Fun at Woodfield Mall

This past week, Katie Barker and I went out to the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg to do a little Christmas shopping and just enjoy the holiday decorations and atmosphere. We had such a fun time.

Here are some of the beautiful decorations. The mall is just so huge and the central area is just gorgeous!
This area is like a little North Pole Wonderland... so cute.

So we went into the MASSIVE Bath and Body Works store. Seriously, it had like 3 separate wings to it. We were in there forever... but we didn't even realize it. They had this deal going on that you could by 7 of the large lotions, sprays or body washes for $35 and then you would get the 8th one free. So we each picked out 4 that we liked... and then Katie had 4 coupons ($10 off if you spent $30, home fragrance free with purchase and so on) so basically we got $125 worth of merchandise for $27 ! We each only paid like $13.50! What a deal!!!

After that we stopped by an A&W to get a root beer float. And by that point it was like 8:30pm and we were exhausted! So we were a little zany to say the least:)

This one of the two of us was taken by a "bus boy" at the restaurant. He did not speak English and we were using my camera phone because we had both forgotten our cameras... so anyways, it quite the funny experience.

All in all we had a great time. It was a good way to kick of the holiday season and to spend some time with a good friend :)

37 Weeks and Counting

Well, here I am at 37 weeks. I can hardly believe that I am almost at the end of this journey of pregnancy. I have been feeling pretty good still. It's just getting a little painful to walk around too much and of course I am exhausted at the end of every day. But it is good to be able to see the "light at the end of the tunnel". I am seeing my doctor weekly now and he told me yesterday that she as head down and all looks good. So I am very excited about that. That is something I was specifically praying about.

I only have 2 more weeks of teaching at HFLS. (3 days this week 4 days next week) so only 7 more teaching days! I can hardly believe it. It will be nice to be finished and hopefully to have a few days of quiet at home before Maddy comes. Tim has asked me to wait until the 17th(the end of his semester). I am not sure I want to wait that long, but we will see :)

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving Holiday this year. We will miss not being home with family, but we are celebrating with another family at our church and will be helping to host some of the college kids in our group from church. I love the holidays. I am looking forward to getting my tree the day after Thanksgiving and setting up all of my Christmas decorations!

Obama Victory is an Inspiration

I know some of my more conservative readers might automatically think, what in the world is she talking about? Let me explain. Although I do not align myself with all that Barack Obama stands for, I am thankful for the inspiration that he has been in winning this National Election. I have a unique perspective on how this President-elect has impacted specifically the African-American community. As many of you know, I teach at a school on the west-side of Chicago.  The demographic is 100% African-American. Although this has been somewhat of a challenging transition for me, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of teaching in such a culturally different area (especially compared to my previous job in VA Beach).

The day after the election, students were heard shouting "Obama - Obama- Obama!" in the school hallways. There was a sensation of new hope that came with this new day in American History. Our principal gave an inspiring speech about how there are no excuses left for why anyone cannot become everything that they dream to become. She shared how Obama was not handed everything he got; he worked hard for it. Students were reminded that they need to take advantage of their education and not make any excuses about why they cannot succeed. They have no reason to say now, that their life is too hard or society is against them. Barack Obama has proven that America is a country where any person (no matter their race, gender, or religious views) can have the "American Dream".  What an encouragement! I am personally encouraged with seeing how far our nation has come in the civil rights movement. This truly has been an historic election. One I am sure we will remember for many years to come.  

I want to end with one little interaction between our Chaplain (pastor Hunter) and the students. I wish I would have video taped it, but this is how it went:

Mr Hunter: Good Morning Holy Family!

Students : Cheer and yell, Good morning Mr. Hunter!

Mr. Hunter: I heard a rumor! (in loud excited voice)

Students: A rumor? (in excitement and anticipation)

Mr. Hunter: Yea, I heard a rumor!

Students: A rumor?!  

Mr. Hunter: Yea, that the next President of the United states looks just like YOU!

Students: Loud clapping, cheering, stomping, hooting and hollering!!!!

I am encouraged that these students have a positive African-American role model that doesn't bounce a ball or bust a rhyme. They have someone before them that has applied himself, by getting  a great education and is having an historic impact on our nation and world. 

Baby Shower Weekend!

Well, this was the weekend for baby showers! I have to say, I have been blessed with so many "mini-showers" along the way! (Baylor family on vacation, friends in VA Beach, Cohort at Trinity and then this weekend my class threw me a shower on Friday during school and Katie and Lindsay threw me a shower on Saturday!)  

As I said, my class (and their parents) got together and planned a meal and shower for me during school on Friday. In Holy Family fashion, they served fried chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, and greens. It was delicious!

The kids had so much fun. They sat sooo QUIETLY and ate (now I know the secret : I just need to stuff their faces :)
I got some really cute outfits and some other sweet "baby things".

Then on Saturday, Katie and Lindsay (and another girl from my church) planned a shower for my church friends, school friends, local friends and family.  The cookies below were made by Katie and Linds. Sooo cute!

This was the food - just absolutely stunning! And it was so yummy too :)

I got some really great things that I needed still (Praise the Lord!)

Here are some of the gals from church

And some of the gals from Holy Family Lutheran School

My mom and my twin sister decided to make the drive out (12+ hours) just for the day! They are too sweet! Rach organized my family by sending out e-mails and asking everyone to send her whatever they could towards a shower gift. Then she went to Babies R' Us and bought us a crib, mattress, car seat, and stroller!  Thank you Jordan family! You rock!

And lastly, just wanted to give props to Lindsay and Katie for planning this shower for me. I know how much time, money, love, and effort it takes to coordinate something like this. So thanks so much ladies!

And I cannot end without thanking the Lord for His love and provision. He is so good! 

32 week Belly Shot

Here I am at about a week ago at 8 months (32 weeks). I am feeling well for the most part - just getting a little tired and uncomfortable (as is to be expected!) I am excited because I only have 7 weeks left of teaching (which is actually only 31 days of actual teaching days!!!!) Madison Hope will be here before we know it :)

Surprise Baby Shower!

On Saturday I had a class at Trinity (one of the last I am taking before Madison arrives).  The class was from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm.  Tim drove up with me to Trinity so that he could work in the Library (he said).  Actually, my cohort had planned a surprise baby shower for me and for Andy and his wife (who is due a week before me).  After class was over, I was getting ready to go when everyone was getting out food and talking about being hungry. I asked what was going on and they said they were throwing a surprise shower for us! Just then Tim walked in. He was in on it the whole time. Since January I have been in the same cohort with the same 12 people for each class. We have really gotten to know one another well and have grown to really care for one another. 

The first picture is a picture of all of our class together (not on the day of the shower).

 

They had a great spread of food out: Pork barbecue, salad, deserts..mmm...mmmm!

Tim was so sweet to take time out of his crazy Saturday to come and be with me and meet my friends and classmates.

yummy!

Christina trying to take the camera from me - what a wild woman!

We all chilled for a while, enjoyed the food and enjoyed the fellowship. The class all pitched together and gave us a nice gift card.  I am so thankful for good friends!

Glenview Farmer's Market

From June through October, Wagner Farm hosts a farmer's market in our area. It is every Saturday morning from 8am - 12pm. I love going. I got up this morning and headed over. I had such an enjoyable time. It was just a gorgeous 70's day and all of the Fall produce was out.

I love that young and old alike come out for this. It is such a family affair.Vendors from all parts of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin come to sell their fresh grown produce. I love seeing the same farmers each week.

I bought some Fall Indian corn for some decoration in my house.

Here are my buys : A gallon of Apple cider (so so fresh and tasty!), 5 lb bag of honey crisp apples, 5 mini pumpkins and gourds, 5 ears of Indian Corn, a head of garlic, and raspberries (one of my favorite finds- so yummy!)
This is the little arrangement I made to bring some color into the house and to celebrate Fall!

28 Weeks - Holy Cow - that is 7 months!!!

I had parent/teacher conferences tonight - so I thought I would get some pics while I was dressed up :)

Black is so slimming, isn't it - ha ha ha!!!

Ok so this pregnancy has seriously been flying by.  I think heading back to teaching again has really consumed me - I just can't believe I am in my 3rd trimester already!   The Lord has been so good. Things have gotten a little bit better at school. The kids are still a handful, but today I met with each and every parent at parent conferences, and they were very responsive to me.  It is so good to know that I have supportive parents.

To all moms (and dads) out there - PLEASE support your child's teacher - it will be the best for his/her education!  It makes my job of training and educating children so much easier!  I only had a few that were what I would call "difficult" conferences -but even those were not terrible.

Again, I am so thankful for the Lord's goodness.

26 Belly Pic and update on life

Well, I made it through my first two weeks of teaching. It has been quite a challenge as I have 19 fourth grade students this year that are QUITE the handful! And - as you can see - I am starting to get pretty big. So I have been coming home pretty tired at night. With this group of kids, I can't really find much time to sit down. So my ankles are starting to swell and those lovely varicose veins are popping out (yuck!).

Tim has been great when I come in the door and just collapse on the couch for a half hour before making dinner. And of course I am super emotional - so a couple of nights a week, I come home crying saying that I will never make it through!
And then the next morning after a good night's rest, I feel fine. So I know that I can do it. I just have to trust in the Lord to find new strength and patience for each new day.

Other than that - things are going very well. Tim got a part-time job at the church working with the college kids and he is still working at Starbucks part-time. He is taking 10 credits this semester. That means next semester he will only have one more class and a thesis to write. Lord willing, he will GRADUATE MAY 2009!!! We are so excited at that prospect.
The church says that they would like to evaluate their budget in January to see if they can offer him a full time position with benefits. So you can pray about that.

I guess that's about it for now. I hope you all are doing well as we head into this Autumn season.

OLD vs. NEW

This was my classroom last year when I started school in the Fall.

Old Floors, dirty walls, no air conditioning, radiator heat (too hot in winter!), and oh did i mention the mice!

This is my room this year entering the new school season. Our school built a 9.9 million dollar school!  They were able to raise 7.9 million dollars of that!   Everything is new and CLEAN!

I have my own cabinets (that lock) and counter space!
This is the hallway with our gorgeous lockers!
I have a floor to ceiling window: it let's so much light in! I love it!
A nice large whiteboard.

I am so thankful that the Lord has provided us with a new school building.  It will be so nice to start the school year out on a NEW foot:)

I have inservice meetings all this week and then we start with the kiddos on Monday!  Please pray for a good school year.

Vacation - oh so good!

We had the great opportunity to head to the east coast for almost 12 days! We had such a nice time visiting friends and family.

First, we flew into VA Beach and spent all of Saturday (Aug. 

2nd) with old friends. Our schedule for the day was CRAZY - but soo much fun!

8:00 am - We stoped by the hospital to see Dawn and Nate BEFORE Sophia was born - nice to catch up and get a belly shot with dawn.

9:30 am - We met with some of Tim's old students at "Panera" - it was so nice to catch up with them again before they head off to college again.

12:00 pm - We met with old GCA teachers at "The Baker's Crust" - The ladies threw a little baby shower for me - it was so nice!  And it was soo great to see everyone again!

5:00 pm - We got together with some seminary friends at the Trach's house. Those ladies threw a shower for me as  well (that Dawn had planned - so sweet - even if she wasn't able to make it :)

Sunday morning (the next day ) we got up early and dropped by the hospital to see Dawn, Nate, Noah and sweet baby Sophie. 

For pictures of our time in VA Beach click here

After that, Tim's parents picked us up on their way down to Duck, NC and gave us a ride to catch up with the rest of the  Baylor family.

We had a wonderful week in the Outer Banks with Tim's parents, Siblings, nieces, nephes, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. Rachel and Suz (my sisters in law) planned  a very nice shower for me at a local restaurant.  We had such a nice time together!

Pictures of our Time in Duck, NC can be found here

After a week at the beach, Tim and I travelled with his parents to State College, Pa (my hometown). Tim and I drove from there to Pittsburgh, PA where my twin sister Rachael lives. All of my family was gathering there. We had a nice time catching up with my siblings, parents, and nieces. We even got to meet up with Adam, Adrianne, and Owen Thomas (oh and Dan Valentine too). It was so great spending time with them again.

Pictures of our time in Pittsburgh are here

Our Baby Girl's Name

We decided to name our baby girl "Madison Hope Baylor"  Madison is a family name on the Baylor side. And hope is just an encouraging word/name that has the idea of a confident expectation.  

We are thrilled to  know that we are having a baby girl and glad to finally have a name picked out. I cannot say it enough - God is so good and faithful.