39 weeks and a Big MOVE

Hello to all! Sorry for the lack of posting lately. You would think that among the extreme boredom of playing the waiting game I would have some time- but it's a little more depressing to not have any noteworthy news. And sorry for my computer not spacing everything the way I want it to- it seems to have a mind of its own today. I promise I do know how to form a paragraph.

38 weeks

39 weeks 3 days

The red and sweaty face is from my "get out of my belly" walk with MJ this morning. A combination of sunburn and 50 lbs overweight-out-of-shape-ness.

Last Friday we went to the Dr. and I was a "good" 3 cm and 80% effaced. Then she proceeded to ask me "how are you still pregnant??" Well, that's a good question. She thought for sure Saturday or Sunday I would go into labor. After we left, I said- I am not getting my hopes up. Good thing cause there is still a baby in my belly. So now we just wait some more....

We do have some noteworthy news though that has nothing to do with the baby. Zach and I are moving back to Atlanta within the month. I know we are crazy for attempting this with a newborn- but so far we just really like to do things the most difficult way possible! haha. I have accepted the head vball coaching job and a history teaching position at Heritage High School in Conyers, GA and Zach is going to be the asst. varsity and head JV bball coach at Dunwoody High School. We are super excited to get back to Georgia with all the relatives. And, even though it was a hard decision, we know it is what's best for our family. So, we could potentially be moving with a 2 week old if he decides to cook for that long. Awesome!! Since our parents are super-amazing we will be staying with them in July so that we don't have to rush into making a decision on where to live and what place to live in. God has really put everything out on the table for us and has really answered our prayers so we couldn't say no to the opportunity.

Christmas Break!

Finally back in Lawton and back to working at the fitness center, which means I can use my useless hours of boredom and work on the blog! Unfortunately, according to the only documentation that I have, you would think that Zach and I have shunned my family- so not the case- but no one took pictures at my house!


On the 22nd we found out that we are having a BOY!! Best Christmas gift ever!


Christmas Eve we spent with the Darlings. We went to church, came back and had a great dinner and opened lots of presents. There is a total of nine people in the family now- crazy!

The first night we got to Zach's parents house

The Darling Boys

First "Real" Christmas


The Whole Family



Mistletoe Kisses

Aaron getting kisses from the girls (and Zach is apparently one of the "girls" now)

Whoa Baby Bump....

Hahaha

A "Darling University" Onesie! So Cute!

Priceless Jake

We spent Christmas Day with my family at my Mom's house. Married and pregnant and still stuck at the Kiddie Table! Fabulous! Ally, Wes, Tracy, Eston, Zach, and I will forever be a fixture of the Kiddie Table and Wall of Silence (the "adults" apparently can't hear us when we are five feet away). Ed and Susan were AMAZING enough to bring us lots of goodies like a car seat and a baby swing.

Zach left the day after Christmas to head back to Lawton (which was under feet of snow at this point- I always miss the snow. I go to Atlanta and it snows in Lawton. I come back to Lawton and it snows in Atlanta? What the heck!?)

I stayed back with my mom for a few days who was going to help my drive back to Lawton in the truck. On the 27th Ally and Wes and I went up to Dad's and had Christmas there. We got to meet the new "puppy" of the family- Shelby. I say "puppy" because she is apparently like 12 years old or something. He adopted her from a shelter. In Wes' words "Only you (my dad) would get a dog on its last leg."

Zach and I have never spent a New Years together- ever! Basketball has always seemed to take that holiday away even now. No kisses on New Years Eve, but it seems to be working for us so far! Ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory- yummy! Mom and I literally watched the ball drop and said "alright, turn off the tv it's bedtime!" amidst the gunshots- in College Park people prefer to shoot weapons rather than shoot fireworks. We curled up with all three doggies- Rocky, MJ, and Erk and went to bed.

On the 1st we drove to Memphis! It was such a great visit, and we got to see lots of family. MJ made friends with Stephanie's new dog JJ and we got to see everyone from Jeff and his family to CB and Tommy to the rest of the Memphis local clan. It was so much fun! We left on the 3rd to head to Lawton and then Mom flew back to Atlanta on the 4th- and now here I am back at the Fitness Center working.

Zach and I are working on moving into our new house! Updates on that later! The last renter left it a mess, so I have been cleaning all day long for the past few days to get it ready to move stuff in hopefully this weekend!

Home Sweet Home

A few weeks ago I got the awesome opportunity to Buddy Pass it back to the ATL to see the family. It was a great couple of days. Worked for my Mom at Woodward for a few days to make some extra cash. I figured since I was going to be there anyway I might as well get paid to hang out! Too bad I ended up having to do detention one afternoon. The first visit I have ever paid to detention....I had no idea what any of us were supposed to be doing! I did manage to tell them at the end that that was the most boring forty-five minutes of my life and I blame each and every one of them for that pain. Man, I can't wait to get back to the classroom and torture poor high school souls with sarcasm. I love it! Thursday night I got to catch up with a few of the Darling clan at Everybody's pizza. Friday we went to go see The Blind Side- amazing movie and I recommend that everyone go see it! Saturday we did lots of shopping- I found a brand new pack 'n play for 50$ woo-hoo! And we got Mom and Ally's Christmas tree. Saturday night we had dinner at Ally and Wes' with Mom, Dad, Courtney, Keith, and Avery- so much fun! Except I kept falling asleep on the couch. This pregnant lady is tired!

Look at those trees!!!! So pretty!!

Ally's dog Erk- sulking in the car because I didn't bring his boyfriend MJ. Trust me, I would have brought him if I could!

Look at that face. I know he looks cute but he is actually the spawn of satan. Haha