25 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

How your life's changing

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

Have you started thinking about baby names yet? Choosing a name is an important decision, but it should be a fun one, too. You may want to consider family history (Great Grandpa Zeb), favorite locations (Venice, where you honeymooned), or cherished literary or film characters (Greta, Meg, or Atticus, for example). Check out a couple of baby-name books to help you brainstorm, too.

Yay for 25 weeks! Just reading what's going on this week makes me laugh. I don't think I have fuller hair, but maybe I do. I don't notice that stuff. I am definitely not exercising!! I know I should be, but it's only 5 degrees out today! With a wind chill of -10! So no exercising for me today. Or the rest of winter probably for that matter. :) I have already done the glucose test once and get to take it again on January 3rd. And we already have our baby name picked out (and the spelling looks settled too based on that poll!). Although I do like the recommended name "Meg". That's a good one. ;-)

I'm still feeling this baby move ALL THE TIME. Even more than before. Last night while laying in bed I did a fetal kick count, just for fun. And I was at my 10 kicks within about 3 minutes. I did it again and was up to 10 kicks in another 5. Just writing this post (and a lot of this post is just cut and paste!) and I'm already at another 7 kicks. She's a mover!!

Only a few more weeks of the second trimester! I'm ready to move on to the third. I was at a holiday party this weekend and so many people commented on how big I was and how I still have a long way to go. This pregnancy is definitely different than with Dominick. With Dom I was "all baby" according to my doc throughout the whole pregnancy...I think I'm a little more this time around! But that's ok.

Personal trainer and the YMCA - I'll see you both in April/May!!

Happy 25 weeks baby A!

Anatomy and Physiology I

is almost over! My last class was on Saturday. We had to turn in a take home exam (70 questions on two chapters) and do a lab practical (50 questions on nerves, the spinal cord and the brain) and then we received our take home final (120 questions on Chapters 1-14). Our take home final is due this Saturday anytime from 10 am - 2 pm. And then I'm officially done with my first semester back in school.

I started the take home yesterday (I'm such a nerd) and I'm so glad I started. I'm busy Thursday night and Friday night this week and I can't put it off until Saturday morning, I'll never get it done in time! So I just laid on the couch with my box of kleenex and worked on my test. I've been sick sine Thursday but yesterday was the worse day yet. I'm hoping today is better than yesterday. Anyway, just doing that all day got me done with 86 questions. So I'm just over 2/3 of the way there!

I'm so excited to be done with my first semester. It's nice to get one under my belt. Also, I SHOULD get an A in my online class and if I did the math right on my previous tests, etc. and if I do well on this final, I'll get an A in this class too (knock on wood). So that would be pretty cool.

Just a few more days and then one glorious month off. Wish me luck!

w00t w00t!

I'M FINISHED WITH MY ONLINE CLASS!!!!!!

My final exam (200 questions for all over the book) is due by December 17. I set a schedule for myself to do about 20 questions a day and finish the class on the 15th with a buffer day in case I fell behind.

Well I got on a roll and couldn't stop!

I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I got 180/200 or a 90% which is good, but since it was an online class with an open book final, I would have liked to have done better. But it's still an A and when that is added to what my teacher has already graded, I still have a 93% in the class which is definitely an A, so I'm happy!

I won't know my final grade in the class until December 18th or so, but I'm really hoping (and kind of assuming) that I will get an A in this class.

w00t w00t!

1 class down this semester, 1 more class to go!

And then just 3 more classes until my prerequisites are over. Almost time to celebrate! :)

Spelling Poll!

So Nick and I decided on a baby name! Yay!!

But we can't decide on a spelling...Boo!!

The name we are going with is:

Annabel/Anabelle/Annabelle as the first name
and
Jean as the middle name

We are 99% sure we have the spelling decided, but I wanted to poll the readers to see if they liked the same spelling we are most likely going with.

So take a look over there ------------------------>
and let me know what you like best.

Again, we are pretty sure we know what we are going with, but want to double check and see what everyone says.

Thanks for your time! :)

Ornament Party

Last night was my first Ornament Exchange Party experience. I've been invited to three over the years but have never been able to go. This was my first one.

The theme was "Old Fashioned, Vintage, Retro". I was very confused by that at first. Apparently a lot of people were because a lot of people emailed the hostess, my sister in law Christy. She explained that the theme was really anything you consider vintage or retro or anything really. Use our imaginations and have fun...So we did! The ornaments were all very different, which I think was actually the point, and it was a lot of fun.

I was still a little confused, so I brought two ornaments. The first one was a pink, high heeled shoe with rhinestones all over it. I thought that was kind of vintage/retro-y. Then I got the pickle ornament. I enclosed the legend of the pickle in the ornament bag and hoped that counted for "traditional/old fashioned", since it's a really old story/tradition.

For those of you who have never been to an ornament exchange party, here's how it goes. You bring a wrapped ornament according to the theme. Then you put them in the middle in a big bunch. Everyone draws numbers after you are all seated around the ornaments. Whoever draws "1" goes first. They pick an ornament from the middle and open it. You say who brought that ornament and everyone ooh's and aah's. :) Then whoever drew "2" goes next. Then it's kind of like "Rob Your Neighbor". 2 can either pick a new present and open it, OR steal 1's ornament. It goes on and on until the last person picks their ornament (12 in our case last night). After the last person picks their ornament from the bunch (or if they steal, whoever they steal from can take the last ornament or steal from someone else, etc.) then the game is over and you keep whichever ornament(s) you got.

It was a lot of fun! I brought Dominick because Nick wanted to continue working on our hardwood floors. And Dominick was SO good. It helped that Nani was there. Kids and grandparents, I swear. Dominick is always an angel for Nani or Maw Maw, but can be such a stinker for Mama and Daddy! I was very proud of him.

Back to the ornaments. I got a fun retro/vintage high heel and purse ornament combo:




And Nick's mom got a retro Santa. She gave the Santa to Dominick (our tree is a little bare at the moment!) and we love both ornaments! They are already (obviously - from the pictures) hanging on the tree and we love them.



I don't think my friends have enough time to squeeze in an ornament exchange party, not with the game night we already do, but I'd love to keep going to this one! I had a lot of fun!!

And again, it helped get me even MORE in the Christmas Spirit! :)

St. Nicholas Day

Nick's family celebrates St. Nick's day. Like really celebrates it. As a kid, we always left our shoes out the night before and when we woke up St. Nick had left us a treat. Always candy. Always something small. And that was St. Nick's Day. At Nick's house, we go to his Mom's for dinner. Then it's like Christmas. The kids get their stockings from Nani (which are loaded), and a bag of goodies from each aunt/uncle. It's insane. The kids go nuts.

This year was no different! We went over to Nani's around 5:30 and had tacos for dinner. After we ate and talked for a bit, the kids couldn't hold out any longer, so we opened the stockings. I didn't bring my camera, unfortunately, but I took a picture of one of Dom's presents this morning.

From Nani, Dom got an ornament (SO adorable), fruit snacks, a book, a set of hot wheels, two packages of socks (which always go missing at our house), and more I'm sure, I just can't think of everything.

Here's a picture of his ornament:



Each of the kids got ornaments describing things they do or love. Sophia's was a swimmer, Kailey's was a karate girl, Henry's was a hockey goalie, Addie's was a ballerina, and Jilly's was an elephant (because she loves elephants). Dominick's is a body builder because Dom likes to show off his muscles. :)

From his aunt Kate and Uncle Dave, Dom got pajamas (Christmas Elmos!), play doh, candy, and again, I can't think of what else but more!

From his Aunt Lisa and Uncle John, Dom got pajamas (Toy Story from Disney), candy, and more.

From his Aunt Christy and Uncle Rob, Dom got a car that is filled with candy and when you pull the string, it zooms across the floor.

As you can tell, Dom was one spoiled little boy on St. Nick's Day!!

After we opened the stockings, the kids put on a "play". They LOVE to put on shows for us adults. This time they told us the story of Baby Jesus. There was the angel telling the story (Sophia), Mary (Kailey), Joseph (Henry), a sheep (Addie) added for comical value I believe, and the baby Jesus (a stuffed animal). It was a complete story, along with a song in the middle by Sophia. She started singing Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, and Dominick got up and started dancing to it. He loved it so much that he cried when the song was over!

After our show, we went back upstairs and just relaxed for a bit before coming home. It was a good night. It got me in the Christmas spirit a little more!

And speaking of which, Christmas is just two weeks from Saturday....SCARY! :)

Food, food, food...

No wonder I'm gaining so much weight. I can't stop eating!! It's really becoming a problem. At home I'm fine, but at work, I can't stop!! I need to hide my food or something.

Any my biggest problem right now?? I want CHOCOLATE ALL THE TIME! Not just a bite, but like king size chocolate bars all the time...

I'm really going to have to start being careful! Or I'll hit my 30 lbs. limit really fast....