but not with this product I bought from Jennifer.

So, instead of me going through notes, students started with a foldable that only had the outside labels. They cut out all the pieces that would fill the inside of the foldable with an example and written directions for each process. Students then did a matching activity where they used their prior knowledge to complete the foldable with all directions and examples in the correct places.

I checked off each groups' placements before allowing them to glue them in. Within 10 minutes, all students had completed notes that were not dictated by me.

And we were able to move on to using the notes to get the practice needed to apply the information.

I loved it and the kids did a great job! I will definitely be looking to make my note-taking more interactive in the future. Thanks so much to Jennifer for being willing to share a great product. If you're not familiar with her, you should definitely check out her blog and TeachersPayTeachers store.

In addition to a great day of math class, it was also my student teacher's last day, which made it bitter sweet. I had the kids write a note to her using templates I found here. Students chose to either write about something they remember her teaching, five reasons she'll be a great teacher, advice for teaching, or why they loved having her as a student teacher. I then took all of their notes and made a keepsake book with pictures of the kids, all their notes, and a few notes from me along with a gift card to a local teacher supply store to get her started on her way.

Unfortunately, because of the crazy Texas weather, my student teacher didn't get to walk the stage, but she's a graduate nonetheless. I hope she had a great experience in our classroom and I wish her all the best!