22 weeks 5 days

Last Friday was 22 weeks and 5 days. A little over 17 weeks until we get to meet our lil' man! Time really does fly. He kicks so hard now, but dad still hasn't felt him yet. I think it calms the baby whenever Steven puts his hand on my belly, because he always seems to stop. Soon enough he will feel it though. I enjoy watching my belly bounce with each kick and punch, and even play back from time to time.
The past week I have really popped out. Steven loves it, and I am still adjusting to it. I am definitely getting more stares at my belly these days. I even had a lady at a rest stop let me go in front of her while we were on our trip. Bless her. . .I really did have to go right then!
Steven has also enjoyed talking to our son. He talks to him every day, and sometimes likes to even talk in to the microphone as he calls it (my belly button). I think he does it just to drive me crazy really!
We had a midwife appointment last Friday morning, and everything is going well. I am measuring on track, Steven got to meet another one of the midwives, and the heartbeat still sounds beautiful. I told her about the tightening I've been having which is apparently the Braxton-Hicks contractions. I don't get them very often, and they don't hurt, but I do fell like I'm going to pop. Apparently this is my body getting ready for labor, and as long as they don't start coming to often I am in good shape.
So, everyone is good, and ready to move on to our 23rd week. The next couple of weeks will most likely fly by as I move into the busiest time of year for environmental educators everywhere. Before I know it it'll be May and time to visit the Grandmoo!

Easter and the end of our trip to Louisiana

We had such a great time in Louisiana visiting our best friends William and Anita Katzman. Michael has gotten so big, and it was great to have the chance to take a few pictures of him for Easter. We were able to do a little bit of site seeing, but the important parts of the trip were our annual s'mores (usually part of our annual camping trip. . .but there had to be some adjustments this year), and of course some board games. Did I mention Steven and won trivial pursuit pop culture ;). Sorry, Anita! Did I mention how cute Michael is???

Geckos eating the bugs off the porch

Every year we experiment with our s'mores, but this is what happens when you let the preggo pick out the supplies for the s'mores. I had to get the peeps for Easter!

Steven and I in downtown Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River.

Trip to Louisiana

Last May our best friends moved to Baton Rouge. . .taking my God son with them. Back in November, Anita & I decided that we would surprise William by planning a surprise trip. So on Good Friday, Steven and I packed our bags and hit the road for Louisiana. The drive down was fine, complete with Cadha pups getting into the bag of Twizzlers and eating about half the bag, and a glimpse of a John Grisham novel once we got into Livingston Parish. The twizzlers came out all right, literally, but wow, you wouldn't believe how much red dye is in those things. The Grisham experience was a stop we made just outside of Baton Rouge (I had to make quite a few stops on the way down). We stopped at a gas station that had 30 minute parking signs on one side of it and near the woods. Hmmm, I don't want to know. Inside was an old gray haired man, with a stubby, unshaven face mopping the floors as slow as molasses. Did I just step back in time? The humidity outside was unbelievable, which only adds to the scene. The bathrooms. . .well, I'll leave that to your own imagination of horror. On the way out, the stop was completed with a kid walking in with the longest rat tail I've seen since the 80's!
Thank goodness, Baton Rouge was much nicer. William was quite surprised and we started our visit off with tacos and margaritas. Of course I abstained from the margarita's, but had great company!

I'm exploding!!!

Well we have passed the half way mark. Really, already???? Little man has become so much stronger and is quite the tumble monkey. I have gotten used to his schedule, and can just about know when he is going to be awake and moving. In fact he is much more of a morning person than his mother. He loves wiggling and kicking on my drive in to work every morning. He must get this from his dad!
Dad hasn't been able to feel him just yet, but I don't think it'll be much longer. Little mans kicks have gotten so strong that they catch me by surprise at times. I've even had a few times when I feel a little sea sick. I swear he is doing somersaults in there! In fact, as I type this he is busy wiggling away. I've noticed he also loves when Cadha pups is around. He seems to wiggle much more when she gets close to my belly. I wonder if he hears her? Cadha hasn't paid much attention to my belly yet, but she does seem to guard me a little more than usual. The cats could seem to care less. Chloe likes to sleep on my tummy, but she always has. I wonder if her purring puts him to sleep like it does me?
My tummy seems to explode over night. There have been some mornings when I wake up and I am amazed at just how big it is! Thank goodness for Moo and her presents of maternity clothes. Of course the packages always include stuff for her grandson as well! He has no idea how spoiled he already is. I told Moo that thanks to everyone, he is going to be better dressed than all of us, that's for sure!
About a week ago, Steven was wonderful and went with me to a crazy bi-annual kids consignment sale. It was a mad house and was open just Friday evening- Sunday evening. We scored some great deals though, so it was really worth it. I was able to get a ton of maternity clothes, some things only cost a dollar! We also picked up a few things for our little man. We picked up 5 scratch mittens for 50 cents total, a tummy time mat for $5, and of course a book for him. I think we find a book about every where we go. Just the other day we found a book called Grandpa Grumpy's Family. Which we had to get- since we keep telling Jim that he is going to be called Grandpa Grumps! I just couldn't pass it up!
All in all, everything is going well. I really have had a wonderful pregnancy thus far and I'm just amazed at everything that goes on.

A great way to spend a Friday

Today was such a good day. I was able to spend the day with one of my girlfriends, Katharine. Katharine and I worked together as rangers at South Mountains, and have stayed in touch as our lives have changed. She is such a great friend, and is becoming a great resource as she is mom to two little boys (who I just adore). The oldest, Grady, loves the Catawba Science Center, so we try to arrange trips there when our schedules work out. We live about an hour apart. Well, Friday I decided to take off, since I had some extra time accrued from working the previous Saturday. Grady and Myles love the aquarium and in between chasing after the boys, Katharine and I are able to talk.

This trip was almost like Christmas, because Kat brought her maternity clothes, two full bags of boys baby clothes, a bouncy swing and a bunch more! Thank you Kat!!! I've had so much fun going through the clothes. There were even cute baby sunglasses!!!

After the science center I met Steven at the doctors office for our ultrasound and appointment with the third midwife Margaret. It was amazing how much our little man has grown! He is definitely a he! Everything looked so healthy. His heart and it's four chambers were beating away. The ultrasound tech kept mentioning just how beautiful his heart was too. We counted two legs and feet, two arms and hands, a tiny little stomach, two little kidneys, a beautiful brain, and a healthy umbilical cord with good blood moving. He was very active and moving around. He was just absolutely beautiful. He could slow down his growth just a tad though. Little man is measuring a full week ahead and weighing 11oz already! The average this time is only around 6-7oz!

Soon after we met with the midwife Margaret, who we kept way too long talking I think. When we walked out, her waiting room was completely full! But we got along really well, and had a lot in common. She was wearing very funky birkenstocks, so I knew she was good people!

Afterwards we met Steven's mom for dinner to show her the pics of her newest grandson. She was so excited and ready to show off those baby pics. Despite the rain and lightening all evening, it was such a wonderful day!

Ergo

Friday the Ergo carrier (http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/) we ordered came in, plus a cloth diaper I ordered. I'm not sure who was more excited about the baby carrier, but Steven was the only one who tried it out. Hopefully Curious George enjoyed the ride!

Steven definitely was the more excited one over the tiny diaper. I think the combination of my belly starting to pop out a little more, the carrier, and the diaper hit him all at once. He was amazed at how tiny it was! Most of the cloth diapers I have registered for won't fit a newborn, but I found a brand that says it's for newborns. I may get just a couple to try them out. Otherwise, I have been slowly acquiring seventh generation newborn diapers. I am prepared for the fact that we will have to most likely alternate between cloth and disposable because of daycare, but we will do our best to have soft cloth on our baby's bum rather than a plastic diaper. Plus, would anyone expect any different. Environmentally???

On Friday, Steven and I decided to have a much deserved dinner out after his long week working on two different research papers. We went to a local Italian restaurant and sat across from a family with two young kids. The stark contrast between our two dining experiences was quite amusing. Steven and I mentioned that these are the last of the quiet meals. Well, except for when family and friends rescue us! Of course we will miss the world of just the two of us. We are best friends and really enjoy each others companionship, but at the same time we are so excited to have our house filled with even more love and laughter.

Our little one is definitely moving around. I have been feeling flutters for the past couple of weeks, but no definite kicks yet. It's all very exciting. This coming Friday we will have our gender ultrasound (though we are pretty sure already). I am so excited about seeing how big he has gotten! From what we've read he should be measuring somewhere between 6-7 oz. this week and is over 6 inches long now!

And the uniform goes

So I'm down to one pair of uniform pants that work, and they were dirty this morning, so I finally decided to hang it up. My new uniform will be my maternity khaki pants and a polo shirt. I got a polo that was a little large on me thinking I will be growing into it before too long. All I can say is how thankful I am for such a wonderful boss! Not only is he allowing me to be comfortable and not wear the hideous maternity uniform, but he didn't even gasp when I mentioned that I would like to be out of work until January. Did I mention how hideous the maternity uniform is? I am no fashonista, and am actually pretty thankful to have a uniform to wear everyday. Saves me the time and energy to figure out what I am going to wear. But the maternity uniform is a tent! Just because I work with park rangers, doesn't mean men park rangers should be allowed to design my maternity wear! I am certain that is what happened here. So after (nicely) refusing to wear the tent, I was told I could just wear the polo and some khaki's.

Speaking of work, the hunt for daycare centers has begun. I started calling around today checking on prices. I only looked at those facilities that are 4-5 stars. I have narrowed it down to 4 or 5 places, with 3 of those being full. But we still have time, so getting on a wait list may work out for us. Too bad Baton Rouge is not closer. I specifically recall someone offering their services!!!