17 weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

What twins look like at 16 weeks (click on the link)

Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby. You'll also want to be sure to buckle up when you're in a car — keep the lap portion of the seat belt under your belly, drawn snugly across your hips, and also use the shoulder harness, which should fit snugly between your breasts.

How your life's changing:

You may also notice your eyes becoming drier. Using over-the-counter lubricating drops may help. If your contact lenses become uncomfortable, try wearing them for shorter stretches of time. If you still have discomfort, switch to glasses until after you give birth.

from BabyCenter.com

Here's what's going on at 16 weeks...

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skincontribute to an overall sense of well-being.

How your life's changing:

Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.

The belly...

Well, I am being told to embrace the belly...so here is the first belly pic at 16 weeks.

...my first 2 babies (puppies)

Just some pics to share....

Riley hiding under the blanket!

* Would of been a good pic except for the red eye*

babies, babies, and more babies....

Yes, that's right...we are expecting twins! As of today, I am 13 weeks. I have already been tortured (with needles-my biggest fear) with a blood test and finger prick, had numerous ultra sounds. I visit the doctor every 2wks, and was informed that once I hit 18 wks I will be also visiting the hospital every 3 wks or so. Yesterday I had genetic testing done and will find out the results on Friday.As for being sick, I have really just had headaches that last all day long. They have finally subsided for the most part. Now I am having trouble gaining weight. I have to add more protein to my diet...so we'll keep our fingers crossed that I gain at least 2 lbs. by Dec. 12.

Here are some ultrasound pictures that we have gotten so far:

11 weeks (baby A on top, B on bottom)

13 weeks (Baby B first, Baby A second)

Happy Halloween

Since we had a freak October nor'easter, Halloween was postponed from Monday, October 31st until today. The puppies and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood in their costumes (their "trick-or-treating). Since they were pooped out from the walk, they sat nicely for a picture! Happy Halloween everyone!

Random Pictures (mostly of the pups)

Riley and Mama

Riley and Lulu ready for a trip into Home Depot 

Enjoying the ride...kind of!

Richie and I at a friend's wedding from his work

My classroom completed...

Now that I are 2 weeks into the school year, I have settled into my new role as the 7th and 8th grade Writing and Language Arts teacher pretty well.  The kids are great and I love being up in the newer part of the school!  My classroom is gigantic compared to last year (even though I had 2 classrooms last year).  I am getting used to having and using a SmartBoard.  It really makes lessons more exciting for myself and the students.  Below, there are pictures of my classroom all decorated.

Looking from the right back corner behind my desk

looking from the front left corner

My desk with our behavior management chart...all part of PBIS.

My new classroom (and other stuff)!

Here are some pictures of my new classroom for this year. It is huge and has sooooo much storage space! I am pretty excited to have a Smartboard this year.

I will update the blog when my classroom is put together and colorful. Right now it is drab and boring :-(

On another note, last night I participated in a TweetChat (through Twitter) with Really Good Stuff, a teacher supply store. The topic was stress relief for teachers, but we definitely went off on other discussions about our classrooms and things that make us laugh (a stress reliever). Also, throughout the chat, the mediator would ask questions and if we were a certain number answer, we would win a prize. Last night, I won the first prize of the night! I am not sure what the prize is, but I will find out next week some time. Really Good Stuff holds these TweetChats every 2 weeks, so if you have a Twitter account and are a teacher, sign up for a TweetChat at www.tweetchat.com and join the #teachchat every other Wednesday at 9pm.

Fun Website

Here is a fun website that puts the words you input into a cloud shape. You can change the font, colors, and layout. It's fun for spelling words, vocabulary, poetry, or just playing around. Check out Wordle (click on the word)!

2 year Anniversary

How quickly 2 year flies by! Yesterday, August 8th, Richie and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary. We headed to IHOP for breakfast and then went up to the Blue Back Square in West Hartford, as well as the Meriden mall. It was a nice, quiet, low key day.

This weekend, we will be celebrating with friends and family and having a picnic at our house. Here are some pictures to remember the big day, 2 years ago.

Sprite Island Yacht Club

Yesterday, Richie and I spent the day with Barbara and Frank, a friend of mine from work and her husband. We had plans to go sailing, but the weather was supposed to turn stormy, so we didn't take a chance getting caught out in the storm.

Instead, we visited the SoNo Arts Festival that was going on in Norwalk. There were many vendors and local artists displaying and selling their work. It was a great atmosphere with many exciting things to look at and purchase.

After the Arts festival, we headed out to Sprite Island Yacht Club, which our friends belong to. SIYC is actually an island which is part of the 8 Norwalk Islands that I didn't even know existed! The island was quiet and relaxing, with many things that you could do. They have a private beach, kayaks, a club house, picnic tables, and charcoal grills to cook on. We brought food and drink for lunch and sat at one of the picnic tables looking out at the water. It was a wonderful day and we can't wait to do it again!

Walking to the dock to get the shuttle boat over the the island...

Sprite Island...
Some of the grounds...
The dock to catch the shuttle boat back to the mainland...

Zumba

I heard about the Zumba sensation from several friends and family and it always seemed like something I would enjoy. One day I headed to Amazing Dance and Fitness in Waterbury to sign my sister-in-law up for a Master's class she wanted to take. I sat a watched the class that was in there and I immediately wanted to join in.

Since then, my mom and I have been going to Zumba class there once a week. At first, it kicked my butt big time! It still kicks my butt, but not as bad! It combines Latin and International music and dance routines to let you "Ditch the workout, and Join the Party!" If you like to dance, this is definitely the workout for you.

West Hartford- Blue Black Square

Yesterday, I ventured up to West Hartford with my aunt to Blue Black Square (click on the underlined words to get to the website). It's a shopping center that has many stores and restaurants and feels kind of like a small NYC. We started out at Crate and Barrel because I needed to get a bamboo sushi mat. Yes, I am going to attempt to make sushi at home. Will it be a success? I'll let you know.

Next, we visited Charming Charlie, which is a "fashion accessory boutique" that has a lot of fun, costume jewelry, clothing, and pocketbooks. My sister and I first went into this store when we went to Georgia to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins in May. It quickly became my favorite store, but I had no clue that there was one up north. Surprise!

We visited several other stores, but ended our day at White House Black Market. Richie and I are going to a wedding Labor Day weekend for a friend of his at work. It's a big, fancy, night wedding so of course, I need a new dress. I found that most amazing dress at WHBM. It's a black strapless taffeta dress with a slight sweetheart neckline. I put it on and fell in love with it...but it has a bit of a steep pricetag. I think I'll wait a see if it goes on sale or I get a coupon or something like that.

Overall, it was a nice day out with my aunt. We don't get to go out too often together, so it was nice to do so.

Dog Park

The dog park in Southington is a big, fenced in, old baseball field where I can take the dogs and know that they are going to run around and not run away! They enjoy going to play with other dogs, but often like to sniff out the field together. On Tuesday (8/2), I took Riley and Lulu and at first we ended up being the only ones there! That was short lived though. Shortly, several dogs showed up, one which was another puggle named Riley...and she was a girl! My Riley ran over to sniff her out (I swear they know when another dog like them is around) and I stood and chatted with her owner. Shortly after that, a couple of yellow labs showed up, which Riley and Lulu are partial to (bc I think they think it's Colby!).

Time flew, and we ended up being there for an hour. Their tongues were hanging and they were dragging so we decided to call it a morning and head home. If you ever need a good place to bring your dog for some socialization, Southington Dog Park on Mill Street is a great place to go. Southington Dog Park Website

It's official!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's official! I finally having my Special Education certification! It's been a long journey, taking many classes at Fairfield U...then thinking I was done with classes...just to find out that one final class is needed to complete my coursework. That is all behind me now and I am officially a Special Educator...

Riley pic

Riley is super excited that football season is back in full swing! LOL :-)

Now if only the Giants could get their act together and sign some of their free agents!

Misquamicut Beach

This past weekend, Richie and went to Westerly, RI to Misquamicut Beach. The weather was great, the water was refreshing (a cool 73 degrees), and it ended up being a great day!

After the beach, we went to have dinner at a place called Two Little Fish. It is in an old Burger King building on the main road that leads out of RI. The food was amazing! On the menu was all fresh seafood. Richie got fried shrimp (1/2 lb.) w/fries and coleslaw and I got the RI chowder w/ a side of fries. I hope to definitely go back again!

New school year concerns

Yes, it is only July 26th and school does not begin for another month, but we recently received in the mail our assignments for the school year. At my school, you are never quite sure what grade you will be teaching from year to year. It all depends on enrollment.

That being said, I am now one of the 7th and 8th grade Language Arts teachers. I'm hesitant with the position, not because I don't think I can handle the kids or the curriculum, but because it's BIG job. These kids need to be ready for high school when they leave me! The kids that I have in my classes are great kids. I have known them all for as long as I have been there (or since they started coming to the school). They are smart, sweet, outgoing...TEENAGERS! This is the scary part...LOTS OF DRAMA!

I am coming from the sweetest, most timid group of 5th graders to loud, outgoing, drama producing teenagers. My kids last year were so well behaved, maybe one or two behavior problems here and there, but these problems had simple solutions. I know, I am probably getting myself worked up over nothing. The students I am going to have this year will probably be great. I just hope I can live up to the standards that I need to in order to give them the skills and strategies they need to be successful in high school. SCARY!

I have been constantly thinking about how I am going to make my classroom middle school friendly, not too babyish, and cool. How I am going to change the way I do things like DOL (daily oral language), Writing class, homework standards, and expectations p

eriod. It's going to be a learning experience not only for the students, but also for me. So wish me luck as I embark on a new year with new memories and students!

Fun to be had and updates to be made...

The heat wave seems as though it moved out of CT for now, but boy was it crazy hot! Temperatures reached highs of 100+ and many days it was too hot to stay outside too long. One way to keep cool...a pool! Lulu enjoys the pool a bit more than Riley, but it keeps them cool when the temperatures rise out of control!
With fun, comes work as well. We have made some changes to the house recently, starting with finally painting the dogs' room. I have had the paint for about a year, but finally got around to painting. I love the color and am so glad that I finally did this!
Also, Richie and I are working on the main bathroom. We painted to shades of turquoise and broke the colors up with a band of light glass tile (my favorite) with a dark expresso molding. We also updated the countertop with a pre-cut granite top and white sink from Home Depot, as well as a new rope embellished brushed nickel faucet. We are nearing the end of the project and will update with new pictures once it is decorated and complete!

Lulu swimming in the hot tub

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! We headed over to my parents' house to have some leftovers from our picnic on Sunday. Here are some pictures of the day:

Riley "We're going to Gamma's!"

In the car...

Shana and I

Szalonna from the Hungarian Deli!

From the Rachael Ray Magazine...

So I got the new Rachael Ray magazine today and saw some pretty cool websites for those of you who travel. Check out Trip Journal and Momentoapp. They have iPhone apps too so you can update on the run!

Other than that, it is the beginning of my summer break from teaching. I have NEVER not had a summer job, so I am looking forward to hanging out with the puppies and my family and friends this summer. The weather has been a bit crappy so far, but hopefully that will turn around asap!

Here's to updating my blog more regularly again! If you get a chance check out my Tumblr picture blog (easy to update from my iPhone).

Happy Summer!

We've been gone for awhile...sorry!

It's been a busy start to the year and I have completely forgotten about the blog!

Here are some recent pics....

puppy play date at Gamma's

Mom, Moie, Shana, and I at the Palace Theatre in Wtbry watching Grease

the fattys!

Riley and LuLu

N.Y.E.

We celebrated New Year's Eve with family and friends at Anthony's Lake Club in Danbury, CT. It was a beautiful night filled with family, friends, amazing food, and dancing.

Anthony's Lake Club is where we had our reception for our wedding a year and a half ago. The food was just as good (and they had my favorite pasta), thanks to Rocco, and the drinks were flowing, thanks to Tommy. At the end of the night, we all rang in the New Year watching Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve on the big screen. Definitely a good night and we are looking forward to doing it again next year!

JoAnne and Frank

Mom and Dad

Us, of course

Nay Nay and I

Moie, Shana, and I