25 weeks

Trevor is at drill so you all get another self portrait for this week. Yes, I could use the timer on our camera, but it's so much easier to use my phone and type this/upload the photo with the Blogger app than mess around with getting the photo from the camera. Lazy, I know.

These weeks seem fairly uneventful. I'm feeling great, minimal pregnancy symptoms (maybe I'm just getting used to it by now), and slow and steady belly growth/weight gain. I'm up about 17 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight which is basically right on track.  I've been back on the treadmill regularly, walking with Rowdy (yep, he walks with me on the treadmill!).  Oh, and I think nesting is setting in.  I went cleaning crazy last weekend, scrubbed the shower/tub for over an hour, vacuumed the whole house (got out the attachments for up against the walls/corners) right before Rowdy had a puppy friend come stay the night.  I hear it'll only get worse!

The biggest change in the last week is that I now have to sit down to put on my socks and shoes. I know, this is jut the beginning, but it's different! Oh, and I got asked when I'm due by a stranger, another first.

I suppose I should start looking at the baby name book again. We have a name in mind, and a list, but I'm not completely sold on anything just yet. And, yes, Trevor is very involved in the name stuff, it just seems he prefers to pick from my list rather than a book of 100,000+ names!

24 weeks

Another week down, hard to believe it's October! No big news this week. I'm still feeling good, thankfully. I quit taking my Zyrtec a couple days ago so hopefully I don't get a bunch of throat mucous. I had been slacking on walking, but I'm making it a point to keep doing that regularly. Rowdy and I walked on the treadmill together yesterday and today. It's nice to be able to watch a TV show and stay out of the chilly wind while we walk. Spoiled, I know.

Honestly, that's about all the excitement for the week. I've got some big urges to clean our house top to bottom, but I'm only actually doing it in baby steps.

My photographer is at the farm again this weekend so here's the 24 week self portrait.

Farm Kid.

Not only did I marry a soldier, I married a farm kid. Trevor loves helping out at the farm so he's been gone any chance he gets helping with harvest. Last weekend Rowdy and I went out there for a night. I rode with Trevor while he plowed, Rowdy got to run and play fetch in a nice big yard and go for a leash free walk to the farm. We ran into some people horseback riding on the way, Rowdy was pretty curious yet cautious!

A group of us also made a trip to the Renaissance Festival. We watched some funny shows and ate way too much good food!

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

-A

23 weeks

Whoops! Missed a couple weeks. We've been busy and my photographer has been gone a lot helping at the farm. I'm feeling great and getting bigger but I don't feel huge yet. Some things are starting to get more difficult (bending to tie shoes, rolling over while sleeping-which I do a lot), but I know it'll only get worse!

I've been walking a lot, but I get winded easier than I used to. My appetite is normal. I even ate cheesecake with maple syrup and it was delicious. I'm up 15 lbs from pre pregnancy weight which is right on track.

Since I last posted we had a doctor's appointment and a follow up ultrasound. The doctor's appointment went well, they're all fairly quick. We went over the first ultrasound (they're done at a pathology center) and the only thing she had to say was that baby had choroid plexus cysts on her brain. She told us not to worry and they're quite common, especially on a scan before 20 weeks which ours was. She said they form when the brain is developing. (I even googled them which one should never do and I couldn't find anything too scary.) She said baby was a little too active to get all the shots of the heart they needed, so at 22 weeks we went back for another scan. Our doctor said the cysts themselves wouldn't be reason for a second scan, it was just to get a better view of the heart. The tech showed us the cysts and said she sees them a lot. She got much better views of the heart. And she double checked and said it still looks like a girl. Baby is 1 pound, 1 ounce and her heart is about the size of a dime right now, so tiny!  Also, we got to see her kick on the screen and I, of course, felt it at the same time.  Pretty neat!

We're making progress in the baby room. The closet is mostly cleaned out and filled with baby stuff now. There is plenty left to do though!

I think people who are subscribed to this get it by email and may not come to the actual website to read it.  I'm adding this part after the fact, so hopefully someone reads it and responds.  We already have a stroller (standard Graco stroller that will fit with our car seat), but I'd still like to register for one since we don't have much for bigger items on the registry.  I was thinking either a single jogging stroller or a standard double stroller (since it won't be too many years between baby #1 and #2, ideally).  Any input on how to decide?  Or, a suggestion other than those two?

That's all for now. More next week!

Catch Up.

There's no way I'll actually go back in time to give any of these things an individual post, so here's what we've been up to for the past month!

A week after we got back from Maui I had my Scentsy launch party.  I've always loved candles, but don't love the fire hazard or soot/residue they leave.  About a year ago I got started with some Scentsy products and fell in love.  They're ceramic warmers with a lightbulb inside and a special wax that melts at the temperature of the light bulb.  No more fire hazard.  The wax is also different so there's no soot/reside either.  Perfect!  They have all kinds of other fun stuff, too, like body sprays, room sprays, stuff for your car, stuffed animals with scent pouches in them, laundry stuff, bath/shower stuff, etc.  Despite the fact that I never ever thought I would be one to sell stuff, I couldn't help myself.  These products sell themselves and I have fun sharing that with people.  Bonus: it really seems to be cheaper than buying candles.

Labor Day weekend was our big 19 week ultrasound and found out we're having a girl!  I know, we said we weren't going to find out, and we weren't, but Trevor changed his mind then convinced me.  As much as I'm a planner, I was totally fine not knowing.  The final conclusion was that I get more attention, a baby belly, a shower and I'll be the one giving birth and primary feeder, so for Trevor to be able to picture his son/daughter made sense.  We registered at Target and Baby Girl is registered for 2 pink things, everything else is neutral, blue, or green.  I'm sure we'll get plenty of girly stuff along the way, we just both had a hard time requesting it.  It'll grow on us.  We're both thrilled about the sex (probably would have been either way), just not used to girly stuff!  The next day I went with my dad to visit my cousin, Alex, who was home on leave.  He's in the Marines and stationed in New York, so it was nice to see him and other family.  Trevor was stuck at home with a ton of homework. 

The following weekend I went to visit Angie and Collin.  I went to her softball game, had lunch with Felicia and Georgia, and made homemade pizza with Angie and Collin.  We stopped by to visit her parents which is always nice, too.  That Sunday Taryn and Cassie came to visit.  Taryn and her dad brewed Trevor a special welcome home beer, so she dropped that off for him.  She even left me with some delicious Tastefully Simple cocoa that I now love.  Oh, and a Vote No sign, too!  After their visit, I went to see Kelli and Jenna's house and went for a walk with Kelli.  Trevor was busy at his final 2-135 drill.  Starting in October he'll be drilling with a new unit.  This last drill was the final wrap up of the deployment and now anyone who's transferring will go to their new units.  Otherwise, the forward (those who deployed) and rear (those who didn't) will be mixed back together as one.  I'm excited for the new opportunities ahead for Trevor, but it's a little strange to no longer be a part of 2-135!

Last week I attended the United Way of Steele County kick-off event in Medford for work.  Some of our funding comes from United Way, so we participate in their community events.  Each agency had a table with games and prizes for kids, we got free pizza and had a short presentation from United Way.

And, finally, last weekend we went to a housewarming party for our good friends Cory and Ashley.  Cory deployed with Trevor when he went to Kosovo, met Ashley when he got back, and got married last September.  They just bought a house this summer, so it was nice to see their new place.  When they went on their honeymoon, I watched their dog Rachael so she and Rowdy are good buds.  We brought Rowdy with and those two ran and ran all over the yard. 

There, all caught up.  Trevor needs lots of computer time to get his homework done (not kidding, every day), but I'll be doing my best to sneak in when I can!

-A