23 weeks!

Here is the latest for Lil'G:

"Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb."

I think this is my favorite weekly update I have received so far! I have been turning on the Italian music and moving and grooving. And even more exciting is we have all seen the baby move! My sisters and Alisha and Dave and I sat around my belly just watching the baby kick. The little gymnast begins grooving after 10 pretty much every night. Every time Laura or Jenny rubbed my belly the baby would kick in response. It was so amazing! The first time we all saw the little bump we just started cracking up. It has been so much fun to actually see the baby kick! Here are some pics we took in the girls' adorable apartment the first night we visited them in their new place! I am so excited for them-and a little scared. Two girls all on their own! Trouble :) Please excuse the bare belly. We could only see the kicks with my shirt up for the world to see :) And I had to add in a pic of my adorable hubster tending to his new plant!

22 Weeks!

What's new:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Giggles

This is just one of the reasons why I love my wonderful hubby!
We are sitting at the dinner table and I am self absorbed in my silly worries about officially starting my new job tomorrow. I was pretty much freaking out about it and of course freaking out leads to tears. All of a sudden I am all teary eyed at the dinner table without any warning for poor Dave. I think he is used to my random melt downs by now. I mean they were bad before I was pregnant...now they are really bad. So as tears are streaming down my face and Dave is asking what is wrong, I tell him how nervous I am to start. He goes..."well at least you won't look like a nerd." (i am thinking...okay. what does that mean. I look like a pregnant whale instead. and I am looking at him and his glasses...he looks a little nerdy sitting there. but where is this going?)
then he says..."my first day at work I showed up wearing a tie" ...all of a sudden i got a major visual of Dave looking so nice in a tie and everyone else casually dressed. (mind you everyone at his work pretty much wears jeans)
the meltdown moment completely evaporated as I was overcome with giggles. That comment and visual was enough to make all my worries disappear. I love my wonderful hubby!

Loving It

Here is what I love about being pregnant and feeling baby kicks. I love waking up in the morning and just laying in bed with my hand on my belly feeling little kicks here and there. I love going about my day and suddenly feeling little movements inside of my belly. A happy reminder of the little life inside of me. And most of all I love the way Dave's face lights up like a little boy on Christmas morning everytime he feels a kick. It is amazing, incredible, and wonderful and I will treasure forever these beautiful moments with our baby.

I can make her laugh at any time...

You wouldn't believe it, but Kimmy had a pretty funny experience last night. Yeap, she has been waking up laughing a few times now since she has been prego. Here I was having a typical mundane and pleasant dream about getting groceries (yes I know, I am living it up in land of Nod...) when all of sudden I am awakened by the sound of cackling laughter. So loud right in my ear in the middle of the night! I definitely did not think it was funny...

Turns out Kimmy was laughing at me in her dream. Go figure.

All Smiles

Dave was all smiles this weekend because he felt the baby kick for the first time! It was a pretty cute moment. I had Dave place his hand on my stomach because I thought there could be a chance that he could feel the baby move. The kicks are strong enough now that I can feel them when I rest my hand on my stomach. He had it on there for quite some time but we were just relaxing so I figured evenually the baby might kick. Dave was asking what it would feel like and I was describing it to him when all of a sudden...his eyes lit up and his whole face broke into a gigantic smile as he asked if that was it...and it was! It was so cute. I just started cracking up because I don't think I have ever seen him smile that big! Not even on our wedding day :) So I can only imagine how it will be the first time he sees the baby! So fun!

In other news...

Today was my last day subbing before I start my new job. Yippie. I start training for my new job tomorrow and I am pretty excited about it. I will be working with children who have autism as a 'behavioral interventionist' (basically working one on one with children who have special needs as a tutor). The agency is called ACES. It should be an adventure as I learn many new things!

Dave is still working hard at PacSci. Things have been a little stressful for him as they try to finish the R68 project within the time frame. He loved having an extra day off though and so did I! Wouldn't it be nice if every weekend lasted 3 days!

2nd trimester > 1st trimester

Well it seems that kimmy is moving ahead now that she has hit the halfway mark. Today it seems that her sense of smell is back to normal. Besides eating chicken again (finally!!!) today was the garlic discovery once again. As she was cooking italian red sauce, which I have been missing out on for the past four months, she announced that it smelled so good. It was the garlic of course, which I have been without for waaay too long. Somehow, someway, we are getting back to pre prego foods. Which is good, because its not fun eating in shifts.

So besides italian sauce, the cooking bug has continued. Oatmeal rounds (yums) and peach cobbler are coming along!

As for me, I am just smiling and happy. my plants are growing outside and our baby is growing too!