28 Weeks

Holy moly! How did I get to 28 weeks so fast? I spent the first half of my pregnancy thinking 9 months is a long time, and then when I hit the end of my first month I sprouted a belly all of a sudden, and every month seems to go by faster than the last. The kicks are starting to really pick up...and get more aggressive, I might add. I can actually see her movements through my clothes sometimes, it's kind of cool...now...ask me again in another month. And she's also decided to add a third workout to her two-a-day kickboxing training; I usually only get significant kicks after lunch and dinner, but now she's added a 3:00 a.m. routine.

This weekend I drove out to Halettesville to hang out with the new Mr. and Mrs. Nick Valenta and Mom, Dad, Gary, Nancy and Camey. Dad, Nick and Marie went hunting and the rest of us just took it easy and enjoyed the reprieve from everyday annoyances like news, noise, and cell phones. It was great, and I hope we can do it again sometime.

I'm still feeling really good, save for some fatigue in my lower back. The doc says I'm growing well, and I don't really have many complaints at this point. I sincerely thank everyone for all their thoughts and prayers and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Me, Camey, and Mom

The Valentas Return to Corn Hill

Last weekend the Valenta family descended upon the tiny little town of Corn Hill, Texas for our annual Fall Family Gathering. There was bingo, cards, a silent auction, an interactive family tree, washers, and entirely too much food. I managed to eat myself into oblivion that day, but all the home cooking was well worth it, (can you say kolaches?). And because my Uncle Danny is a sucker for pregnant chicks, and pregnant chicks are suckers for pickles, (and he loves me), he let me have one of the jars of homemade pickled okra that he won at the silent auction.

Nursery Furniture

Okay, so I think we've finally settled on some nursery furniture. It's a little different than what we were looking at, but I think I like this crib better. And it's at a price that we can live with. The previous set that we were eyeballing was just a little on the high side, baby would by far have the best furniture in the house. And besides, Mama wants a new couch.

Amy Coe Westport Lifetime Crib (BabiesRUs), paired with the MALM dresser from IKEA.

Namaste

I attended my first prenatal yoga class last night I am so stinkin' excited about this! It's free, I can go twice a week, the instructor is great...certified specifically in prenatal exercise, it's full of women that are all at different stages of their pregnancies...some of them are as far along as 38 weeks! And it was oh so relaxing. I didn't realize how tense my muscles were, I've never been particularly limber, but I think having to sleep exclusively on my side at night has added to the tightness in my neck, shoulders and back. And this is sort of hard to explain, but there's just something beautiful about a room full of pregnant women chanting the melodic ohm at the end of the workout. (And come on, working out barefoot is pretty awesome too).

On the subject of sleeping...I've been having some minor hip pain at night due to trying to sleep on my side more. Apparently I was a back sleeper before and the adjustment was kind of rough for a couple of weeks. So we went ahead and bought an old recliner for the meantime. My parents found one in Corpus for next to nothing at a used furniture store and were kind enough to meet us in Three Rivers with it. It's huge, like bigger than our couch, but it's super comfy and Minnie is especially fond of it.

The next project, (after my friend Megan's wedding this weekend, the Family Reunion next weekend, Nick's wedding on Nov. 8): Cleaning out the two spare rooms and preparing the nursery! Stay tuned.

It's a Girl!

Yeah technology! Last Friday we learned that we are having a baby girl! Mother and mothers-in-law, all your prayers have been answered! Everything still looks really good, I'm either having a big baby or I'm a week further along than they thought. Unfortunately the sonogram photos don't scan well so the picture below didn't come out too great, but she's got a big fat belly and a beautiful profile.

It really was an amazing experience to see her moving around. The doctor's office had just installed a big flat panel television in the sonogram room so we could see everything big and bright. She was very active, flexing her fingers and kicking my bladder, (my full bladder). And unfortunately Travis was stuck sitting in Stone Oak traffic, so he made it right as I was walking out, but both of my parents were with me and I'm so grateful that they were.

It seems like my belly is getting bigger every day, but I still feel great at this point and hopefully that lasts for at least another month. The only weird thing now is that my hips hurt some nights. It helps a little to put a pillow between my knees, but with that, a pillow under the belly, a cat, a dog, and Travis, the bed tends to get a little claustrophobic. I never thought that I'd say this but I would kill for a recliner.

And can I just tell you that I've been shopping for a pair of maternity jeans and it is absolutely ridiculous what they try to charge for a decent pair that are long enough. I tried on at least a dozen today and there was only one pair that fit and they wanted $120. If I'm lucky I could get four months of wear out of them, I can't bring myself to pay that for a pair of non-maternity jeans. The next stop is the Old Navy online store. And if that doesn't work, Billy-Bob's Cover-All Shop.

19-20 weeks

Last weekend we met Nick and Marie in Austin for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We heard some great music, had some delicious food, and enjoyed the balmy 91 degree weather, (past ACL Fests that we've been to have reached 108 degrees). And was super excited to see that one of my favorite artists, Erykah Badu, was sporting a pregnant belly. And she still got up on that stage and worked it.

As Long as We're Being Crude...

Let's play create a caption! Who can come up with the best caption for the above picture? Get that creativity pumping.