Aidan

I know, I haven't updated in forever! (I've been very tired, and we've had guests staying in our computer room, which limits access. But no excuse is a good excuse.) I'm so sorry, especially since I'm pretty sure all of my out of town friends and family members were hoping for more pictures of Aidan. Well, here you go! This is not all, by any means, so look for more to come. But for now, here's some of my favorite pictures of the kid. As a proud mommy I can honestly say that my kid is the cutest kid ever! :)

(Mike says this last one makes him look like E.T. True, but I love it anyway!!!)

Introducing...

Aidan Blake Steele

Born June 2, 2009

7 lbs 13 3/4 oz.

20 1/2 inches long

Mike's a very proud daddy!


Mommy adores her little angel!


Look at my long fingers and perfect toes! Don't I look like a little frog in my car seat?

Welcome to the world, Aidan!

Invincible

I am convinced that my fish is invincible.

Here are the facts. Lucky (yes, that's his name) has survived the following:

• 5 years of being fed by school children
• living in 4 different classrooms
• living in 2 different schools
• living in 2 different states
• the weird scaly infectious thing that still hasn't gone away (see my earlier post if you don't remember)

and NOW...

• spilling, flopping around gasping for water, and surviving all the way home in barely an inch of it.

I was trying to bring him home from school today, so I set his tank on the floor of my car. Unfortunately, I took a turn too hard and forgot to hold his tank, so it went flying and spilled everywhere. Sure enough, he fell out. I had to try for a good 5 minutes before I could scoop him into my sunglasses case to dump him back in the tank. He kept flopping away from me! But finally I got him back in, and he survived the rest of the drive home in a scant inch of water.

Didn't I tell you that he's invincible?!

P.S. Yes, I tried to clean the fish water off the floor of my car, but I'm pretty sure it's going to smell bad for a while. Yuck.

Tired

Boy, I am TIRED right now! Today was the last day of school, so this whole morning was a whirlwind trying to make sure to get everything to the kids and get them out the door on time. (Maybe it was good that everything went so fast because it didn't leave me time to be too sad. Then again, maybe I'll be more sad next Wednesday or Thursday when I actually don't have to go to work! Then again, maybe I won't be sad until the fall when everyone else starts school again. Then again, maybe I won't be sad at all! :)

Anyway, this whole afternoon we had time to work in our room, which was wonderful. And I had two very dedicated ladies who came to help me, which was also wonderful. But I spent about 6 hours bending and lifting and moving and walking and sorting and cleaning and I am tired!

Boy, I would sure love a nice pedicure right now. Or a bath. Except our bathtub is gross, so I'm not getting in there. Sigh. Oh, well... maybe I'll just soak my feet or something.

Baby Shower!

My wonderful friends at work threw me a baby shower last week! It was absolutely amazing!!! They had yummy treats,

a darling centerpiece,

tons of friends who came,

and about a million gifts! We weren't sure if they would even fit in the car going home!

Now we feel MUCH more ready for this baby. THANK YOU again to everyone who participated! It's so nice to know that I have friends who will step in where my family members can't due to distance. I am so blessed!

Quiz

My brother Spencer had a fun quiz on his blog to see who knew him and his wife better. I liked the idea and told him that I would steal it. It took me a while, and I couldn't think of as many questions as he did, but here's my version!

Here are your instructions: Read the questions. Without looking at anyone else's comments, make your best guess for which person it might be. All of the answers are either Mike or Michelle. (Sorry, please don't abbreviate with M. Or with MS. Or with MBS. We won't know who you mean.) I'll update with a winner... well, when I can, since we all know I'm not the most consistent blogger on the planet! (Although I did do a TON of posts today, so make sure you scroll all the way down until you find one you've seen before!)

1. Who faces the window when we sit at our table?
2. Who likes smelly shower gels?
3. Who spends more time with the flower bed out front?
4. Who takes care of our fledgling tomato plants?
5. Whose printer actually works?
6. Who sleeps with the window open?
7. Who likes Sudoku?
8. Who hangs his/her keys on a hook right inside the doorway?
9. Who keeps his/her camera out on the desk?
10. Who buys nice pens? (The other person buys cheap ones.)
11. Who uses mouthwash every night?
12. Who pays the rent?
13. Who pays the tithing?
14. Who wakes up earlier if neither of us has any obligation to get up for?

Good luck and have fun!

Counting Down

This is a post of mixed emotions.

I am counting down days of school. Right now there are 13 1/2 student days left, 15 for me if you include teacher work days. On the one hand, that's great because what teacher doesn't love summer vacation?! By this time of year, I'm almost always ready to send my group of kids on to the next grade. Plus, the sooner school is over, the sooner my little guy is here. But on the other hand, it's really sad knowing that This. Is. It. Once I count down those last few days, I won't be a classroom teacher again for who knows how long, if ever.

I am also counting down weeks of pregnancy left. (I don't want to switch to days yet because it still feels like a lot.) Right now, I have 5 1/2 weeks until my due date. On the one hand, I can't wait to meet this little guy! Plus, I'm getting big enough/swollen enough/achy enough/uncomfortable enough to start thinking that being done with being pregnant might not be so bad. On the other hand, the closer I get, the more I start realizing that my life is going to change forever! That, and it means I'll have to go through labor!

Sometimes both countdowns seem so far away, and sometimes they seem so close that if I blink they might be here. And sometimes one seems close while the other seems like it will never come. Change can be really scary!

I know lots of people in my family have big events coming up this year. Is anyone else counting down toward something right now?