baby in my belly

There is no denying it, I have a pregnant belly ... in fact, I feel very pregnant every time I walk into my closet and have to face the fact that zero of my pants fit me (well, I should say zero zip and button, all still fit me).

Before the pictures ... lets talk about the love of my life ... Johnny. He was recently promoted to 1st Lt. Yay! for him. He is in the LAST block of training for Primary. Once this final block is completed he will find out what he will be flying for his career! It has been a long journey, please continue to pray for his brain and this crazy Pensacola weather. A clear mind and a clear sky. This last block, Instruments, should take roughly 6-8 weeks to complete. It starts with classroom time and tests (which is what he is in the office studying for now) then come more flights. John finished the Formation block with flying colors (semi pun intended). He loved it and "rocked" his solo, as he put it.

Bell is still an absolute nut. Some days she is the most well behaved dog, and other days ... well, other days she is just flat out crazy. She makes us laugh a lot, and continues to make a great walking partner. Today she is recovering from a five hour play date at her BFF's house yesterday. Her BF(s)F are an American bulldog and a French bulldog. They play perfect together.

Okay ... me, now. I have been feeling more and more like myself with the exception of back pain. I don't sleep many hours due to my stinkin' back, but some how I have a ton of energy. I have been sewing a lot and researching baby items. My next appointment is Tuesday and we will have the 20 week ultrasound that I can hardly wait for! (No gender reveal, sorry folks, we like a good ol' fashion surprise!) I met my midwife for the first time last week and already adore her. She was beyond sweet and really took the appointment to get to know me, and John. I left feeling very confident in myself and in her, which helped with any nervousness.
I am amazed by how fast my belly seems to be growing.

Just look for yourself. Weeks 12-19 (missing 17, ops). My photographer (aka baby's daddy) says, "I love taking these weekly photos of you" after each shoot. He's adorable and sure makes me feel beautiful.

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 18

Week 19

And now it's the end of June

Yay for summer!

The school year wrapped up perfectly. I was asked to come back next year during my end of the year evaluation and cannot wait for a second year of teaching in Pensacola!

As many of you know, my school year will be more like a semester due to the BABY coming in December.

I have to start with John, otherwise my pregnancy will take over this entire post.

John had his first solo in the T-6 a couple of weeks ago. He is finally starting to move through school at a more acceptable rate. More recently, he soloed in the aerobatics phase of school. Solo = flying alone ... crazy. He still continues to amaze me. Please continue to pray for all of his flights and for the weather to continue to cooperate in order for him to complete the needed flights. The goal is for him to fly every day Monday thru Friday. The more frequent the flights the better. He does a lot of studying in his office (thank goodness for a split floor plan ... he has one side of the house and Belleau and I have the other). When he is not studying ... he hangs out with me (movie, dinner, walk, Jeopardy, etc.), plays golf, or goes bowling. He does occasionally let himself have a little fun.

Belleau is still a nut. She was spayed two weeks ago and it about broke our hearts. She had to stay the night at the vet. It was so weird coming home after dinner to an empty house while she was gone. She was not quite the same the first two days (didn't want to go outside, didn't want food, didn't want her toys), but boy is she back to normal now! She is currently barking in our room ... but this was what she was doing when I walked in ...

She often likes to pretend she isn't up to anything, but there are two pillows on the floor. I let her believe she outsmarted me ... probably not a good idea.

On to this pregnant belly of mine. We found out in late April and had our first ultrasound on 15 May. Baby Lynch was quite the mover! Arms and legs were moving like crazy, it was magical to see.

Since then we have had one more ultrasound and two other heart beat listens. It amazes me every time. Today I am just a little over 15 weeks and finally starting to have more energy! The last 15 weeks have not been the greatest ... started with nausea, then no desire to cook or even look at uncooked food, then zero energy to do ANYTHING, then a nasty metallic taste. The taste and the zero energy were the "worst" in the first trimester. My biggest complaint today is the gagging. I gag roughly 20 times a day. And there is nothing specific that triggers it ... it is everything! Quite annoying. Hoping and praying it goes away in the next couple of weeks.

Please pray with us for a healthy pregnancy and very healthy baby (with John's blue eyes)!

Here are the links to the videos of us telling our parents. They are very worth the click to YouTube.

First is mom and dad Vandament via FaceTime using the song "We're having a baby" from I Love Lucy. Second is mom and dad Lynch at the airport when they arrived.

Mom and Dad (Vandament)

Mom and Dad (Lynch)

have you given up on us?

January 24th was the last post. I can hardly believe it. Ashley, you should be getting on me for slacking. Since January 24th we've had two birthdays, an anniversary, visitors, flights, etc.

Let's go case-by-case

As a family, first. The Vandament parents came to visit in March and we had a BLAST. They were here on my (Tenisha's) Spring Break. We went to the beach, ate lots of great food, went to base, visited the museum, ate more, played with Belleau, played lots of Monopoly Deal, cooked, had a Pampered Chef party and played with Belleau more. Tori is the next visitor lined up, then we must have our Lynch family out for a visit.

Belleau turned ONE! And although she occasionally pretends to be mature, she is still a gosh darn puppy. We took her to the dog beach just yesterday and she played for 90 minutes with no break. She was a beast, and impressed all of the humans there. We had to literally drag her away from the water when we were ready to head home. Some owners of a retriever were very upset with their dog that would not fetch a tennis ball, but you better believe Belleau was after it in a heart beat each and every time. She is still a riot and keeps us ever so busy.

John is finally back to flying after his wisdom teeth surgery. He was out for several days. You would be amazed with all he has to memorize. He is currently in the office going over his brief for tomorrow's flight.

He flies.

Can you believe it?

I still can't.

I've been asking him to give us a paragraph, in his words, of what he thinks of being up in a plane with the controls at his hands ... and once he has a break from studying ... I'll get him typing.

I am still teaching and loving it. I am only seven weeks away from summer and the completion of my first year of teaching. I received a raise for completing my masters, which is always exciting. Can't decide on my next degree, but be assured there will be another. I have wonderful friends at school that I have absolutely loved getting to know. And my students are the reason I love the job. We are in the middle of Shakespeare, and I am thankful to Dr. Darcy at UNO for making me love and appreciate good ol' William.

I know this does not give you a play by play of what we have been up to in the last THREE months, but our lives are seeming somewhat normal at the moment, and for a life in the Marine Corps normal feels so odd. We have lived in Florida for almost a year and that also seems odd after eight months in Omaha and seven months in Virginia. But normal is nice, and we are enjoying it while we can.

Food. Now, of course that topic deserves its own paragraph. We have been cooking as usual. I am experimenting with pot stickers. I have the dough down, and the Asian filling. Thinking a buffalo chicken and blue cheese filling is in my near future.  Pizza is still a love of ours. In fact, I just made the most "boring" one we've had in awhile: pepperoni, mozz, goat cheese, and sage. Last week we had turkey bacon, apples, maple syrup, and chicken ... mmMm. Oh and for Valentines day we had chicken lasagna. A personal favorite.

On one last note ... I have started picking blackberries in our neighborhood! One of our fantastic neighbors showed me the way to yummy berries, and I have started going out there daily to grab a few more. They are delicious.

For my own sanity, I will not wait three+ months between posts. *I will TRY not to ...

welcome to the Circus.

Settle in for a little end of the month update.

As of yesterday, John started his next school (Primary). And he is sitting in his office (we have his and her offices) studying for his first test which is FRIDAY. They do not mess around down here. He has a lot of work cut out for him.

School for me is continuing to be enjoyable. I teach one block class and have a new group of students for this semester. They are fun and I am anxious to start fresh with all I learned first semester.
There is another class I must mention. I have a new addiction and it is noisy, productive, creative, challenging, and sits on a table.

Sewing! We bought a sewing machine on Black Friday and I finally broke it out last week and took my first class Saturday at JoAnn Fabric. I have many plans, and will keep you updated on what plans I choose to see through.

Belleau is still Belleau. John kicked her out of the house today because she had peed on the floor at some point. She IS maturing, but is still just a puppy. We'd be lost without her. We bought a new rug for the living room and the day John opened it and laid it out she was shaking with excitement. Unfortunately, she believes the rug is hers and that makes Yoga and Pilates quite difficult.

John and I have been attempting to experience more of Pensacola, or the south in general. After hearing that the circus was in town, we decided it would be appropriate to relive some childhood memories and attend. It was quite impressive. A man walked upside down. Legit circus. We had a blast, and especially loved the elephants because they reminded us of jumbo Belleaus (told you, we'd be lost without her).

Hoping a concert is up next. Maybe a football game (senior bowl?).

We are also joining with our church in the Daniel Fast, which has been quite the journey thus far. It started last Sunday (little over a week ago) and goes until February 5. We will make it. We will make it. We will make it. It has required us to become even more creative with our cooking, which we love. But I sure do miss cheese, and fried chicken. And eggs. And I really need some chocolate. But NO ... I will gladly eat veggie burgers, and chickpea stir fry.

One last note, our lap top is acting up. Whistling at me and randomly turning off and back on. Not good signs.

Happy new year.

Already 2012. I can hardly believe it. I remember being eight or nine years old and going to my piano lessons, and hearing my wonderfully old piano teacher talk about how she just couldn't believe she could possibly live to see the 2000's. And here we are, 12 years into them. I think about her at the start of each new year in the 2000s (she talked about it A LOT). She did live to see them.

On to some exciting updates. First Christmas break. We sure lucked out with two of the best families. We spent week one in Topeka and week two in Omaha. Saw grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and long time friends.

Belleau enjoyed her first Christmas. She was a pro at opening gifts. Honest. She just knew what to do like an excited toddler. We had our Christmas here on December 15th. Complete with a fajita feast, presents, stockings, and laughs. I love my mini family.

I'll let the pictures below do the rest of the talking for Christmas break.

But before the pictures ... exciting teaching news. I (Tenisha) am overseeing the Spelling Bee for my school and have been nominated and named the 10th grade English teacher leader, which essentially means I report to the Department Head for all that happens among us 10th grade English teachers. It is an honor ... and work.

John starts school Jan. 23 ... pray for him and his brain :). He also has to have his wisdom teeth out in the near future (more prayers). He is currently "checking in" to the next school, aka paperwork, appointments, and meetings.

Now for the pictures ... Christmas break, folks ...

Bells opening her present

John's present. All he wanted. Honest.

Jude and Belleau

Bowling with the family

He's good.

Cousin Hugo ... they really did love each other.

John's new toy ... and buddy

seeing the g-parents

riding to Holdrege

Grandma Jean

Ice Skating for Tor's birthday

Brother

the girls at sushi

Camp fire for New Years Eve

Cousins

Sunny OK

my classroom

After a request from Natasha, I have decided to dedicate a blog post to my classroom. I really do love my job. Even as I am sitting here with a stack of 50 essays to grade on my lap ... {really long sigh} I cannot believe I am only a couple weeks away from completing my first semester at my FIRST teaching job.

A little refresher ... I teach five classes. Two regular ENG II (Sophomore) classes, one ENG III (Junior) class, and two ENG II honors (Sophomore, again). It's a perfect schedule and the students are by far my favorite part of teaching. I am glad to report that most think I am 27 or 28 (glad? yes, glad ... it's refreshing to no longer be '16' ... and no, they do not know the truth).

Okay, okay, pictures. Keep in mind this is my first teaching job ... my collection of educational posters is lacking. Prepare for a full scan ...

I really have to let go of my OCD tendencies. The non matching desks. Ugh. 
And here are my little touches ... 

crates for notebooks

bathroom pass

'turn in' and 'missed work'

note by front door

organized board ... :)

And back to grading I go ...