38 Weeks...

38 weeks... and hopefully less than 2 to go! At least this picture signifies that I only have 5 more days left of school before I am on maternity leave! WOOHOO... that I am definitely looking forward to.. I would like to say that I am one of those teachers that will really miss her students.. but sadly I am not.. I will enjoy every second that I am away from my students and school! The fear of child birth is no longer my greatest fear of the up coming weeks...I am more in fear that my students will show up at the hospital while I am giving birth... (many of them have expressed that they will show up) Be scared for me!

ps- Thank you to everybody that has voted that I will have Zoey early! I knew I liked you guys! Let's just hope it comes true!

1 centimeter!!!

I never thought i would be so excited about something so small... but i learned today that i am one centimeter dialated and the doctor could feel the baby's! WOOHOO! i know to those who have had children that this is nothing and truly doesn't mean a lot.. but it made me soo excited! i have had more contractions in the past couple of days.. of course nothing significant... mostly they are random and infrequent but it just makes me excited that I am that much closer!!!! 9 more to go!

37 weeks and new furniture!

Please try not to look at my face.. only focus on the belly! With this posting I am now excited because it means I have less than three weeks before Zoey is in the world!! With doctors visits once a week and school starting again I think the next three weeks are going to fly by.. at least hopefully... (I think Cyrus was jealous of the picture..)

We made our final pre-Zoey purchase with the help of some of the wonderful teachers that work with Gary... i love it! its so comfortable, i often will just rock there by myself.. now truly all we need is Zoey!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!? My in-laws bought us this gorgeous table for our new house! It's perfect for the space and fits perfectly with everything else we have! Though we haven't eaten dinner on it yet i know it will be perfect for many many many family dinners to come! Thanks mom and dad!

What is wrong with this picture?

The below picture might help to illustrate why our dogs our spoiled... and why they think that they are humans... Yes that is our bed.. my husband on the left, both dogs next to him... and yes that area to the right of the picture is where i would be sleeping... all four of us pretty much "spoon" all night... wanna trade spots?

Wii would like to play...

In the midst of a pretty uneventful spring break and with our newest addition well on her way... the Mattes family has purchased a Wii! and in the span of 21 hours hours we have played the Wii for about 8 hours already.. Gary pretty much kicks my butt in all the games except for a couple games of bowling and golf.. i dominated golf last night! so while we are at home with our lil' Zoey... we will have entertainment! I highly recommend them to anyone...

(video was asked to be removed by my husband... those who watched i hope you enjoyed!)

36 weeks.. and growing..

Enough said...

One month.... (or less)

WOOHOO.. as of today i have less than a month(hopefully) before this lil' girl is born! Its crazy to think that in less than a month there will be a lil' baby girl in our house and that we are going to be parents! kinda scary.. but oh so exciting!!! part of me wishes she would come sooner than April 26th, but the other part just thinks that will screw up my sick/maternity leave for school, which means it that would mess up my paychecks... but i suppose its not up to me....

Zoey is about 6 pounds and somewhere around 20 inches long.. and the lil' rascal has stolen my belly button.. that is right i no longer have a belly button that goes in.. it is simply flat...its kind of crazy to look at.. it is also getting much more uncomfortable to sleep or move.. my memory is completely shot. and i find myself forgetting simple words that i have used a million times in life.. as well as how to spell most words.. my students find this to be hilarious.. but i think they are finally beginning to understand... my body temperature is raised constantly to the point that i am freezing my students with tundra like conditions.. contractions occur frequently throughout the week.. which only makes me excited until they stop... but overall i can't complain.. i love being pregnant, despite my gripes, especially when she moves all over my belly! One month to go.. pray and hope for sooner!

ps- sorry about the comment moderating.. i had a creepy one from someone i didn't know.. so it made me nervous...

35 weeks and the parenting experiment

(sorry about the attire... when i come home from school this is all my body can handle... fitting clothes are becoming a scarcity)

35 down 5 to go... part of me can't believe that time has gone by so fast and that in 5 weeks there will be a lil' zoey in our lives! then there is the other part of me that is thinking WHAT?!?!? i still have 5 weeks.. you have got to be kidding me!! how much bigger can a person get.. im not that big to begin with where is this child going to go?!?!?! so apparently bi-polarism is taking over my mind. but in reality i am really excited about the upcoming weeks and CAN NOT WAIT TO MEET MY DAUGHTER!!!

she is currently around 5.5 pounds and 20 inches long.. she moves CONSTANTLY with alien like movements.. its so crazy to sit and watch my belly move about in weirdly contorted ways.. the best is when gary notices and is a little bit freaked out... but then he put his hand on my belly and then she really goes nuts!

so this week we had a wonderful and insightful experience.. one of my friends at school needed someone to watch her beautiful 9 month old daughter, Autumn.. so i voluteered... thinking hey we need to get used to this due to upcoming events... so i brought her to the house and the dogs went crazy.... sniffing, licking, and generally courious about who this person was and why was she in their house.. they eventually calmed down and went on with their day of sleeping and playing... then Autumn decided she was not so happy anymore and basically went on crying for about an hour... of course my first thought was "what the heck am i thinking.. i am not ready for this..." i think gary had the same feelings when he said "im glad you volunteered to watch her" after a bottle, toys, bouncing, games, gary playing with her, and a walk in the stroller, i realized a bottle might not be enough for her and since i was unable to find her food i took out a piece of bread and fed it to her and thankfully that was the magic trick! Autumn then started to enjoy spending time with us.. and gary loved playing games with her toes and keeping her occupied with a soda bottle...Autumn was quiet and after a bottle was asleep.. WE SURVIVED!!! I did feel much bettter about my parenting skills considering the child was alive, she was fed, and we were alive as well.. i did reassure gary that it is easier when its your own child.... i don't know if that made him feel better or not, but he was amazing helping me get pacifers, cooking dinner, and entertaining autumn!... but i guess in 5 weeks we will have a crash course in parenting with no return or end... cause i guess we can't give her back... nor do i want to!!!

my adorable niece...

Though we haven't formally met.. i can already tell that she is adorable.. blogging world meet Samantha Colleen...

Too many things...

I know more than one post in a day... lame.. but i figured if i didn't do this today.. it might be weeks before i got the pictures off my camera and actually posted them on here... so here you go..

1. My dad, step-mom, and little brothers came into town this weekend and though we didn't do much.. it was fun to have them around and hang out with family. We did manage to take them out to McGuire's-the greatest restaurant on the the planet.. and as you can see from the picture below my dogs LOVE their uncle brett!


2. So one of the horrible side effects of my pregnancy has been constant runny/bloody noses, and TERRIBLE snoring! I even wake myself up sometimes! Its absolutely terrible and worse of all my poor loving husband has been reduced to sleeping in the guest room almost every night since we have moved in...(he tries to sleep in our bed every night and then inevitably lands up in the other room..) So tonight i am experimenting tonight with these remedies... any suggestions??

ps- the ear plugs are for Gary... hopefully we can sleep in the same room now...

3. Thanks to our wonderful friends... Zoey's room is just about complete.. notice the letters.. i painted them myself! i know i felt so martha! I just can't wait until there is a little girl living in there!


4. My amazing step-mom made this goregous blanket for Zoey! It's sooo soft and wonderful that i might steal it from Zoey!


5. Alright you must really like us to still be reading this... 34 weeks.. and apparently that turns you ghostly white... i don't know what happened to the pictures but i tried it several times and each time this is what came out.. so i gave in and looked ghostly! the good thing is this picture means only 6 more weeks! i'm excited to see Zoey.. and get some of my body back! Once again I encourage comparision with older pictures for the true effect...

Congrats!

My new niece Samantha Colleen was born today! She is beautiful and healthy! I can't wait to see her in person! Congrats to Kim, Tj and big brother Alex!!

Christmas in March??

It has felt a little like Christmas around here... remember that feeling when you were a kid and you got presents that needed to be put together.. and you couldn't wait to unwrap them from their box and take out all the pieces and read the directions(men maybe dont understand that part)... and then were filed with the great sense of accomplishment for what you just assembled....

That has been my feelings the past couple of weeks with new baby stuff! I love it.. my mother-in-law gave us the bouncer and swing... and I bought the stroller and car seat! It was soo much fun to put it all together.. I love it!


My wonderful mother-in-law came over this past weekend and painted Zoey's room a very bright and froggy green (as you can see in the pictures)! At first I wasn't so sure about the color but i think its growing on me.. which is good cause there is no way we are repainting!

Our fence is also completed thanks to the wonderful efforts of my husband, father-in-law, and friend Hayden... man i'm so glad i'm prego and can't help with manual labor! it looks amazing! Our yard is also beginning to be cleared as well.. which is great!

Baby Zoey is now close to 4 pounds (according to the baby tracker), but when i went for an ultrasounds last week they said she was about 3 lbs 10 ounces... lets hope for small.. and she is about 19 inches (once again... doubtful considering she is half my child)

Don't we live in Florida!?!?!?

I was on time to work this morning... in fact a little early... and then I walked outside and found this....




I can't wait for Spring!
* Note this is a rare occurence for us in Florida so please do not believe this is every morning.. Florida is warm and a wonderful place to visit!

31 Weeks....

Some things I have learned now 31 weeks into pregnancy....
1. my feet are a far distance memory...
2. tums are my new favorite candy...
3. strech marks are so very attractive...
4. i forget how skinny my feet used to be...
5. hunger is a constant... 24/7
6. i'm only going to get bigger.. this is inevitable...
7. waddling is the new model walk...
8. any clothes i had before i was pregnant are long gone...
9. maternity shirts are far too short and not that attractive...
10. I have the best support system! especially my husband who is always there for me and loves how HUGE i am!

Correction.. Thanks Darrin!

For those who read the blog entry "woohoo" i must correct myself... The Mattes Bed and Breakfast is NOW ACCCEPTING reservations! Sorry to any how read the blog and felt offended... We would love for anyone to come and visit! Especially now that the house is starting to look and feel like home..

We have had a very busy weekend of unpacking and moving that we are EXHAUSTED!! But with the help of amazing family and friends everything is here and most is unpacked! Now its just a matter of organizing and setting everything up... which of course the best part! Time to unleash my inner martha stewart... we'll see how that goes...

Zoey is doing great and getting bigger day by day! it still scares me that i have 2 months left! She is now almost 17 inches tall (but lets be honest its MY child so she is probably a lil' bit smaller than that) and weighs a whopping 3 pounds.. Things have started to become a lot more real especially since now she has a room and all her POUNDS and POUNDS of clothes have come out!! Seriously this child will never need clothes until she is at least two!

Braxton Hicks

So last night I apparently had my first encounter with Braxton Hicks contractions... My back was in serious pain with a stabbing like feeling that would come and go sparatically... i laid on the couch all night.. but was able to sleep fine... So after my appointment today the doctor reasured me that it was probably Braxton Hicks and that if it happened again or got worse that i should call them and possibly go and get checked... if those are any indication of labor pains.. i have one word for my labor experience... DRUGS! I want drugs and lots of them... almost to the point of a coma...

Woohoo!!!!

We just got word that Friday we will be closing on our house! We can not wait! Although we have loved and are eternally grateful to my in-laws... it is time to move on and become adults once again! So to all those who would like to come and visit we now will have a place for you to stay! HOORAY!! The Mattes' Bed and Breakfast is now accepting reservations!

PS- Congrats must be said to Courtney and Chris on their marriage which I am sure was BEAUTIFUL, since Courtney must have been the most BEAUTIFUL BRIDE! and Todd and Jenny on their lil' bundle on the way... I hope its a girl! Zoey needs a friend! So excited for you guys!

We did it!

We found a house!!!! We went house hunting two weeks ago and found a house we really liked and after a week of negotiating.. they accepted our offer! WOOHOO!! Its 3 bedrooms and 2 baths (which might be the best part..) It's also a BRAND NEW HOUSE! We never thought we would be in a new house! SO needless to say we are stoked! So now we are waiting for all the finance and such but we should be closing on February 15th! Below are some pictures...

27 Weeks...

It frieghtens me that I will be getting bigger... pregnancy has definetly taken over my body! Which is not a bad thing considering I am still eating everything I want... but I could do with out the back pain, waddling, and literally rolling out of bed... It all worth it though to think of that little girl in my arms in a couple of months!! SO EXCITED!

1000 visitors!

We made it... 1000 visitors to the Mattes' blog... I am just happy that people actually read this thing... although i know most of the hits are from me as this is my only source to go to other's blogs.... so oh well we hit the number and that what's important...so thanks for your interest and keep checking back!!!

We have decided on a name for the little one... Zoey Elizabeth Mattes will be arriving in April, and deciding on a name only makes this whole experience all that much more real!

In other news, school has started back up which now only makes 87 more days of school till summer! and even less for me thanks to our little girl! I'm soo looking forward to the time off, even though i know it will be crazy and hectic! So as we get back into the swing of things, we also started looking for a house!!!! HOORAY! It will be nice to be in our own house with our furniture! Its been so long that I have forgotten what it looks like! SO wish us luck and keep checking back!