25 Weeks (3 Days Late!)

Hello friends and family!!!

I've just got a quick note to update you with (technically last week's) bump pic!! We were 25 weeks last Wednesday, and the Peanut girl is growing and growing!! 

Here's this week's picture:

I definitely have days where I feel VERY pregnant, and some where I feel less so. Although I have an inkling that the "very pregnant" days are going to come more frequently. 

Luckily I'm still pretty much a-symptomatic, although my appetite is starting to return, which is nice. I think Jeff was worried about me there for a bit, and let's be honest, I've never been the kind of girl to order a salad when I wanted a steak. But everything seems to be pretty much returning to normal as I approach the last few weeks of my second trimester. 

We've likely got just one more weekly bump photo in this house before all our things are packed up and shipped off to Klamath Falls. I spent some time today doing future chalkboards so I can still pair them with weekly bump pics. I tried to convince Jeff that my chalkboard needed to travel with me to Oregon instead of on the truck, but he didn't buy it. So I've got two weeks of future boards all made up and ready. Yay!!

That's about it for updates. Little girl is kicking away, and she's definitely getting stronger. Jeff has felt some pretty big kicks too. If only he knew how they felt from the inside!!

Well I'm off to spend my last Saturday night in Wichita Falls with friends doing something fun. Not sure what that is yet, but I know it'll be great!!

Hopefully another update soon!!!

23 Week Bump Pic

The wait is over! Although at this rate, this is more a 24-week photo than 23, but I'm determined to have a picture from (almost) each week. Can you tell I'm starting to lose creativity about these too? I feel like I've run out of ideas, haha.

Anyway, here's the 23 week bump pic:

Not much new to see here, is there? It's not like it changes much week-to-week (I feel like I say this every time!) but it's still crazy to see the progress over time.

Little girl is definitely getting bigger in there, now weighing in at one and a quarter pounds, and I'm feeling her on my bladder more than anything. She's also, supposedly, the size of a bunch of grapes, but at this stage, who really knows for sure.

For the first time last Thursday, my twice-weekly spin class was uncomfortable. I've been attending this spin class every Tuesday and Thursday (give or take) for over a year, and I love the routine and the cardio. I should have probably heeded the warnings of my other pregnant friends who attend the class, that eventually it would be more uncomfortable, because it definitely was. Luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it) I only have two more weeks of class until I'll have to shift my focus to our upcoming move. I'll miss the routine and the class, but hopefully I can find something to do to stay active once we get to Klamath. I have no doubt I'll be able to get in a walk or two with my little beagle nugget, Bailey, while I'm home visiting my parents. I'm told she loves walks these days, and I need to do something to stay active.

Not much other news to report, the little Peanut bugger is still kicking away. Jeff's had the chance to feel it a few times, but I still can't wait until she gets even bigger and her kicks are more pronounced. It was nice though, the other day he got to feel quite a few big ones. He loves this little girl so much, it's just too cute.

Not that it makes a difference, since we're not sharing, but Peanut girl still doesn't have a name, and the drama continues. Jeff and I came into our marriage pretty well prepared for it. We knew each other's feelings on the important stuff, and have been able to come to an agreement or compromise on everything so far.

But this?

Who knew naming our child would be such a struggle, and find us on such opposite ends of the spectrum? I'm sure we'll find some middle ground somewhere, but I'm thinking we may never be able to settle on a list, like we'd planned. It might be asking too much of us to agree on a short list of names to choose from. One (first and middle) might be all we can come up with. We shall see!

I'm super excited this week, for two reasons. I shared with you last Thursday that my little sister is coming for a long weekend visit, which I am SUPER stoked about. I haven't really spent much time with her in a while, and no real one-on-one sister time since she visited last October. I'm sure we'll find no shortage of fun things to do while she's here.

I'm also SUPER excited for my upcoming BaByQ!!! The weather should be nice enough this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to spending time with my awesome lady friends celebrating Peanut. It should be a fantastic time. Maybe I'll have some photos to share with you afterward.

I did attend a baby shower this past weekend (my 4th so far in three months) and had a GREAT time!! We celebrated our friends Courtney and Kristin and their upcoming little ones. We even got a chance to take a photo of four of us who are currently pregnant:

From Left (due): Courtney (July), Shelby (Aug), Kristin (Sep), Tiffany (June)

Hopefully they don't mind being featured on my blog! What a blessing it has been to travel this unusual and interesting road with so many companions!! I'm never without a friend who understands what I'm feeling; physically, mentally, and emotionally, and it's amazing. These ladies are the best!!!!

One more shower to wrap up the season, at least for now. No other ladies have stepped forward with big news, so for now it's just us, and I'll be the last one. It'll also be a nice little send-off too, one last chance to spend quality time with my friends before I leave. Bittersweet the whole way around.

I think that's about all I've got for today. The 24 week pic is due up in just a couple days, and I'll try to be better about it this time. I cannot believe that roughly six months of pregnancy have gone by already, and there are only four(ish) months until our Peanut girl makes her big arrival. So very exciting.

Take care my loves!!

22 Weeks!

I'm back!

And for the second time in a week, I'm seriously feeling like a winner here. Blogging WIN!

Time for the 22 week update which is...uneventful? At best.

I know what you came for anyway, so I won't make you read any more than you have to. Here's this week's bump pic:

At least I don't look so "tore up from the floor up" this week. (That is technically pronounced, "toe up from da flow up," just so you know...)

I had an actual outing today, so I made the effort to put on real clothes. Yay me!

Twenty two weeks in, and our little Peanut girl is finally, FINALLY tipping the scales at one whole pound. No more ounces for this little bebe! Only six or seven more until she's born (hopefully...). She's about the size of a football, although this probably isn't a great reference since footballs are all oblong and strangely shaped, and Peanut is just a little baby in there all snuggled up.

What can I say, I'm excited for our future Beaver fan!!

Peanut seems to be quite the lazy baby, spending most of her time sleeping and resting. Even when she moves around, they're slow and almost deliberate movement, not the violent kicks many of my other pregnant friends are experiencing right now. I understand stronger kicks will come as she gains more weight, but I just don't know if she'll be the sporadic type.

Right now, her strongest kicks usually come early in the morning (remember how I said she likes to practice karate at 3 or 4 am?), probably because she's been mostly resting all night and is ready to be up and start her little Peanut day. I was fortunate enough to feel her kick on the outside of my belly the other morning, during one such karate session. I happened to be asleep on my side with my hand resting on my stomach when she started kicking away. So neat!! Jeff had already left for work, so he missed out, but I'm really looking forward to the day he can feel her moving. He's tried a couple times, but the little turd stops performing the minute she knows someone is paying attention. We'll have to work on that.

Also - random side note - when they said kicks feel like gas, they weren't kidding!! When she's not kicking, just moving around in there, it feels like I have crazy gas in my abdomen. Such a strange feeling.

In other completely unrelated news, today marks one month until my final one-way trip home. The closer it gets the more sad I am to leave all my friends and our little life here. I'm beyond excited to get back to Oregon and be closer to family and the friends I have there, but I know that I will never have exactly this life again, and it breaks my heart. Especially knowing that so many of my friends will miss out on Peanut's early life because they'll be so far away, and knowing that I'll miss out on my friends' new experiences and babies is hard too. I'm hoping Skype and Facebook will help us stay connected.

Too sad to think about! On to more exciting news! Two weeks until my baby shower, and if I'm not the luckiest girl in the world, I don't know who is because

MY LITTLE IS COMING TO VISIT!!!!!!!

I knew this living in the same state thing would come in handy, even if she is still five hours away, and it is only for a few months. I couldn't be more excited. I was really bumming that she wouldn't be able to attend either of my baby showers since she just started working, so I'm over the moon that she'll be here for a long weekend with me and the Peanut girl. Wahhooo!!

Let's count down to that instead, much more exciting. Two weeks from today she'll be in town!! Can't wait!!