Lovingly Exhausted...

Well, its 5:00am, I have not been asleep in my bed yet tonight (I did fall asleep on the couch during a movie though), I am completely and utterly exhausted right now, and just a few minutes ago I was filled with frustration. But now I'm sitting here typing this with one hand and holding my baby in the other, we are listening to a cd of the sweetest and softest primary songs (thank you Stephanie) and my emotions have totally gotten the best of me (cue the waterworks). I feel so lucky to be able to be awake here holding this healthy, happy baby boy. This is all I have wanted for so long. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has entrusted Drew and I with this amazing little guy. What a blessing. So, this may be exhausting, but it is so worth every waking second that I can spend holding and loving my baby.

Thanks Aunt Amber...

Aunt Amber got Maddux this cute Giraffe blanket and it is so teeny. It was so funny today because Drew put it on Maddux and it totally covers him up! It's only about 18 inches by 18 inches...He is so so small! Anyway, I think he loves it, Thanks Amb!

Guitar Hero!

We got Guitar Hero last night and although I was actually excited about playing it, Maddux and I were both exhausted. Here is Drew enjoying his new game. Now we've just got to get another guitar so I can show him how it's really done! :)
(lots of sarcasm here...I really really stink at it, but it doesn't stop me from liking it!)

Obsessed much?

More pics...I just can't help myself! I have NEVER been so camera happy! I actually took my camera to Maddux's first doctor's appointment today but in all the action, I totally forgot to bust it out! sad! All is well, he is a healthy and happy baby! I couldn't be more proud or obsessed!

Here is how we rang in the new year.... :) We loved it !

Worth the wait...

Here he is, baby Maddux Craig Ingram has finally decided to come and join our family. We have waited (not so patiently at times) for this amazing day!
He was born on Saturday December 29th at 11:26am weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 20.25 inches long.
He is absolutely adorable and I could not be a happier mommy right now!

Here are some pictures...



He is a little jaundice and had a bilirubin light pad on him Sunday night. He hated it so much, but he looked like the CUTEST little glow worm I have ever seen! Sadly, the pictures don't do justice to the cuteness!

Goodbye to the ticker...

I'm taking the ticker off, because it's depressing me! Counting up is really NOT what I want to be seeing! Anyway....just an update for anyone who might care...had an appointment today. My body is making no progress on it's own so far! (STILL dilated to a 1 and 80% effaced). I will be induced on Saturday but I don't know what time yet, they will call Friday to let me know. I'm highly doubting that anything will happen between now and then, but I am trying everything anyway! I about walked my body into the ground! Promise that I'll let you all know via mass text IF anything changes! Thanks for all the calls and texts to check on me! I have the greatest friends!!! :)

?!?!

I think the ticker is counting UP now....???

Now What...?

So, my little baby ticker to the right is officially at zero days. And still....no baby! I'm quite curious to see what the ticker will do tomorrow. -1?

Traditions...

Since I can remember, my family has packed in the car and driven around to "oooh" and "aaahh" over Christmas lights. Well, as the family has grown, we have needed bigger and bigger methods of transportation for this important tradition. Last night topped it all... we rode in style! I was shocked when a limo BUS came to my parents house to pick us all up. Yes...a bus! We finally had plenty of room to sprawl out and drove around the valley for three hours looking at lights.

Drew and Brooklyn (our neice) are looking for Santa in the sky...

Boston (nephew) couldn't decide where he wanted to sit, I think..he loved the freedom of wandering around the bus...

Hormones do funny things....

I have been counting down the months, weeks, days, hours and then minutes left until my last day of school before having this baby! So yesterday was the day! I had to leave right when the bell rang at 3:15 because I had a 3:30 doctors appointment. I watched the clock with excitement all day long...ready to run out the door. And you know what happened? I walked to my car CRYING! What a mess! Even while I was crying I knew it had to be the hormones. How was I going to miss arguing with the same students every day about why it's not ok to be late to class, standing over my 2nd period during every test and quiz because they all try to cheat, yelling until my voice cracks at my 6th period trying to get them to be quiet and sit down, explaining AGAIN what it means to simplify a fraction, explaining to a parent why it's not possible for their son to raise his grade from a D to an A during the last four days of school, or reminding the girls that teachers aren't stupid and we can in fact see them passing notes at the pencil sharpener. But you know what? I love to teach! I really do love my job and I think I am honestly going to miss being a teacher. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to stay away from it for long!

A bunko Christmas!

Thank you to Kelly and Eric, who hosted an amazing Christmas party last night, I finally got to see Drew play Bunko...what a treat! I purposely did not tell him what we were doing at the party, as he has refused on several occasions to play the amazing game I am so addicted to! When we walked in and saw all the tables with dice, he knew what he was in for! Whether he is willing to admit it or not...I KNOW he loved it and we all had a blast! Kelly throws one amazing party! And unlike our normal monthly bunko games...I actually won a prize! Here are a few pics of everyone playing! I noticed that most of my pictures are of the guys playing...I guess I just couldn't get enough of watching them be so competitive!

Hot Dogs?

You would think that my recent complaints about being "Fatty McGee" would at least cause me to rethink my eating habits...well it has! I recently indulged in TWO yes...TWO hot dogs at the Circle K Grand Opening out here in Gilbert. I need to add that I have refused to eat a single hot dog for the past 15 years or so of my life. The thought of them absolutely disgusts me, but when you are 9 months prego and someone offers an entire free meal (2 hot dogs, cheetos, orange soda, and a king size snickers ice cream bar) just for visiting a grand opening, it's just too much to resist! So, here I am...I'm sure you can hear me getting larger! I obviously enjoyed it way too much!

Any Day Now...

Here I am at 38.5 weeks and looking like I'm going to pop!! I'm hoping that this little guy will come just any day now! The sooner the better because I don't think this tummy can get much bigger! This picture is sooooo unflattering, but my mom swears that someday I will appreciate it and want look back at it! For now it's just funny to look at because I can't believe this is my body!!!
(This is at a wedding reception, not my house by the way!)

15 days?!!

Ok, some days it just hits me harder than others...like today, for example. The ticker says 15 days! That is insane! Sometimes I feel sooooo ready and impatient and sometimes I completely freak out and think that there is no way that I can handle labor pains or ever be a good enough mom! What a scary thing, but it's SO much fun at the same time!

I was listening to Christmas music today and I decided that my theme song for this Christmas is:

"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
Baby, All I want for Christmas is
You... "

Dedicated to Baby Maddux! :)

Big Belly!

My friend Aubry (see startinphoto.com) was so so nice to take some maternity pics for me so I can always remember my big ol' nasty belly! Since I'm not sending Christmas cards out this year (baby announcements will hopefully be taking their place), I'm going to post some of my favorite pics! This was actually several weeks ago and believe it or not my stomach is way bigger than this now! Only 3.5 weeks to go!!!!

INSANITY!!!!!!!

Ok, add this to the list of things NOT to do when you are 8 months pregnant : Shop at 6am on Black Friday! I have never experienced such chaos in all of my life! I had to hide in the back of Target for 20 minutes today until things settled down up front. I had so many people smash into my big ol' belly, I was sure I was going to go into labor right then and there. After 3 hours of shopping (really 1.5 of finding parking spaces and waiting in line and 1.5 of actual shopping) I hit Tilly's, Target, Linen's & Things, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Circuit City, Old Navy, and Khols, and I came home with only one VERY small gift, which was not even on sale today! What a bust! :) At least it was an adventure! I probably won't be doing it again any time soon because there is NO way I could have gotten through the crowds with a a stroller! :) Like I said....INSANITY!!!!

I MIGHT be able to handle this...

Just wanted to share with everyone that I counted today...and I have only 19 teaching days left! The kids are wearing me out fast, but I think I can handle 19 more days in my classroom! What an amazing feeling! Anyway, just thought I'd share! woohoo!!!!

Tagged...?!?

Alright alright already...I got tagged and ignored it, then again, and again! I think if I don't actually do this, it may never end! SO.....here goes nothing...I'm tagged!

Here are 6 things you may or may not already know about me (and sadly, I'm not all that exciting!)

1. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook! The best thing about cooking is doing it without a recipe. I love to create things all on my own, or take a picture of something that I see and change it up a bit to fit my taste and make my own recipe. The biggest problem with this is when I really hit the jackpot and make something amazing, because I can hardly ever duplicate it! I really need to figure out a better system! I'm still wracking my brain trying to think of a career where I could sit in a kitchen and invent recipes and meals for people and somehow get paid for it. Any ideas??

2. I am horrified of car rides. I have learned how to hide it well, but even to drive around the corner, my palms sweat and I have to distract myself from the millions of things that can happen in a 5 minute car ride (my mind is my worst enemy!) My sister and I are very similar in the way that she has the same reaction to airplane rides that I do to car rides. What is wrong with us!?!?Road trips are an honest disaster with me! Drew has learned to be ever so patient and to drive only in certain lanes on certain freeways so I don't freak!

3. I dance and sing every time I drive. This may be one of the ways I distract myself in the car and keep things light. Have you ever seen the show where they put the video camera in someone's rental car and record them dancing and singing? Well, I would be MORTIFIED because I have the world's worst singing voice, but still belt it out to any and every song. Drew is often humiliated by my car-dance moves, but let's be honest I crack myself up and have a great time!

4. I call into the radio station to win absolutely anything! Has it ever paid off? No! I usually hear, "I'm sorry, you are caller number 8". But it's a fun hobby, right? (humor me!) I'm determined that someday I will get through to 104.7 and play "Remember the Time", but I haven't gotten through yet! Someday I will win something amazing, I'm sure of it! :)

5. I'm super intrigued by crime. The only books I read are non-fiction crime novels and my favorite shows are Forensic Files, Dateline, and documentary shows that look into the lives of serial killers. Morbid and weird, I know...but I am so interested in all that stuff.

6. I love to teach. I have to add this one because anyone who knows me right now probably doesn't believe me! I complain about it right now more than I talk about how much I love it. BUT...pregnancy hormones can do that to a girl! I really do like to teach and this has just been a really tough year in my class, but I just want to make it clear that I do, in fact...love to teach! Watching kids faces when they finally get something or hearing someone tell me that they love my class, or that math is their new favorite subject when they used to hate it. Wow, makes the job so worth while!

I tag...Stephanie, Brynn, Aubry, Katie, and Kelly!

4 Years Together...

Yesterday Drew and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! Crazy how time flies! I love him so much and I am so lucky to be married to him! I know it sounds cheesy, but I can't imagine not having him with me everyday! We have been through so much together in 4 short years and I love knowing that I get to be with him for all eternity! I love you Drew!!


And what a great guy...after agreeing NO anniversary gifts this year due to upcoming baby, Christmas, and lots of expenses...Drew still went out and got me a pregnancy massage from Dolce!

The dreaded day after...

I was SOOOOOO dreading the day after Halloween! Being stuck inside my classroom with 130 11 and 12 year olds all day long just didn't sound appealing to a very pregnant Tarah! But...someone really used their brain today! I have no idea how or who...but someone managed to book a BMX assembly for us. We got to go outside and watch these three guys do some pretty cool tricks on BMX bikes. I still have no idea what educational value it had, but to be outside on a day like today was someone's brilliant idea! Anyway, it was pretty cool so I thought I'd share some pictures!

This is one of the guys jumping over two teachers and the other two BMX guys...I was scared for them! Publish Post