34 Weeks!

Man have things been busy!! We started volleyball August 1st. I've been blessed to have extra help from one of our middle school coaches, Branda, the last two weeks. I definitely would not have made it through 2-a-days and the past week without her!! To fill you in (in case you didn't know) I'm coaching both freshmen teams right now. Our other freshman coach, Miriam, had her little girl 2 weeks ago. She is beautiful and has a head full of hair!! We hope little Sawyer holds off until Miriam is ready to come back so that there will be someone to coach the teams. I do love my girls this year though! They really are a great group and already a lot of fun coaching. They are very athletic and I expect a lot more wins this season!
Now to Sawyer... :)  Today I am 34 weeks and 3 days.



I wake up a lot in the night..of course, and every time Sawyer wakes up too so it takes a while to fall back asleep. She moves like crazy! I can see my stomach move when she moves. Joel loves getting to feel her and see her too. The gestational diabetes thing is going well. My numbers are almost always good..the doctor says I'm doing perfect and he is very satisfied with how well I'm doing. My next appointment is August 24th. I get to get a sonogram. I start going every week at that point and we get a sonogram every single time! :) I'm pretty excited I get to see Sawyer every week until she is born! They say this is the "up-side" to having gestational diabetes...getting all of the sonograms. I guess I'm lucky in a sense that the doctor said I'm really just borderline and he wanted to put me on the diet and blood-sugar testing just as a precaution. It just stinks to prick my finger 4 times a day and to have to be so aware of what I'm eating and when all the time.
Joel started football last week. He has been so busy! The wives get to go eat with our husbands in the school cafeteria for dinner so we can at least see them for a bit each night. It also saves me from having to cook when I'm so exhausted from coaching too! :) He's already had his hands full with some of the guys but I think it will be a good season. He has some good guys working with him and helping him out and the players I've met seem to be good kids. Hopefully I make it out to watch a practice this week.
The next 5-6 weeks will be full of football, volleyball, and baby appointments!! I don't think things could get any busier or crazier than now! I am resting and taking naps every chance I get. I even slept for 4 hours yesterday afternoon after our volleyball tournament and was still able to go to bed around 10. I'll try to keep everyone updated when I get chances! Love you all!

Time is flying by!

Last week I went back to work. We started working on things for volleyball. 2-a-days start August 1st so we've been running around getting things organized and ready for these girls! It is definitely going to be a crazy, busy season! I also found out last week that I have gestational diabetes. :( I met with a dietitian to learn what to eat and what to lay off of a little more for the rest of my pregnancy. It kind of stinks to not be able to eat whatever you want anyways, but it stinks even more when you're pregnant!!! I do know it is important, though, so that Sawyer can be healthy and so I can be healthy as well. I also have to take my blood sugar 4 times a day. I've only been doing it for 5 days and my fingers are so sore. I meet with the dietitian again on Wednesday to find out how I am doing and ways to tweak what I'm eating.
On a positive side.... :)
Joel and I set up Sawyer's room last week too! It was a lot of work putting together the crib (Joel did such a great job!) and then I put up the decorations. :) Her room will also be the guest room, so things are a little tight in there.



On Friday Mamaw, Papa, and Addyson came up from Waco to visit for the weekend. I'm so glad they were able to make the drive up to see us! We were able to spend a lot of time together too. On Saturday, my good friend and co-worker, Amanda, threw me a baby shower. Mamaw and Addyson were able to come to the shower while Joel and Papa hung out.



The shower was so nice! Amanda did a great job! It was ice-cream themed. There was vanilla ice cream and all kinds of toppings to choose from! I'm lucky to have such a good friend. After the shower we went up to Mamaw's hotel and swam with Addyson. She is pretty scared of the water, but Joel and I worked with her and got her to be not quite as scared. Sunday I worked with her some more and got a her a little more confident in the water. I know she wants to learn to swim; she's just scared of going under right now. We also watched a couple of movies at the hotel and just relaxed. It was so nice seeing all of them for the weekend. I was pretty sad last night after leaving them.
Joel left for coaching school yesterday morning and it was back to work for me today. I can't believe things are getting started for us. Time is just flying by! Sawyer will be here in no time!
That's all for now...I'm sure I've left stuff out! I'm so scatter-brained lately! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

ATX :)

I got to spend this week with Dad in Austin! :) I got there Monday afternoon. We grabbed lunch at the Posse before heading to my 3D/4D sonogram. Jenn came down for the sonogram too. It was pretty crazy getting to see what Sawyer is going to look like! I can't believe they have technology where you can actually see something like that. Here is one of the pictures from the sonogram:

This made me so excited for her to get here!! I know everyone says to enjoy it while I can (without the baby and being able to sleep) but I just can't wait for Sawyer to get here! I even had my first dream about her that night. She had a dirty diaper and I was having the hardest time cleaning her up! She was rolling around and poop was everywhere! I didn't know what to do! Joel had to help me out. :) haha funny dream....
Tuesday, dad and I went down to San Marcos to the outlet mall. We both found some new clothes and got Joel some stuff too :) Wednesday we relaxed at the pool. It was so nice getting into a pool! We really need to invest in one some day! The water was cool and I got a little bit of a tan! After the pool, we went to the Posse for Trivia Night. Dad has to ask the questions and lots of people show up for it. They have teams and they compete for prizes. I played on the team with the bartenders. It was a lot of fun. The week went by too fast. It was nice spending time with my dad. I don't get to see him enough. I'm glad Jennifer was able to come down for a day too.
Today marks 10 weeks left in the pregnancy. It feels like so far away, but I know it is going to go so fast. We go back to work next week and volleyball starts August 1st so time will fly by.
I can't believe my summer is already coming to an end. I've been so blessed to have gotten to do so much this summer and to spend so much time with family and friends.
I hope everyone else has had a wonderful summer too!

4th of July in Gunnison

We spent the past week in Gunnison, Colorado with Joel's parents visiting Jarrod and Michelle. It was beautiful there! The weather was also perfect! I definitely liked the thought of it not ever really being very hot! We got there Sunday evening. Michelle made us a diaper cake!

We stayed at Three Rivers Resort in Almont. It was a nice cabin and I highly recommend it!



Monday we woke up and went for a 6 mile hike (3 in, 3 out) up to Lamphier Lake. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be but definitely worth the work! :) It was so nice and relaxing (when we took breaks) just being out in nature and enjoying life. We had to cross two small creeks along the way. The dogs did not like crossing on logs very much but we made it across! We stopped at a lower lake along the way to try some fishing. Jesse was the only one to hook into a cutthroat at that time. I just wondered around and relaxed and caught my breath from the hike up. We then continued on to the top, up to Lamphier Lake. It was beautiful up there. We got a little rain storm with some hail, but it did not last long. The boys did some more fishing but did not have much luck up there either. They caught a few. We then headed back down. We had to stop again at the lower lake for Jarrod and Joel to do some fishing. They ended up catching some really nice cutthroats. Jesse, Donna, the dogs, and I began to make our way down while the boys finished up fishing. They caught up to us pretty quickly anyways! It was a very nice hike. I can't wait to go back and do another hike to another beautiful place (when I'm not pregnant!!). This is our "family photo" at the top of the hike:

After the hike we headed back into town for dinner and the fireworks show! We went to a park in Gunnison. Michelle's EMS group was doing a cookout with the police and firefighters at the park for the fireworks. It was one of the best firework shows I've ever seen! We were really close to the fireworks. Ranger would bark at them at the beginning, but then he calmed down and started to enjoy it a little more. Zee was pretty scared and did not look at a single one! She just hid under Joel's legs the whole time. We really enjoyed the show, though.

Everyone was exhausted afterword! We went straight home, showered, and were all wiped out! Tuesday, Joel and Jesse went up to Blue Mesa to kayak and do some fishing. They did not have any luck at all! Donna and I walked around Gunnison checking out all of the little shops and just taking it easy. We then went up to Crested Butte to meet Michelle for an easy wildflower hike. It was a little rainy, but that made it kind of nice and cool for the hike. The flowers were very pretty. Wednesday we went to the Taylor River Reservoir just up the road from our cabin. I relaxed, enjoyed the scenery, and took pictures of Joel fishing and Jesse and Donna on their kayaks. Joel and Jesse both caught quite a few fish up there. I then took my turn out in the kayak. I was a little nervous about my balance and did not want to fall into the freezing water! I did good. I got out to where Jesse was and tossed my line in the water. I hooked a fish! I got so excited I couldn't decide whether to keep reeling it in or to get the camera out so I could get a picture and I lost the fish when he was a couple feet from my kayak! :( Then the wind and clouds rolled in and it got a little too choppy out there for us so Jesse and I headed in to shore. We then went below the dam to the catch-and-release area where the fish were huge! Joel and Jesse worked so hard to catch some of those fish! Jesse caught a couple of nice fish and after a lot of hours of work, Joel caught his nice brown trout too.

We then headed back to the cabin for spaghetti and Jarrod made homemade ice cream for dessert! Yum! :)

After dinner we went to Jarrod's slowpitch softball games. He hit a homerun on his first at-bat. I don't know if his team won either game, though. Thursday morning we woke up pretty early, got packed up, and headed back home to the Texas heat. We had such a wonderful time visiting Jarrod and Michelle. I wish we could get up there more to spend time with them. It is such a nice place. I always tell Joel he is more than welcome to find a good job in Colorado! :)

Friday I spent most of the day just relaxing and catching up from the trip. I had my maternaty-leave meeting at school to find out how much money I will lose for being out once my days are up :( = not fun at all! I know God will take care of us and provide, though, so we are just trusting in Him through it all! Last night for dinner I made mom's crab-crusted tilapia recipe using some of our trout from Roaring River. It was delicious! Joel was very impressed with the feast we had last night! This morning I went to a breastfeeding class. I learned a lot about it and what things you need or don't really need at all. It definitely made me feel a little more confident about breastfeeding once Sawyer gets here. Speaking of Sawyer, she is definitely growing and taking up lots of room in there! I'm getting bigger every day and getting more and more ready for her to get here! She moves like crazy all throughout the day and night. It is one of the weirdest feelings to have something moving around inside of you like that! I heard some of the women talking this morning about how they only got 2 or 3 hours of sleep because their baby was moving so much...I'm not looking forward to that!! I love my sleep! Tonight we're going to have dinner with some good friends, Omar and Miriam. Miriam is due July 26th so I'm interested to see how she is doing! I haven't seen her since the first week of June. Monday I leave for Austin to see dad and to get a 3D/4D sonogram. I'm pretty excited. Joel won't be able to make the trip because he has to work, but it will be nice to spend some time with dad. :) I'm very excited to see Dad and to get to spend some time with him. This summer has been so much fun and full of adventures. I hate to see it coming to an end. I know we have a lot of other, different adventures ahead of us with Sawyer on the way too!

Here is a link to the rest of the photos from our Gunnison vacation on Joel's facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100129414723743.2449613.9205307&l=bc92272deb

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Love yall!

Vacation time!

Since the last time I wrote I've been out of town in Waco and Missouri for a baby shower, a wedding, and a fishing trip! We've been so busy! I'm loving this time off and not wanting it to end at all! My trip started off with a girls' night out (after a delayed flight) and then my baby shower the next day! :)
I met Jenn, Brooke, and Steph at George's when I finally got into Waco. We then went to some new place downtown to hang out. Some guy hit on me while we were there! haha I thought it was pretty funny because I'm pregnant, not to mention had a ring on my finger! I really thought he was looking at Brooke but when we got up to leave he stopped us. You should've seen his face when Brooke told him I was married and pregnant! I was in shock that he was hitting on me and Brooke just answered faster than I could! We had fun though and stayed up way later than I've stayed up in a LONG time!

Jennifer, Tara, Therese, Brooke, & Danielle threw me a baby shower the next day. It was perfect! We even had ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins! :) It was so good to see lots of family and friends. I got so many cute outfits and fun things for Sawyer!

After the shower, Jennifer and I drove down to Houston to see Grandmother and Grandpa and dad for Grandpa's birthday and Father's Day. I was so excited to get to see them! I miss getting to see my grandparents and my dad whenever I want. Grandmother and Grandpa were doing so good! They both seemed so happy and in great moods! Grandmother stayed awake the entire time we were there and Grandpa was in a good mood the whole time! I'm so glad they're doing so well. It was also good seeing dad. I'm glad I get to go spend a few days with him in a couple of weeks.

After lunch on Father's Day, Jenn and I headed back to Waco. I had to get back to meet some of my girls at Baylor. We had a few kids sign up for softball camp at Baylor. Throughout the week I watched them learn new drills and play in scrimmages. They all had a great time and said they really learned a lot! Hopefully next year we can get more girls to go!

I was also able to spend a lot of time with mom throughout the week! It was great! Monday I met Mom, Mamaw, Aunt Cynthia, Tara, and Jennifer for lunch at Chuy's. Then Tara and I went out to Mom's to lay in the pool. It felt so nice being in the water and cooling off! Tuesday, Mom and I went to Practically Pikasso and made a couple things for the baby room :) I made a piggy bank and mom made a little monkey. We then also made a mosaic bear with a BU on it. This picture was before we finished the bear and before the monkey and piggy bank were put in the fire.

We had a good time, but it took us a long time to do these! For dinner we went to mom's and made homemade pizza! Wednesday we went back and finished the bear, then shopped around at the Baylor book store and Spice downtown. Then Danielle came into town to start getting ready for her wedding!

We ate at Shoguns. I love that place! :) Thursday Danielle and I got pampered! We had facials at Facelogic and then massages, pedicures, and manicures! It was awesome! All were so relaxing! The prenatal massage also felt so good and made my back feel and legs feel so much better! It was the perfect gift from a good friend! :) After the manicures and pedicures, all the girls went out to La Fiesta for dinner and then back to Jennifer's house to celebrate Danielle getting married! We had a lot a fun! We then went to the midnight showing of Bad Teacher. It was pretty funny. Friday we went out to the wedding site to clean and decorate. We then had the rehearsal and dinner later that night. The ranch was very cute and a neat place for a wedding. Danielle seemed so excited and happy to be getting married to William. I'm glad they found each other. The dinner was at Lake Brazos Steakhouse.

Saturday was wedding day! :) Danielle looked beautiful! It was very hot, but the ceremony was nice and the reception was a lot of fun! Joel also made it in for the wedding. I hadn't seen him in over a week so I was very ready to see him!! I was also glad my dress fit! It was a little snug, but I'm glad it zipped! I couldn't even wear it the entire night, though.

Joel and I were able to get a couple hours of sleep before leaving for Missouri for our fishing trip! We left around 3:30 AM to head to Roaring River. Joel drove the entire way, while I slept. :) He's such a good husband. We did a lot of fishing and caught a lot of good fish! We also got to spend time with Jesse and Donna; Amy, Joey, Chase, & Kamryn; Grandma and Granpa Hinton; Roy & Coleen (grandpa's brother); and Alan, Sandy, and Justin (Jesse's brother). I wish we could've spent more time there. One day Amy, Kamryn, Donna, Chase, Justin, and I rode the water slide for about an hour. It is a fun slide but you have to climb up a very steep hill every time to ride again! It wore me out! We then got ice cream :) I didn't catch as many fish this year as usual, but I think it is because I spent a lot of time cooling off in the car! I guess being pregnant had a little bit to do with it! We did catch our limits every day and brought home quite a bit of fish to eat throughout the year! I know Joel was not ready to leave. He loves it there. I didn't take as many pictures as usualy, but here are a few from the fishing trip:

Justin with his first catch ever at Roaring River!

We got back late last night after spending almost 10 hours on the road! Even the dogs were worn out! They've slept all day! We get a few days to recharge and then it is time for Colorado and to see Jarrod and Michelle! I can't wait to get up there and see them!

That's all for now! It is definitely bed time!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! It is ending way too fast!

Let the good times roll! :)

Ok, so maybe I haven't posted as much as I said I would! :) Other things come up. We've been fairly busy since I last posted. Two weekends ago Joel's mom & dad and grandma & grandpa came up to visit for the weekend! It was so nice to see them and to get to spend a few days with them just hanging out. We really enjoyed spending the weekend with them! They were able to go see the Texas Musical and said they had a good time seeing that too. They also brought us our high chair for the baby!! Just getting a gift made me so excited to start preparing her room and to get things ready for her! I can't wait to start putting everything together for her! :)
Last week we had volleyball camp. It was a very long week! We had camp every day from 1 to 4 and 5 to 7. We had over 70 kids attend camp! They definitely kept us busy! Thursday morning, Joel and I left for SAN DIEGO!! :)
We went to San Diego to spend the weekend with Dad, Justin, Leslie, and Jennifer. Dad had this convention for a national gaming association he is in. He was the president this past year so he was in charge and got recognized at this reception on that Thursday night.

We went to the reception by the pool at our hotel. We also got to stay in the presidential suite with him!! It was HUGE! We stayed at Loew's Coronado Bay Resort. It was awesome and beautiful! The weather was so nice and cool the whole time we were there too! The sun didn't come out much, but it was still very nice!

This is us after dad got his award.

Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast in the hot tub and by the pool while dad had one last meeting :) We then went to the San Diego Zoo! We spent about 6 hours at the zoo! It was a blast and we got to see all the cool animals! My favorite were the pandas :) There was the mom and dad who were both 19 years old, and their baby, who was 22 months old. They all had their own little areas because pandas like to be alone. This is the baby panda. I can't remember their names though.

Joel's favorite were the koala bears. By the time we got to them, at the end, they were all sleeping. They were adorable too!

We had a great time at the zoo. It will definitely put any other zoo we go to to shame! We walked over 5 1/2 miles that day while at the zoo seeing all of the animals. We really wanted to see the gorillas but they were hidden when we got to them. We did see them a little bit when we took the little sky train across the zoo. There was a little bitty baby one too. I was sad we didn't get to see them up close. Here are a couple more pictures from the zoo :)

After the zoo we went down to the Gaslamp district for dinner. We ate at this restaurant and ordered only appetizers. It was weird. I've never done that before, but I believe we had every single one of their appetizers! Everything was yummy! After our appetizer dinner, we walked across to Ghirardelli for dessert! As soon as we walked in and smelled all of the chocolate and ice cream, the baby started kicking! I guess she got excited about the treats too! :) We all ordered and when our desserts came out they were huge!! I wasn't expecting sooo much ice cream! Here is Joel's banana sundae! He ate every bit of it too!

We were worn out after our long day! We spent the rest of the night at the pool and hot tub again. Saturday morning we got up early to catch a trolley around San Diego. We went to the Air & Space museum, Little Italy, Old Town, and the USS Midway. Little Italy was really neat because there was Farmer's Market that morning. We got to try all sorts of cheeses, breads, and other things. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town that was delicious too!

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at USS Midway. There was a self-guided audio tour so we were able to go at our own pace. It was pretty neat.

We then spent the rest of the night at the pool and hot tub again, watching the family movie for the night at the pool! It was Despicable Me :) I really like that movie! Sunday morning Joel and I went for a walk around the resort and down to the beach. I told him he HAD to put his feet in the Pacific just so he could say he had been in the Pacific Ocean before :) It was a little chilly of course, but not too bad! We found a couple to take our picture on the beach.

After that we headed back to the room to pack and then to the airport with everyone. It was a great weekend. We're so blessed to be able to do things like this. Dad really takes care of his and we wouldn't have been able to do this trip without him! We definitely want to go back to San Diego when we can spend a week just hanging out. There was so much to see and do that we could not fit everything into a couple of days. If you ever get to go to San Diego, you should definitely go!

You can see the rest of my pictures from San Diego at this link

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.978881127303.2443797.9203333&l=0fb4520723

This week I'm working up at the weight room at school. Joel has a coaches clinic in San Angelo. I can't wait for this weekend, though, because I get to go home to Waco!! I have a baby shower this weekend and then I get to see Grandmother and Grandpa and dad for Grandpa's birthday and father's day! I can't wait to see them! Grandmother and Grandpa have not gotten to see me since before I knew I was pregnant. I wish I could see them more often. Next week I'll be in Waco all week. We have some girls going to the Baylor Softball Camp so I will be around at that watching them and hopefully learning some new drills! The next weekend is Danielle's wedding!!! :) I can't wait to see her get married and be a part of that special day for her!! I'll write more about all of these events as they happen this next week, though! :)

It is time for me to go start working on dinner. Joel is having some coaching buddies over tonight and we're cooking out on the grill. I'm making these yummy potatoes that Michelle taught me to make! Joel loves them and anytime we make them people always seem to enjoy them too! Thanks Michelle! ;) Summer is going fast, but we're having fun and getting to see lots of family! We'll also get to spend some time fishing in Missouri and a week visiting Jarrod and Michelle (can't wait!).

That's all for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Hit The Ground Running!

I'm trying to post more often to keep you guys updated and to be a better "blogger" :) so make sure you keep checking back!
This past weekend was a blast!! We had planned to just kick back, relax, and take it easy because our summer is going to be so crazy and full of adventures! Friday night started off a little slow, as planned. We were so BORED!! haha Guess we didn't realize how much we just sit around and watch TV when there is nothing else to do. A couple weeks ago we decided to go ahead and turn in the cable box. We're finding ways to cut back on spending and figured cable was not a must and that we would be fine without it! It is definitely going to take some getting use to though! We get 3 channels through atenna so our shows are limited. Friday night was the first time we didn't really have a lot going on. Joel worked on the yard some and then we ended up staying up late and playing Wii MarioCart for about 4 hours! It was actually pretty fun. We hadn't played it in awhile.
Saturday we were sitting around in our pajamas still when we got a call from Jenn. She and Danielle had extra tickets to the Rangers game and a hotel room already booked! After our "awesome" fun-filled Saturday night, we weren't sure about driving all the way to Dallas....yeah right! :) We jumped up so fast and were out of here on our way to Dallas! The game was for Danielle and William's bachelor/bachelorette/engagement type party! There were tons of people going and the tickets were on the party patio with free food and stuff. The game was a lot of fun and it was good to see some old friends I hadn't seen in awhile! Joel also ran into Sean and Katy so we got to see them for a couple innings too!



Saturday we went to the Byron Nelson PGA Tournament! I'm not going to lie...I wasn't really looking forward to this part of the trip because I think golf can be boring to watch. Joel was given tickets to the tournament from a friend back in Kerrville, Allison, for FREE! :) What a great, FREE weekend! Duncan was able to meet us there too! We hadn't seen him since he moved away! I was shocked that the tournament was actually a lot of fun! It was hot..but Allison also gave us passes for the Grand Stands at hole 18 so we got free drinks too! :) A guy from Amarillo, Ryan Palmer, was the very last golfer to finish and made the tying shot to go into a playoff! It was pretty exciting! He didn't end up winning, but it was a lot of fun to watch. We got pretty sunburned and had to drive home after the tournament. We were worn out when we got home, but it was all worth it!!

Yesterday we stayed a little low key. We spent a lot of time cleaning house and doing laundry. Joel's parents and grandma and grandpa are coming to visit this weekend! (Can't wait!) He helped the whole time and did A LOT of cleaning! I'm so blessed to have him around and to have such a helpful husband! We then went to Babies R Us to hit up a sale and use some coupons! :) It was tough to not just go crazy and buy out the whole store! We cooked some venison on the grill with carrots and mashed potatoes for dinner. It was yummy and a good Memorial Day for us.
Today, softball camp started at Caprock. We actually had about 18 kids 3rd-6th grade and 12 7th-9th grade show up! We weren't sure how many to expect, but  I think that was a pretty good turnout. Hopefully they bring some friends tomorrow too! Camp went well and the kids seemed to have fun. Of course, every kid had a story today on what they already knew or what someone else had taught them with every little thing I said! Tomorrow I'll be teaching them how to pitch :) This will be interesting.
That's it for now...love yall!

23 Weeks!

Here she is! She weighed in at 1 pound 5 ounces today. She was wide awake throughout the entire sonogram! She was wiggling and moving all over the place the whole time. The nurse loved it! She said we were the best baby she's seen in a long time. We checked her brain and she had all the parts and looked good there. She has all 4 chambers of her heart and it was beating loud and fast! She also got the hiccups while we were watching her. We could see and hear her hiccup! She has all her organs and a good-looking spine. The nurse said we've done a great job! :) She had a full tummy too so we know she's eating! At one point, she was moving her mouth open and shut and it was fun to watch. We didn't get the camera on fast enough, though, so no video of that. We got to watch her for about 30-45 minutes! We did not want to leave. The nurse said to get a good pair of running shoes before she's up and moving around because we're going to have to keep up with her the way she was moving around in there!
The first picture is her profile. I think she looks beautiful!! Her little face looks perfect! :) The second picture is from the front. You can see her eye sockets, nose, chin, chest, and part of her tummy.
Tomorrow is our last day of school! FINALLY! I'm so ready for a break from the classroom! We start softball camp next week, Joel's parents & grandma and grandpa come visit, volleyball camp the week after that, and then we go see Dad, Jenn, Justin, and Leslie in San Diego! It will be a busy next couple of weeks!! After that I have my first baby shower! I can't wait! I have a feeling our summer is going to fly by! Joel has already started his summer. They have been playing golf ALL week!! I'm glad he's finally getting to play. They've been wanting to play all spring.
That's about all that has been going on here. We'll try to keep y'all updated a little better now that summer is here!! Have a good Friday!

It's a GIRL! :)

Joel and I were blessed to get to spend a lot of time with family over the Easter holidays! I went to Waco and watched a Baylor softball game with Jennifer and then got to have dinner with mom, mamaw, Jennifer, Aunt Cynthia, Tara, Therese, and Kaylee! It was so good to see them! I wish I could've spent more time there and gotten to hang out more. I really miss spending time with my family and cousins.

The next day I drove up to Austin to meet Joel. He had been off recruiting all week all over Texas. I picked him up and then we spent the day with dad! :) I love spending time with dad and just getting to relax. We went out that night (Joel, Dad, me, and Joel's friend Morgan) to see an 80's cover-band, LC Rocks! That was a lot of fun! Friday morning dad took us to get our gender sonogram! I was so excited I couldn't stand it! It was awesome to see our little baby growing! I wish I could just go get a sonogram whenever I wanted so I could see her all the time and see how she's growing and changing! The nurse found that she was a girl immediately - no question about it (that's what she said)!

We were given a "sneak peak" of a 3D/4D sonogram! It was awesome how we could see her so well!

In this picture you can see her legs, rib cage, and her arm is on her face. If you look close enough you can even see her little fingers up there too! Joel and I both were just in awe! Dad got to be there too and I think he really enjoyed it as well! I can't wait to get another sonogram and see her again! After the sonogram we drove on over to Kerrville to spend the weekend with Joel's family! Michelle and Jarrod got to be there too! :) I love getting to hang out with all of them! They were all just as excited about us having a girl! I know that little baby will be so spoiled and will have her daddy wrapped around her finger! He has no idea what he's in for with a little girl! ;) We went to the Kerrville baseball and softball games with Jesse and Donna. Saturday morning Michelle, Donna, and I walking in a 5K. I could definitely tell a difference in the air...and the hills!! It was fun though! We then walked around down-town and saw all the market trade-day booths. There was some really cute stuff down there. Joel and Jarrod went hunting while we were on our walk, but they didn't get to shoot anything. Saturday evening everyone came over for Easter dinner. Nana, CG, Grandma, Grandpa, the Lashley clan, and Mart & Pat were all able to come! After dinner we had an Easter egg dying contest! We dyed about 100 eggs! I've never dyed so many eggs in my life! It sure was fun though! Joel's egg won first place. I got 2nd and Ellen got 3rd.

Sunday morning we went to church and to Sunday school with everyone. We ate left-overs at the house and Morgan was able to come by too. I'm glad Joel and Jarrod got to hang out and visit with him. After lunch Joel and I got on the road again, headed home. It was a looooong drive back home so we spent all those hours talking about baby names! :) We've decided (for now) on Sawyer Rylee Hinton. We're both so excited and can't wait to meet her!

Hope everyone had as wonderful of an Easter as we did!!

Been A While!

Hey everyone!! Sorry it has been so long! I've been busy...well, mostly just exhausted! I left off at Spring Break! Joel went to Colorado to visit Jarrod and Michelle. I didn't get to go because of softball and was very sad about that! He caught a bus in Amarillo with a church group from Kerrville and his mom was on the bus too :) He got to go fishing, some by himself, and some with Jarrod and his mom. I just rested at home and had softball practice and games. I would've much rather been hanging out with Michelle and Donna in Colorado with Joel!
For Joel's birthday we invited a few people over but not everyone got to come because it was late notice. We just cooked out and hung out at the house. Last week we got a new car :) We traded in the truck for our "family car," a 2010 Equinox. It is REALLY nice and I am glad Joel let me get it! I definitely miss my truck, but I really like this car too.

It has leather interior, blue tooth, OnStar, DVD player, a sunroof, and a bunch of buttons! I think Joel likes it too. We have had it a little over a week now.
Last weekend we went to Night With the Pros. It is an event where all the former WT football players who are in the NFL or some form of professional football league (Canadian, Arena, etc.) host a dinner and an auction to raise money for WT football. It was pretty fun. We had to dress nice because Billy Best told us people wore suits. We got there to find most everyone in comfy dresses, jeans, and cowboy boots!! I was not happy about that!! I would've worn my boots in a heartbeat!! :) The food was really good and the auction was fun to watch. Some jerseys of 2 of the players went for almost $4,000 for the 2! It was crazy! Next year I'll know what to wear! :)
This past weekend was nice. Saturday we went down to the canyon to practice looking for turkeys. Joel practice calling and we creeped around looking for turkeys. We found some :) It was neat to try to sneak up on them and get as close as possible. We saw two flocks. One had about 9 hens and a tom and the other group had 3 or 4 toms and 5 hens. The 2nd group was talking back to Joel. :)

Yesterday we were able to go out to Dusty's (dad's cousin) between Miami and Canadian to try to kill a turkey. We didn't ever get a shot but we saw a ton of turkeys! When we got there we chose a spot but had to walk through a bunch of cows to get to our spot. I was scared because there were a bunch of calfs too and was worried the mommas would charge us to protect their babies. They didn't. They did follow us though...the whole herd! The followed us to our spot and stood there staring at us forever! We were in full camo so I think they were trying to figure out what we were. We sat together against this tree to wait on some turkeys. I heard this loud breathing/sniffing noise so I looked over my should to find one of the big cows right in my face!! I screamed :) Then the cow kept poking me on the shoulder with its nose like it was trying to figure out what I was. It was funny. Eventually they left us alone. At one point we saw over 30 turkeys out in the field, but on the wrong side of the fence. We were out there for about 5 hours. Overall it was pretty fun, but I wish we had gotten a turkey. Hopefully we get a chance next weekend!

That about sums it up for the last few weeks! I'll try not to miss so much!!

One-Year Anniversary

Can't believe a year has already gone by!! It seems like our wedding was just the other day! We went to church this morning and then just relaxed at home all day. I took a long nice nap :) Joel doesn't understand how I can always take a nap and don't feel like doing anything...he forgets I'm building a baby in here! ;) He worked on the gate for a while..the one Ranger ate through. I played with the dogs in the backyard while he worked on the fence. We went to dinner at Outback..it was yummy! Then we came home for the wedding cake. We both were a little nervous to eat year-old cake! Donna did a good job wrapping it for us though, because it actually tasted pretty good!! The fondant was not so great..but I don't really like that stuff anyways. The cake was good and moist and soft and the icing was too. It was definitely still as sweet as it was a year ago! Joel thought it was good too. Now we're just hanging out again, watching TV.

Life is good :)

25th Birthday!

Spring Break is finally here!! A week away from the class room is going to be so nice!! Thursday night was the spring game for WT. Joel's team demolished the other guys!! I think he did all the play calling! ;) It was fun to hang out with the wives, and sort of watch the game! Dad also sent me flowers to work for my birthday!! It was a complete surprise!! They were so pretty!! I really have the best dad a girl could ask for.

Our girls lost last night to Canyon High school..it was pretty ugly. 22-0. Because of that, we had to practice today. Not really what I wanted to do on my birthday, but we definitely needed it!! Today, Joel and I slept in. We then got breakfast burritos :-P - - one of my favorite things!! We hung out for a few hours, now that football is over! I then went up to Amarillo to get a new shirt to wear to dinner tomorrow for our 1-year Anniversary! Then I got the truck washed at the gas station...it came out cleaner, but still dirty!! So much for a $5 wash. I'll have to wash it for real this week. Then I headed to practice, where only like 7 of our 12 girls showed up. Shows the commitment we have. I was talking to Joel about it last night and was pretty upset about it. I just remember when I played, if the coach said "we have practice tomorrow" I was there - no excuses! Joel reminded me how different the kids are today and, on top of that, how different the group of kids I am working with are from where I grew up. I guess I just figure an athlete to be an athlete. It seems like the other coaches and I have put so much time into these girls and yet some of them still don't care or aren't as committed as they should be. It is very frustrating. We play a team Monday that Caprock has never lost to and the other coach is pretty worried as to whether or not our team will show up ready to play. He keeps saying this may be the year they beat us. I hope not. I'm so tired of losing. It seems like I've done everything I can do and know how to do as a coach, yet we still come out on bottom. :-\ I just keep my head up and keep encouraging and pushing the girls to get better every game.

After practice I got home and Joel started cooking dinner. I helped a little, but he did most of it! It was probably one of the best whole meals we've made in our 1 year of marriage!! The baby liked it too! :)

Our China from Nana and CG :)

We then took the dogs for a walk. They're out of shape!! As soon as we got home they crashed on the floor! They're wiped out and breathing hard!! I also got my birthday/Christmas presents from mom in the mail today! Included was our first baby gift :) A stuffed animal puppy, tree frame, and a cross with a bible verse on it. I loved it all! I had tons of facebook posts and messages and texts today too. Joel also cleaned house a little and did some laundry while I was gone today! He is such a great husband! It makes me realize how blessed and loved I am to have such wonderful friends and family.

Spring Break is Coming Soon!! :)

Wednesday....Why is it not Friday yet?? I am so ready for a break from teaching!! I can't exactly say a "full break" because we still have softball. Any break will be nice though!! I'm also excited for this weekend because I get to celebrate my birthday and, even better, our 1-year anniversary!! I can't believe it has already been a year. It feels like we just got married.
We had our first district game this week. The JV lost 24-1 on Monday. It was pretty ugly. Varsity played Tuesday and lost 19-1. I know that score sounds terrible, and it is hard to be proud of a team that loses 19-1, but our girls actually played better than they have all season. Even the umpires were complimenting the girls. We played Randal, who is ranked number 4 in the state. We also lasted 5 full innings with them so that was a pretty big accomplishment against such a good team too. We still have a long way to go, but it seems that our girls are starting to figure things out.
My shoulder is feeling better. Lots of prayer seems to be the cure :) I woke up Monday morning to it suddenly feeling 10 times better than it had this past weekend! I'm still not 100% but it is definitely a huge relief! The WT spring game is tomorrow. Hope Joel's team wins!! :) He said they're looking pretty good in practice. It will be a lot of fun...if it warms up! The last couple of nights have gotten pretty chilly. We had frost on the windows this morning. I'll be layering up and taking a blanket!! That's about all for tonight!! I am way ready for bed!! Happy Wednesday!

Glad for Sundays

This weekend was long! We had another softball tournament, but it was here in Canyon. That was nice, because we didn't have to deal with traveling, hotels, and money to feed the girls. We ended up winning 1 of 6 games this weekend, and got run-ruled the rest. :-\ I'm hoping things can begin to go up. The girls are playing better, but there just always seems to be a bad inning or 2 that just crushes us and then suddenly the game is over. The other coach and I just try to keep our heads up and see the positive things on the field. We start district this week with what is probably the 2 top teams, Randal and Canyon. Two of our girls who are injured find out tomorrow if they get to come back in time for the first district game. I've been praying hard for them to be released because I know how much these 2 can make a difference. They both play with so much passion and love for the game that I think it will push everyone else to keep fighting.
Today was an okay day. This morning wasn't so great. I think I might have gotten the shower water too hot this morning because at one point I got a little dizzy and light-headed. It did not feel good at all! I had to lay down for a little bit when I got out and then felt funny all morning through Sunday school. I was able to take a nap after church though and felt much better after that. I went to a friend's baby shower this afternoon. She is having twins. She got a ton of neat stuff! Watching her open things and listening to the other coaches' wives by me say "Oh you definitely need one of those! Make sure you get that on your registry!" made me realize how little I know about babies and the things we'll need when the baby gets here!! haha I have no clue where to begin on registering for things! I do know that I have tons of new moms around me, though, and of course our own parents, to give us advice so I'm not TOO worried! I did start doing some reading, though, to make myself feel a little better. I've been going through the sack of stuff the nurse gave us on our first visit and learned a few things. :) I already feel better. I also talked to my friend, Amanda, and she reminded me that there is a reason God gives us 9 months to learn about babies so to take it slow! I'm glad God gave Joel and me the family and friends we have to help us through all of this! We do have a lot of great people to turn to during all of this and I'm so thankful for them! 
Grandpa moved into the nursing home last week with Grandmother. I think it is a good thing and has been good for both of them. They've been in different places now for almost 2 years and they both have been so worried about each other. They get to share a room and be together all the time again now. I talked to Grandpa the night he moved in and he sounded better than I've heard him sound in a while...a lot happier. I talked to dad and he said he seems to be doing really well. Hopefully I get a chance to go visit them this summer and soon after the baby gets here! I know they're so excited to meet their first great-grandbaby!
Joel has still been busy with spring ball but that ends this week! :) They draft tomorrow night for their teams for the spring game, which is Thursday. Hopefully Joel brings home the win!! He said they've been practicing pretty good lately so I'm excited to see the game and how they look. He's been so good taking care of me and helping me lately. He cooks dinner and does the laundry and vacuums...he just helps so much! I'm so blessed to have such a great husband! I let him watch all the hunting shows he wants for that!! ;) haha It makes me have dreams about shooting bears and going on big hunts, but that's ok. We've been planning out our summer a little and so far it looks like this - - San Diego with dad early June, a visit from the Hinton in-laws and grandparents after that, Roaring River at the end of June, Colorado to see Jarrod and Michelle over 4th of July week, a trip to Waco and one of my best-friend's weddings mid-July, and hopefully at trip to Houston to see Grandmother and Grandpa. Dad is planning some trips up here and hopefully I'll be able to visit him in Austin that week I'm in Waco for the wedding. :) I hate being so far from family because we have to plan times together...hopefully one day we'll be back closer to all our family - - that means Jarrod and Michelle will have to move to Texas too! :)
Well..that's all for tonight! Have a great week!!

Hump Day :)

Wednesday is my Friday this week!! :) I'm out the next 2 days for softball again. Our girls are playing here at WT for a Panhandle tournament. I've seen some improvement in practice this week so I'm hoping it shows in the games this weekend! The girls could really use a win...and so could us coaches!
I'm feeling pretty good and definitely in better moods!! I'm still pretty tired by the end of the day though! I just keep counting down to Spring Break...1 more week! Joel got to play gold today. He was pretty excited about it. The weather really was perfect today! He didn't play his best game, but he's glad that time of year is here! He said he had a really nice, easy day. He didn't have much to do at all today, but now he is having to put in grades for his class and get things ready for class tomorrow. I always tell him he should do it during the day when he has free time so he can relax at night :) He'd rather play golf though! ;) I got to see Nina and baby Jaxon (my co-teacher) yesterday. That little boy is so cute!! Nina is doing well too. Today I got to go see Amanda (softball coach) and her baby Abigail who was born Saturday! She was precious too!! I couldn't hold her yet because the doctor wants people to wait, but she was awake the whole time I was there! I can't wait to find out if we're having a boy or girl and then to get to meet them! Those 2 babies were just so precious! I know there will be a lot of work and a lot of things no one can be prepared for but I can't wait! :) Joel is pretty excited too...and nervous I'm sure at the same time!! I guess no one really knows what to expect and never be fully prepared for a baby!


That's all for today! We're both so ready for bed!! Good night world!

Brown-Sky Sunday

This picture is one that Melissa took out at her house. I got it off facebook because I didn't take a picture today. This is what the sky looked like all day! There were fires all over the panhandle and people had to evacuate in some areas. Joel and I were not affected, but we did lose power for a little bit. I called today a "Brown-sky Sunday" because the sky was brown! :) I think we should've gotten brownie sundaes to celebrate the occassion! haha :)

Well...this weekend was LONG! We left for El Paso early Wednesday morning and got back around 1AM this morning. We played 8 games; got run-ruled 6 out of the 8 games. We did win one..finally!! And the last game we lost 9-5 but played a great game! The girls are getting better every game and continue to learn. There were 28 teams in the tournament. We ended up in Division 4..which was the bottom division. We got 2nd place in that division since we won our game in bracket play...so the girls got a plaque and silver medals! haha :) I thought it was kind of funny, and the girls did too. They weren't really all that excited about the medals and stuff because we really eneded up like 26 out of 28 teams! It was more of a "Thanks for driving this far" reward than anything else.
My good friend Lauren got married yesterday! I'm so happy for her!! I wasn't able to go because I was in El Paso, but Joel went. I can't wait to see pictures. Jarrod and Michelle also came down for the wedding. I was pretty sad I didn't get to go and didn't get to hang out with Jarrod and Michelle. :( I only got to see them this morning for about 10 minutes while they loaded everything up and then left for Colorado. Hopefully we get a chance to go up and visit or they get a chance to come back sooner than later! Today was a nice, lazy day. We met the Freemans (Mike and Melissa and Lauren) for lunch. Lauren, their baby, is precious!! She has gotten so big since the last time I saw her! She definitely kept us entertained throughout lunch! Joel held her some. He was so cute holding her and talking to her! :) I can't wait to see him with our baby. He's going to be such a great dad. They gave us lots of advice, which I love!! We'll take advice from anyone!! We're new at this so we'll take all the help we can get! I then slept all afternoon, seriously! I slept for probably 2-3 hours at least! It was great!
The head softball coach I work with had her little girl, Abigail, last night at 8PM. She weighed in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and was 22 inches long!! BIG baby!! I can't wait to meet her! Tomorrow we travel to Dalhart for softball. We played them a few weeks ago in a scrimmage and they were pretty good, so I'm nervous to see how we'll play. We need the practice though! Hope everyone had a good weekend!! If you're like me, you're counting down to Spring Break!! Ours is in 2 weeks and I cannot wait!! Anytime any of yall want to come up and visit just let us know! We miss all our friends and family who live so far away and love when we get to see yall!! Have a great week!

Day of Rest!

Today was a true day of rest!! Joel was bored...but I sure got my rest! :) The past few days have been a little crazy and overwhelming at times. I took our varsity team to Ennis for softball tournament and we just did not do so great. We lost all 6 games and were outscored 72-6. On top of that we had different team issues and things that will need to be worked out. They did get better every game, though. We definitely have our work cut out for us!
Joel still has not found his keys! He is supposed to go into Amarillo tomorrow and get a new key so hopefully that is pretty easy. I think he had a nice past few days. He went to a couple WT softball games and a basketball game. The WT teams are pretty successful and ranked so he said they were good games. Today, after Sunday school, I took a nap for a couple hours. I think he slept too, but then he got bored. I soaked up all of the relaxation!! :) Tonight we were finally able to go to one our Sunday school class get-togethers. We have it once a month but Joel and I have never been able to go for some reason or another. It was a lot of fun hanging out and getting to know everyone more. We did a lesson on the parts of the body and how every part has a purpose. We talked about our purpose that God has given us. It was good to soak it all in and to learn a little more about myself. I realized that I'm where I'm supposed to be in coaching and teaching and just being able to be there for my girls and to help those kids learn and grow every day.
My girls play tomorrow and then Wednesday morning we leave for El Paso. If we don't see some improvement, this weekend may be even more stressful than last. I just keep praying for our girls to continue to grow and improve and for patience in me. I read them a quote about resilience this weekend that really hit home for our team:
"You can get sympathy or you can get better, but you can't get both. You can be in your comfort zone or you can have growth, but you can't have both. You can be interested or you can be sold-out-committed, but you can't entertain both. You can have excuses or have results, but you can't do both. [You choose your path.]" - Mario Cortes
I really liked the quote because it seems like we have just been making a lot of excuses for the way we are performing. We have a young team. We have a lot of people out on injuries. We haven't been able to get a lot of practice outside because of snow...etc. The list goes on and on. At some point, though, we have to play ball and use the talent we have to the best of our abilities. I think our girls are starting to grasp that point. It really showed in our last game on Saturday because they hung in there for awhile. I just hope they keep choosing the right path.
As far as the pregnancy...things are good. I'm just really tired! I ate a lot of pickles this weekend :) The girls make fun of me for it, but I've always loved pickles anyways! Joel said the guys look pretty good in practices, but out of shape. I'm excited to see the spring game when it gets here. He's been working so hard. I'm proud of him. :)
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!