23 weeks!

Technically 22 weeks, 4 days, at the Hospice Benefit at the Hotel Concord

Hospice Benefit again...this is where we had our wedding reception!  Can't believe it's been over a year since then, and I can't believe how much has changed! 

23 weeks, 2 days...made PB take a picture of me before I left for work in my "Charlie Brown" shirt.

23 weeks, 4 days - yesterday at our Christmas mini session with the weenies! 

Marination Time: 23 weeks, 4 days.  Still can't believe how the weeks keep ticking by.  I think I told people all week that I was 22 weeks still, because I just wasn't mentally ready for 23 weeks.  Crazy!

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s): Holy pasty skin, Batman.  Oh well, I guess fall is officially here.  Also, wow, why did I decide to wear a cardigan to the Christmas pictures?  The way it falls behind my back makes me look like a giant manatee.  I do like the pictures though!

This Week's Produce Item:

23 weeks means baby is the size of a grapefruit.  

Realistic baby-measuring item of the week: 

Apparently The Bump's dad-to-be team got lazy and decided to call one item "good enough" for weeks 22 to 24.  So, that means we're at the size of a baseball mitt again.  But um, in what universe are a baseball mitt and a grapefruit equivalents?  Confusing.

Boy or girl: Why do I keep feeling like I have to be a slave to all these questions and continue to answer this one? It's still a boy.  Just like we have all known for six weeks.  Goodness gracious.  For the last time - boy!

Currently Craving: Still have a major sweet tooth....aaaaaand it doesn't help that Mom bought me a whole box of Christmas tree cakes.  Oh, AND a whole box of honey buns.  Or that I have half a box of toaster strudel in the freezer.  Or that I was up at 2am for no good reason last night and ate one.  I have also been majorly wanting sushi this week.  I had some from Harris Teeter before our photo shoot because it was the only place I could find to get sushi at 10:45am, but the itch has officially not been scratched.  PB and I also went to eat Indian food because I was craving it last night, which was super delicious.

Currently Avoiding: Um, let's see. Anything healthful, apparently?

Weight: PB is doing all this annoying Cross Fit mess and as a result wants to weigh himself like twice a day, which in turn has caused the battery on my scale to die.  So, right now I have no idea how much I weigh and I don't wanna know.  It is what it is at this point.  Thank god for pants with an elastic waist.

Symptoms: Taking Tums like it's my job.  My back and hips have been keeping me up at night and driving me crazy during the day.  Sometimes when I get up from a chair or twist funny, I get shooting pain down my lower back, into my butt.  Sometimes it makes me want to swear in front of the kids - so far, I've held back.  I ordered a super cool maternity brace that probably makes me look like I should also be wearing headgear and a fanny pack.  It makes me feel so much better though - I'm definitely going to be wearing it when I am back at work on Tuesday and on my feet all day.  Also my wedding bands often don't fit in the morning, which is annoying - so I bought a Diamonique set from those fine folks at QVC to keep me from having panic attacks when I can't get it on and imagine that I've lost my wedding set.  Also so I don't look like I should be on 16 and Pregnant, I suppose.  I don't need any more judgy people with their judgy eyes.

Belly Button Status: I didn't think it could be more out...and then it poked out further.  My current annoyance is that people want to poke it like I am the flipping Pilsbury doughboy.  OMG people.  I am ticklish and also, it kind of hurts when you poke me.  Cut it out before I poke you in the eye.  

Sleep Grade: Varies from a B to a C+.  Again, thank goodness for the pregnancy pillow. (Even though last night it also included two very squirmy wiener dogs.)

Movement: I usually feel him a good bit during the day, and his kicks are starting to be higher, like near my belly button instead of below it.  He tends to kick if I lean over (I guess he gets annoyed that I'm squishing him) or after I go on a big fatty binge and eat a lot.  I also feel him at night when I go to bed.

Appointments: Not til the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Highlights of the Week: This afternoon, I went with my mom and some family friends up the street to this really spooky-looking old, historic home for a Christmas light workshop.  The guy who lives there makes these orbs out of chicken wire and Christmas lights and hangs them from the big trees in his yard.  We made a bunch for my parents' yard, I can't wait to put them up (hopefully) tomorrow!

We have a day off from work tomorrow for Veterans' Day and I cannot describe how excited I am about an extra day of sleeping in, with absolutely no plans besides cleaning the house.  I wanted to decorate for Christmas but that might have to wait since PB didn't drag the Christmas tree down from the attic for me.  

Last night, PB and I went for a date night to Spice 9, because I had a restaurant.com gift card and I had never tried it.  It's an Indian place and it was delicious - it had been forever since I'd had Indian food.  Afterward, we went to see Flight (the new movie with Denzel Washington) and loved it. There were times during the movie where I just wanted to scream at him to get his mess together and then he'd just keep screwing up and we'd keep cringing - but overall, it was a really well-written, well-acted movie with a little bit of action, a little bit of drama, and a little bit of humor.

Welp, that's all for the week, folks!  See you at 24 weeks!

21 and 22 weeks....catching up again

Yes, it's another two for one deal.  I think this is indicative of the fact that work has been kicking my tail lately - I pretty much come home, make dinner, fall asleep on the couch, go to bed, rinse repeat.  Also, we had the most wonderful holiday of the year thrown in there and all of the requisite preparations (including making a fantastic costume you'll see momentarily).

21 Weeks, in a maternity shirt we found for $3 at the Tot Trade!  I never knew how much I loved consignment stuff until I got pregnant.

22 weeks, 1 day, on Halloween!  In a "maternity" sweater that I'm pretty sure would barely be long enough for me if I didn't have this huge belly.  Fail, zulily.  Thank goodness for a roll-down skirt from Old Navy that I've just started pulling up over the belly rather than rolling down.

Marination Time: 22 weeks, 4 days.  It's FLYING by!  I can't believe I've been pregnant since June. It feels like 5 minutes.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: I feel like we aren't growing by leaps and bounds really, just holding fairly steady. I can tell a little difference, but not huge at this point.  Which is good because I think I would explode otherwise.

This Week's Produce Item:

21 weeks - Baby is the size of a pomegranate.  I feel like these produce items continue to get more and more arbitrary.

22 weeks - Baby is the size of a papaya.  Oookay. And now on to the more realistic sizing.

Realistic Baby-Measuring Item of the Week:

21 weeks - Baby is the size of an 80's fanny pack.  This might be my favorite week yet.

22 weeks - Baby is the size of a baseball mitt.  Almost  a foot long!  Jeez, that puts in perspective.  No wonder I'm so big.  And I still don't understand all these skinny girls at 22 weeks.  Where do you have space to stash a foot-long baby with barely any bump?

Boy or girl: Still a boy...no evidence to suggest otherwise!

Currently Craving: Sweet stuff.  I bought some strawberry and cream cheese Toaster Strudel and I have been eating those jokers as dessert every night.  Mmmmmm.

Currently Avoiding: Not much of anything.  Still don't just love plain ol' chicken breast, steak, or pork chops that I have to cut up myself, but the meat aversion is a lot less intense.

Weight: We were at 147.4 a few days ago.  Blergh.  Not looking forward to seeing the scale jump past 150, which I'm expecting any second now.

Symptoms: Lots of heartburn, yuck.  Taking maybe 4-5 Tums a day to try to stay on top of that.  And having sciatic pain in my lower back/hips/butt, especially my left side.  I wake up and my lower back is so sore!  Also sometimes my back will sort of "catch" when I get up quickly and make me want to say something ugly.  I still generally love being pregnant though, it really is neat.  Can't complain too much.

Belly Button Status: OUT OUT OUT.  So noticeable that if I don't wear two shirts or a sweater, it's totally not possible to conceal under a shirt.  One of my kids even mentioned it the other day.  I said, "Well, don't get pregnant, that's what happens."

Sleep Grade: C+.  Back pain/soreness has been making it tough lately, especially towards morning when I've been lying down longer.

Movement: Usually I don't feel him move unless I'm sitting or lying down (especially after dinner or right when I go to bed).  When I was standing in line to early vote was the first time I felt him while standing - I guess he was excited about his first voting experience.  Lately, I've been feeling him a lot!  I still always feel him below my belly button.  PB also has felt him kick once!  I was lying down after dinner and had him come over and he got to feel a few hard kicks last week!  It was pretty awesome.

Appointments: I went back at 21 weeks and measured exactly 21 centimeters.  I never knew that your centimeters and weeks were supposed to be the same!  Everything was totally normal otherwise - I don't go back until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Baby Related Purchases: PB and I went to Babies R Us last Saturday night to play with strollers and look around, which was a lot of fun.  I broke down and registered there too since most of the things I want are online-only from Target and I know people are unlikely to do that or buy from my amazon.com registry.  My mom has been buying ALL KINDS of cute things from zulily and today, I went shopping with her, my grandmother, and PB.  She bought him two cute little gray sleepers with firetrucks all over them (newborn and 9 months).

Highlights of the Week: Halloween!!!!!  You know how I love Halloween.  Mom helped me make a costume, a la Pinterest.  We deconstructed a baby doll from Wal-Mart, cut holes in a maternity shirt, and rubber banded the arms through.  We added some fabric paint and a teeny trick or treat bucket, and TA-DA.  Instant awesome creepy Halloween.

I handed out candy at my parents' house as usual, which was fun.  A lot of kids would say, "Hey, your baby is coming out," much the same way you might tell someone their fly is unzipped.  Some were just mesmerized and staring, and I got a lot of laughs. I saw a few pregnant folks who said, "MAN, I wish I had done that!"  I know it's creepy but come on, how many Halloweens are you going to be pregnant unless you're Michelle Duggar?  I think you have to make the most of it when it comes along.

And of course, I had to include the weenies - they know it as Halloweenie, after all.  

Cheater post...18 and 19 weeks. Maybe 20 too.

Dear Ira,

I am sure this will be one of many parenting fails on my part - your mama has been too darn busy and too darn tired to blog.  Every time I get a free minute at home, I find myself comatose on the couch, no blog post to be had anywhere.

So that means you get a catch-up post.

18 weeks...look at me in those regular pants with a belly band! I won't lie, they made angry red marks in my belly after a few hours though.

19 weeks and a new top from Target, wahoo for maternity clearance!

20 weeks exactly.  Thought maybe we were tired of the mast bath so I switched to the guest bath/laundry room in honor of the halfway point.

Marination Time: 20 weeks, 2 days.  We are officially more than halfway there!  I sort of want time to slow down...I actually really like this being pregnant gig most of the time.  No, for real.  I couldn't be more shocked myself.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: Well, there is a little progression, but not a whole heck of a lot.  I am definitely more bumpalicious than I was at 18 weeks!

This Week's Produce Item: It's like triple coupons at Harris Teeter...you're getting three for the price of one this week.

(This photo just seems wrong to me.  Sweet potatoes do not look that scary in real life.)

(The size difference here seems a little ambiguous, eh?)

(And suddenly the baby is skinny? I BEG TO DIFFER.)

Or if you like the dad-to-be, real-life version better:

(18 weeks - a Ben and Jerry's pint!)

(19 weeks - a square tissue box.  No wonder I'm a giant.)

(20 weeks - a whoopee cushion.  Bahaha.)

Boy or Girl: I saw the pictures myself - he's definitely a boy unless things have changed drastically in there.

Currently Craving: Just FOOD!  I am starving all the darn time.  Ridiculous.

Currently Avoiding: Um, nothing? I am generally always hungry.  It's a curse.  I even ate a hot dog for the first time since being pregnant during week 18.

Weight: Managed to pack on 4 pounds in three weeks - 144.4 as of yesterday.

Symptoms: I have been so exhausted at night lately that I pass out on the couch by 9pm, tops.  If it happens after 9pm, I don't know about it.  Also, holy heartburn, Batman.  I've had a reprieve for the past day or two, but otherwise I am chewing Tums like a crazy person because I am on fire.

Belly Button Status: Out! So much so that you can almost see it through my shirts now.  Wow.

Sleep Grade: The past week or so have been rough because my lower back has been killing me, despite the pregnancy pillow.  It wakes me up at night and is super lame.  

Recent Crazy Dream: Hmmm.  Really haven't had any crazy dreams lately, except for dreaming about my kids at school and their crazy mess.  

Movement: WHOA.  I still don't feel him when I stand up, but I definitely feel him if I am sitting or lying down, especially with my feet up on the loveseat.  I have been able to feel him from the outside (starting in the later part of week 18) but PB hasn't been able to yet.  That's partially because he stops moving whenever PB tries, and partially because whenever he does kick while PB is trying to feel, it's just never one of the stronger ones.

Appointments: Haven't been back since our ultrasound appointment.  Next time I go back is October 25, probably for the standard heartbeat/uterus measuring/get weighed/blood pressure check/pee in a cup/go home routine.

Any baby related purchases?  Not on my part...but on my mom's? WOW.  She has gotten him the cutest things.  Little Ralph Lauren polo onesies that are basically like a long polo shirt that snaps into a romper at the bottom, little overalls, knit pants and onesies, and a big fleecy bunting that looks like a monkey.  And that was just today.  Pretty sure he isn't going to repeat an outfit until he's two.  Too, too cute though.

Best/Worst Thing to Happen in the Last (3) Weeks: 

Week 18-

PB had open house at the fire department, so I got to parade the bump around for lunch and to nose around for a bit.  

The next day, we went to the Panthers/Seahawks game, which had its good and bad points.  Bad point? I hadn't even gotten my butt in the seat when some guy climbed over the seat next to me and proceeded to promptly spill his beer all over me.  In my hair, all over my shirt, my purse, my jeans, you name it.  Then he apologized and offered to buy me a beer...I stood up and was like, "Um, seriously?"  But the experience redeemed itself when I got myself a big order of barbecue nachos.  OMG.  SO delicious.  And then all was right with the world.

Week 19 - 

Highlight of the weekend was building a fire in the backyard fire pit with PB.  I made hot chocolate in the Keurig and put strawberry marshmallows in it.  (A big win.)  We also toasted pumpkin spice marshmallows and then sandwiched them between iced animal crackers.  (Another obvious win.)

Week 20 - Well, 20 weeks just happened on Tuesday and so far I have just had a really tiring week at work.  But tomorrow is 6th grade language arts planning day, which means a) I get to wear jeans, b) I get to drive to a school much closer to my house, c) I get to be there at 8:30 instead of 7:30 and d) I get to have a lunch out with adults, just like regular people do.  Basically, it's a vacation.  

And tonight, we got to go out to eat with my parents and a family friend, and it was so nice to be able to hang out with everyone since my parents have moved home from their lake house for the winter (yay!)

Also, we are planning to put up Halloween decorations at my parents' house tomorrow after, which gets me super excited.  Picture me singing, "It's the mooooost wonderful tiiiiiiiime of the yearrrrr."  I just love Halloween.  Bring on the cheesy decorations and the costumes!!

17 weeks! And...

Marination Time: 17 weeks...these pictures were taken at 17 weeks, 4 days.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: Took these before we headed out to an anniversary party for some family friends.  Not so bad from the front...from the side...whoa.

Due Date: March 5, 2013 (though at my last appointment, the kid measured a week ahead, which would be an estimated due date of February 26...but officially, they aren't changing my due date.)

This Week's Produce Item: An onion!

And in dad-friendly terms, it's a roll of toilet paper.  Wow, the baby is just all sort of pleasant items this week...onion and TP.  Jeez.

Boy or Girl: Well, this is the first week that we know...more to come!

Currently Craving: Really really want some sushi.  That needs to happen soon.  Also I have eaten like an entire box of fruit snacks this week.

Currently Avoiding: Hmm.  Haven't been avoiding much.  Except drinking water.  Man, I wish I liked water.  It's a problem.

Weight: Up another pound this week to 139.2.

Belly Button Status: Out!  Can't quite see it through clothes but it's out!

Sleep Grade: Like the dead.  Thank you, pregnancy pillow and silicone ear plugs.

Recent Crazy Dream: That I had the baby and it was a girl but she also had boy parts...and they assured me it was going to fall off, and I wasn't convinced...horrible.

Evidence of Pregnancy Brain: I keep leaving things in various places - I can never find anything I need when I need it!

Movement:  I have been feeling lots of little pops and kicks for the past two nights, and then today was the first day that I have felt movement during the day!  There has been a party going on in there!

Appointments? The biggie was Thursday!  Everything on the ultrasound looked great.  The baby has two ears, two eyes, and a reasonable number of fingers and toes (I didn't count, but it looked right!) It has kidneys and a stomach and those are all inside instead of outside (always a plus).  We have a good-looking cord, and we know if it's a boy or a girl!  Mom and PB both went with me to the ultrasound.  The tech was funny, she said she knew within thirty seconds of starting the ultrasound whether it was a boy or girl.  Of course, none of us had a clue, and when she looked at that part on the screen, we all looked at each other and put up our blinders or covered our eyes so there was no peeking.  She didn't even put it on my chart because she didn't want to run the risk of a doctor or nurse mentioning it when we didn't know yet.  But she did write on the ultrasound - "good growth" and she said that she writes the notes in a code that only she understands, just in case we need to come back and check with her later about what it is.  

Any baby related purchases? I spent way too much time on Target and Amazon today, registering for baby things now that I know what it is.  And I finally fond some bedding that I like! I haven't actually bought anything, but I definitely have a list going!

Best/Worst Things to Happen in the Last Week: Best thing was definitely finding out the gender - other than that, I just had a hugely busy week at work, and then spent ALL day today working on graduate school work that I hadn't had time to do any other time.  We have had tenants move into our rental house and PB started his job on Friday, so he has been out of the house pretty much all the time.  In fact, he's still not home and it's 9:00!

So now for the good part...our gender reveal party!  We had our appointment and found out Saturday night.  So many of our friends and family came, it was awesome.  

We did a fiesta theme, and decided to break open a pinata to see whether we were having a boy or girl. Mom found candy online that was all pink and all blue (like blue vanilla tootsie rolls, Blow Pops, Laffy Taffy, and Airheads). 

The tech sealed up the envelope and signed over it so we couldn't see...and then we dropped it, the pinata, and the candy off with someone who works at the car lot.  He was sweet enough to do the honors of filling it up for us, and delivering it for the party.

Here's PB with our pinata at Party City, contemplating how to put the reject pinatas back up on the top shelf.

We had a little pool going on, where you paid a dollar and put your name in either the boy or girl cup.  When we found out, we chose a winning name from the correct cup.  My Aunt Kay won the pot, but wouldn't take it from me!  She insisted on giving to me for the baby, which I tried to refuse, but she said I had to use it to buy my going-home-from-the-hospital outfit.

Everybody also either grabbed a pink or blue Mardi Gras necklace to represent their guess, or they just came dressed up, like our friend Kim!

Seriously, blue hair and all!

We had taquitos, Pinterest Ro-Tel cups, desserts, cheese dip, and everything else you could imagine while we waited for the official reveal time.  Then we went out and I got after the pinata in my parents' garage.

So here we go...

And the final result....

Turns out I was right...it's a boy!

Good to know who's in there!  Blue candy means it's Ira Franklin!

16 weeks!

Marination Time: This picture was taken at 16 weeks, 1 day.  I'll be 17 weeks on Tuesday!

Musings on the Weekly Photo: My boss told me I looked like Charlie Brown in this sweater.  Is this a good thing?  I can never tell.  Maternity shirts make me look giantly pregnant these days.  Which I prefer, because I look like a super fat kid in my regular shirts that are still long enough to wear.

Due Date: March 5, 2013

This week's produce item: This week, baby is the size of an avocado!

I also found the "How Big Is Your Baby? - Dad-to-Be Ediition" and I like it SO much more because they're concrete things. I mean really, how big is an avocado? Is there a standard avocado?

So in the Dad-to-Be version, baby is the size of a Blackberry phone.  

Boy or girl: We find out in less than a WEEK!  Bought the pinata yesterday, have the candy, have some decorations....now we just need an ultrasound!  Stil sure it's a boy but now I want a girl more than ever because we finally came up with a girl name I am 100% sold on - Della.  

Currently Craving: I'm good now, but this morning I was a crazy person and made PB go get Bojangle's breakfast.  LIKE, NOW.  RAWR.

Currently Avoiding: Went to a college friend's wedding last night and had to avoid the wine slushies. BOO.  Can't think of much I've been voluntarily avoiding...still just iffy on meat, though I had steak at the wedding last night because that's what was served.  Can't believe I got that down!

Weight: Gained about another pound this week - up to 138.4 now.

Belly Button Status: My little outie nub is still visible, but not popping out through my clothes yet!

Sleep Grade: I pretty much fall asleep on the couch by 9pm, go to bed, and sleep dead through until my alarm clock goes off at 5:15 for work.  I do get up to pee once or twice but I'm like semiconscious and go right back to sleep.

Recent Crazy Dream: I was dreaming about a bunch of my students last night, it was very weird.  They were all in the Olympics and I was supposed to be their coach.  I was trying to watch Youtube videos of how to do a gymnastics floor routine for one of my girls because I had to coach her and had no idea how!

Evidence of Pregnancy Brain: Hmmm, can't think of anything specific.  Hasn't been too awful this week.  

Movement: PB's last day of work was Friday, so I went over to Jackalope Jack's near the hospital for his farewell celebration...I hadn't felt anything in several days, but we were in a loud bar with a lot of loud people and I think that totally pissed the kid off!  I felt it again last night at the wedding reception when the DJ turned up the bass...really neat!

Appointments? Can't. Wait. Until. Thursday.

Any baby related purchases? Just decorations/invitations for the gender reveal fiesta.  I figure I'll hold off on everything else until for sure that this kid is a boy.  

Best/Worst Thing to Happen in the Last Week: I don't usually post about work and I'm not stupid enough to start now, but it has been a rough, rough week at school.  Best thing? Got to go to a gorgeous wedding last night, which made me remember our wedding last year that was so close to this time.  Also made me REALLY want to go back to Disney World!

15 Weeks!

Marination Time: As of today, 15 weeks and 5 days.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: I took this at exactly 15 weeks, before we had to go to orientation for PB's new job at the fire department.  I love this shirt because I feel like I actually look pregnant in it, vs. just fat, which is how I usually look.

Due Date: March 5, 2013

This Week's Produce Item: We're in the big leagues now - it's the size of a navel orange!

I can't believe we're already at 15 weeks/that the peanut we first saw at 6 weeks is that big now.  CRAZY!

Boy or Girl: Well, we still don't know.  I still think boy.  I have had some hormonal drama over finding out, which goes as follows: I switched doctor's offices and went about two weeks ago.  They wanted me to come back October 1st for my anatomy scan (which will tell us boy or girl, among other important things), but October 1st is PB's first day at the fire department and there's no way he could come if we did that.  Now, we aren't going to find out AT the doctor's office because we want to have a gender reveal party.  But if you've never had an ultrasound, I promise you that it is really really super cool to see the baby doing stuff in there.  You know, bouncing from wall to wall, knitting a sweater, whatever it's up to in there.  

So I scheduled an elective ultrasound at a place in Concord for this past Thursday.  And then I found out that my parents planned to leave for the beach on Thursday and be gone all this weekend.  So no party and no finding out this weekend.  I was just all torn about what to do, I was upset that we could go ahead and find out but then we couldn't because scheduling was all wonky, I was upset that PB was going to have to miss (what will probably be) the only exciting doctor's appointment I have between now and going to the hospital, and I was just a general hot hormonal mess about ALL OF IT.

I finally called the doctor back and they begrudgingly agreed to move my appointment to the week before PB starts at the fire department so he can come, and we are going to have our gender reveal fiesta on September 29th.  WHEW.  And that all seemed like a great solution until this weekend came and I realized I could already know and then triple obsessed over it.  Jeez.

Currently Craving: The super hot jalapeno pico de gallo I just bought at Harris Teeter.  Mmmmm mmmm.

Currently Avoiding: Been doing better about some meat.  Some.  If it's sufficiently shredded, I'm okay.  And I also ate Buffalo Wild Wings boneless wings the other day, and the Asian Zing hit the spot.  

Weight: Last time I weighed this week, we were at 137.7.  They say I'm supposed to put on like a pound a week at this point, which seems insane to me, but oh well. It's coming whether I'm excited about gaining weight or not!

Belly Button Status: Skin has now stretched to the point that the little belly button bear is no longer in its cave.  It hasn't totally popped out, but it's not hooded by the little skin flap I used to have before.

Sleep Grade: Other than getting up to pee at least once (maybe twice), A+.  In fact, when PB leaves in the morning he has to peel back my headphones with white noise and shake me to wake me up.

Recent Crazy Dream: I was dreaming all kinds of crazy mess this morning, which all involved the lake house.  There was a huge anaconda type snake that jumped on the dock and was chasing Peggy Sue, the dock somehow became detached from the land and I was trying to attach a rope to it and swim it back in, and like everyone I knew was there for some reason.  Very strange.

Evidence of Pregnancy Brain: Ummm....nothing drastic this week that I can think of.  That probably means I'm forgetting something important.

Symptoms: More belly itching, trying to find clothes that are comfortable and actually fit how I need them to, and had some of my first mild heartburn this week.

Movement: Still few and far between, though I've felt two big events this week - once when I folded myself into the back of a friend's little Ford Fiesta that was all packed up with her stuff because she's changing schools.  Apparently the kid doesn't like for me to lean over all the way and squish it.  Another time was when I had a delicious and nutritious dinner of Taco Bell - I think the kid likes Mexican.

Any Appointments? Countdown to September 27th...and then September 29th, when we actually get to find out!!!

Any baby related purchases? Went to a consignment sale with my friend and her sweet baby and her mom, but I just bought a baby sling.  I thought it was a steal - super cute green with brown flowers for $6!  I also bought some Little Lion fitted newborn diapers that came this week, which were super cheap because the company is going out of business.  I was really not wanting to use disposables even at first, when the baby will be too small for our regular cloth diapers, so I was excited for those to come!

Best/Worst thing to happen in the last week: Best thing - Went to the FAIR this week!  It was so much fun, and we got to hang out with PB's cousin and his fiance a little, which was nice.  I had a fish sandwich, fried okra, and an elephant ear with strawberries and powdered sugar.  So delicious.  Worst thing - Well, I'm dreading this week at work because it means I have to test kids (which I hate doing, because it takes me out of the classroom) and because I know it's going to be a disorganized mess.  I also have some really complicated meetings and paperwork this week....say a prayer for me!!

14 Weeks!

Marination Time:  14 weeks as of Tuesday...Will be 15 weeks this Tuesday.  One of these days I'll do  a post on the right day, I swear.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: I always feel like a giant walrus at the end of the day (and I took this picture after school one day).  I'm trying to remember exactly when I took this...I'm pretty sure it was either 14 weeks 1 day or 2 days.

Due Date: March 5, 2013

This Week's Produce Item: We're at the size of a lemon this week!

Boy or Girl: Still think boy.  But we are having our anatomy scan September 27th and a gender reveal party after that, so I can't wait to know for sure!!

Currently Craving: Meh, I had a bad Skittles hankering the other day...nothing too crazy though.

Currently Avoiding: Pretty much the same song and dance routine with the meat-free deal.  I can eat some seafood, and I can do chicken if it's sort of shredded up and mixed in with something.  But cutting up a steak/chicken breast/pork chop and eating it? BARF.

Weight: Haven't weighed in a few days - last time I checked, we were holding steading at 136.6.

Belly Button Status: I feel like I could do a whole post series and call it the chronicles of the belly button.  Last week it was wider..now it's also starting to pull up more, so the little knot inside there is starting to be more visible.  I have sort of a pseudo-innie usually because there's a little knot in there but it's generally covered by my skin like a little bear in a cave so you don't see it.  Yeah I think by next week you'll be seeing it through my shirts.

Sleep Grade: A.  OMG the pregnancy pillow.  Amazing.

Recent Crazy Dream: Hmm, can't think of anything much.  I know I've been dreaming but nothing really stands out.  Generally I know I've been having really good ones, so I hope that keeps up!

Evidence of Pregnancy Brain: Nothing too awful this week.  Yet.

Symptoms: Crazy belly button happenings.  Belly itching some. Starving but not being able to eat as much, especially toward the end of the day because I feel like an overstuffed sausage.  NO CLOTHES that fit, ugh.  Ready for fall so I can wear some long sleeve maternity things.  

Movement: I am 99% sure I felt the baby kick me like 2 nights ago.  I actually hollered, it scared the crap out of me!  Felt like little taps in there.  So neat.

Any appointments? September 27th is the biggie!  I can't wait!!

Any baby related purchases? A few more maternity things that I found on super-duper sale at Ross and on Zulily.  Got some jeans and sweaters to hopefully get my giant self through fall and winter.  Mom got us a few preemie cloth dipes for when the baby is born and I also ordered some super cheap fitted newborn diapers from a company that's going out of business online.  I hope they come soon and they haven't decided to already go out of business...

Best/Worst Thing to Happen in the Past Week: Best thing - went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant (Mickey and Mooch) with some teaching friends and their husbands last night.  We went down to the lake and rode jetskis and hung with my parents today and then swung by the inlaws to watch the Panthers game tonight.  Worst?  My second block class continues to be nuts...hoping they are somewhat in control tomorrow.