3rd trimester

wait. how did we get here so quickly? this is week 27 and i'm feeling really good. seems i grow a little more everyday. baby is moving around a lot more and sometimes we can even see my belly jump. if i rest anything on my stomach, she'll often push back against it. it's pretty fascinating.

we got the opportunity to have belly pics taken by my fabulous photog friend, helene. she's a busy lady with her amazing talent and was able to fit us in before her shoot with rob zombie and a wedding in the dominican. true story! we are so excited to see how they turned out.

i've been meaning to post a pic of the perfect anniversay card chris made for me this year. so, here it is. impressed? i love it! he's the best.

we found out yesterday that we pick our own pediatrician so that is going to be one of the next items on our list. i had my glucose test and we heard her heartbeat. all seems just right.

we have all of belle's furniture now. it just needs assembled. chris hung curtains and mounted a shelf already. i'll post a collage of the process when it's all done.

here is our attempt at taking a picture before going out with friends last friday.

back to work

we had a fabulous weekend with suzie & mia! it was so great to watch chris interact with mia, figure out how to collapse a BOB stroller, and deal with spit up - he even changed his first diaper, ever. their visit also help baby anabelle's arrival seem more real. that will be us soon!! thanks for everything, suz. i'll see you in a few months.

i'm still feeling good, definitely growing and feeling new movements inside. deidre and i went to see 'legally blonde' the musical and baby sure seemed to enjoy it.

i'm back to work today after 5 days off with chris. we both needed that. now this week is busy with an acupuncture appt, pre-deployment brief, a super diamond concert with chris, and then our maternity photo shoot with helene (can't wait to see how those turn out!).

time off with chris

i've gotten a bit behind on my blog post but we did take the pic on time. it's getting a little harder to decide on what to wear for work so this week i just took my pic in my pj's. figured i hadn't taken any of chris lately, so here is one of him too with his breakfast.

we've been keeping busy again - just went on a little stay-cation to pacific beach (an anniversary treat), suzie & mia are in town for the weekend, working on our wills (not nearly as fun as the previous two items mentioned), and are excited about the arrival of our BOB stroller on sunday. thanks mom, dad, & grandma!!

chris did a lot of work on anabelle's room and moved some things into a nearby storage unit to make more space.

week 25 is feeling really good. chris and i had a great workout yesterday which seemed to wear baby out. i've put on a few more pounds but am still pretty comfortable - could use some new pants though. baby should be about 1 1/2 pounds and over 13" long now. i'm so amazed by this whole process.

dear baby - i can feel you shifiting around a lot more now. hope you rested up for my workout yesterday. chris is having some back pain today - do you think it's sympathy pains? we spent the evening with mia, seraphina, and tristan so hopefully we picked up a good parenting tip or two.

keeping busy

here we are at week 24. we are growing, but i'm realizing we definitely have a good bit more growing to do. baby is moving around a lot more now which is pretty amazing!

chris is still reading to her/us and taking good care of us, all in between long work days, intense flights, and requalifying as 'expert' at the pistol range.

we'll probably be cleaning out the guest room closet this weekend to make space for all of anabelle's goodies. plus, we're getting ready for suzie and mia's visit next week. can't wait!

i heart the sunshine

chris made it home from his training up in 29 palms and we had the best weekend. the weather was beautiful, i made it through my first Family Day as a FRO (basically an outdoor BBQ for 700), we discovered the amazing dog beach in coronado, went to see a cirque de soliel show, finished painting anabelle's room, and just had a great time together. i've even managed to make two very tasty meals the last couple of nights.

baby is doing well. chris felt her move for the first time on friday. according to parentconnect.com she is about the length and weight of a harry potter book now that we're at 23 weeks. if i read more than cooking light magazine that might actually be a good reference for me, ha ha.

chris has started reading to her some nights. right now she is hearing 'the steel wave' - a WWII historical fiction novel centered on the normandy invasion. so far, we are all enjoying it.

dear baby - your room is coming along nicely. your dad is teasing me about the extra paint i got on some of the baseboards. i didn't step in the pan of wet paint though. that caught him by surprise and somehow he didn't get any on the carpet. hooray!

home ROCKS!

i just got back from a fabulous trip home to FL to visit the fam. other than it being way too quick, it was perfect! mrs. gail hosted a sweet shower for me and i was loved on all weekend. thanks, everyone.

baby & i are still growing and i'm sure chris will notice a change when he gets back on friday (wahoo!). i'm trying to keep up with applying the belly butter.

dear baby - you seem to be taking up more space now which is a good sign. i can tell my abs don't quite work the same and my belly skin is getting tight. are you going to push out my belly button to be an outie? it's definitely starting to flatten out. there was a ton of love poured on us this weekend. could you feel it?

what was i waiting for?

these maternity pants are SO comfy! i don't know what i was stalling for. thanks shannon for letting me borrow. i also found a few new cute things at target. they have a new maternity designer they are carrying. only a few items, but they have size that actually fits me which is always nice.

i get to go home to florida this weekend. i can't wait to see my family!

i got to talk to chris yesterday. we are both wishing he was home, but he is successfully completing several big night flights and getting a lot of studying done.

dear baby - we received some sweet goodies from friends this week. how soon do you think you'll be ready to write thank-you cards on your own? friends-i have your cards out. i just haven't written them yet, but thank you so much!!