24 Weeks

Pregnancy Update:  24 Weeks

Maternity Clothes:
Well I finally have a bump to show off now.  I've been having fun going through my closet and trying new outfits on.  Thanks for all the new additions to the maternity clothes, Becky! :)  Since my sisters share maternity clothes there are some really cute pieces and some REALLY horrible outfits that I'm sure everyone is too afraid to throw away since they are someone else's. Seriously though, some of these maternity pants need to go.  They look HORRIFIC.

Best Moment This Week:
Taking a relaxing bubble bath without any kids ... besides the one in my tummy.

Best Moment This Month:
Toss up ... The ultrasound was amazing.  It was so fun to see our little guy hangin' out in there sucking his thumb and trying to get his toes in his mouth.  It made it feel so much more 'real', and of course finding out that he's a he.  I'm happy to report that everything looked great on the ultrasound. :)  Also, I had so much fun on the little mini vacation we took to see my family and the Grand  Canyon last week.

Movement:
He's sure an active little guy.  I love feeling the bumps and kicks expect when he's aiming for my bladder.  That kind of hurts.  Jace loves to put his hand on my tummy and feel his baby brother kicking away.  He laughs uncontrollably which seems to get the baby going even more.  I think this little guys is already getting use to the familiar voices in this home. Whenever I feel baby kicking Brooke gets really excited and announces to everyone that her baby is kicking too. She is beyond excited for our babies to come out.

Food Cravings:
I still love a variety of fruit: blueberries, nectarines, apples, orange juice, etc.  I also really like cottage cheese, milk, string cheese, green olives, Claussen pickles, salad, V8, and German chocolate cake... not at the same time though.  The weirdest thing however I think is Barbecue potato chips because I've NEVER been a fan of them in the past.  It's makes me think of when Jace was around a yr. old and whenever we would visit Nani & Grandpa Brammer's house he would crawl over to the pantry area first thing and check the floor to see if anyone had dropped any barbecue potato chips on accident that he could sneak.  It always made me laugh.  Baby boy #2 must love them too.  I'm trying to limit myself since it's not the healthiest snack in the world.

What I Miss:
Picking up toys with ease.  My kids obviously need to get better at picking up after themselves ... especially Brooke.  I'm finding it harder and harder to bend over easily to pick up messes.  I can still see my feet though. wink wink...

Sleep:
First bout with insomnia the other night.  I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't go back to sleep.  There is absolutely NOTHING on tv at that time.  I popped in a movie and Craig found me the next morning on the couch.

What I am Looking Forward To:
The home stretch.  I'm just 4 weeks away from entering the last trimester.

Symptoms:
I found out the hard way that I still need to be taking my anti-nausea medicine every night.  I missed a night and had a barf fest the next day.  Other than that I'm feeling great! :)

Other Thoughts:
I deal with this every pregnancy ... I think most women do ... I have the hardest time dealing emotionally with gaining weight and getting 'fat'.  Okay, I know that I'm not fat, I'm pregnant but it's still hard to look in the mirror and see your body changing in all sorts of weird ways.  Craig is really good at telling me I look beautiful but it's still hard for me to feel that way all of the time.  I obsess a little too much about not going over the weight limit that's recommended for pregnancy.  With Jace I gained 40lbs and with Brooke I gained closer to around 30lbs.  It was so much easier to get back to normal after Brooke.  Dr.s recommend 25-35lbs.  I cringe if I even go slightly over at my monthly Dr. appt.  Anyways, I just needed to vent a little about it.  I know being pregnant is beautiful and whenever I see other pregnant women I always think they look cute.  Some days I just need to cry about it though.

I'm trying to deal with the fact that Craig's break is over now too.  He starts his last trimester of school tomorrow.  He's been such a great help with everything: picking up/dropping off kids, meals, clean up and everything in between.  I'll miss him.  but I'm VERY grateful that he'll just be gone for most of the day and at least I get to see him in the evening and he's not countries away anymore.