Tami's Pumpkin Belly

I made this costume for Halloween! I guess you can call it Baby B's first costume! I love Halloween - its so silly and fun! Oh and you can also check out how big my tummy was at 23 weeks!
Yes, I did wear this to court with my suit. My judge loved it and so did my little clients!

Reigning Champion

For those of you who know me well, you know that I can be just a tiny bit competitive. I really enjoy competition that is just for fun. I enjoy turning it into an all out war - all in fun of course! Well such is the case for the Halloween Door Decorating Competition at my office. All doors must cost less than $20. Last year was the first annual competition and my office-mate, Susan, and I blew away the competition. We won first place!
This year, with a new office-mate, a bigger tummy and much less energy, I wasn't sure I should even attempt to enter. But at the last minute, Sheila and I created this incredible door. A pillar of excellence in the holiday community. The awards were given out differently this year - Most Talked About, Scariest, Funniest and Most Creative. Sheila and I won...Most Creative! That is really the best one to win, right?
Summary of the Art: A Pumpkin inspired by the "Great Pumpkin" with vines at the bottom (spiders are crawling on the vines throughout but it cannot be seen in this picture). Bats (Sheila's handiwork) are flying out of our pumpkin's mouth and ghosts are flying overhead. The entire artform is 3D and made completely out of paper (except for the little spiders). Our door cost us $2.99 and a backache.
Now that we have reaped our just rewards, we will turn it into a friendly pumpkin that says "Happy Thanksgiving!" We are considering painting it and turning it into an ornament for Christmas!
Martha Stewart even sent us an "award" telling us how incredible we are. But I have a feeling that was something cooked up for the benefit of grudging co-workers who are poor losers :) (Note, I would probably be a poor loser too, good thing I DIDN'T LOSE!) Haha. P.S. I'm generally a much nicer person than this when I'm not in a competition...

End of the World?

Well, it seems like the end of the world outside. It's dark and ominous and smokey. Today is a bit better than yesterday, I can see the sky a little! Clark and I are okay - we are not really near any current fire and have not been evacuated. Of course we do keep a list of our precious, irreplaceables just in case we have to pack quickly. Our friends in Malibu at Pepperdine were evacuated to the gym/cafeteria areas but have been back in their homes for a couple of days. The church that my sister got married in has burned down. My family in San Diego is taking the brunt of this. Thank the Lord we have not lost any people or property but one sister has been evacuated and the other is on constant watch just in case. She is actually housing another family with eight dogs and four puppies! Isn't she a saint? My mom is doing fine along the coast. We are all trying to stay inside and not breathe in the yuck, especially me for the sake of Baby B.
The wind is the worst part for our area. When I drive to work I pass the Santa Clarita valley area and the wind just whips my car into the other lanes. I have to use all my strength and both hands! Guess that means no cell phone, no pretzels and no chapstick! The wind actually took down part of our friends' tree and lifted the entire tree up like six inches at the root! But so far it is still standing...
I hope that you are all doing well, my friends! If you need a place to stay please call me. We gotta stick together in SoCal!

Most Requested Blog Item

Okay friends - here's the fatty! I'm at 20 weeks and this picture was taken October 11th. All kinds of things are expanding. In fact, I'm not fitting into my maternity clothes anymore but that is not b/c of my belly - I'll let you figure that one out! Clark took a closer up picture below so you can see my "maternal glow" aka the flu that I have gotten this week from the flu shot - go figure! So if I look a bit peakish, that's why. I'm a little intimidated by my friends who are further along than me who are not nearly as large - I guess Baby B is gonna be a big boy or I'm gonna have A LOT of weight to lose next spring :)

We registered this week which was fun and a bit overwhelming. I cannot believe how much stuff you need to prepare for a baby. It's more than backpacking and I thought that was a lot of equipment! We've picked initials for the baby - CAB. Clark's initials, his dad's initials and his great grandfather's initials (I don't know what happened to his grandfather who's name is Don). Anyway, the middle name will probably be Hawaiian so this honky kid of mine will know his roots! And that is all the name info we've agreed to give out at this time. We are halfway there now and things are moving along more quickly. The first half felt like 5 years rather than 5 months because of all the sickness and pains. Things are a bit better now, praise the Lord! We are excited to meet this boy and see what in the world he looks like.

Expanding

Okay, people - I'm finally posting a belly picture! This is actually from a few weeks ago when I was at 18 weeks. I'm going to post another picture right away that is more current so you can compare. You might notice the chaos in the background - we have completely turned our house upside down to get ready for Baby B. Lots to do!

Most Embarrassing Moments

Okay, those of you who know me well know that I have had many embarrassing moments in my life. For someone who does not get embarrassed easily, these moments are undeniably mortifying. From the time in high school where I slipped on my butt getting off the bus right as I was saying hello to my crush to the time freshman year in college when the egg exploded on my face with a loud POP in the middle of the cafeteria, I have had some doozies. But yesterday I was humbled in a new way.

As I was driving home, I felt like keeping my window down. It was, after all, a beautiful breezy evening the likes of which we haven't seen for awhile. As I'm driving, the talented Carrie Underwood comes on my radio (Go Country 105.1 - great station fyi) and she is performing her new hit "So Small". Great song that you can really belt out. And that is what I did...loudly. At about this time, the stoplight turned red. I stopped my car but continued to sing along with Carrie. All of a sudden I hear this man saying, "Sounds good!" What?!?! He was in the car next to me and had apparently had the same window down idea. You know those moments when you feel like you are all alone and no one is watching but then you realize that someone IS indeed watching - and critiqueing?! That was me. He told me I was blushing, man leave me alone! And of course that was the longest red light I have ever stopped at.

Been Awhile

Things are moving along nicely in my uterus from what I'm told. I'm at 15 weeks and 2 days as of today. I think our baby is about 3.5 inches long now but will grow to be 7 inches over the next two weeks. I'm generally feeling much better but I still have my days where food is not my friend. On the contrary, food is my best friend most of the time. I have to eat food constantly to avoid being sick. Its actually to the point where eating is not that fun anymore - I know, did I actually say that? Thank you to everyone who sent me encouragement about having a boy. I know the Lord will show me how to parent a boy and He has blessed me with a boy for a reason. I'm getting quite used to the idea!

Clark started back at school last week. He's teaching 3rd grade this year as opposed to fourth grade. So he has 20 students (as opposed to a max of 36) and he has 3 recesses (as opposed to 2). He likes it, duh! The kids are very sweet and of course, as usual, he is great with them. He has this way of putting them at ease with his calm manner and easy going attitude. I think it is unique and special to have a male teacher - it allows kids to do well who might otherwise struggle. Of course, female teachers are important too (Amber!) They have special attributes that Clark doesn't have. It's good to have a balance.

I had one of those "I'm making a difference" days at work yesterday. I had a couple of boys who's caretaker wanted to kick them out for not behaving, doing drugs, etc. These boys were only 11 and 14 by the way! I have never laid it out so harshly for a client before. We had a nice heart to heart and rather than rolling their eyes and not paying attention (as my clients often do when we have these nice talks) they were listening. Whether it will stick or not, we'll see...I could tell they are good kids, they just need structure and guidance. I actually felt like they need a father (caretaker is a female).

Also, my favorite female client came to court yesterday. We have worked so hard on her case lately. I won't go into details but lets just say she has experienced more than any of us probably ever will in our entire lives. She is doing really well now and I'm so proud of her. I realized after the hearing that I might not see her again because I'll be on maternity leave at her next hearing. Then I probably won't be coming back to this job because of the commute. Anyway, I told her I'm pregnant and she was so excited. She's going to come to court in October just to see me and say goodbye. She and I were both very sad.

As I contemplate finding a new job, I have mixed emotions. I just feel like the Lord has put me in this place for "such a time as this". There is so much that I have done and so much left to do. I hope that I can continue to help kids in whatever I do next. But the most important thing to me right now is being there for my own child(ren). I never wanted to neglect my own kids for the kids I work with. That would defeat the purpose! So I'm looking for a job within 20-30 minutes of my home - any ideas? Please pray with me as I go on this new journey. So much is changing but it will be great, I know!