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!!

it's still a girl!

i just had my 20 week ultrasound to check on all of her organs and see how she's developing. at first look, the radiologist says everything looks just right.

*here you can see her arm and hand

they got some great pictures. it was pretty amazing what they can zoom in on during those ultrasounds. we could even see the four chambers of her heart just pumping away.

they were able to verify that yes, it's a girl!

*here you can see her leg and foot

*here you can see her whole body and her long legs

she's looking pretty cozy and relaxed in there!

dear baby - great to see you moving around and all your organs working. i'm still trying to get in the veggies we both need. this weekend i promise to get new pants so we aren't so squished all day, xoxo

half way done

how did we get to 20 weeks already? things are really going well and i've been feeling great - other than the fact chris is out of town for training (notice the gear all packed up).

i started painting baby's room over the weekend. i felt a bit like jennifer garner in 'juno' trying to decide between the different shades of yellow all named after desserts. we decided to go with a light gray and i managed to narrow it down to 'classic silver'. so far it's turning out just right!

my cousin koby & his wife anita were in town over the weekend. it was nice to have company. we went to see the cliffs in point loma, the seals in la jolla, and walked along the sand in pacific beach. after some great food mixed in the day, i was pooped. i think i might have slept 11 hours that night.

dear baby - we have your 20 week ultrasound tomorrow to check on you & see how all of your organs are developing. i think i might have felt you this week, but can't tell for sure quite yet. keep on growing. hope the belly band isn't squeezing you too much.

to buy maternity pants or not to buy

none of them them button or even zip for that matter. yoga pants are still my favorite, but unfortunately those don't qualify as professional attire for a government employee.

i'm getting new aches here & there and definitely need to keep my posture when sitting down. things get squished easily now. baby anabelle is supposed to be the size of a mango this week. we listened to her heartbeat last night and it's still pumping nice and strong.

we worked some more on the baby budget this weekend and enjoyed some beautiful socal sunshine.

we had a great visit with alexis and lamine on saturday talking about taking bradley method classes from them and having alexis be my doula. we are excited to learn from them and get more scoop about being prepared (as much as we can be). i'm also trying to figure out when to have my mom & suzie fly out. hey anabelle, what day do you think you'll be arriving?

dear baby - this week we are praying that you grow up to be an individual who makes wise decisions.