Miss Reagan Kenzie is Born: The Birth Story!

July 16, 2014. The day that changed the rest of my life forever. When I saw her sweet little face for the first time, I couldn't help but cry! My heart was (and is still) full.

It all started the Sunday before she was born. I started having contractions late that night. Monday morning I went to the hospital only to be sent home again. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday so the plan was to wait until that appointment to see if I had made any more progress. Monday and Tuesday night were completely sleepless as I battled contractions. By Wednesday morning, I was exhausted and irritated but my doctor's appointment was that afternoon, so I was hoping for some good news. Before I even made it to the appointment, my water broke, and after that the contractions were coming FAST - every 2 minutes or so. At that point I was worried that I wouldn't make it to the hospital, and that Jason wouldn't even make it to her birth since he was an hour away at work!

The car ride was ever-so-exciting as I coached myself to NOT push because I knew the baby was well on her way. For 15 minutes, I screamed in pain and played out the scenario of having a baby on the freeway. I just knew we wouldn't make it.

When we finally DID make it to the hospital, I was told I was already at 8 cm! Luckily the doctor was able to give me an epidural to slow down the labor (otherwise Jason wouldn't have made it!). Jason arrived about 30 minutes after we did and the delivery followed quickly after that. After having labored through contractions for so long, the actual delivery was a piece of cake for me! Five pushes and she was here! I finally could see and hear my amazing little girl! I remember looking at Jason and crying as I saw the love in his eyes. He couldn't take his eyes off of her! My family was complete. My life had a whole new purpose. My heart was overflowing.

The next couple of days were a combination of misery and joy as we loved on our baby girl but longed to be in our own home. The hospital room was tiny, old, dark, and uncomfortable. But our baby girl was amazing! We were on cloud 9 (and still are)! Here are some photos from our hospital stay and from our trip home.

How thankful we are to God for this amazing blessing He has provided! How blessed we are to have such a sweet and beautiful little girl. How moved we are to know that He chose US to be her parents. How awesome a responsibility. How humbling. How PERFECT.

Classroom Reveal 2013!

A new school year has arrived! This will be my third year teaching the first grade, and my first year to actually have the chance to really do some hard work in my classroom. I have to say that it has all come together just as I envisioned it. I am lucky to have 3 windows in my classroom, which means...CURTAINS! I don't know about you, but I have a slight obsession with a beautiful window.

I love all of the different colors and how well they work together. This is a view from the back of the room, near the sink and bathrooms.

This is the writing center in the back of the room. I have yet to add the markers, crayons, pencils, paper, and all the other good stuff that a fantastic writing center should have. But I will say that I am beyond excited to finally be able to put this much-too-large-for-the-space table to proper use. In the past, I've had no choice but to put it up against a wall, which meant that only 3 students (sometimes 4) could use the table at a time.

This is my main instructional area. Here we'll have our morning meeting, calendar math, and whole-group instruction. The chart tablet that you see on the easel was only $7 at Walmart! I didn't see any available online, but check your local Walmart store. I went yesterday and my store still had quite a few left in the school supply section.
I bought the colored bins (one for each day of the week) at Dollar General last year.
The small blue pocket charts came from the Target Dollar Spot. I love that they had blue this year!
And how about those curtains?! I searched YEARS for the perfect curtains to match my classroom. I fell IN LOVE with these curtains from Walmart. They are Mainstays brand and are called "Scribble." You can get them here: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Polyester-Printed-Sheer-Scribble-Curtain-Panel/26012852

Deployment Day 4

It's been four days since Jason left and I have to say that this has been the most difficult trial I have gone through. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I am so far away from my family or if it has more to do with the love that Jason and I share...or maybe it's a little bit of both. Today was the first day that I haven't sobbed. I found that if I just keep my eyes on all the blessings that God has given, I am much more calm about the whole situation. Take that, anxiety!! With this in mind, I wanted to share some of my reasons to be thankful to God. Let this also serve as a public reminder for me to stay positive.

I am thankful...

1. For my incredibly handsome and fantastically perfect-for-me husband who manages to take care of and support me no matter how far away he may be, and who makes me laugh at his ridiculousness every time we talk.

2. For my loving family, especially my Mom, who has spent her valuable time on the phone with me while I cry and complain, and has even talked me to sleep on nights that I couldn't seem to find sleep on my own. Also for my Dad who has been forced to stay on the phone with me for entirely too long, just to keep my mind off of things. ;)

3. For my great friends who have been coaching me through this, especially Candice who has been here to support me on a daily basis here in Savannah.

4. For my sweet firsties and for my job that keeps me extremely busy (thus distracted) during the week.

5. For my beautiful little sister, whose engagement could NOT have come at a better time. Talk about staying busy... :)

6. Finally, for my Heavenly Father, who has promised that He will be by my side through it all, and who calms my heart and gives me strength to make it through.

Please keep us in your prayers as we make our way through this journey.

Love to all!

Sony Awesome-ness

As most of you already have heard, I got THE most amazing camera for my birthday. By the way, I am just now realizing that I'm about to enter my LATE twenties. That's a tiny bit depressing. Okay, back to the story. So this camera...Jason and I took it down to our dock this evening just to play around with it and see what it's truly capable of. Keep in mind, I am a complete amatuer (we've got some pretty amazing scenery, so that definitely helped). But this is what I came up with...

Bottom line here is this: I am positively, head-over-heels IN LOVE with my shiny new piece of technology. A very special thanks to my incredibly handsome other half for the awesome gift!

Sweet Summer Time

Well, summer is officially slipping away from us and a new school year is coming up. With that new school year comes quite a few changes for the Baker household. First up, I will be working in Savannah as a substitute teacher in the local school district. I'm a bit nervous, as the demographics around here are COMPLETELY different than what I am used to. The school district has taken a lot of heat and has had a crazy turn-around rate of staff members due to their poor academics. But strangely enough, there are NO job openings for teachers! Quite different than my sweet job at NCISD. Hopefully, though, I will be able to finally find something permanent here in Savannah. For Jason, the end of summer means the beginning of a long road to his Engineering degree. I'm so proud of him for deciding to go back to school and finish his degree. He'll start classes on the 15th of August. Be sure to send him some encouragement...he's nervous, although I keep reminding him that he has the advantage since he married a teacher. ;) Hm...I'll bet I'm going to be writing some papers in the near future, hehe.

What's New...

Hi y'all! After much deliberation, I have finally decided to start a blog! My plan is to keep this updated so that all of our friends and family back home can be a part of our everyday life here in beautiful Savannah. Stay tuned for more...