Sorry for the unplanned hiatus. I have been traveling like crazy for both work and family. In the past the couple of weeks I have been to Florida, Chicago, Boston, and then Chicago again. To make things worse, I only brought my camera on one trip – and barely took any photos. Well, I’m done traveling for awhile now and I’m thrilled just to be home and have the chance to catch up with friends. I’ve missed seeing you all so much!!!

Above is a picture of us with Craig’s best friend Ryan and his wife. We were all at a wedding in Chicago and had a great time. Although, I think the guys had a little more fun then necessary since they had designated drivers. Ryan’s wife is also pregnant so we had loads to talk about over water and ginger ale.

Gender Prediction

As most of you know, we have decided to wait to see if we are having a boy or a girl. We both felt strongly about wanting it to be a surprise. Of course, my family couldn't believe it. They thought I was way too organized (they really meant obsessive) about details. But what else can we honestly be surprised about as adults? And doesn't it just lead up to a better delivery; something to really look forward to instead of just dreading the inevitable pain. 

I've just recently started buying little outfits for the baby - of course nothing but greens, yellows, and browns will work for us and it's really got me thinking. How accurate are the Old Wives Tales and other ways to predict gender? I did a little research and of course none of it is scientific but it's still fun to explore.  There is the one that says if you carry low - then your having a boy, and if you carry high than it's a girl. (I think I'm carrying low, but its hard to tell this early). There is the one that says if you crave sweets then it's a girl, if you crave sours then it's a boy. (I crave sour lemonade all day, but really crave sweet cinnamon rolls in the morning)

A stranger in Florida recently told me that if your uglier than you were before you got pregnant then it's a boy. If you're prettier and have that pregnancy "Glow" then its a girl. (I definitely don't glow, but I can't say I look like a troll either). 

While doing my research there was one fact I found super interesting and I think says something positive about women in general. In a study that asked women with no previous knowledge about their baby's sex, the moms-to-be correctly guessed the sex of their baby 71% of the time. Are we that in-tuned with our bodies or the baby within us? Maybe it's a gut feeling and women just seem to trust their guts and go with what their feeling. I'm not sure I have an overwhelming sense about what this baby is going to be. How about my other pregnant friends, do you have a gut feeling? And how about all my girlfriends that have recently had babies, did you have a sense - were you right? 

Insomniac or Party Animal?

I was so exhausted last night after a long flight home and headed to bed around 11:00pm. I was so tired and looking forward to our comfy new mattress. Well, the baby had its own plans and it was all geared up and ready to party. I started to feel the faint little foot or hand jabs to my left side but that quickly elevated to what must have been dance movements. It might have been the hand jive or quite possibly the running man that followed. That little baby was all over my belly. At one point Craig and I just watched the skin of my belly move up and down with some serious force. We discussed the options of what might be going on in there. I was sure the baby had inherited Craig’s crazy late night, party animal gene. (I know he doesn’t seem much like a party animal now, but believe me, he was wild before he met me). And Craig was sure the baby had inherited my insomnia genes and was just doing some late night stretches to relax. Either way – we were pretty amazed by what we were seeing and feeling. To be honest, it was a little creepy, almost alien like but then I thought about the sonogram we had just had was reassured that it wasn’t a scary alien but an actual baby in there. A very active little baby who happens to be fond of 11:00pm.

Last weekend with the family

My wonderful sister and her super handy husband, and all their girls came down last weekend to help with the renovation of our basement. My mom and her fiance also flew down to help. They got there on Thursday night and by 8:00am on Friday morning the three guys were already downstairs starting on the new basement wall. I haven't taken any pictures of the new wall but will get some up as soon as I get those. 

While the guys were slaving away on the construction the girls did a whole bunch of fun things. We beefed up my registry, found nursery furniture at Buy Buy Baby, went to the indoor water Park in Germantown, and finally we met up with my cousin Katie and her son Penn at the Reston Petting Zoo. Katie had suggested it saying that the kids would really love it - and i thought it would be gross and boring but it was really a very cute place.  The kids did love it. The goats were crazy to get that food out of our hands. And just before we got there a goat had given birth. The baby was so wobbly on its little legs. It was sooo cute. I didn't get the best picture of the baby goat- the one above is kind of fuzzy.

20 weeks (old picture), I'm now almost 22 weeks

This is from a couple weeks ago - I was 20 weeks pregnant at that point. My bump has grown even more since then. I'll get a more recent picture up soon.  The first trimester went really well but I was so tired all the time and just felt like I was running on about 75%. I just felt kind of run down. When I hit 20 weeks - I finally felt normal - no, I felt great. My energy was back up, and I felt like myself again Woohoo. 

Well - I'll be at 22 weeks and I still feel great. I finally understand why so many people say they love to be pregnant. 

Oh - and 20 weeks I started to feel the baby move - like little flutters or muscle spasms. Its so exciting.  We also got another sonogram done and will hopefully have that up soon as well.