Expecting

That's right! Tuckling #2 is on its way! I thought I was only 8 weeks and a few days along but the ultrasound led the doctor to move my due date up 5 days. I hope this kiddo doesn't decide to be a week late like Sydney. I've been feeling pretty gross with the nausea and morning sickness- more so than I remember it with Sydney. I can't wait to be out of my 1st trimester.

I'll post Easter pics and videos later. It was a great trip despite me being sick. Post it later!

Park Play

At the beginning of March I started selling digital scrapbooking templates, word art and kits at Stuff to Scrap (an online digi-scrapping store). Not many sales as of yet but I know it will take time. I felt that if I can get up to 300-400 downloads a day of the freebies I give away on my blog, maybe I could sell them! We'll see how it goes. My last post I mentioned I was addicted but the last two weeks I haven't felt much like digi-scrapping. It's sad. Work sucks. I have a little disrespectful, defiant "kid" that makes my job miserable. But I have only 9 more weeks. I can't wait.

Brian, Sydney and I are going to my parents' for Easter and I'm so excited! I'll be sure to post some pictures from that visit once I get back.
Sydney has been repeating words a lot lately and is loving being able to go outside now that it is warming up around here. We took her to the park a Sunday a couple of weeks ago, and she amazed me! We have never been able to get her to go down slides but she kept climbing up and we no persistence from us, would sit at the top of the slide and come down! It was awesome! She even went to the biggest slide at the playground and loved coming down! She even started coming down on her belly and would dive down the slide! Then, I took her about a week later and there were a ton of kids on the playground (before, it was deserted) and she just stared at them running by and didn't go down the slides : (

The medium slide she dives down



The Big One!

Sore, tired and addicted

I haven't blogged in so long! It is so sad! Because if you look at my wordart blog, I make a post Monday-Friday every week! I keep up with my Creative Team assignments of about 6-8 digi-layouts a month (whew!) and make freebies as well as other digiscrap items. I'm addicted to digi-scrapping! I have some secrets to share but don't want to for a couple of weeks so just hang in there!

I went to Harriman Park on a school field trip with my fourth grade class. It was lots of fun! But I fell way too many times! The first 8 times or so I fell it was pretty fun (like the time I fell laughing because this girl went hysterical when she found out she lost one of her gloves. She said, "I'm going to die! My mom is going to kill me!" and was in tears. I couldn't help but tell her, "well, you better enjoy your last few hours and make them count!" and silently to myself, "And keep skiing!") but then I kept hitting my knees on the skis and it wasn't so fun then :( I have HUGE bruises on my knees. And I am so sore! They said we went about 4.7 miles. It was cross-country skiing but I got to do a little downhill skiing which was way fun! I wish skiing wasn't so expensive!

Brian and I are set on moving to Louisiana at the end of June. It couldn't come at a better time! I have one particular kid at work that just wears me so thin, it's disgusting. I think of myself as a patient person but someone who is so openly defiant and not even a teenager just drives me nuts. There are moments of fun and joy with the class but overall, I just know deep-down that it is not my calling in life to be an elementary school teacher.

On to happier news, Sydney's finger is healing so wonderfully! Brian and I got the ER bill and the insurance only paid $100 of it but then because he is a hospital employee we got a huge discount and wound up only paying about $150 for the visit and stitches. Sweet! Very helpful right now.

Sydney has been a little moody lately, I'll have to admit. Her appetite has dropped and she is constantly saying, "No! No! no!" I came home today and was kissing Brian and I got yelled at! "No!No!No!" I think she is getting a little over-protective of her dad and won't share!

But even with the mood swings, here are some cute pics (these were taken at a friend's house):

The funny, the sad and the ugly

Here are some pics of Sydney wearing my snow boots:And one of Sydney wearing the vest from Grandma and Grandpa Williams. She loves wearing this vest!And then, pardon me for making my blogspot my BRAG-spot, but here are layouts I did using some pictures of Sydney helping me cook!

And then here is the picture of the sad and ugly this week:


Thursday night, Sydney was carrying around a glass bowl. She dropped it in our kitchen and I thought, "that doesn't sound normal". I looked over and saw the broken glass. As I was rushing to get to her, she reached down and cut her middle right finger on the glass. She let out a quick cry but then she was fine. I was not, I felt so sick seeing so much blood coming out of her finger. She would fuss and scream when Brian and I were trying to put pressure on her finger to get it to stop bleeding. We tried for about 45 minutes and then decided we needed to take her to the ER. She got 3 stitches. Poor girl! She hated when they numbed her hand but it was kind of funny watching her quizzical look as she studied her numb hand and tried to figure out what was wrong with it. Sydney hardly notices the stitches and we go back in after another week to get them removed. I'm relieved she is alright and I am being extra vigilant about the glass bowls and glasses now!

Photos

Sorry, I'm not great about posting more frequently here.... we have some adorable videos but we haven't uploaded them to our computer yet. We have to download them and make them smaller... we'll work on that this week. Last night Sydney was up and down all night, rough night for Brian and me both.

Sydney:

- Sydney's 9th tooth is coming in- almost halfway there!
- Sydney really sounds like she is mimicking what we say, I thought I heard "nuh-uh" today and we've heard "uh-oh" as well.
- She just as nimble and climbing everywhere as always. We have a really cute video of her getting into my snow boots and walking around in them. But for now, here are these pics:

Life goes on....

I felt like I haven't blogged in a while but there is not much to report.

- Brian still works at the hospital part-time stocking shelves. He is continuously looking for jobs online and we plan to move to Louisiana in June even if nothing turns up. We just have to get out of Idaho. We feel like we will have more luck elsewhere. I know June seems so far away now but I know it will be here before I know it.

- At least, I hope June is here before I know it! 4th grade is going OK. The kids are fine, they're cute, they like hugging you, writing notes to you about how much you rock, but in my juvenile detention mindset I just see it all as a plot. I hate teaching English but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. The drive has been ok, I mean I did drive to Idaho Falls everyday while I was student teaching but I had people I was carpooling with to make it a little interesting. I would like to carpool for gas costs but at the same time, I would have to leave my house earlier and 7:10 is early enough. I'll survive.

- Sydney is so silly. She is so bubbly all of the time and she has learned how to make the fish face. She cracks me up and she knows it. She is still babbling and I can't quite tell if there is actual meaning to what she is saying but we like to think she can say "stop" , "yeah" and possibly "drink". (That last one's Brian's thinking. I'm with you, there's no way she's saying that.) The 15-month check-up put Sydney's height at the 12%ile but my sister Drea (and I agree with her!) thinks that the office used the wrong gender chart and Sydney should be around the 25%ile. That's what I hope! One of my dreams for Sydney is that she will be taller than me! We've been really lucky, I don't think Sydney has been sick for quite a while now, so that's nice. She still only has 8 teeth (correction! I had put 6, it's 8) but she definitely knows how to use them!This silly girl! If I put her beanie on, it is usually off in 2 seconds. But if we leave it laying around the house, she'll try to put it on but I think she looks like a thug!

Merry Christmas!

First, here are some pictures of Sydney "helping" me put ornaments on the Christmas tree. Normally I put the Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving Day or soon after but I debated for a while about whether to put the tree up. I decided that we would just deal with Sydney pulling all of the ornaments off. She only pulled the tree down one time and that seemed to cure her pretty well. She would play with some ornaments but I think she couldn't figure out how to get them off. Some of the softer clay-like ornaments she found very tasty. She has very much seemed to digress recently as she is chewing on everything and biting! She bites my arm all the time and I don't understand why!


Brian and I stayed here in Idaho for Christmas. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with some friends which was very nice. Sydney opened up her present from Mom & Dad- mega blocks! She seemed to really enjoy them. She was daintily handing us one block at a time. The next day, we got on the web-camera so Grandma and Grandpa Tuck could see Sydney open the rest of her presents. We called all the family and were happy to wish everyone well.

Later, we spent some time with another set of friends who weren't able to go home for Christmas either. We ate so many snacks at their house we were too stuffed to cook the ham we bought for Christmas dinner! So, we really had our Christmas dinner tonight. I think all of us are just enjoying relaxing at home together.

This year sure has been crazy for Brian and me but we still feel quite blessed. We realize in every unpleasant circumstance that things could have been a lot worse and we recognize the hand of the Lord blessing and guiding us. We are thankful for families, temples and an inspired plan for our lives that puts everything in perspective. We realize that our most precious treasure on this earth is each other and we feel rich. Thank you for all of your support and love. God bless your family and may you have a happy new year.

Why Me?

Brian and I had a horrible, no good day last Wednesday. We are still not at the point of laughing about it. So no laughing! I made myself smile with that comment so maybe I am getting there...

It starts about 2 weeks ago. Brian's truck died on his way to work a couple of Thursdays ago. So, we got a new battery and installed it that night at 15 degrees weather. Gotta love Idaho. Brian complained that the car was still making noises and so decided to schedule a diagnostics with the mechanic the following Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the following Monday, my boss calls me in suddenly. He asks her is she would be "willing" to trade with a 4th grade teacher in Ashton, Idaho, 35 minutes from her home. I kindly said I would think about it, because I'm just a nice person, I guess. It's true what they say about the nice guy finishing last. Brian and I talk it over and decide it is a terrible idea. I call my boss Tuesday morning to tell him I can't do it. His response was, "what if I tell you that you have to do it?" Lovely.

So, starting this week, I get to shadow the 4th grade teacher I will work closely with as I adjust to teaching a class of 4th graders. Am I certified to teach elementary. No. Am I excited to have to wake up earlier and drop Sydney off earlier at the babysitter's and get home later? No. Am I excited to have to train this 4th grade teacher who is taking my place how to do my job? No. Am I working for this school district next year? NO! and I want an amazing letter of recommendation when I leave.

Anyways, last Wednesday was the first day that this teacher shadowed me. So, it hit me very hard that this whole thing was really happening. That same day, on the way to his mechanic appointment, Brian's truck dies again. He calls the tow-truck but a sheriff decides to call Brian and tell him to get over to spot and get it off the road. I get home right as Brian had arranged for someone to take him to where his truck died )he had gotten a ride home from some really nice people). He's already frantic because the sheriff wants to tow our truck. I get home and tell Brian to take the car over there. Brian peels out of our driveway, only to get the gas main on his way. The car has the marking post lodged under it so he can't get that away from the gas main. I quickly dial 9-1-1 who tells us to get out of the house immediately. Scary!

We went to our neighbors while the firetruck turned off our gas and a man from the gas company made the repairs. So, between that repair, the truck (which needed an alternator but a man in our ward helped us save a couple hundreds of dollars by installing it for us, Thank you!), and now my extended daily driving, there's our Christmas! Yeah! blah, blah, blah. I need a vacation.

Our Little Comedian- Ton of Videos

Bad News: Our water pipes froze yesterday morning.
Good News: A few months ago, Meagan starting collecting water storage in juice bottles :) And our water is back on now. Thank goodness for sweet landlords!

Sydney has really had a crazy personality lately. She makes me laugh so much! She mimics a lot of the things you say and do so there are often fake laughs and crazy faces. One day she decided the laundry basket was fun to play with so we got some footage of her dragging that around the house. Unfortunately, she tried to put the basket on her head and that is what scratched up her nose (the plastic edges around the holes are a little sharp, I guess).No this is not a yawn.
Look at this sinister but stinking cute grin!


Take a close look at the computer screen. She was banging on the keyboard and somehow changed the monitor screen so that the image was sideways. It was so annoying! The mouse was still in the same orientation so I had to move the mouse to the right to go up on the screen. Brian found out that hitting control and then the direction keys fixed it. I don't know how she does these things...
But you still gotta love her.
Big beautiful smile!


Grandma Tuck requested some footage of Sydney climbing into the chair so here that is.


Sydney does a tippy-toe dance now when she gets excited. It's so cute! (no audio)

And this video is of Sydney pushing the laundry basket all over the house.

To those getting this as an email: If you could not see any of these videos, please go to my blog, http://tucklings.blogspot.com and view the videos there.

Snow!

Every day when I get home from work, Sydney is taking my hand and leading me to our door, essentially saying, "Let me out!". Well, Sunday, we had a really great snow and thought we would see what Sydney thought of the snow. I love these first pictures as she is at the front door of our home and she looks so unsure about what to think.

I let her walk around a little bit in the snow but she did not seem very happy.You can tell in our pictures she thinks it is too cold! She's so funny because she hated that I placed gloves on her hands. Then, for this video: Brian was in the kitchen cooking dinner and I could hear Sydney squealing. I went in to investigate...

Raise and Sydney's achievements

I got a raise at Tutor.com! I am so excited! I have been working there for over a year now (wow!) and so it was really nice to get the raise especially considering that I worked at English Calls for 2 years making less than I did starting at Tutor.com and never got a raise in those two years. So this is nice!

Sydney is learning so much each day (some good, some bad!).

• For example, I try not to tell Sydney "no" because I don't want her saying that back to me. Unfortunately, I tell her stop and it sounds like she says "top!" back to me!
  
• When Brian and I say unh-unh, and shake our heads, Sydney will shake her head back and forth,too.
  
• She waves (it's more like flailing her whole arm, but it works) when you say bye-bye and she now has 7 teeth!
  
• She also recently learned how to climb downstairs.
  
• Sydney can eat a whole apple by herself. She carries it all around the house, gnawing on it to the core.
• And, really exciting, she crawled into her banana chair, pulled up her blanket and fell asleep all on her own this past week. And it was 8:40. (She usually goes to be between 9 and 10!).

So our little girl is growing up!
I say that as I show this picture of her with a pacifier- she really doesn't use it anymore. Really.

Mischief

Last night I learned a very important lesson about how when kids are being too quiet they are up to something. Our friends were over with their 2-year old daughter. The moms were doing crafts and the hubbies were playing games. The little ones were in another room but we could hear their laughter so all seemed fine until my friend's hubby decided to check on the girls. Their little daughter, Sadie, had found our Vaseline and decided to rub it all over Sydney's face and hair.
The other day, Sydney took her shirt off. I didn't know she could do that!



And then I just love Sydney's proud look in this pictures as she rides atop her lion.

Greeting Card

I have been working on creating our Christmas greeting card. Sorry for those of you who like to keep it a surprise but I am going to show you the two layouts I am thinking about doing. I think I am just going to get them printed as 5x7 photos because I couldn't find any blank photo cards at Snapfish.com. Anyways, here are my layouts:

Layout #1
Layout #2 Option 1- Notice the lettering of "Merry Christmas"
Layout #2 Option 2


So which one should I send out, or maybe I should do half of layout 1 and half layout 2. What do you think? There's a poll on my blog on the right side. Please vote!