18 Weeks

I've been meaning to post this for a while. For Christmas my mom got us a glider for the nursery. Doug, Cleo, Coby, and I are enjoying it already, but I can't wait to rock our little one to sleep for the first time and read many, many stories in that chair. I need to get a little table to put by it to keep books and a little lamp on, plenty of time to get that done, right?

An update from last week's worries. We got my car fixed. It was expensive but not as expensive as it could have been. On the same day we got our state tax refund! We also did some research on Consumer reports regarding vacuums. Hoover makes a model called the T-series that rated higher than the Dyson (Hoover was #1, Dyson was #4). We went to Kohl's to get the vacuum since they carried the Hoover and I had a 30% coupon. If you include the Kohl's cash we got back from our purchase, all we really paid for a new, top rated vacuum was $80. There's no update on the job situation and there probably won't be until May, although from what I've heard about the budget address, it does not sound like we should have to cut as much as we did last year. I'd appreciate any prayers on that front.

So here I am at 18 weeks pregnant. I think I really need to start using our good camera instead of my cell phone. It seems like the pictures it takes used to be clearer. The bump may be a little exaggerated from the angle and the fact I pushed my sweatshirt back to get a glimpse of my fatness.





How far along?: 18 weeks
How big is baby?: the size of an bell pepper 5.5 inches long, weighs about 7 ounces
Weight gain?: 7 lbs (according to my home scale I lost a pound...we'll see what that number looks like at the doctor's on Thursday. I have been getting more active so that may have something to do with it.)
Stretch marks?: No but my stomach is itchy and I've noticed some skinny little red veins here and there
Maternity clothes?: Pretty much all the time now. I have one pair of pre-pregnancy work pants that still fit. I bought some new basics from Old Navy when I went shopping with Leah and Allie this weekend.
Sleep?: I sleep on my side, usually my left, with the help of a body pillow. I have not had to get up in the middle of the night for a few weeks, I know that time will come again though.
Best moment this week?: Shopping for Ebenezer with Leah and Allie Saturday. I limited myself, but it's just so fun to look at tiny clothes. Maybe next week I will post Ebenezer's stash so far. I also finished making baby's first blanket (see below)
Food cravings?: Yeah...still ice cream. Doug bought me Ben and Jerry's today and I didn't even have to ask :) I don't think I ever mentioned the string cheese craving, but that's there too.
Gender?: We'll know in 13 days :)
Movement?: More and more each day. Sometimes I am not totally sure its the baby, like today when I felt twitches toward my back. I have just started to feel it on the outside. I'm trying to get Doug to feel it, he felt it today but he's not convinced its not me twitching.
Belly button?: still normal
What I miss?: Being able to eat Chinese food without throwing up (yeah, I threw up last night...m/s still going strong at 18 weeks- BOO)