Our new ride!

DR and I are now owners of a 2009 Jeep Commander!! We picked up our new SUV last Saturday and are really enjoying it! The color is stone white, it is a 7-passenger, and it has excellent safety ratings (which is a huge plus with a baby soon on board)! It was about time we looked into a 4-wheel drive vehicle, since the camaro does not handle very well in the winter. I am very excited to get to drive the Jeep to work everyday :) We just had the paint, undercarriage, and fabric protected on Friday, so we had to leave the car at the dealer all day. We've only taken it on the expressway a couple of times so far, but it will get broken in soon enough with the commuting to work each day and driving around town. It's definitely a nice vehicle to go shopping in, since the back seats fold down and leave TONS of space for bags and all my deals! :)

I am now in my 23rd week and still feeling great! Little David is kicking more and more each day and Grandma Villiger was able to feel a kick the other day! DR and I attended our 2nd all day birthing class yesterday, and we've been learning a lot. All of us "moms" even got a surprise foot wash and massage from our hubbies at the end of the class! We are signed up for a few more classes including breastfeeding, caring for your baby, and baby talk. They don't take place until October, November, and December though. Our first class was taught by a nurse who is also expecting (her second baby). I enjoyed hearing her stories because she was very honest about the pain of childbirth and all of the changes that we will go through. She added humor to her presentation which made things more interesting. We learned breathing techniques to help us relax and focus on something other than the pain, and she had us hold handfuls of ice cubes to "simulate the pain" of a contraction. I'm really hoping that I can use these coping techniques to have a truly natural birth instead of being pumped with pain meds. I also met three other women at class who are also teachers and teach in my school district in Elmhurst!

Our black and white kitty, Chewy, was sick last week and we had to take him to the vet. He was having trouble going to the bathroom, so we had him x-rayed and examined for a possible kidney stone or bladder infection. Nothing was found on the x-ray, which was good. The doc prescribed antibiotics for the infection, which we had to give Chewy all week. Giving him 2 pills a day was a task for DR and I since he began spitting it out after a few days. This was a better option than the liquid form though. Chewy's feeling much better now, and we have our doggies back today :) Grandma and Grandpa Lytle kept Yukon and Tax all week so that Chewy could get better. I'm glad he's doing fine now.

20-week update

Well, I haven't been on to post any updates in a while, but a lot has happened in the past 2 weeks! The school year started for me on August 24th, and I'm really enjoying this bunch of 8th graders! It has been hard getting up early and working for 8 hours straight, but at least I can relax in the evenings! I can't complain about this 3-day weekend either :) I have a caseload of 19 kids this year, which is a lot, but I feel more comfortable with all of my responsibilities having been there for 2 years now. We have a new principal (again) this year and things seem to be much more organized and enjoyable for us staff :)

On Monday the 31st, Dave and I went to have my 20-week ultrasound done. It lasted about 30 minutes, and after the technician took all the pictures she needed, she turned the screen toward us so we could see Baby. The pictures were amazing! Baby's feet were crossed in a few of the pictures, which we laughed about because Dave sits like that ALL THE TIME! It was so neat to see the heart beating on the monitor. Everything looks great, and Dave and I did find out that Baby Lytle is a BOY!! This will be the SIXTH great-grandson on the Villiger side :) I am really enjoying my pregnancy so far, and baby is kicking a little more each day. I usually feel his kicks around 9am and 2pm and again when relaxing in front of the tv in the evening. It's the coolest feeling in the world to have seen him in the pictures and then to feel him kicking every day!

Mom and I went shopping yesterday at Babies R Us and I had so much fun picking out items for our registry :) I also bought some more maternity clothes for work with the giftcard DR got me for my b-day. I still don't think I have a clue how BIG my belly is actually going to get! Right now I can still fit into my regular size small shirts that are just longer on the bottom. At least I now have lots of comfortable outfits to wear to work!

Dave has completed his scuba diving course and passed his open water dive test today, so he is now officially a certified scuba diver! I may think about getting certified next year, but I haven't decided yet. It would be nice to take a trip somewhere and dive together, but it also seems a little scary to me to be at such great depths in the water.

Next weekend Dave and I start going to our birthing classes. They are on different days once or twice a month from now until December. I'm looking forward to learning everything we need to know before baby arrives!

I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend! I'm going to enjoy sleeping in again tomorrow while I can!