Interesting find

This is a piece from the Washington Post:
"Anthropologists and linguists who have studied children at play have noted that girls form bonds by telling secrets. Here too Brizendine fines "a biological reason"; "Connecting through talking activates the pleasure centers in girl's brain. Sharing secrets that have romantic and sexual implications activates those centers even more...It's a major dopamine and oxytocin rush."

This explains so much about my 6th grade girls! This explains so much about all the lessons learned about not telling secrets!

Ode to Chad

Please bare with me while I brag on my husband. He commented tonight that I never blog about him and all the other "blogging girls" are constantly doting on their spouses! I know this may be a bit cheesy and is not my style to gloat but, I really do believe God had put me with the most perfect man for me!

Since I have been pregnant Chad has been not only supportive but an overjoyed involved "predad".
He painted Harrison's room and put up the chair rail in one week after we found out Harrison was a boy. He goes garage selling with me, studies consumer report for the best baby gear, appreciates the work I do for Harrison(detail work), loves other people's babies more than before, complains that we have to wait to long before he comes, discusses how he wants to be a supportive Christian Dad (like ours), he takes me to get cookie dough at 9pm, does tuna runs every so often, has sympathy pains, is very concerned when anything is sounds off, and many more things I probably overlook.

I knew I was going to marry Chad when I met him, and I told him I was going to marry a Chad when I met him. You see, although us Christians believe that the Quigi board is Satan(it could be), I was intrigued by it because my 6th grade teacher told us that it told her she was going to marry a Bob, sure enough...she did and he is a preacher! I went home and did it that weekend with 2 different friends at 2 different times.....both times it said I would marry a Chad. I didn't really believe it but for 12 years the thought was in my head that a Chad could possibly be my future husband. Some people do not believe that story but if you knew me well before Chad (Lauren, Kim) you will remember me telling you I thought I would marry a Chad.
Okay enough about the love at first sight stuff, let's talk about how perfect he fits with me and my family!
I am very outgoing and can be a bit to much for some quieter folks, Chad is the quieter folk, if we were both like one another....No one would want to be our friend...it would be annoying! He is patient, kind, easy to be around, thinks I am funny(most important part) and has a passion for Christ and a love for life. He is wellrounded a

Favorite websites

I really don't have anything fun going on but, I thought I would make a list of my favorite websites since I have been a soon to be mom! I always love hearing about other new ones! If you have a favorite, share the source!


Baby information:
www.verybestbaby.com
www.babycenter.com
www.pregnancy-info.net

Baby clothes:
www.hannahanderson.com
www.windmillkids.com/
www.jollyrompers.com
www.ebay.com

Decorating ideas:
www.dimplesanddandelions.com
www.rosenberryrooms.com
www.babybrowns.com
www.potterybarnkids.com (wall shelf I want)(catalina magazine shelf)

Diaper Bag I want from this website:
www.reeseli.com (ebony swirl)

Well that is all I can think of for now, I obviously have nothing exiting going on in my world, happy surfing!

Heartburn=hair?

If the myth is true that heartburn means that your baby will have hair than Harrison is going to be a gorilla! Neither Chad or I had much hair when we were babies and do not expected Harrison to but, at lifegroup tonight I had 3 moms tell me they swear that is how you know if your baby will have hair! That has been my biggest annoyance with this pregnancy!

Good note and a NEGATIVE ONE

Exciting News:The verdict is in and Harrison will be having 2 girl cousins! Not only is my brother having a little girl, Madeline but, Chad's brother will be having a little girl, Brooklyn, coming January 1st. Now, Harry will have 2 girl cousins the same age as him and 1 a year older! He will either be learning how to give tea parties or trying to teach them to wrestle! Harrison's room is almost complete, his bedding should be finished this weekend and his decor is half way up! I know it won't be COMPLETE until November but, I would like to get the big time consuming stuff done before school starts! GO Chad...the COOLEST DAD for all his hard work on Harrison's room!


I deleted the negative one....bad kharma!

Lost my Camera

Such a bummer! Don't expect any fun pics for a while! Any suggestions for "baby's first camera"?

Top 5 Most Asked Questions this Week

Question 1: So, What is your Nursery Theme?
Answer 1: Harry

Question 2: (asked my parents) So, your pregnant, when will you be leaving?
Answer 2: Mrs. Smith, I promise that my pregnancy will not interfere with my ability to teach your child.

Question 3: What colors are you using for your nursery?
Answer 3: A aqua torquisish robin egg bluish with a pea olive avocado green accent and some chocolate brown.

Question 4: Why Amanda, that is so not like your to stock up at a good sale...
Answer 4: My husband has put me on a cash only budget, yes it sucks, and is pretty much miserable, I have $4 left until Saturday, can I borrow some milk, so my child can have some calcium?

Question 5: How are you feeling?
Answer 5: Absolutely great, I love being pregnant!

On a ROLL

I am in a not stop can't stop rush, I think I will blame it on my 2nd trimester energy boost! Workshops, school starting, team meetings, faculty meetings, literacy meetings, PTO meetings(I forgot to add that to my favorite thing about school, I am PTO rep. for the teachers), baby bed shopping(yes, still), baby room painting, penny pinching(totally wears me out), and Harry shopping! I am not complaining, except for the penny pinching(blame Chad), I just love feeling so good pregnant. I would like to thank Harrison for my boost of energy and being such an easy baby to carry! I can't wait to get the nursery done and post pictures! My vision is coming to life, I just hope that it looks good together! It is a slow process, the fabric has been bought and Chad is putting up the chair rails on Sat.
I went to Barnes and Noble and got a list of all the picture books that have the name Harry in the title! Keep me updated if you hear of any new ones! I love the Horrible Harry books and Harry the Dirty Dog Series! Chad and I also just bought the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD to watch on our date tomorrow night!

Summers out for School

I am one of the many people who loves getting new school supplies and it is that time! I don't officially start back until next Tuesday but, boy am I excited with all other kiddos! I am not going to ramble about how much I love my job, but I do LOVE my job! I decided to get my more excited about my job, I thought I would write about the things I love about being a 6th grade teacher:

- June and July (just a joke, well kind of)
- Middle School Philosophy
- Teaching writing(one of my favorite things to do....okay not so much journaling but I love writing reports and narratives).
- Feeling almost every day that I am making a difference.
- Kids, I love all ages but my favorite to teach is 5th and 6th grade....I stop when they start gaining attitude:)
-The challenge of making learning fun at a age when school is only for socializing.
-Learning with them.
-Assuming at the beginning of the year that I will not like certain students and them proving me wrong! I leave then end of the year having an individual appreciating and love for each student (there may be one or two I struggle loving as much).
-Using my passion for reading.
-Sharing a passion for literacy with colleagues and 11 year olds.
-Teacher appreciation week.
-Planning Hour
-Decorating my classroom
-Expo Markers
-Kids finally "getting it"
-Kids who want to work hard for me
-Kids who work hard
-Watching 5th graders turn into 7th graders
-Telling a parent how much I enjoy spending my day with there child.
-Constantly letting students know how proud I am of them!
That is enough for now, of course with any career there are negatives, but to start out this year, I would like to remind myself of the good!
Don't be surprised when I blog about the reason I hate my job! That should come around March or April!

Harrison Dean Ware

What a week! Chad and I found out we are having a baby BOY! Are we very excited? ECSTATIC! Although I have always wanted a little girl first because I just like hanging out with girls more! I have had friends and family members that have encouraged my insecurities! Kim reminded me that I have grown up with a family of sport lovers and had a lot of guy friends growing up and in college! I guess since I got married I don' talk to boys as much as I use to! Spending time with Baby James was also another turning point to my appreciation of baby boys! Chad was kind of hoping for a girl first to but, boy is he excited about Harry! He is currently painting Harrison's room! Our friends Linda and Doug bought Harry 3 adorable outfits and one of them resembles the Springdale Bulldog's uniform! Chad has already said he will not like any other outfit as much as that one! We have to get him a Harding Bison warm up outfit now with Chad's old number on it! I know this is a rambling blog but, I am so excited and forget to tell everyone the little things that I am suprisingly EXCITED about! I also bought Harrison's Easter outfit (it is white smocked and was on sale)! When we were at the doctor's office the sonogramer kept talking about how active Harrison was. I don't have access to a scanner but I am happy to tell you how good looking my son is! His legs are so long....they are longer than his body and his feet are big too, even the sonogramer was in shock of his big feet! He must take after his father's side! He had a little nose with full lips and a pretty big forehead!
I think this is enough about Harry for now, I have had too much fun choosing colors and fabric for Harry's room, I will take pictures when it is done!
Thank you for all being so excited in our little joy. Harrison is so blessed already to have people caring about his life!

Oh.....and trust me....I am not stopping until I get my little girl(Georgia)!

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

I stole this idea from Kim's blog. All that is below....is for now, my favorite things change quite often!

1. Saturday Mornings listening to Reggae music and cooking breakfast with Chad!
2. Eating fresh summer vegetables from friend's gardens or from the market: favorites include green beans and red potatoes.
3. Cuddling with Charlie(when he is clean).
4. Expo Markers, I use them everyday during the school year, I never get sick of writing on the board with them. I can't imagine having to use chalk everyday!
5. TARGET

6. The smell of Christmas.
7. The feeling of Santa Baby moving in my belly.
8. Abuelos
9. Wedding and Baby Showers (for other people of course)!
10. Steel Magnolia quotes and comparing people to characters in Steel Magnolias!
11. 80's music

12. Trips to the salon
13. Elizabeth from The View

14. Long talks with my mom, that are usually us laughing most of the time.
15. Revlon Color Stay Lipstick
16. Going to the Movies...only with popcorn and a big Diet Coke!
17.Grandmother Georgia's House
18. Playing with all of my little cousins and niece!
19. DVR
20. Teaching the 2 year olds at church
21. Cookies from the mall (The Cookie Factory)
22. I think shopping gives me more enodorphines than working out....that is why I do it more!
23. Lifetime
24. Bunko
25. Scrabble (especially playing with Grandmother and Chad)

Cousins

Santa Baby is already so blessed b/c he/she will have 2 cousins that are the same age as he/she is. My brother, Paul and his wife, Tessa have there 2cd child due in November(they think it is a girl). Chad's brother,Scott and his wife Amy have a baby due in January, 2 weeks after Santa Baby. Family functions will be so much fun having a play mate every time! I only had one cousin that was close to my age,Ashley, http://heathnashley.blogspot.com/ . She made going to Grandmother and Granddad's house that much more fun!
I need to get a picture of me and Tessa together but, here is mine and Amy's bellies. The other picture is of Mimi with her 2 pregnant daughter in laws! I had to add a picture of the soon to be dad's showing off their bellies as well.
Scott and Amy live about 20 miles away and I am sure it will make life easier for both of us to have our babies so close. I am sure they will grow up being like siblings!
Paul and Tessa are getting ready to graduate and Paul will be looking for a coaching job! I cherish my years sitting on the bench with my dad while he coached basketball. Doing my homework on the bus and having a team of older kids give me extra attention. I am hoping they will move close, so our baby will be able to experience that as well.

Exciting news....I finally felt Santa Baby move....WOW! Chad happen to be sitting beside me and was able to feel it kick just a little bit. I am still glowing with excitement! I just love my baby!

The Name Game

I had assumed since we got pregnant we would name our son Harry Luke or Dean and our girl Georgia Ann. Harry is Chad's dad name and was a family name until his mom decided she did not like it and stopped the tradition. Luke is a name my grandmother and I have always loved. Dean is my maiden name and I always knew I would use it but liked it with the name Louis better than Harry. Georgia is my grandmother's name and Ann is Chad's aunt's name and my sister's middle name. A wrench has been thrown into the mix when Chad admitted that he would like the name Harrison if he knew the boy would be called Harry. I know we have 2 weeks and we may not even be worrying about boy names....but it is kind of fun and we will have an identity for this Santa Baby. We are now making some other ideas for names. I am making a list of my favorite names and then will tell you the 2 we are deciding from for a boy and a girl. I have to say my dad is partial to Dean and mother in law is partial to Harrison....it kind of pushes the first choice. I just LOVE Harry!

Favorite names that must be used .....but I don't think I can produce enough kids:
Harry (Harrison)
Dean
Louis
Theodore(Teddy)
Luke
Girls:
Georgia (Georgie)
Joyce(one of my favorite aunt's name)
Gloria(Chad's only aunt's first name)
Ann
Elizabeth
Kate
Brooke(Chad's brother is using that one)
If you have a favorite combination....please let me know.
We will for sure use Harry and Georgia for our first girl and boy....just not sure which! Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!

Branson Shopping Trip

Rachel and I decided to spend the day shopping in Branson this Saturday while our husbands were on a float trip. It just happen to be the Santa Clause Convention and Santa's were everywhere....in normal clothes! It was a great day trip! I got lots of Christmas shopping done and of course a few things for myself! I figure I better to it now before I find out if Santa Baby is a boy or a girl because, it will be hard not to buy lots of stuff for this baby! I thought I would write a few of the highlights of the day.

• Spending hours on our feet at 2 outlet malls and a regular mall. We got the best deals at the Tanger Mall and we found the best stuff at Branson Landing(new mall).
• Lunch at the Hard Luck Cafe. This is a cafe off the strip where people who are trying to make it in some of the shows work. They sing while you are eating! One of the servers was on American Idol. The food was okay but, the experience was a lot of fun!
• The very best part of the whole trip was when Rachel's father in law called and told Rachel if we found him he would give us $100. He and his wife were shopping at the same mall we were at. He called an hour later and said he would give us $50 more....we found him after running in every store and he gave us $150 more! By this time we were exhausted so we decided to leave and go back home. He called again and told us the same thing! He was planning on doing his for 4 more hours! Santa Doug made our Saturday Christmas in July! Doug and Linda have been close family friends of Chad's family for years. I have been blessed to become apart of their friendship! I am so glad Chad's best friend married such a great person! It makes it easier to stay in touch with their family!
• Kringle's Christmas Store was our favorite shop in Branson. It had 3 levels of Christmas decoration! We could have stayed in there for hours and if St. Doug was around...we probably would have! This store is located in the same center as Hard Luck Cafe.
• Spending quality girl time with a girl who knows how to shop was definitely another super fun highlight!

4th of July

Great Company
Great Food
Great Fireworks
Great Dogs

Family Reunion

We had the greatest time visiting my grandmother this weekend. Two of these pictures are right before the family reunion. Mom, wanted to show off her strawberry shortcake!Her house has always been my favorite place to go. She lives in the quiet country of NEA. I am adding a picture of Dezi b/c it is so cute! Dezi has the chicken pox and absolutely hates the word chicken now! I should do a blog on Dezi funnies!

7 Wonders Chad and I would like to visit or revisit in the next 15 years

Chad and I have both been many places. He has traveled the world and I have traveled the US. We put together a list of 7 places we would like to visit together. Some places we will probably go multiple times and some just once. We agreed on 5 we both would like to visit for the first time or again and each chose one place we have always wanted to visit.

Disney World(with kids)
Boston(family)
Washington DC (Chad's pick)
California: LA, Newport Beach, mountains (family)
Savannah, Georgia/Hilton Head or Africa(my pick, undecided)
Mexico
Hawaii

Chad is BACK

Chad loved the Ukraine and would love to go back. I could never give his stories justice but, I will type a few highlights.

-The camps were crowded with kids who were so appreciative of the attention the group gave them.
-Chad's best friend was his interpretor, Olga, who was so kind to him through out the whole trip. Chad went to her dance class and met her instructor, the instructor ended up coming to the nightly service.
-They look at people who are not Orthadox as cultish and outcasts. Chad said it is really hard to teach these people any different.
-One kid told Chad that he had bought and idol and was saved now.
-The thing I found most interesting about their culture is that the husbands leave the home after the children get a little older. Olga's husband moved to Moscow and she only sees him 4 times a year. It is amazing that is a norm there.
-The love Gatorade and hats. They are so appreciative of anything and very generous too. Chad was given like 15 gifts from kids who had almost nothing.
-There are so many other great things that Chad had to say but those were just a few highlights, he may read this and want to add....I could never give his trip justice.

Thank you for your prayers, I am so happy to have him back!

A Glance at the Last Week!

WOW, what a week! I do not see how military wives do it, I am going NUTS without Chad! He will be back tomorrow night and seemed to really enjoy the mission. I haven' t been able to talk to him much! I have made the most of the week by keeping busy and visiting great friends. I first have to tell a quick story about Charlie, I have posted a picture but, it does not give his bad behavior justice. He has been awful for the last 3 weeks and I know it is because Chad has been gone. He jumps on the counter and grabs any food he can find! I finally put jalepenos all over the countertop and he hasn't been snooping since! I have posted a recent picture of him just for fun. I know he is missing his Dad.
Sat. my good friend Rachel and I spent the day visiting friends, shopping and then we threw a shower for some of our good friends and had a great time!
Sunday, I left to visit the Josh, Lauren, and PRECIOUS JAMES! I had the best time, I didn't want to leave. That baby made me feel so loved, it was hard to say goodbye! He just smiles and cuddles, he is the PERFECT baby. Lauren and Josh were so good to me, I am so appreciative of their friendship. It is so nice to have friends who are constantly kind! It was a wonderful 3 days! I can't wait to go back. I have officially fallen in love with the idea of having a boy after being with James. I have always wanted my girl to be first but, am completely at peace about having a boy after being with James.....he is absolutely adorable! This picture does not give justice to his good looks!
I spent Thursday at a conference.
Friday morning my mother in law and I went to shopping and to visit friends. I always enjoy time with her.
I left Friday afternoon to visit my parents. Friday night I played with Olivia and mom and I enjoyed a great game of Scrabble.
Today was a great day of playing with Dezi and Olivia. They have both developed great personalities. Olivia LOVES Charlie, she laughs at him and would much rather play with him then me! I have posted a picture of them but, was not able to get a good shot of them playing together. Olivia is much cuter than this picture as well. I think I have learned I will need to get a quicker camera before our baby comes! Olivia's mother is pregnant and due one month before my Santa baby! So exciting!
I was able to have lunch with Emily and her friend Jordan. They are both attending Harding as freshmen in the fall and are so excited! It is so fun to talk about the good times I had in college with them!
I am back home and getting the house ready for Chad and making his birthday cake. Sorry I haven't been posting as well, I will do better!

Ukraine Mission Trip

As most of you know my husband, Chad played basketball for Harding and really enjoyed his experience there. I truly believe he would be a coach if he hadn't chose business. As soon as we placed membership at our BCofC that quickly scooped Chad up for one of their missions. They take a group of coaches and some women to the Ukraine to put on a basketball camp and work in the orphanages. They put on camps for kids and teach them Jesus at the same time. This trip has been a big success for the last 10 years. It was obviously something Chad was interested in. He has a heart for missions and to put his 2 passions together (God and basketball) was just a no brainer! He left this morning at 8am for this amazing trip. He has been in Victoria, TX on business the last 2 weeks and his flight black last night was canceled! He was forced to drive through the night and arrive at home at 4 this morning! I think he will catch up on sleep on the flight and hopefully be refreshed once he gets there! I thought I was fully prepared for him to leave but, I lost it as soon as he had his bags out of the door! I guess I was just holding in pregnant emotions and they just spilled out! I know he is doing more greater good there than he would be here and it is where God wants him to be! I am so proud of his decision to spread the gospel around there world, it is encouraging to me! Please pray that God works through the group going this morning and that they come home safely!