I am a very bad blogger...

Yeah... it's been a while.
Between a few snow days here and there and days off of work for holidays, not to mention morning sickness- I've just been slack around here. The good news- this is the last week of Cheerleading! YAAAY!

Now don't get me wrong, I <3 (most of) these girls to death, but at some point, I'd like to go home at 3:30, please. Especially when I'm exhausted and all I want to do it lay on the couch watching DVR'ed "Deliver Me" (I'm starting to think I have a problem).

Something that's been on my mind lately is my life after May. "The Plan" is for me to take a year (or possibly more) off from teaching. I'm not a huge fan of the district I'm in (the people are great, but it's just so far away! AND I'm learning that I am NOT called to work with middle schoolers in an educational setting. We don't mesh.) AND I just want to be home with the baby for that first year.

But then I got to thinking "Who do I think I am to walk away from a perfectly good job, when, in this economy, there are a TON of people who can't find work at all!? What makes me think I'll be able to 'get back out there' when the time is right for our family?" A TON of districts around here have hiring freezes- for example, when I leave, they won't replace me. They'll either NOT have music, or have the high school music teacher come by a few times a week. I just can't stop thinking about that.

I feel like I'm free-falling from a high trapeze with no net.
(Well, I guess Joe's salary is a net... but not a huge bouncy safe-looking net)

ANYWAYS, the reason I'm even here at home and able to blog at the moment is because I've had a teeny bit of spotting this weekend and, being the massive worrier that I am, I called the Dr. who aid everything sounds fine, but that she'd have me in for an ultrasound just to "ease my mind".
So here I am, 9:40am on a Tuesday, just finished an Egg McMuffin, about to jump in the shower, very much ready for some "easing of my mind".

Go Cyclones!

In attempt to NOT be in a foul mood all day (dispite the fact that I will not be getting home until around 9pm tonight) I am trying to be SUPER optimistic about our away game this afternoon!


I'm even attempting to make a list of all the fun things about away games.



1) ... bus rides are fun... right?

2) ... we're riding on the girl's bball bus, so I won't have to worry about anything going on with the boys- they'll be on a completely separate bus!

3) ... it's always fun to see other schools.

4) ... the girls' friends aren't all there to distract them!

5) ...bonding time?

6) ... I do get paid a little extra for this, after all.

7) ... doesn't this look like the most fun EVER?!

Told the fam!!

We told our family last night and the reactions were hilarious and precious!

Joe's dad did a dance. 5 times. AND couldn't stop smiling.
Joe's mom said she needed to come up with a cute/hip grandmother name because she's "not 50 yet!"
My dad: just kept yelling into the phone (He lives in Nashville) "This is great! This is great!"
My older brother, Matt: "I'm gonna be an uncle!"
My 13 year old brother, Sam: "Hey! I'm gonna be Uncle Sam! 'I want you.'" Dork.
My other parents (I was adopted when I was 14): "Can we be Grands and Jeffy?!'
My grandmother: "Really? Are you serious? Really? Are you serious? God is good! God is good!"
Joe's grandmother: (laughing) "I thought you had them dogs!" (great grammar, Grandma)
16 year-old brother, Harrison: "What? You're a pregnant? PREGNANT?!"
10 year old brother, Simeon: "So if I'm your brother, and Caveny is our cousin, and the baby is lower than us...?" Sam: "Simeon, it's not a food chain!"
My 9 year old cousin, Christopher: "What are you gonna name it?" "I hope it's a boy but if it's a girl that's ok, too." "So when my kid is 6, you can drive it around?" "Yeah, but I'm gonna wait til he's 7."
My 7 year old cousin, Caveny: "Mom, do you think they'll let me hold it?"
My 6 year old cousin, Carter: "YUS! I'M NOT GOING TO BE THE BABY ANYMORE!!"

The Year in Pictures

... because all the cool kids are doing it.

January: I was the most excited I had been, basically in my whole life. Not only was I about to marry my best friend, but all of my other friends who I have known from different times, events, schools and time zones were all about to come together and meet each other as they watched Joe and I get married. Oh... and the bachelorette party... when I made this face:

February... duh.

March: Easter! Who doesn't love a bunny cake?!





April: We went on a fun trip to Atlanta to visit Rebecca (last visit before she moved here to SC!) including a Braves game, the Varsitt and going to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". Which was all awesome. (Also, this was the month Ashley annouced her pregnancy!)



May: My Ole Mac passed away. He was 19.

June: Family beach trip! Here's my cousin Christopher with his "friend" he found on the beach!

July: (ok 2 for this one) Lots of boating it up with Joe's family (that's me and his brother's girlfriend, Sam) and hanging out with my ever-expanding best friend Ashley- who had just discovered she was in fact having a boy!

August: Back to school, but not before a fun end-of-summer party followed by a birthday dinner for my baby brother who turned 16!

September: Panther's game with Joe, Henry and Sam!

October: Halloween!

November: After over 3 months in the ICU, Grandaddy comes home on Thanksgiving Day!

December: (ok, ok- 2 again) Quin arrived
...and we discovered that our lives are changed forever!

Well, lookie there!

Wahoo!

How's this for Merry Christmas?!

As you can see, our shoot started off chill enough, but by the end, Quin got really upset with us for making him be nakey- and Ashley had to use her motherly love to soothe him (hehe). I just sent the 300 pics we got today to Ashley- these were just a few of my faves- I can't wait to see which ones she picks for their "Happy New Year" card!

Ooooh! I was tagged!

Meredith tagged me in this super cute Christmas poll about traditions! Here I go...

1. Well, this seems like cheating since it's straight c&p from Meredith, but we also do the Pickle Ornament tradition in our house!
Legend says that the pickle, a symbol of good luck, was the last ornament to be placed on the tree. The first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning was rewarded with an extra gift left by St. Nicholas.The tradition encourages children to appreciate all of the beautiful ornaments on the tree, rather than rushing first to the presents that Santa has left them.

2. Every Christmas eve, we all attend the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at my grandparents church. After the service we go over to Stephanie and Hank's (friend of my parents, I used to nanny for their children) house for the Christmas Eve party! That's when we all exchange presents with gamily friends and eat drink and be merry!

3. My youngest brother, Simeon, is 13 years younger than me. When he was 3 and I was 16, he would NOT STOP tryin gto sneak downstairs to peek at what Santa brought him! That year, we dicided that from then on, we (myself, Harrison-8 years younger than me- and Sam- 10 years younger than me) will build a fort (made of sheets) in Sim's room and make him sleep in the far corner of it so he could not escape. 7 years later, we still do it! Over the years, it's gotten more high-tech (xbox and cell phones are in the fort now), but it hasn't changed! This will be Joe and my first "married Christmas"- we're trying to decide at the moment if we should sleep in the fort together (liek my brothers want us to do!) or stay at our house since we're so grown up now!

4. On Christmas morning, we wake up (at 8-o-clock on the dot- Thank you, Simeon.) and meet at the top of the stairs and wait for mom and dad to tell us we can come down. They go down, make the coffee and turn on the lights, then come back up to us where we read the end of the Christmas story from the bible (the part that envolves a man named Simeon), pray and head downstairs to check out our stockings and what Santa brought (yes, Santa still brings me stuff)!

5. After this craziness at my parents' house, we all go over to my aunt's house for breakfast. Everyone shows up (all aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents) and we eat SO MUCH FOOD! The star of breakfast, however, are the sausage pinwheels that we only eat on Christmas morning- and then not again until the next year!

Now, I want to hear about YOUR traditions. Here's the deal, I'll tag you and link to your blog. Copy and paste the above image into your own blog, and then lather, rinse, repeat!

I'm tagging.... Abby and Ashley (although- homegirl doesn't post because she's too busy with a newborn!) ... not many people, because I forget who else has one of these!