Boys and Their Toys

Ryan and I have been looking for a new vehicle. When we got married we had 3 cars to drive (the Charger, Jeep, and truck), but two of the cars were VERY high in mileage and were getting to the not-so-dependable stage. Since we are always thinking 'family' these days, we wanted to trade-in/sale our old cars for a newer used one that could fit ALL of our needs. And ta-da....



 We got a Dodge 1500! It will fit Ryan's work needs, our handy around the house needs, and it also has the 4 doors and approved child/baby seat safety features in the back. Now, I am not a big fan of white vehicles, but this one has heated seats and all that fancy stuff on the inside. I guess I can't be too picky.

I won't lie...I was a little disappointed that I gave up my Jeep. Even though it was old and has been very loved, it was my favorite! I was pulling for an SUV, but was persuaded that a truck would be more useful. However, I do have the promise that the next car (way on down the road...yeah, you liked the pun) will be a new Jeep for me! Until then, I get to put my Appalachian State University Alumni plate on the Charger. Doesn't it look beautiful?! We are now happy to say that we have two safe and dependable vehicles for our little family!  Check!

Answered Prayers

As many of you know, when I relocated to Louisiana I had to leave many things behind that I loved - including teaching. Although it was a job that annoyed me at times, it was also something that made my heart happy. It is just my passion.

I assumed that I would not be able to get a teaching job here in Louisiana because 1) I'm having a baby in February which makes a full teaching year impossible and 2) there are NO openings in this area. Ryan and I decided that I would just go to the next plan - which was to look for another job (any job) so that we could save up extra money for when the baby gets here.

I have spent a whole month looking for ANY job that would take me. I had lots of interviews, some that worked out and some that didn't, but nothing fit our situation the way we wanted it to. Ryan has always had a positive attitude and has encouraged me the whole time. However, I was not doing that for myself. I was SO discouraged and somewhat in a panic. I had pretty much given up all hope until....

I got a phone call from Beauregard Parish School Board. You see, I applied for a secretary position at one of the schools. The Personnel Director asked me on the phone if I was really a certified English teacher. "Yes sir!" He then told me that he was forwarding my application to two Principals that have a need for me. I learned that these two schools had a English position open for the months of August-December. WHAT?!?!? How perfect is this?!!? I interviewed with them both and then Ryan and I decided which school would be best for me to work at.

This opportunity has been an answer to so many of our prayers. It was unbelievable to see how this came out of nowhere and proved to be the perfect situation. I am VERY grateful for this blessing in our lives. Not only do I get to continue my profession, but I also get to do it within the time crunch of my expanding family. I will be able to stop working at Christmas and get ready for the baby. I will be teaching English I (9th grade) at a wonderful school that reminds me much of WFR. I go in on Monday and sign my contract and get that salary started and then I get to enjoy my last 2 weeks of summer vacation. School starts on August 10th! :)

11 Week Bliss

Today was such an exciting day for Ryan and I - we got to have our first baby ultrasound! Now, as amazing as the ultrasound proved to be, the 'prep' for it was awful! I was instructed to drink 30 oz. of water an hour PRIOR to my appointment. The trick was, once I started drinking the 30 oz, I couldn't use the bathroom until after the appointment. Yeah, that is almost impossible for a pregnant woman! The first thing I said to the ultrasound technician was, "I am very uncomfortable so let's get this show on the road!". :) This is a picture of my 11 week baby bump...slightly bloated with 30 oz of water!

Ryan and I have seen ultrasounds before but I don't think we really knew what to expect. I was half way waiting for them to show me a dot on a screen and say that it was my baby. I am only 11 weeks so I was unsure how much could visibly be seen. We were super surprised to see LOTS more than what we thought. At first sight, the baby moved around a little (probably excited to see Ryan :)). We could clearly see the baby's profile. It's face showed off a little button nose that was too cute. We even got to see the little arms and legs. The technician moved things around and we got to see 5 little fingers on one hand. It was unbelievable to see! My personal favorite part was seeing the heartbeat. We actually got to see the heart going up and down on our baby, while we heard the heartbeat too. It was at a rate of 162 today. Healthy!

At the end the technician tried to get the baby to move around some more, but my more than full bladder was providing a little too much comfort. The baby was just laying there as cozy as could be. So, we got pictures and we marked the appointment as a success! :) I think Ryan and I were both in shock for a little while. Hearing the heart beat last week was one thing, but this took it a step further. Seeing our little baby made everything so real! We could not even begin to express the happiness we have over this experience. Each week brings something new in the growth of our baby and its so fun to get to each new benchmark. We consider ourselves very blessed to have this little gift in our lives - a little miracle. We are just a little happy...can you tell?! :)

PS- My dad is already inspecting the pictures for an extra leg. HAHA! Boys will be boys! We will find out if it's a little boy or girl in about 8-10 more weeks.

Blog Additions

We have two new blog additions! Maybe one of them will fit your style and interest you.

Opinion Blog: I have always been a very opinionated person - also sassy, stubborn, and feisty. :) In fact, Ryan says this is one of the biggest reasons he fell in love with me. (aww...) In fact, recently, we had to deal with a very pushy car salesman. Ryan, as usual, was the nice and polite guy when discussing options with this salesman. Towards the end of the conversation, the salesman got a little testy when he realized that we were just talking options and we were not going to walk out of the door with one of his overpriced (rip-off) cars. He was not accepting Ryan's nice reasons for our choice SO I decided to step in. Let's just say the situation was handled and all of the RUDE man's tactics were tossed back in his face. The next day we got a survey call from the car company asking about the customer service. Ryan answered the call and simply said, "Oh, let me let you talk to my wife." *passes me the phone* Often times I am nervous to voice my true opinions in worries that I will offend someone or that people will not understand my sarcasm. However, other times I realize my opinions are very appropriate! So, I decided to start an opinion blog. I understand that not everyone is going to like it. I am not trying to persuade anyone. Instead, I am just offering a sarcastic view of how I see things...in hopes that it will entertain somebody! Enjoy and please follow it if you like it! :) Keep the Change

Craft Blog: Along with my thriving opinions, I can also be somewhat crafty. I have decided to try to expand my skills in card making. It's a project in the works. At this point I am going to just have the goal to add to my collection and have fun with making a variety of styles. Let me know if you see any you like or if you would like a card made for a specific occasion. I would love to make you one! :) Sentiments by Sarah

Make sure you follow these blogs and share them around!

Heartbeats & Happiness

Today was our first official prenatal appointment with the doctor. It has been a date that I have been looking forward to for weeks! Ryan and I went in together not knowing exactly what to expect. We met the doctor, went over our medical histories, discussed the do's and dont's while being pregnant (no more medium cooked steak for me...sigh) and then.... we got the chance to hear the heartbeat!

Now as most pregnant women know, this is a huge IF. Since I am 10 weeks there was a chance that we might not be able to hear the heartbeat yet, or that the baby might not be in the right position for us to be able to hear it. Of course I was very anxious at this fact. I wanted to hear the joy of that little thumping sound, and at the same time I was terrified of what it would mean if we didn't hear one.

The doctor started moving the doppler around on my little tummy and after about 30 seconds she stopped and there was a small, yet clear, little bump-bump...bump-bump....bump- bump...

Instantly Ryan and I just looked at each other and smiled. The room was totally silent for about a minute or two as we just sat there and listened to our baby's heartbeat. Peaceful. Amazing. Comforting. Miraculous. The doctor said that the heartbeat was about 180 - healthy.  :)

I have always heard of babies and pregnancy being a miracle, but honestly I didn't fully understand that until today. It was the most peaceful and wonderful thing I have heard in my whole life. Not to mention that Ryan was blown away! That was the fun part. :) It's amazing how much we love this baby already. 10 weeks down!

Fun fact - My blood type is O-...who knew!??! Lol. You learn something knew everyday!

Crocodile Dundee

One of the things I think about when I hear Louisiana is the swamp. I'm talking about aalligators, marshes, and swamp airboats. In fact, the movie Waterboy with Adam Sandler should be flashing in your head right now. :) For that reason, I thought it was only appropriate that we go to an Alligator Park while we live in Louisiana!

Yesterday Ryan and I went to the Bayou Pierre Alligator Park. We not only got to see alligators, but also goats, reindeer, birds (not my favorite), turtles, raccoons, and snakes! Oh my! Ryan LOVED the turtles and spend most of his time feeding them. I liked feeding the little goats. Some of the bigger goats would bully the little goats when I tried to feed them. They would push them out of the way! Well, I would not have that! I made it my mission to feed the baby ones. I made Ryan distract the bigger ones so that I could get food to the baby ones. Let's just say that I am a proud supporter of equal feeding of all goats. LOL!

The main attraction dealt with the alligators. We got to see them being fed - chicken! The guy would hold a piece of chicken out into the middle of the water and then about 20 gators would try to get it. They were huge!! It was also my goal to hold one of the alligators. Obviously that would not work with the larger alligators, so we settled with holding a smaller one. :) For some reason I thought the alligator would just feel like plastic and be still. Umm... that thing wanted to get away and the skin felt so rough and rubbery. I even think it hissed at us - hence the very unsure look I have on my face. So... We can now officially say that we have played with alligators in the Louisiana Bayou! Check!

Freedom Fest 2011

Blake Shelton

July 4th weekend - I love it! This year we went to Ft. Polk's Freedom Fest. Basically it was like a big carnival with a concert and fireworks to top it all off. After planting our chairs and claiming our spot on the lawn we were able to walk around and see some of the booths that were set up. I even got to get in a few Army vehicles/aircraft. It was so cool. Ryan got to show me what he would ride in/drive while he was in Afghanistan.

We were also really excited to have the Urbanek Family join us with their little girl Marissa. We all pigged out on fair food as we waited for the concert to start. The most popular items were chicken on a stick, cotton candy, and roasted corn. YUM! Blake Shelton was the music star playing for the troops. It was a good concert and we had a blast dancing the night away.

Finally there were the fireworks - every 4th of July tradition. The newspapers claimed that this firework show was the largest in Central Louisiana! Uumm.....cricket...cricket..... Not to be critical but shooting one firework up at a time for 15 minutes does not seem like a firework hit AND if that was the largest in Central Louisiana then I would sure hate to see the other shows! I will have to give it to them though, they finally got multiple shots in the air there at the end. :) I guess we are just used to our large hometown firework shows.



Summer Love!

Even though this has been a holiday weekend, Ryan has been working. Normally he would complain about this (me too), but this work has actually been an honor. He has served on 2 funeral details - meaning he has been a part of a Military burial. One was in New Orleans, were the funeral was for a WW2 vet who participated in the invasion of Normandy. Ryan mentioned that it was one of the biggest honors to be a part of this funeral. I think that is the best 4th of July story! As we enjoy our fun filled long weekend, we need to remember the real reason we celebrate it - to remember ALL of those who have helped and continue to help give us our Freedom!