Great News!

I have some wonderful news! I did my portfolio presentation on Wednesday. I presented myself in front of a committee of four. I sat at this table and they sat around in desks and watched me while I did a speech on my learning journey in the ECSE program. I have to admit, it was a little scary, but it wasn't at all as terrifying as I pictured. Two of them were smiling at me constantly so it made me a little bit more comfortable. They sent me out after I presented and they asked all the questions they wanted, and ten to fifteen minutes later called me back in. They said, "Cynthia, of course we feel it is unanimous that you are indeed ready to student teach." I was so very happy. Then they told me about my strengths, gave me some recommendations, and then congratulated me. I went out and jumped around with my friend Amyra and helped get her ready to go in. Since she had to sit out and wait for me, I had to wait until she was done with hers. Of course she passed because she is amazing. We went and celebrated after at Subway. She is student teaching in vegas too, so it will be exciting to still be able to see her a little bit. She is coming to visit Ryker after he is born too! :) Anyways, it was like this huge burden was lifted off my shoulders when they said I passed! :) oh, and my cooperating teacher for my kindergarten practicum sat in on the committee and she gave me a gift after. It was so sweet. This is what she gave me:
Cute huh? I love children's books! I must have told her or something. Isn't that so sweet of her? I've really had a great semester! :)
Anyways, last night was my baby shower. It was really fun. We had brownies (the most delicious chocolatey brownies ever), cake, and some yummy grapefruit soda drink. Not really sure what kind it was, but it was delicious. Ryker liked it a lot. It was very nice of my friends Kristen and Alex to throw the baby shower for me. They made it really comfortable and decorated it in a Christmasy setting. It was very nice! My friend Linda got pics of me opening gifts, but I'll post those when she gets those to me. It was super fun, and I got a lot of great gifts! Ryker will love it all! Also, thanks everyone! :)

I got a pack of 5 onesies (they are sports onesies, super cute), three hooded towels (super cute), four receiving blankets, a really soft blanket, two packs of baby wash cloths, two home made burping rags, and like 14 nursing pads. My friend Kristen made them. :)

I was so excited to get all this essential stuff! You can never have enough I've heard! I got 4 things of lotion (one is Aveeno brand) and 4 baby washes (one is Aveeno brand), a little sample of aveeno baby shampoo, some baby shampoo, and diaper rash cream (heard that stuff is magical). :)
I don't know why this pic wouldn't come up the right way, but I got a cute striped sleeper, a long sleeve moose onesie, a bib that says "Thank Heaven for little BOYS" :), a cute little green outfit with little footsies, and four burping rags! :)
Two cute striped onesies with a matching six pack of socks, a bib that says "born to eat," a cute bear blanket, cute little "things that go" book set, and little vans with dinosaurs on them. Aren't those the cutest little shoes EVER!? :)

A little lion outfit that says roar all over it with a lion bib and the pants are backwards just to show off the ROAR butt :) Also, the sleeper right next to it is REALLY soft and a girl in my ward MADE IT. She is so talented! It's for 6-9 months, but I'm pretty sure Ryker won't be that big at 6-9 months, but ya never know! :)
The little sleeper on the left is what Joe picked out right after we found out we were having a boy, a blue onesie with cute little jeans, and a cute little one piece outfit (an up close look below), and some cute little booties! :)
Isn't that so cute? I like the tie and the watch on the arm! haha!This is me yesterday after the baby shower as you can see from the stuff in the background. Over Thanksgiving break I just kind of popped out! yikes! It's exciting now though because people can tell. A little girl in Kindergarten even asked "Mrs. Gebhardt, are you pregnant?" I told her yes and that I was having a boy. She said, "I have a baby boy!"