26 Weeks (September 15-22)

Oooh, Lord, I was in a MOOD this week. My poor husband and coworkers. Gah.

The worst thing is that I knew that I was in a bad mood or moody, at the very least, and the only reasonable thing to do, apparently, was cry. Luckily, the crying was kept to a minimum and only around Lincoln, but still...not a fun week, this week.

On the positive side, the weather has been fantastic! Fall is in the air!  It's perfect timing because we are getting new windows installed in our house and we can finally open windows and enjoy the fall breeze.

With the window installation, we have pretty much had to clean the entire house and places that probably have not been cleaned in years!  While it sucked seeing all of the dust and dirt all over EVERYTHING, it was a good feeling to get everything clean. Here's a before and after--you can't really tell in this picture, but the windows on the right side are the new ones.  We can already tell a difference in how much sound is kept out and how less drafty the windows are!

I decided that since the baby is due around Christmas, that I should probably get a jump start on Christmas shopping.  I didn't really think that I'd finish so soon...but I'm pretty much done. And it's only September!  Oops.  I'll probably really start freaking Lincoln out when I bust out the Christmas wrapping paper and start wrapping all of the gifts up! 

Most of the gifts started arriving a day or two after I ordered them, so I'm pretty sure that our window guys think that I have a shopping problem....

I also got these cute little Tom's from one of my good high school friends, aren't they adorable!? I can't wait for our little guy to be able to wear them!

We didn't have much of anything going on this weekend and since I felt like I had a bunch of energy, I decided to do some freezer meals for after the baby is born (or for nights when I don't feel like cooking before the baby is born...). I made around 15 differnt meals! Needless to say, my feet were killing me Saturday night when I finished up!

 

 

This week the baby is the size of a head of lettuce!  He's around 13.6-14.8" and around 1.5-2.5 pounds.  His eyes are still forming and they'll open soon.  His eyelashes have grown in and he's getting his immune system ready for the outside world by getting antibodies from me.  His lungs are starting to produce surfactant, the fatty substance that coats the inside lining of the lungs' tiny air sacs, helping them to expand during breathing.  His skin has developed color because is body is making melanin.

25 Weeks (September 8-15)

The beginning of this week started out rather toasty for the month of September, but by the end of the week, the temps were in the low 60's in the morning and the afternoons were in the 70's.  Pretty perfect if you ask me!

I realized one morning while laying in bed as I was moving my hand around on my belly that as soon as I would stop, baby boy would move all around.  I tried it again, thinking that maybe it was a fluke, but every single time that I'd touch my stomach and stop, he would kick around.  Lincoln was able to feel it too.  It was pretty cool! I must have found a ticklish spot or something!

Lincoln and I did some yard work over the weekend and we had a good family friend's wedding that Saturday night.  My sister, parents, and I all helped with the wedding--they had perfect weather for their wedding and everything went great!

On Sunday, we celebrated Mason's 2nd birthday! I can't believe he's already two! He got a new car and a tractor to drive around the yard in (among many other toys!).

I've been feeling great! I feel like I'm quite a bit more moody or cranky than before I got pregnant though...which is not great. I'm hoping that that little side effect of pregnancy disappears soon...I've also been hungrier, sleepier, and I've been breaking out more, but overall I feel really good.

I've still been able to wear most of my pre-pregnancy clothes (pants with the help of a belly band), but I've been noticing that my boobs are kind of getting out of control. It might just be time to purchase a new bra or two...yikes.

I've also noticed that I really like things spicy when it comes to food.  I've been adding red pepper flakes and jalapenos on pretty much whatever I can.  Hopefully this doesn't backfire and give me heartburn down the road.

The baby now measures around 13 1/2 inches in length and weighs about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and is the size of a cauliflower.  During week 25, the baby's nervous system is rapidly developing and he's enjoying knowing which was is up and which way is down.  He's also growing more hair!  The baby is beginning to exchange the long lean look for some baby fat--as this happens, wrinkled skin will smooth out and the baby will start to look more and more like a newborn.

24 Weeks (September 1 - 8)

I was SO thankful to have Monday off for Labor Day this week.  After not sleeping much after going to the KSU game on Friday night, sleeping like poo on Saturday night, and having the baby shower on Sunday, I was exhausted.

The most productive thing I did on Monday was write thank you notes!  It was nice to not have to worry about doing much of anything on a day off!

The shower on Sunday was given by some of my good college friends in Kansas City.  One of my friends was back from TX for the long weekend, so we moved the shower up so that she could participate.  It was so fun getting to see everyone!

At they shower they did an ice cream sundae bar, which worked out perfectly since it was SO hot that weekend.  And since I can't seem to get through a day without at least a bite of ice cream...

The hostesses and I!

 

 

Colleen and I are due about 2 weeks apart, however she's measuring 3 weeks ahead of when she thought she was due.  And I didn't realize how much shorter I am than her!

 

Lincoln's mom, my mom, and my sister and I:

 

 

Not sure what's so funny, but I love both of their faces in this picture:

 

 

Friday we went to the high school football game with friends and the metal bleachers are not comfortable.  Luckily the home team won!  After the game my friend Chelsea, who is a nurse came over to remove the stitches I had from getting a mole removed the week before.  I am the biggest weenie.  Seriously. I was freaked out it would hurt or bleed or something....  Unfortunately one of the stiches was done really tight and she didn't have the best equipment, so we were only able to get one of them out.  My mom was able to get the other one out later in the weekend.  Luckily, removing them didn't hurt me one bit. :)

This week the baby is the size of a cantaloupe!  The baby's see-through skin is gradually becoming less translucent and is starting to look more opaque, like ours, but with the a pinkish glow, thanks to the small capillaries that have recently formed.  He's getting heavier now and weighs 12.7 - 20.8 ounces and is 10.5 - 11.8" long.  There's a lot happening inside the baby as well, and while his lungs have developed, they can't work outside of the womb yet--but he's getting closer to being ready to survive in the outside world.

23 Weeks (August 25 - September 1)

This week was fairly uneventful.  I've still been feeling great and eating more and more, which is good, I guess...

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday and the scale is still climbing!  Ugh. I KNOW that I am supposed to be gaining weight, but just seeing the number creep up at every appointment is scary.  So far, I've gained 9 lbs.  I'm really scared that soon that number will double and I'll be even bigger.

I can definitely tell that I'm pregnant, but a lot of people recently have commented that I still don't look that big! Maybe I'm just not wearing the right things when they see me? The bump is there, for sure!

At my doctor's appointment, I also got a mole removed on my stomach.  I had my doctor look at it at my last appointment because it was irregular in shape and a little darker than normal and we decided to go ahead and remove it just in case it turned out to be cancerous.  The mole was on my stomach so it was a little weird having him remove it with the baby right there!

Friday night, Lincoln and I went to the KSU/NDSU game in Manhattan.  It was a balmy 105* on Friday.  We both left work a little early so we could go to So Long Saloon, which is THE BEST place to eat in Manhattan, in my opinion.  The best black bean dip and burgers ever.  I really wanted a Nancy, which is a beer with pineapple juice, but I couldn't partake this time around...

After we ate, we made it out to the game so that we could meet up with friends to tailgate a little before the game.  It was so sweaty.  I really think that every part of my outfit was wet. So gross.  Even though the game didn't turn out how we wanted, it was still a fun night!

Saturday, I got up and went to Kansas City to meet up with some friends from High School and College.  I had lunch at one of my favorites in my old neighborhood, got a mani/pedi, and then met up with a high school friend for the afternoon.

I met up with two college friends for dinner at my favorite Thai noodle restaurant, Lulu's on Saturday night.  SO GOOD.  I wanted some heat in my meal, so I had it made medium and then added a bunch of red pepper flakes after I got my meal.  Apparently it really woke up the baby! He was kicking and moving all over the place after dinner! 

On Sunday, my friends from KC (and Ft. Worth) hosted a baby shower for us.  It was fun to see everyone and to get some things for the baby's room!

This week the baby is the size of a grapefruit and measures about 10.5 - 11.8" long and weighs about 12.7 - 20.8 ounces.  Ears are starting to develop  and her face and eyes are forming.  He's more aware and is listening to my voice and heartbeat as well as to loud sounds, such as cars honking and dogs barking.  It is also more common for me to feel him move when he recognizes something familiar.

22 Weeks (August 18-25)

Ohdearlord I'm hungry this week.  Seriously. I can't stop eating. And eating.

Someone must be going through a growth spurt because not only am I more hungry, but I'm sleepier this week too.  Earlier this week I was sitting in a chair after getting home from work and I had no intentions of napping...I woke up 45 minutes later with a stiff neck.  GAW!

I know that I'm supposed to be getting bigger and that I'll put on weight, but this week I've been feeling extra fat. I still try to walk every day, but I've been feeling like I should be doing some other arm/leg workouts.  I'm still waiting for that to happen though...

I had planned on doing some other workouts the day that I accidentally fell asleep in a chair after work. Oops!

This week it also decided to act like summer, even though fall is just around the corner, and the temperatures have been in the 90's every day. It's so sweaty. Ugh.

I've been attempting to find a changing table / dresser that would work for the nursery and every time I think I find one, it ends up being slightly too small, or just a little more than I want to spend. 

I finally found one that I think will work at a thrift store over the weekend.  I'm contemplating paiting it navy, but I'm leaving it alone until we get the crib in the room:

Baby boy is the size of a papaya this week and measures about 10.5 to 11.8: and weighs about 12.7-20.8 ounces.  At week 22, the baby has more developed eyes and lips and is looking even more like a newborn.  The baby is also sleeping in cycles--about 12 to 14 hours per day.  Usually I feel some movement around 8 in the morning and again around 7-8pm usually after I eat a few bites of ice cream :).

21 Weeks (August 11-18)

It's hard to believe that I'm already past the half-way mark! I mean only 19 more weeks until Christmas and we have this baby.  Yikes.

After all of the excitement after the gender reveal party on Friday, I got serious about picking out more decorations for the baby's room since I could finally ask my sister for opinions on what curtains to get, what rug to get, etc. 

I also started organzing closets, cabinets, you name it over the weekend.  It was stuff that I had planned on going through a long time ago but never did, and for some reason, last weekend I felt like I had a reason to start throwing things out and getting things organized for when the baby arrives.

My mom and I went to the Prairie Band casino this week with my work crew to celebrate August birthday's.  We went out to dinner and won a little money at the slot machines.  It was a fun night!

We're also celebrating my dad's birthday and Laila's 4th birthday on Thursday.  I don't think she knows how much her life is about to change in about 4 months! She loves licking babies, so I think she'll do just fine.

With all of the celebrating that we did for my dad's birthday (dinner at the cabin...) we kind of forgot to feed the dog.  Gawd, we're bad parents.  We made it up to her by giving her some ice cream and extra dog treats.

 

 

This weekend Lincoln and I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart to purchase the crib and recliner.  We already have it picked out, so it should just be a matter of confirming we still like it and paying for it.  My parents have generously said they'd pay for the crib and Lincoln's parents gave us money that should pay for most of the recliner we've picked out.  We are lucky ducks.

 

Here's a before picture of the baby's room:

 

 

Here's a picture of it in progress:

 

This week the baby is the size of a pomegranate (sometimes I wonder how they pick the fruit/veggies that they compare the size of the baby to....).  He is around 10.5" long and about 12.2 ounces and I've been feeling a lot more movement this week too!  During week 21, the baby's digestive system preps for the outside world; he's manufacturing meconium--the tarry black substance that will be in the first dirty diaper. Sick. 

We're having a......BOY! -20 Weeks (August 4-11)

Lots of exciting things going on this week!  Most importantly, we found out what we're having on Thursday!

We also registered at Buy Buy Baby over the weekend and for whatever reason, I was really excited to look at all of the baby things that they had in the store.  I think Lincoln was a little bit overwhelmed...the good news is we're done (for now) and we hopefully won't have to go back in to the store to do any registry stuff.  We can handle most of it on the interwebs for now.

We did get to park in the first spot at BBB; it was raining, so the prime parking spot was helpful!

 

 

This whole week most of my thoughts were consumed with what gender the baby was going to be. I think all of the thinking about what it was made my sleep a little interrupted....for whatever reason I've been waking up between 2-3am every night and unable to fall back asleep for a good hour.  It has not been awesome, but luckily I haven't been that tired when I wake up in the morning.  It hits me when I get home around 4:15 and I need a nap!

 

Lincoln and I went to my sonogram appointment Thursday afternoon and the baby was very active!  I'm thinking it's because I had a delicious lunch right before I went to the doctor!  After doing all of the normal checking of all of the vital organs and stuff, we were finally able to see what we were having. I think some of sono pictures look like an alien....

 

We decided that we would find out at our appointment but wait to share with everyone else until Friday when we'd do a gender reveal party with our family and a few close friends. 

 

I thought that I'd found a cute idea that no one else had used before and then I noticed another friend who was pregnant used it this week also!! 

 

I just wrapped silly string in brown paper and put both pink and blue ribbon on the can and at our party, our nieces and nephews will just spray it out at each other.

 

UNFORTUNATELY, the silly string that was supposed to be blue, came out white!!  What the heck!?   I even had two different brands of silly string from two different stores and we shook the cans up, but something didn't work out right! I guess it has a slightly blue tint to it....ugh.  Oh well!

 

 

Luckily, I made some blue cupcakes, so it was pretty clear what we were having!  My sister was convinced for the longest time it was a girl and had even been bringing me girl clothes that we wore when we were little.  I know she's still excited either way, and honestly, for the longest time, I thought we were having a girl too!

 

 

Here are some pictures from the sonogram of our little guy:

 

I think he's throwing up a peace sign here!

 

He was not shy about showing us what we were having!  I think he looks like a little frog in this picture!

 



 

 

 

This week the little guy is about 10.2 ounces and measures about 6.5" or about the size of a banana.  It's hard to believe that I'm already halfway done! At week 20 he has working taste buds, and is gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day.