22 and 23

I just got to hold the cutest, chubbiest baby at work today and it got me all giddy cuz I realized we're gonna have one of our own pretty soon! Yipee!

I sort of fell off of the blogging wagon for a couple weeks but I am back on! First and foremost I should officially announce the gender, even though we have known for quite some time now... This is the picture that we sent to our families to announce the news...

Girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl!

The look on Devin's face has some traces of fear on it wouldn't you say? He has admitted that raising a girl intimidates him because he is scared of the unknown..."boys are easy, I was a boy, I know what to do with a boy, you just take them to the ball field or hunting, I don't know what I'll do with a girl." After seeing what an involved "parent"(because parenting a dog and a child will be the exact same experience, right?) he is when it comes to this little guy...

...I know our little gal is in good hands. MY parenting skills are the ones I'm worried about, but that's a whole other subject I won't get into today.  Luckily lots of people like to write books about parenting.  Unfortunately I haven't read much of these type of books as I have been trying to focus my attention on passing my Physics boards...

There have been many changes in the last few weeks... I started feeling some movement at week 21.  It began as what felt like little pokes against my abdominal wall, and after two weeks have progressed to harder punches in succession, what a cool feeling! She moves a lot after I work out and if my bladder is really full and at night and after I eat sometimes haha. I like that it's random because it's a fun little surprise every time.  My bellybutton has cut loose and there is no holding it back, tape and bandaids don't work, neither does layering, so I have just decided to just embrace it! My sweet mom hit up Gap's Maternity clothes sale and bought me a bunch of really cute/comfy shirts and leggings, best present ever! So this week I boxed up all of my other clothes that I've grown out of to make room for the new ones in hopes that getting dressed won't be such a chore/guessing game anymore. 

 

This week I've noticed I'm getting short of breath more easily.  Doing housework I had to take a few breaks in between vacuuming and dishes to catch my breath.  We had another Dr's appt and the hearbeat ranged from 60 to 150 bpm.  Dr said it is totally normal for it to fluctuate like that until about 28 weeks.  I'll admit it's kind of nerve-wracking listening to it sloooooowwww waaaaaay doooowwwnnn.  My uterus was measuring 21 weeks at 23 weeks which he also said is within normal limits, and from the look of things she probably won't be a 10 pounder like her mom and pops! Phew!

Devin played in a softball tournament in Green River (which they took first place in!) and I came down with some sort of sneezing, allergy, head cold thing and it kinda sucks not being able to pop some IB's and call it a day.  After a long day of watching softball this is what happened about five minutes after the inlaws and I hit the couch...

Snapped this pic of Baby Devin while we were home in Moab, handsome and happy little guy I must say!

Since summer is technically over I decided to make my favorite fall dish, white chicken chili and cornbread! It didn't quite it the spot like I had hoped since it was still 90 degrees outside..

 We have some new tenants living in our entryway...BATS! They fly in at night and leave us a huge pile of guano (I'm of course referencing Ace Ventura When Nature Calls) on either side of our front door, lovely.  I had given Devin permission to shoot them with his pellet gun but after seeing them up close that permission  was revoked.  I had no idea, but bats are kinda cute!

And they sort of keep in theme with our Halloween decorations so lucky for them it's Halloween season. 

 Devin has been keeping himself very busy and finished a lot of our projects around the house, like refinishing the changing table and building benchs for the firepit.  I will have pictures of them next time!

20

I must say that the first half has flown by! But I can attribute that to the fact that I didn't get the memo that I was pregnant til I was 8 weeks along, so it's really only been 12 weeks, if I'm going by these claculations, the last half may drag a bit, and that's FINE BY ME! Still have a lot to get accomplished before this bundle is delivered, I also have a lot of alone time with myself and alone time with Devin and Otto that  I want to have and appreciate before we become a family of four. 

Still feel good, some lower back tweaking pains, but I think that I'm naturally extra lordotic in my lower back(as seen above) so I need to be sure to keep my core muscles strong so I don't strain it as I get bigger.

Maternity pants are calling my name, but it's still too hot for pants so I'm just gonna squeeze into my shorts and comfy maxi skirts for a few more weeks.  Thankfully five of my days are spent in scrubs. 

Have not felt any kicking or movement yet, but I'm hearing you can be up to 23 weeks before that happens.

Got our 20 week official ultrasound and everything looks good! Devin grilled Dr K about if he is planning any vacations on or around January 13, our official due date! 1/13/13!

Only pet peeve about being pregnant is when people try to do stuff for you, or tell you not to do stuff, like lift a chair or pick something up off of the floor.  (I know it is dumb to have a pet peeve of  people being nice and helpful, the pet peeve part stems more from me trying to prove things to myself than actually being annoyed that people are being helpful).   I may be regretting that statement in a few months when I'm much more mechanically-challenged ...

Funny story about the picture below, we were discussing baby names with my family and mentioned that we liked boy and girl names that start with the letter B.  Later, my sister came back from the guest bathroom with a concerned look on her face and asked "You're not gonna name the baby "Bath" are you?"

Still struggling with all this nursery business, slowly finding fabric I like, found these at the new Joann's...eh

Oh Otto.  I am so interested to see how he handles the new addition.  I can say without a doubt that we give that little guy more attention than we give each other most of the time (most meaning all) so he is in for a shock when his attention gets cut back a bit.  Devin is not having any of the What-happens-if-we-have-to-give-Otto-less-attention talk and claims that he can cuddle a baby and a bully at the same time, no problem. Knowing him, I'm sure he will find a way.

  

 

My wonderful mom bought me some plants to help "freshen" the house a bit since it feels like we never have our windows open in this heat.  I have had NO luck in rearing indoor or outdoor plants so wish them luck...

Addicted to the tomato soup at Harmon's, I think I had it four different times for lunch and dinner last week. It must be good if I'm eating it in 100 degree weather! 

Had a visit from these little piggies at her 1st birthday party last weekend, I have many pictures of that party waiting to be posted!

I like a lot of the blues and oranges in these collections that I found at WiseFingers on Etsy.  Crib bedding is still bewildering to me.  How many sheets should I buy? Or do I just buy one and rewash and rewash? Is it even worth it to buy sheets with a cute pattern?  Can the bumper be light colored or will it get dirty? Should I even get a bumper? Do I need a crib skirt?  A mattress pad? Are these really "problems" that I should be focusing my time and energy and brain power on? Probably not.