Back to it!

So here we are again, back in the full swing of classes. I go through denial at the start of every semester. I think, "I am really teaching? Am I really waking up and getting professional clothes on, not just packing for the pool today?" But this semester I was actually ready. I got my entire semester planned and essential papers photocopied and organized because that meant that I was ready for the next step: the baby! As soon as the baby comes I'll be handing over the day-to-day activity of the classes to Matt and my T.A.'s. I will come in and lecture for exams about every two weeks. My goal is also to get back and power walk with my classes quickly so that they can see that you can exercise up until the baby is born and you can get right back into it soon after, too. That's the plan, anyway.

The kids have grown up so much. They are starting to look a little older and are clearly communicating with each other and us perfectly. It is so much fun to see their personalities grow and watch them become such good buddies.

My wonderful babysitter, Amanda, has agreed to teach Matthew 5 days a week out of a teacher's book I got from a teacher's store. They trace letters, cut out shapes, color, glue, and work on sounds of the letters. I'm guessing Natalie gets to play with Amanda's phone during "teaching time" in order for the lesson to get done. (She even managed to take some of these pictures so that I could see what they do! What a blessing this "school" has been! We went to the zoo the other day and children could sign their name on a good-luck banner for a pregnant orangutan and Matthew walked right up to it and wrote "A" on it. That was after one day of teaching, so I put "M" in front and "tthew" around it. We've been working on the rest of his name over this weekend. He's got "T" and "H" and "E" down, but we need work on "M" and "W."

If you're wondering about Natalie's face, that happened on my watch. I took the kids to the park and as soon as we got there, she ran out of the stroller, tried to run up a step and missed. She barely has a nose, but managed to scrape the entire thing! She has bruises by her eyebrow and on either side of the bridge of her nose, a scab on the top of her nose, and the rest is spaghetti dinner.

We've had a wonderful summer, filled with family and friends and new adventures. Matthew and Natalie have both become spectacular swimmers. Matthew can go in the "big pool" by himself: no rafts, floaties, or noodles! He even swims underwater. Natalie jumps in the "big pool" goes underwater, and swims with a noodle. Here's Matthew jumping in and then swimming the width of the pool. Natalie is in the "kiddie pool" swimming underwater.

Here's another adventure: Matt has really wanted me to start potty-training Natalie, but my desire is just not there. It was such a huge "indoor" commitment with Matthew and I did not enjoy it. Matt said that he would help with Natalie and he has. He's been the motivator for doing this. Matthew is the encourager. He is so cute when Natalie is successful. And here's the best part: I'm not doing much! I just keep asking if she has to go and she'll say "yes" and go on the potty or she'll say "no" and I won't worry about it. And she stays dry! Yes, there have been a couple of accidents, but I've decided to go the lazy Pull-Ups route, so it's not a big deal. With Matthew, because I was so intense with him, he went straight to underwear and there were no accidents. So, she's pretty much training on her own. Thatta girl!

Now we're really excited about meeting our future adventure. I'm feeling pretty good. At this point I am 37 weeks and a couple of days. I was very uncomfortable three weeks ago and felt very big in the stomach. I couldn't sleep well and woke up often at night in pain. Sometimes I would lose my breath and just have to get up and walk around at night. Turns out the baby was breach. No wonder! So I posted that on my Facebook status and I randomly hear from an old Wheaton aquaintance from back in the day, saying that she had the same thing. She gave me an exercise to try. [See below] I tried it that night and felt an unbelieveable rolling sensation that I had never felt before - in any pregnancy. I did it again the next night and felt the same thing. I kept doing this for a week, but only felt crazy movements the first two nights. I then went back to the doctor on Thursday and she said the baby had flipped! It worked! Although I am much more relaxed about the delivery now that I know the baby is in the right position, I can't control the cankle issue. My ankles keep swelling up at night. Poor me. I wish I could get a calf/foot massage once in a while. (At this point I would highly recommend texting, calling, facebooking, commenting to Matt that his wife would appreciate the jesture.)

Pretty crazy position, huh? I would stay like this for at least 10 minutes, sometimes make it to 20, but that was only if I didn't eat or drink right before. Everything seems to move toward the throat in this position. On a side note: I just took this picture for the blog so that you could see what I went through. I actually took this myself and put the camera on a timer. Go ahead and imagine the scene: running back and forth, trying to maneuver into this aweful place, making sure I'm in the picture, and then making it on time before the picture takes. So if I have sweaty-pitties, please forgive.

Hopefully the next post will be some sort of update about the baby coming early. I would like that. I'm just feeling huge and cankles aren't that becoming on me. Oh, and I do want to meet the kid, too. ;)