my students rock

I had to share the mural my students made. I had to help a little along the way filling in spots here and there, but for the most part they did it themselves. I taught them how to paint and it paid off. This shows a huge improvement from what they were able to do at the beginning. They were my 9th grade advanced class. Each year we add a new mural to the walls in our cafeteria. They line the walls, and this one by far is the best one up yet. If I had pictures of the old ones, you would see how crappy and lame they are. This one will shine =) If you haven't seen "the great wave of Kanagwa" by Hokusai it's at the end of this post. They chose to reinterpret and render that woodblock print for our mural.

The mural, about 8' x 5'. They added waves to the side to fill the space.

they changed the japanese writing to say our school's letters.

And because of where we live, they put a "Y" on mount Fuji and added a snake since that's our school mascot.

The original artwork by Hokusai

Some ponderings...

I think I have failed to see all the blessings that are poured on me each day. Our life, which is filled with insecurities about our future (and therefore scares me sometimes), is pretty dang awesome. I'm at the "everyone I know is pregnant" stage of life. So fun! I remember thinking, how strange all my friends and family decided to have kids at the same time? That's weird. But turns out...I'm just that age. Almost 26. Holy cow. How did this happen? I still feel 18.

But something I've been made very aware of lately is how blessed we are to be expecting a little boy, who so far appears to be totally healthy. Many of my friends have lost children or are struggling to have children.

One day David snapped me into reality and said, "Rachel you'll just have to accept the possibility that we could have a stillborn child." You might think, why would he say something like that?! Well David likes to be a realist and consider all sides of an issue. However depressing that thought is, he likes to be the one prepared for anything. I love that and many other things about him. But just imagining that all this wait and excitement for our son could be over in an instant crushed my heart to oblivion. I can't bear the thought of losing this child, EVER. And I haven't even met him yet. So I have tried to look at every single aspect of this pregnant as being a miracle. Things that might make me uncomfortable like bending over, the baby having hiccups, sleeping, or peeing every 5 seconds...well bring it on! I am trying not to complain and just be in awe every time my baby moves or I feel a jab somewhere because I know there are others who want to be uncomfortable and pregnant but haven't been successful!! It truly is a miracle that a few short months ago, he looked like a gummy bear. And now...he is a functioning little human being. Amazing.

I am so blessed.

YES

I love this diaper bag. So getting this. From babiesrus and it's only 22.98! Schwing!

on the brain

Lately all I can think about is all the fun I'm going to have putting together our new place. I can't wait to be in a place with more space! Looking around my living room right now makes me feel a little claustrophobic. There are boxes stacked by our window, piles of newspaper and bubble wrap, and lot of random items hanging out because I don't feel like putting them away when I know they'll be packed soon anyway. Sigh. I'm learning to live in a mess, which might be my life after the baby comes. In the meantime I'll dream of a cozy peaceful bedroom like this one:

And for baby chinn...he deserves a rad pad too. But I'll go more for navy, orange, yellow, and grays. Warms my heart! (this from laybabylay) I love the color scheme here, but I probably will not do the whole "admiral" deal.

And I'll be hanging this free print on baby chinn's wall too =) I love it. From irocksowhat

rumbly in the tumbly

The last few nights, david and I have stayed up late watching my stomach roll and do strange things. We stare at my stomach and when it starts moving, I can't help but giggle!! However that makes it difficult for david to see him moving =) What a change to go from david feeling him kick to SEEING it. He's pretty big now!!

It was several weeks ago that the "kicks" changed to whole body parts sticking out of me. This morning as I walked into school, I could swear that his butt was sticking out straight above my bellybutton. I rubbed over it a few times, which he didn't seem to like because he quickly returned to the cave. This has got to be the funnest thing about being pregnant. If he moves this much now...I wonder if he'll be all over the place when he's here!!!

Moving on

That apartment I was hoping we'd get last post? We got it! Signed the contract yesterday. It has worked out really well. It worried me trying to coordinate ending our contract here and signing one somewhere else because we did NOT want to pay 2 rents in one month. That's expensive! It worked out perfectly though so that we will be moved out and done with Wymount by February 1st and pay February's rent at the new place when we move in. Yay!

I'll post pictures once we've moved in, this place makes me feel like a grown up. We will have to arrange our own cable, internet, and trash pick up. Boo. I admit living in Wymount has made living easy in that regard, no dealing with utilities. It had to happen someday. We'll miss living here. We've made wonderful friends and feel at home here. It is the first place we lived together so it's hard to leave it!

Baby progress: I no longer feel pokes and kicks, now when he moves it's a strong wave of a some body part across my stomach. I love how many changes he and I have gone through in such a short time! It's incredible. The human body is divinely created. It amazes me to think about him growing and instinctively doing things that no one has taught him! God truly has created all things and I see His hand in my life.

I am so grateful to become a mom. It is truly a blessing. I have friends who have had miscarriages or are unable to have children. Thinking of losing this little boy breaks my heart, just to think it! I am excited for him to get here and to finally meet him! We love him already.