Happy Thanksgiving gobble gobble Week 27

this year i am more thankful than ever... i am grateful for such a sweet family, abundance of material goods,  and especially this new life in me... yesterday she turned 27wks old my belly ... and she already has such a great personality... besides the fact that she is building quite a skymiles account and also a fan base of adoring fans... i can tell that she really enjoys belly gymnastics and womb-aqua aerobics... she absolutely loves when her dad comes into the room and plays tag with her through my stomach walls and we have so much fun together playing hide and seek... happy 1st thanksgiving baby best.. can't wait to feed you sweet potato pie next yr!

"and I'll take... with me the memories..."

to be that sunshine, after the rain...it was fitting that my last week of work was shadowed with rain... perhaps the heavens were all-broken up about this transition too... after 7yrs at IHAD my official time has come to an end... the timing is perfect since now i have completed my duty of co-raising several non-biological kids and God has trusted me with one of my own... but either way letting go is hard... wait, pause, while i suck the tears back into my eyes.. wow i never imagined what a life-changing experience this job would be...it was the best job a recent college grad could ever ask for.. the opportunity to daily serve youth and influence them to achieve life success through educatiion was awesome, and for the last 7yrs i gave it all i had  - all my time, creativity, passion, and prayers... this job went beyond the scripted educational goal straight to my heart - where i loved and served these young dreamers like they were my own... now i see that we kinda all grew up together...  boy do i have some memories - bad and good... but all 100% worth it.. experiencing life happenings together...i must chuckle because some of my kids still have not fully accepted my 2yr old marriage yet and seem to work hard not to acknowlegde my pregnancy... while others cried over my engagement video and were estasically jumping in the middle of the street at the site of my baby bump...you know it was actually one of my kids who knew about baby best before we did... she had a dream about my pregnancy two weeks before i even had a clue... what a connection huh... OMG where is the tissue when you need it, my sniffling is going to wake up my husband...

as the last dreamer that i visited at college walked back into his dorm i knew that something had changed... that i had reached a new milestone... this stone had Acceptance written on one side and Trust written on the other... i must accept that the 8th grade students that i met 7yrs ago are now almost 21 yr old adults whom hold the outcome of their future in their own hands, i must accept that i did all that i could to prepare them for success by giving them a wide variety of life tools... and finally i must trust that God will continue to protect/guide them on their paths, and that they will call me if they get lost... or at least i hope so... (immature translation = oh  please oh please oh please call me for help) 

year 7 is a perfect year to transition out , you know since it is God's number of completion... but it still is hard... change and life tranisitions are scary and uncomfortable...  i knew that it would end one day buuuuuut... well, you know the big question... what now?.  i had this IHAD job down packed.... and now i am starting a new one, probably the most important job ever, being a full-time 365/24/7 MOM... how do you create a resume to qualify for this gig... it feels different when they are really your own, i am responsible for this child's upbringing and well-being,  no one else to blame for her life hic-cups but myself...  and i am going in full-force - no "new" career to provide an escape for 8hrs per day... OMG now talk about life changes... i have worked a steady job since i was 15yrs old... now i won't be a bread-winner but a bacon-cooker... (the best possible organic bacon-cooker that is lol)... now i wont be a tailored suit professional but a stay-at-home mom expected to breastfeed, homecook, and clean.... OMG my Masters Degree did not train me for this...sigh- Lord please make me domestic... nevertheless, here i come new job... i hear that the hours are long and that the pay is low, but i know the experience will be PRICELESS... so where do i stand in line to get my "certified mother"  name badge... but after 7 yrs it is just hard to walk away... i mean this group of people has experienced 2 degrees, a wedding,  cars, several trips, a boatload of hilarious life experiences, and now a pregnancy with me- sigh

what happened to the good ol days when people just clocked in, worked at their station for 8 hrs, and then clocked out without any emotional connection gosh!!!

i mean the reality is that these 30+ kids have prepared me for baby best like non-other..ohhh i have seen the attitudes, the drama, the excuses... and best of all, witnessed the success.. perhaps 18 years from now she will have them to thank for me knowing all the teenage trips and falls inside out, which therefore made me a "no mam, I'm sorry" parent.... lol

well  thanks boss lady, sponsors, and dreamers for trusting and working with me all these years... i truely love you and will forever hold dear our relationships..."it's so hard to say goodbye, to yesterday"

to learn more about this great job/organization visit http://www.ihad.org/

Can you tell me how to get...

did you watch Sesame Street when you were a kid... one of the few teaching songs that I remember from the show went like this... give me 5, give me 5, give me 1 2 3 4, but if you love me, more give me 5... this is the perfect song to represent this last month.. month 5 of pregnancy has been a blast... thank you lord... I have been enjoying being married and pregnant soooo much... I love my ever-growing belly... showing it off is so much cool... and my baby girl is so much fun... I am convinced she knows what time her daddy leaves and returns from work and is always ready for a game of patty-cake or tag with him... his head on my lap as he bonds with his little girl is soooo precious... ( but I have to stop the game after about 15mins because, unlike my hubby, I can feel all those love taps in my belly, she is strong) anyway get ready world cause I think she is going to be amazing... oh and I have proof... recently she has been practicing her gymnastics, African dance, and abstract water sculpting daily in my belly... unfortunately for me her rehearsal schedule happens right at the peak of my bed time... lol... i'm telling you, God knew that it would take us the whole 9 months to become self-less enough to be a parent.. I found myself, at 4am, begging this 24 week old girl genius to please chill out so I could go to sleep... but like her father, she seemed to be committed to completing the masterpiece she was working on... so after plenty of tossing and turning, praying and reading the word, and trying to spark a convo with my cationic hubby, I surrendered to her movement... I decided that 5 to 7am was a is a perfect time for a mother/daughter moment... so we went downstairs for cereal and a foreign movie... lol I love her so much and she makes me smile...

wow life is such an ever changing portrait... I love posing for it but think that candid shots are the best... you know the times life catches you in a surprise spot... without your best face on or prepared look.. it is in these life shots that you see the real you.. and can really measure your beauty... recently my hubby and I have been in this place where surprise snaps are flashing all around us... we are having to make some really grown up decisions about our future... it is kinda fun/exciting and kinda nerve wrecking since our choices now include baby best... we want nothing less than what is best for her and know that it is the actions that we do that affect her... ummmm I guess this is what makes parenting a promotion of joy and responsibility...

ps it is only 16 weeks to go... that means I have 112 days to work out enough to make my body a candidate for a quick and easy home delivery... ok so this means more walking and some non-yogi yoga... and some individual water aerobics since my class is over.. plus, most of all increase of prayer and positive reading to boost confidence...

pss welcome Fall... i cant see my feet anymore

psss oh yea and here is a follow up to my entry to the enemy...
I am pleased to say that she, our little girl - baby best, is PERFECT... all issues that the docs were concerned with were gone when we went in for the follow-up visit... the doc said " absolutely nothing to worry about except the Atl Braves and the weather but not our baby, SHE IS FINE"... all of her test came back above normal and she is developing in the highest percentile category...WOOOOO HOOO Thanks GoD... war in prayer works!!!