my Christmas shoes

no, this is not a post about the song, but i thought that sarah and kelli would enjoy the title. anyway, for Christmas this year, pete and i bought our own gifts for each other to give. i choose to buy some shoes i have wanted for a while now. they are from a company called TOMS shoes. the actual shoes are different from any pair i have ever owned and i like them, but i like them more because for every pair you buy they give one pair to a person who doesn't have shoes (usually a child.) the style i choose is called habitante and they are perfect for me, being a geography teacher. also, they remind me to pray for the less fortunate around the world. i leave you with the words from my shoes:

if the world was a village of 100 people:

1 has AIDS

3 are slaves

14 are illiterate

20 are malnourished

23 drink polluted water

25 have no shelter

30 are unemployed

33 have no electricity

40 - have no shoes

43 live on less than 2$ a day

48 have no sanitation

58 have parasites

remember your Creator - Ecclesiastes 12: 1 - 8 and pray for the hurting in our world

"you see, wendy, you're too grown up"

my jane is six months old, december 10, 2009. she had her six month checkup and immunizations too. she is 26.25 in. long and weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz.

jane is growing so quickly and she changes every day. i feel like peter pan when wendy grows up but he doesn't. i have been in the same six months as jane, but i don't really feel different and she has gone from a newborn to an infant. i love my baby and someday i will write a poem about her. i will write about her hair and how long it is getting, about her eyes and how i can't tell what color they will be, how her smile is the best smile i have ever seen. she truly is our greatest blessing and i will love her always.

jane - God is gracious: and He truly has been gracious to us.

this is a video of jane's happy personality about a month ago:

why are so many of my posts titled - update? this is henceforth titled - keeping you up to speed

yes, the title is a synonym for update, but i am in a blog funk still and not wanting to write in more than small paragraphs and bullet points. so, without further waiting (instead of ado) .....................

we hung out with our bike shop buddies at micah's house. micah made a great meal and we got to meet jane's new friends for the first time.

the dads and their girls

the moms and the girls - 5 mo, 3 mo, 6wks

also, jane has started practicing her cheer kicks (don't tell pete) she is progressing nicely (and no, i am not going to force her into cheerleading just because i did it)

our new house is almost ready for a before and after blog post; just waiting for a few more decorations to come in the mail before i take pictures.

we are having both our families and some friends over for thanksgiving this year - the first time at my house. i am very excited, my grandparents are coming and pete's nebraska grandparents too!

in december, i get to be a part of a presentation to the faculty at bear river high about writing across the curriculum. i am a part of the wasatch range writing project and currently the only active non-english teacher in the group so they chose my presentation from the summer institute to present to the faculty. the only problem is the fact that i will have to leave way early to be there at 7:30am. please pray that jane will sleep most of the time and my feeding her (a bottle) won't conflict with the event.

lastly, i love eggnog lattes!

it is harder than i thought to live without constant internet access

i think i just wrote the longest blog title i have ever written. anyway, we moved 2 weeks ago and still don't have internet (the guy comes tomorrow) i can check things on my phone but updating is not practical. i thought that living without tv and internet would be a good break but i did not do anything more productive than i usually did when we had tv. i still wasted time (maybe not as much) i didn't read any books or clean more. i did listen to more music than i normal, which was nice - jane has now listened to all my johnny cash songs.

our new house is so nice - before and some after pictures coming soon. i drove from my house to villa bella in 15 min. today! i think that is a record, and i wasn't even speeding. i didn't have many red lights.

okay, i have a lot of plans in this small window of internet time i have, so i bid you farewell for now

moving?

right now i am sitting in a dining chair with my laptop on a tv tray, watching the tv which is sitting on the floor. our house is almost empty; the only things left to move are the fridge, bed, jane's stuff, and clothes. we no longer own this house but we currently don't own the new one! that also means we only have our car debt and that is it! soon we hope to pay that off (and acquire a large sum of debt called a house.) some issues are unresolved with our new house so we might not sign the papers tomorrow - which means we can't do anything until monday - which means we will have to stay somewhere for the weekend - most likely one of our parents' house. anyway, i love this house and i'm hoping i will love the new house even more. we have lived here three years, made it our own, bought a puppy, had a kid - you know, the normal stuff. i am excited for the things that will happen in our new house. we hope to live there quite a long time. i am going to host my first thanksgiving this year with both our families.

i leave you with some recent jane pics:

quick update

for all who read this blog, just a quick update on our activities lately:

1. we sold our house! well it's under contract and we should close at the end of october, then we will be moving to the valley. 1.8 acres, a barn, and a guest room. so you (anyone who wants to visit) can come stay!

2. jane is 16 weeks on wednesday! she will be getting her second round of immunizations at the dr. but i think she will be fine, she is one tough cookie. she can laugh now, she giggles at me sometimes too. she rolls from tummy to back, but not back to front yet.

3. Bible reading update: we just finished 2. corinthians and are almost finished with proverbs. i cannot believe we have been doing this since january - and i am going to finish this time. (well, i have finished once in my life, but i have tried a few more than that). observations: paul is an amazing person, i am a bit intimidated by him and he is not even alive. i know he would not want me to say that, but i do realize that Christ was at work in him in a mighty way. also, solomon really was wise, but it seems that all of proverbs can be condensed to: run from folly and seek wisdom and understanding.

4. i have 8 more pounds to lose of the acquired "baby" weight! i am pretty excited and hope to go even 5 lbs past that by march or so.

so there is the update. i hope you had a great day and can encourage someone through your actions

i love school, part 4 of 5

high school ended and i began college fall of 2002. i thought about going to an out of state college like cedarville, cornerstone, liberty, or colorado christian. i applied to a few, and procrastinated too much - therefore my family and i decided that weber was the best decision at least for the first year. well i ended up enjoying it, and stayed all 5 1/2 years. yes five.five years technically.

i am a social science composite major with an emphasis in teaching geography. i spent four years completing my generals and major and 1 1/2 years in the education program. there are a few smells/memories i would like to share with you:

college was my first experience on a campus that was "outdoor" or multiple buildings. i loved spring mornings on campus when it was raining or just after the rain. i remember walking from the social science building to building one - it was uphill and most everyone would walk with their head looking at the ground because of the rain but they missed out on the gorgeous mountains covered in mist. it was such a refreshing sight and smell. i love the smell of rain, even when it comes from the west/great salt lake area. the downside to looking at the mountains during the rain was the rain in your face and the earthworms you would step on, there were a lot! either way the rain/misty mornings reminded me so much of God's love, especially right before a class full of evolutionist hippies.

building one is no longer at weber state. it was torn down to build a giant new humanities building. i loved building one, but only because of the time i spent there. the building was terribly old, it smelled like brick and old carpet, the heating in the building was steam powered, and all the pieces of furniture were hand-me-downs from other departments who had received new equipment. building one was half geography, and half foreign language - okay it was 3 rooms for geography and the rest (maybe 5) for foreign language. the first geography class i had in building one (the geog classes were also in the LL building, science building, and SS) involved me walking through the geog office area into a back room with 9 desks surrounded by 5 computers. yep, it was the cartography lab - we had to split the cartography class into three sections to use the computers. okay, anyway, the first class i had in building one was the geography of africa taught by dr. d. it was great and i think it helped me really decide to major in geography - emphasis in global studies/teaching. it was also the smallest classroom i had ever been in. my favorite classroom was the first classroom on the left if you enter from the south end by the union building. it smelled like paper maps - they were stuffed in long, skinny drawers in tall cabinets that took up too much space - we never even used the maps, most professors used overheads or power point. the seven minute maps that we did use came from another room entirely. during the winter months the pipes used to heat the building would hiss and jerk so loudly that professors would have to stop what they were saying and wait for the noise to stop. if you sat by the wall with the vents it was even harder to hear.

alright, college was one of my best school memories. it seems i had to learn everything i knew about studying, writing, and listening in college - which also helped me decide to become a teacher because i felt like i should have been more prepared for what college demanded. i learned how to write papers (25 pages was the longest, and it is bound with my name on it) i know that college was the time in my life where i learned the most. i grew in every area of life and i don't think in anyway did i go backwards. i met pete and got married at 20, we were responsible for the youth group at ovcc, i decided what my "career" would be, i made friends with people solely because we were all interested in the same subjects, and i had the best spiritual year/years of my life at 19 and 22 approx.

i know that college (18-25 ish) was a time of change for everyone, what did you learn to do in college that you feel you should have been ready for before college?

jane, 14 weeks video

jane is starting to laugh more, and she makes little cooing noises all the time.

i love school, part 3 of 5

my memories for high school seem more compartmentalized than the previous years, yes, even more than my jr. high experiences. i think it was because i wore so many different "hats", as it is called. with cheerleading, youth group, work, school, internship, and whatever else was going on, i tried to live my life as one person but that was difficult.

okay, highschool was obviously filled with many different smells. the two that stick out are woodchips and the vinyl of the wrestling mats where we had cheer practice. i attended northridge high school. i changed from lca so i could try out for cheerleading. (i made it with a roundoff backhandspring - which is no longer good enough at northrigde.)

anyway, back to the woodchips. there was a planter, yes a giant planter complete with trees, in the corner of the commons. we (different people every year) ate lunch there most every day. sophomore year matthew t ate with us - or we ate with him. i always remember he seemed to never take his backpack off. junior and senior year was about the same people - chris s., lindsay, and sometimes lisa or andrea. i remember learning about boxing from chris and being called the "nice" cheerleader by people i talked with while they were walking by. so that will transition nicely to cheerleading practice.

for some reason (maybe they didn't have a good plan when they built the school) the cheerleaders didn't have their own space. because of that, we had to practice in the wrestling room - upstairs next to the weight room and joining the dance room. every a day, we had fourth period and it continued until 5:00. after us the wrestling team would practice. they sometimes didn't clean very well and a few girls got ringworm - gross, yes, but at least i didn't get it. the whole room was one giant mat with circles for their practicing. it smelled like the old exercise mat at my grandma's cabin - but not many of you know what that smells like. it smelled like vinyl like the machines at any gym. a few memories: the windows were so tall, we had to do an extension (stunting, two people high) to open them - very risky sometimes. i got injured at least three times that were memorable one was a major black eye my senior year. i always enjoyed our round of jumps - even though they were hard - because someone would always comment on my toetouches! - in a good way

i have many memories of that building - like the fact that the bathrooms off the stage were nicer than any others in the building, the doors close automatically when the power goes off - which is very scary if you are standing in between two of the large hallway doors during class time, the commons now looks different (no more planter) than it did. i know because i attended church there a couple of times, yes, a church meets in the commons area. i have only been back there twice - for the church and when sarah tried out for cheerleading (she could do a back tuck, i think, and was beat out by 5 girls her age that could do fullbacktwists.)

so, did you enjoy high school? for the most part? i did. what smells do you remember?

i love school, part 2 of 5

okay, continuing from the previous post, these are more memories from my 20 years of schooling:

jr. high was spent at four different locations. 6th grade i was home-schooled at our home in woodscross. 7th grade was 3/4ths homeschool and 1/4 public school at millcreek jr. in bountiful (mostly spanish, art, and p.e. the subjects i didn't get in homeschool. we also tried math and something else but i only did that for one semester) - i walked there most days, which, when i think of it now was pretty far - not far enough for the bus. 8th grade i was home-schooled/video correspondence at my grandma's in farmington as we built our house in south weber. and finally, 9th grade was at layton christian academy while we lived in farmington.

because of all these locations, jr. high smells like the metal of the lockers in 7th grade, the carpet at lca, and the wet cement in my grandma's basement. i think i had my own locker in jr. high and my first friends lockered right next to me. i was so awkward in 7th grade, but so were they. i had two good friends - one we called ashley spashley, and i associate meeting them with the area by our lockers. actually, i saw them later in high school - when i was in bountiful at a viewmont game - at pace's. it was so weird because they were exactly the same. i felt i had changed a lot since then, oh well.

we turned the unfinished area of my grandparent's basement into a kitchen/dining room; which is where we had school. we left the floors cement near the laundry area. every so often some water would bubble up through the drain on the other side of the room (i forget why) but the cement would stay wet for a while and i will never forget that smell, i think the issue is fixed now.

i hadn't been to school full time outside of my home for 3 years when i went to lca. i think it was because i wanted to be with friends during the day (i was probably driving my mom crazy) and i did not enjoy teaching myself (mostly in math - no offense mom.) lca was where kelli went so my parents looked into it. i met a lot of people at lca, some good friends, some not so good. i remember the smell of the carpet because we always sat in the (one) hallway in between classes to talk. now, because of mrs. davis, i realize that was pretty gross. we did not care, because it was "cool."

for more stories of jr high; like the year my cousin and i were homeschooled by an old guy from 1992 pensacola florida, or the year kelli, melissa, joy, amy, and i were cheerleaders together, or my favorite spot to eat lunch outside mustang headquarters, and who can forget underwear man! anyway, just ask and i'll be glad to fill you in.

i love school, part 1 of 5

the 2009-2010 school year has begun without me. this has been quite a shock to me, mostly because i love school. currently, i am 25 years old. 20 of the 25 have been spent in school and the missing 5 were the first 5 years of my life (i did not officially attend pre-school as the trend is now.) anyway, this is the first year of my life that i am not attending school or teaching school (and i only taught one year of the three without also attending school.)

the beginning of school was always special. i went back to school shopping (yes, even as a teacher), bought at least one new outfit and school supplies. i bought more supplies as a teacher, some just for fun - like the post-it notes that were shaped in an a. and g. i loved the first day of school. i always remember the morning being cooler (even though it was august) and crisp. i got up on time, which may have been the only time the whole year. even when i had to ride the bus my sophomore year or carpool with the neighbors my junior year, it was still reassuring that i could be on a schedule and see my friends.

i sometimes associate smells with memory, i'm sure many of you do, and it is no exception with school. actually the smells may be stronger for school. for instance:

when i think of elementary school, i smell pencil shavings. most of my elementary 1st-5th grade was spent at bountiful christian elementary school. i went to public school in kindergarten, i still have the year book. back to b.c., the whole school, except the preschool - was housed in a large portable - there were two bathrooms, four classrooms, and a hallway with cubbies and coat hangers for backpacks. my mom taught there and actually taught me for 3rd, and i think 4th grade. my first grade teacher was mrs. clem or something like that and my fifth grade teacher was named mrs. robinson or robison (it is because of that class that i will always remember how to spell courageous) anyway - the writing utensil of choice in elementary is usually the pencil (the early grades at least) and that is why i remember the smell. the garbage can smells like shavings because the sharpener hung over it; the desks smelled like shavings because they would coat the inside of the desk with graphite, and some kids would etch things into the desk. i have many fond memories of elementary school and surprisingly, i can remember a lot more than most people. the few that stick out are: i had twin friends that had 7-up in their thermoses every day and we called it water because you weren't allowed to have soda pop at school. i lost my two front teeth when i slid under a parked car in the parking lot while we were playing tag. my first "boyfriend" was adam watkins in first grade. his mom also taught at the school and probably taught me in 2nd grade now that i think about it. i learned about greenday and the offspring in fifth grade while we played hackysack and sting at recess. and last but not least, our school was right off of i-15 and 5th south (the hotel and car dealership occupy the space now) and we were used as a sort of triage when there was a giant car pileup during the winter one year. people were hurt and waiting for rides and the ambulance came into our parking lot, it was crazy.

what do your elementary memories smell like?

p.s.

this post is going to be five posts long. so as to keep you wondering and not too bored because it is too long! coming soon, jr. high! duh duh dun

i finally captured it:

the jane smile. i have been trying to get a good picture every since she was born. i finally captured it, even though this is the tail end of the smile it is a good shot.

the rest are more pictures of jane at 10 weeks

blurry but a goofy girl

this is to prove to sarah that jane moves around throughout the night. she began the night near the top of the picture, and this is where i found her in the morning. every night is something different

she scared herself and threw her arms out - she still has a strong moro reflex

playing on the mat, she caught the bug by the legs. she has been catching it more often now.

the other day when she caught it she tried to eat it but couldn't pull it close enough

video of play time - 50 sec. long and a bit boring if you don't want to see her swat at the ladybug, make faces at the star, and make little baby noises - mostly for the grandmas. also i moved around to get a better view and decided to go back to the original spot so follow along and you will be fine.

so that is it, the beginning of the 10th week of jane, here's to many more to come!

the husbands might not like this...

okay, it is time once again to play: where am i?

as i was out and about today, you know, running errands with jane. which she did not enjoy and i had to take her out of the carseat to keep her happy just long enough to get what i needed. also, more people come up and ask questions about your baby if they are not in a seat - just so you know. anyway, i stumbled upon a wonderful sight that many of us in the ogden area thought was gone forever:

yes! i was so excited that i took a picture. it is just as expensive as it always is, but if you can spend a bit more for a special treat, now you can.

.

this place has so much more of a selection too. look at how much is available. but i am going to make you guess where it is.

this is the only clue, and a great one if you are familiar with the area.

i will tell you soon, so kaytee, lanie, and sarah, and anyone else who loves these products, happy meyers to you!

scottsbluff 2009

august 7-9 2009 the utah gomperts went to visit the nebraska gomperts (and all the others in between) this means we also took jane's first road trip and she left the state for the first time. yes, as gomperts, it seems that our nebraska trips last for 3 days or less. i am not sure why, other than there is not much to do in scottsbluff so we get all our visiting done in 3 days. anyway, we went for pete's cousin amy's wedding, and so jane could meet everyone. she is the 12th great grandchild and they were very excited to finally meet her.

here are some pictures of the festivities:

jane's wedding dress - she did not like it

it was slippery and a little itchy

hanging out before the wedding with great grandpa

saturday was bright and sunny so she wore her hat and sunglasses outside. a bit goofy but cute

amy and her momma dancing

pete got a little too close, but it is an overall good picture (still not quite the same as pre pregnancy)

grandpa tom, helping jane sleep

dad and jane's second wedding outfit

back at great grandma and grandpa's house on ave 0

jane's first kid birthday party! abby turning one

she was playing on the mat and got tired

dad had to help her calm down before bed

great grandma trying to help jane calm down - she was pretty good at it

and there you have it. our trip was good, but ever since then jane has been more fussy and lost her appetite pretty severely for about 3 days. she is getting back to normal now. i hope it was because she was two months old, not necessarily that she will not travel well.

good bye for now

a day in the life of me as a mom

jane is 2 months old as of tomorrow. i have obviously been through a lot of changes in those two months. even now, as i write this, it is 5:28 a.m. and i am waiting for jane to calm down so i can go back to sleep. she woke at 4:45 because she was hungry and now she has the hiccups. i wanted to blog what a typical day is like for me now. so here you go:

monday 08.03

-wake-up to feed jane: around 6am

-put her back to bed, eat breakfast and get ready to go to the gym (i fell back asleep for a bit and therefore was late in getting ready and feeding her again before the gym - i went to a later class)

-fed jane at 8:00

-took bella outside and left for gym at 9:30

-stopped at the coffee shop for 10 min. - drank iced coffee and read acts 25

-arrive at gym and take jane to the nursery (i am so thankful for them, i don't think i would workout much if i didn't have that - too hot outside)

- 10am body attack class, one hour (this was the hardest workout i have had since jane was born, it was literally like my body was being attacked by itself, good workout)

- 11am, jane is still sleeping as we drive home

-11:30 time to feed her again

-12 jane falls asleep on my chest, so precious, i put her in her crib and she immediately wakes up, but she is calm so i leave her there

-12:30 i eat lunch (not healthy enough but tasted good)

-1:00 get in shower (risky because she was just barely asleep, she didn't start to cry until i was almost done with my shower)

- jane calms down and plays with her activity mat while i get dressed, put on makeup, and dry my bangs.

2:00 - she's hungry again

3:00 - after changing a diaper full of poop twice, we leave for the grocery store

3:15-4:15 - (yes it takes me an hour almost, sort of therapeutic) groceries are done and jane is calmly awake in her carseat

4:30 - unload jane, unload groceries, put a load of laundry in the washer

5:00 - feed jane again - she woke up on her own too

5:45 - get ready to leave for Bible study (meeting pete there this week) by feeding bella, changing diaper, and putting clothes in the dryer (i almost forgot)

6:00 - leave for Bible study, pick up dinner, eat at terry's. jane slept almost the whole time. we ended around 8 and that is when she woke up - it was time to eat again

8:00 - headed home

8:30 - feed jane

9:15 - change her diaper and put her pajamas on

9:30 - put jane down for bed (we are trying to make it earlier, but often we are out during the earlier times)

10:00 - jane is finally asleep (sometimes she uses her pacifier to fall asleep but that means we have to go in there to put it back in if she realizes it has fallen out

10:30 - use the b-pump because she is sleeping for the 11 o'clock feeding

10:45 - wash pump parts and bottles

i am not sure what else i did or what i left out of the schedule, but somehow i did not go to bed until 11:45? so whatever.

that is a typical day, i usually try to make it to the gym and shower everyday, some days that doesn't happen and the 3:00 outing changes depending on the day and sometimes we stay home and nap or start on dinner. making dinner is still a challenge to me but other things i am catching on to.

have a great day

jane's playtime

this is a movie of jane at 7 weeks playing on her mat. it has birds that squeak when you squeeze them, ladybugs that rattle, a mirror, and a star that plays music and has coordinated lights. she really likes it and i wanted the grandmas and those who don't get to see jane awake much to see her at playtime. i know, i know, you don't like that she sleeps all the time, but it is so nice when she sleeps while we are out and about.

it is about 1 min. long and i don't know if you can hear it (turn the volume way up, i am still learning how to use my camera.) just remember, i am not forcing you to hit play, but she is super cute and it is hard not to.

the things i do for baby

okay, this post is about my observations as a parent of the things we have to do for and to our child in order to improve their life. the catch... they usually don't like these things nor do they understand them. this new responsibility in my life has helped me understand a bit more about God's love for us. now, disclaimer to this post: i am not comparing myself to God and i know that what i experience for jane is just a glimpse of what God does for us and how He loves us. but i do believe he gives us children to help us understand more about Him in a different way than we did. with that said, lets talk about things parents do that babies don't understand or like but it is good for them.

1. diaper changes: sometimes kids don't like to get their diaper changed, jane doesn't seem to mind, but it is necessary to keeping them healthy and comfortable.

2. sucking out boogers: i had to clear out jane's nose every morning and night for about two weeks because she had a lot of mucus build up. so, step one - put two drops of saline solution in each nostril (to loosen things up.) step 2 - proceed with suction which was about two or three times per side. obviously, as a baby she doesn't know what is going on or even realize the fact that she can't breathe well and it will get better once the mucus is gone. she hated it so much that she screams the whole time and it is a terrible cry. i have never heard her cry so much or so loudly until the suction starts. she flings her arms around and tries with all her might to push the bulb away. her legs are kicking violently and her face turns red. little tears are even streaming down her face. after i finish, she still does not realize that she can breathe better. she continues to cry and whimper for about 30 seconds until she knows that the suctioning has stopped. she even does this little bottom lip quiver thing that just melts your heart.

3. tear duct cleaning: she had a blocked tear duct at 5 weeks old. luckily it only lasted a week (some can take 6 months to clear.) 4 times a day i had to wipe the eye and massage the side of her nose with a warm washcloth. she did not like it at all and i'm not sure if it hurt or what but i did it anyway because i knew if i didn't it would just get worse and not better because she couldn't do it herself.

4. immunizations and shots: this is what got me thinking of the whole parenting/God's love thing. think about it, i, as the parent, willingly take my child to get immunized. i know it will hurt her, but it will only be for a short time, and the benefits are much greater than the pain. she does not know that and i'm sure it will be even more difficult the older she gets. she cries and all she can think about is the pain. she doesn't know anything about the preventative care that has just been given to her and if given a choice, i'm sure she would rather go without the shots, because they hurt.

5. breastfeeding: this relates more to me "sacrificing" for her than the others. i will not give much detail, but just in seven weeks, i have endured some minor pain, and some major pain. i have to eat certain things and restrain or refrain from things i would like to eat (mostly coke or alcohol). sometimes she falls asleep while she eats and i have to wake her up again. she also spits on me. i realize the last two things happen no matter what your baby eats but it is still annoying. i have to dress differently, and i don't feel the same about my body, not to mention the hormones running wild. i do all this because i know it has been proven to be better for her. she builds up better immunity and gains all the nutrients she needs. she also will be stronger because of it, why, because that is how God designed it to work, but it doesn't come easily for every mom or every baby.

okay, five reasons is good for now. well as you may have connected, God does the same things for us. we have to go through things that are painful and things we don't understand in order to become better or reach a better version of ourselves. God even puts us through things we may never understand; and i'm sure sometimes it breaks His heart to see us suffer but He knows the outcome will be okay or even great. He also suffered Himself in order to save us and bring glory to himself. (that was the disclaimer part - of course breastfeeding is not even comparable to leaving heaven and dying on the cross, but it's the closest thing i thought of.)

i do all these things because i love my baby and God loves us and wants us to understand how great He is.

that is all for now, what other comparisons or thoughts do you have? leave a comment, it might encourage someone else who reads it.

ugly bella

similar to ugly betty, i don't know if you watch the show but if you don't you may not understand this post as well as the rest of us. let me start by saying, bella is now ugly - but like ugly betty, she still has a good personality and is our sweet bella. okay, do i have your attention?

it all started in may. i was about 36 weeks pregnant and we wanted to get bella a haircut for summer time before the baby came. well, that fell through and we put it off. two weeks ago, bella looked like the picture above. she was a pretty australian shepherd who happened to have ratty fur that was shedding all over the place. we hated it because sweeping the floor was the last thing on my mind with the new baby. i think pete would have had to sweep twice a day to keep up with all the fur (yep, pete is the one sweeping the floors lately.)

so ladies and gentlemen, i give you, ugly bella:

this picture is perfect because it makes her uglier than she really is

same bella, but now she likes her bed because she doesn't get too hot and all the ratty hair is gone. notice the "squirrel" tail that bella now has

still love the face and the crazy eye. the upside: i hope bella can be cooler. the downside: it could take up to a year for it to grow back - oh well

bumpits

what is bumpits you ask? well, let me tell you about the hilarious infomercial i saw today. it happened like this:

i was flipping through the channels and stopped when i saw a before and after shot of a girl with normal looking "flat" hair and the after was the utah hair, just not as ratty. why that was the after is the reason i started watching. turns out, there is now a device you can put on your head, in your hair to create that perfect bump - enter bumpits. easy as one, two, three:

notice they said gently tease, gently

yes, it is a large plastic object to be worn on your head all day (comes in four shades to match your hair)

no light spray allowed! firmly spray and you have great looking "utah" or hollywood (as the site claims) hair

okay, i couldn't copy any of the other pictures so i linked the title of this post to their homepage. you need to check this out, for only 19.99 plus 7.95 shipping and handling you too could own the bumpit, two mini bumpits, and the larger hollywood bumpit (extra shipping).

so all you teachers out there or mothers with teenage girls, please encourage them to keep the hair God gave them (yes, more flat) and if they need to have the bump - at least buy them bumpits, even if it is just for the prom. that way their hair can look ridiculous without the terrible rat's nest or holes and box look. thank you

twenty

today jane is 20 days old! a lot has happened in those 20 days, so much that it seems like it's been only a week. this post is to give a glimpse of what i have experienced in that short time.

in the past twenty days, i have... (in the order they pop into my head)

stayed in the hospital as a patient for the first time since i was born

needed stitches for the first time in my life

lost over 10 pounds in one day!

worn pants every day but today (because of my freak hives that developed shortly after delivery)

changed at least 90 diapers

switched to a 24 hour schedule - i decided to start a new day at midnight, just like the clocks do, so if i feed her at 11pm that is still today. if i wake up at 4am to feed her, that begins the next day.

learned to cram everything into 2 hour increments between feedings

not learned how to take shorter showers or save time getting ready

worn flip flops every day (mostly because of the hives/rash/itchiness)

been to the coffee shop 2x - once by myself and once with jane (maybe a 3rd time today)

only needed to fill up the gas tank once!

heard many, many, many people comment on how much hair jane has (yes it's true, God makes babies with hair too)

not made dinner once (my wonderful husband or other nice people have done that for me)

kept current on my Bible reading - for the most part. i am one day behind as of today (just started 2 chronicles, solomon is king and in acts, peter just healed the lame man "who went walking, and leaping, and praising God") yet fallen way behind on my journal of jane (currently still in the hospital delivery room as far as the journal is concerned)

realized that it is much easier to quickly update my status on facebook than write a whole blog post - sorry, it will get better, i hope.

slept through the whole night once! go jane

been blessed with the best family and friends who are there for us all the time

been given the best husband and new baby - and all the responsibility that goes with it will become normal with time

enjoyed cuddle time with jane after she eats, and bedtime kisses from me and pete

realized that now, more than ever, i have to really work at making time to pray and spend time with God. that part is becoming easier too.

-

so, there are many more things, but that is just a glimpse into what i have been up to the past twenty days! thank you for reading and good day to you.

the biggest loser

i went to the instacare this week - long story, you can ask me if you must know - and there was a moment that felt exactly like biggest loser the reality show. i was waiting for them to call my name, which they do not do they give you a pager that vibrates just like at a restaurant. anyway, the first thing the nurse asks me to do when she takes me back is to step on the scale so she can record my weight.

well, it was exactly one week since jane was born and i was thinking, i wonder how much weight i have lost? the scale was a digital scale too, just like biggest loser. so, i did not take my shoes off, but i should have just for effect. i stepped on the scale and the numbers went up and up but not as high as i expected them to (and no, they did not jump back and forth like on tv.) finally i looked and behold, i had lost exactly 20 pounds! yes, that must be a biggest loser record, 20lbs. in one week! granted, 8lbs. 20z. of that was baby, another maybe 6 or so of other "stuff" inside there, and i'm sure there was some water weight too. but still - pretty great. and all i had to do was go through an 8 hour "last chance workout" to get here. about 20 more pounds to go and i will be back to my "pre-pregnancy" weight!

5 days later

today my little jane is 5 days old! what a whirlwind it has been. we went to the hospital at 7 am wednesday june 10th and..... many posts later (i will tell bits and pieces when i can)... at 4:29 pm, jane annebelle gompert was born. (next few posts... people came to visit, i rested in bed, we were there two days, and friday we came home.) we have many pictures on multiple cameras and i will share them over time or on facebook. the first night was very tough and so far, becoming and being a parent is the most difficult thing i have ever done but we are having a great time with jane and we are so grateful to God for His many blessings and for our new little girl. it has been a great five days.

her cute rainbow outfit - about 3 hours after this photo she spit up - that is baby speak for vomit - all over it! i hope the stains come out.

this is her little smirk/smile and her "one eye check" around to make sure all is well

Lord, bless this girl and her life. may she grow to love You through us and all the people who love her. amen

well, it's time

yes friends, it's baby time. my doctor appointment was okay, but my blood pressure was high and i had other indications of a preeclampsia type condition. therefore i need to be induced before i become more sick and risk my health and the baby's. the date is june 10th! that is when we check into the hospital and, Lord willing, baby g will be born sometime tomorrow! please pray for a healthy labor, delivery, and most of all - momma and baby! we will try to let you know when you can come and visit. if you are wondering you could call pastor terry or my sister. thanks in advance for all your prayers. 

my pregnant friends

at church we have four of us that are pregnant - so far. we are all about 5 -8 weeks apart and i love taking pictures to document our progress together. three of us are close enough to be in the same trimester at the same time - if only for a week. 

at easter time we were all in the 2nd trimester - i was almost in the third, sarah right in the middle, and stacy just beginning

this is us just this past sunday - keri is in the 2nd trimester and feeling much better now. stacy is just starting the 3rd trimester - 28wks, sarah is around 33 wks, and i am almost finished at 39 wks! 

it is pretty fun to be pregnant at the same time as my friends. however, Lord willing, i won't be pregnant much longer and they will be taking preggo pictures without me. i think i'm okay with that. 

new favorite crockpot recipe

i am at home during the day now (which i have loved) and i was watching the ksl show that comes on at 11 studio 5 - anyway, they were talking about a crockpot recipe that did not sound good, but there was a website of this lady who has a recipe for every day of the year. so i found this on her site: 365daysofcrockpot.blogspot.com. the picture on the site did not look good, but i had all the ingredients already so i thought, why not? 

Creamy black bean salsa chicken:

2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup salsa

1 can (15 oz) corn, drained

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained

1 pkg taco seasoning

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Place chicken in slow cooker. Pour broth, salsa, corn, beans, and taco seasoning over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or on high heat 3-4 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Stir sour cream and cheese into sauce in slow cooker, then put chicken back in. Serve with tortillas, rice, or tortillas or chips. 

~ okay, pete loves this dinner and i did too. i served it with mexican rice and we used the leftovers as a dip with tortilla chips. i am going to make some changes next time: probably a whole cup of sour cream (i realize that is not as healthy, but so tasty) and more cheese - you can never have enough. as for the chicken broth, i don't know if you need that much or any at all because the frozen chicken has enough moisture once it is cooking. plus you can't totally drain the beans and corn. 

enjoy! 

last meeting on the last day of school

i am in a meeting on the last day of school, my room is cleaned out and empty, and i am leaving this place. yes i will be sad, someday, but now i am excited that the end of the year has come. i have about three big boxes of teacher supplies that i took home, so i must sort through those things and put them away. i loved my time teaching here at chs. i have been working with this school since 2003 and the past three years at the high school with my own classroom! i enjoy teaching very much. i especially love it when my students remember things from past years and bring it up to me later. my favorite class of students got me a gift and a card for the baby so she would know that the 10th grade world civ class was special to me. they purchased a stuffed animal - hippo! it was a joke from the first of the year when we were learning about the egyptians and the nile river. i made a comment about hippos being dangerous and it all went down hill from there. i think we talked about hippos for 10 mins. and we were laughing and going crazy but i hope they will remember not to approach hippos ever for fear of death! 

the infamous hippo!

my 10th grade class (minus two, one was late and the other is hiding which is why i am a bit out of the picture in the second shot)

i bought a yearbook this year and it was signed by many. maybe i will come back to chs to teach later, but i think the students i taught will be graduated by then, maybe, we'll see. now i move on to a new job of being a parent. i am very excited and nervous but i am overwhelmed by how much God has blessed us. 

yearbook signing in the cafetorium (cafeteria + auditorium - i like to call it the cafetora-bowl-o-rama-dome)

this is "n" she is one of my foreign exchange students. i will miss her very much.

this is "A" she is a sweet girl and i know i will see her family every once in a while at church and things like that. i helped them sell the jewelry from ghana this year. 

we had a picnic bbq after school just for the teachers. it was a time to say good bye and have a relaxing end to the year. it was fun and the school got us a nice office type parting gift with a desk clock and a pen with my name engraved on the handle - a real grown-up pen

 also i noticed that this will be my 202nd post on this blog! that is a lot of writing my life for the world to see. i wonder how my blog will be when the baby comes. first i have to say prepare for it to be dormant for a while so i can figure out how to care for little baby g, then i will try not post only baby stuff all the time. okay, over and out.