26 weeks..

26 weeks pregnant today! (Approximately 14 weeks/98 days to go.) Can you believe exactly one week from today and I'll be in my 3rd trimester? And I thought it would never come. :)

So we've (ok, daddy) has officially started on the nursery. One coat down, one more to go. I can't wait until he's done so we can finally set up the furniture and get the bedding/curtains/area rug, etc. in there. I can't wait to see it all come together! Here's daddy Mark spending his weekend slaving on the nursery. (All out of love of course!)

We went and met my mom today at Michael's so we could get all of the supplies for the dresser knobs that she is going to paint for us to match the bedding. We also got the letters to hang above the crib that she is going to paint for us. I was able to get a start on her baby book I'm designing for her. It's starts with the very beginning of the pregnancy which includes fun facts about when we found out we were expecting, when we found out the sex, how she got her name, pictures of mommy's growing belly, sonogram pictures.. and eventually her baby shower, maternity photo shoot, and hospital shots of the day she was born! I can't wait to see how it turns out. Lots and lots of baby Lucy things to do lately! She's already taken over our life if you can't tell. :)

Well we're off to California bright & early on Friday morning to visit my little brother so I'll make a post as soon as we get back and recovered from the jet lag! I'll leave you with a belly shot from today...

25 weeks!

25 weeks today! So approximately 15 more weeks or 105 more days to go. But who's counting?! Here's the ole' bump from this morning (excuse the pj's & the unshowered self!)...

Here's what Lucy's up to these days...

Get ready for pat-a-cake! Baby's hands are now fully developed and she spends most of her awake time groping around in the darkness of your uterus. Brain and nerve endings are developed enough now so that your baby can feel the sensation of touch. That doesn't mean she can feel it when her father pokes your stomach, however, so tell him to knock it off. Other highlights include:

Your baby's arms and legs have grown to almost the proportions they will be at birth, which is still sort of short. So don't be alarmed when your newborn's arms barely clear her waist. Baby's nostrils, which have been plugged up until now, clear out (like she's taken a super-dose of Sudafed) and she can practice breathing through the nose. The structures of your baby's spine are now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings and some 1,000 ligaments. Can you believe you're growing something that complicated inside of you?

The capillaries, the teeniest blood vessels, are now forming in your baby's body, giving her formerly translucent skin a pink glow. The blood vessels in the lungs also develop this week. You'll see how well that worked out when your baby gives those lungs a workout while you're on line at the bank in a few months.

Your baby weighs about a pound and a half and is about 13½ inches long—roughly the length of one of those recorders you played in elementary school music class. Who's up for a round of "Hot Cross Buns?"

(Side note - why do I always look so much bigger than these diagrams?!)

I love the last line because I think the only thing I can play (or even learned to play) on a recorder was "Hot Cross Buns". Sure brings me back to my elementary music class days! Anyway, I had a check-up this past Tuesday and everything is going great. My doctor even told me how impressed she has been with how great the pregnancy has been going. I'm measuring exactly how I should and she's even glad about the total weight gain (16 lbs, yikes!). From here on out I am seen every 2 weeks. Boy is time starting to fly by!

I've been feeling pretty good the past couple of weeks. No more heartburn at all (keeping my fingers crossed) but still getting the dreadful rib pain and now the back pain. Unfortunately there's not much I can do for either but suck it up. My doc just said "welcome to the joys of motherhood!"

So we finally spent last weekend getting her room all cleared out and ready to start painting! We went out and bought her ceiling fan and Mark cut the hole in the ceiling and today our friend is coming over to wire it for us. Mark went out to get paint samples so we can lock down a paint color. I am so anxious to get the room painted and see it all come together.

I'm pretty impressed with everything we've done so far seeing that I'm still only 25 weeks along. We've gotten all the basics for the nursery (furniture, all the bedding, area rug, valance, blinds, etc.), a good stock on diapers thanks to our new BJ's card, we bought a full-size baby swing, a good start on baby clothes (and headbands and bows!), our entire baby registry set up, and even signed up for two baby classes - Breastfeeding 101 and Childbirth Basics. The planning for the baby shower is well underway too thanks to Jen and my wonderful family!

As mentioned above... I've been seeing the full-size "My Little Lamb" baby swing at Babies  R Us and have wanted to get it for awhile now. The thing is, it is $160 at Babies R Us and everyone has told me although they are wonderful, it isn't worth the money for something that they only use for such a short time. So Mark was able to find one on Craigslist practically brand new for $50.00. Can't beat that! So we went and picked it up on Friday night. We have it set up in our living room (envisioning our beautiful daughter swinging peacefully, we hope) and Silas isn't too sure what to think of it. He's really starting to act funny lately and trying to figure out what's going on. He's sat and stared at that swing for a day and a half now. Poor guy!

Anyway, that's all I got for an update this week! Hopefully I'll be back next week with an update on the nursery. :) Have a great week!

My little wiggle worm! 23 weeks.

Ever since Lucy started kicking a couple of weeks ago, she hasn't stopped! She's constantly moving in there which feels more like wiggling than kicking (hence the new nickname 'wiggle worm'). Mark and I went to Ocean City this past weekend with a bunch of friends and while on the beach, she definitely made it known that she did NOT like it! You could literally watch my stomach and see her kick. I'm hoping it was just too bright for her because I'm hoping she'll love the beach as much as I do!

Here is a new belly pic from today at 23 weeks & 2 days.

While on the topic of the beach, I wanted to share a picture of our good friend's 1-year old son, Brody. Is he seriously not the cutest? I could just eat him up. He is just too much fun too!

I can't wait to take pictures of Lucy next year on the beach! Our same friends (Brody's parents) are expecting another baby, a little girl, 2 weeks after Lucy is due. How cool is that? It's going to be so much fun to see them grow up together!

So back to the pregnancy - everything is still going good. I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable. The heartburn has thankfully started to subside but now it's constant rib pain! I can't tell if it's her head under my ribs all the time or what but it's making my nights awfully miserable. I know my poor husband is already tired of the whining! Everytime I complain I always try to remind myself that it could be worse and so far she's a healthy girl - that's all that matters!