Sixteen Weeks

(It's amazing how when Amelia takes the picture with a real camera, and not just the camera on a computer, it doesn't look like you can see up my nose. We MUST get our camera fixed in May. Not even an option. P.S. I really don't like shoes.)

How Far Along: 16 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of an avacado according to BabyCenter. Thank goodness they show it compared to a quarter each time because some of the fruits/vegetables are totally foreign to me.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I 'm at -2 again according to my scale, but I'm thinking it must be wrong.
Maternity Clothes: I'm moving toward only maternity clothes and/or stretchy dresses and skirts. I can't even "button" my pants anymore with the help of a rubberband.
Movement: Every so often I feel Little Baby moving around.
Gender: Don't know, but I think we've decided that the baby's "colors" are going to be yellow, black, white, and gray. That would work for a girl or a boy.
Sleep: This week I've been really tired. Is it possible to regress back to symptoms from an earlier trimester?
What I Miss: This week I've been pretty content. I still want feta every now and then, but there's really nowhere to get it so it really doesn't matter.
Cravings: Hmmm....nothing in particular. Water perhaps.
Symptoms: Overly emotional is putting it mildly. I cry all the time or I get super frustrated about things that would normally not be a big deal. Mood swings? Check
Best Moment This Week: Rocking Kaleb to sleep. When his eyes droop down, but he doesn't quite go to sleep, it reminds me of when he was a newborn and would be droopy-eyed and then just zonk out. I LOVED rocking a sleeping Kaleb and I'm excited about rocking another sweet baby to sleep.
What I'm Looking Forward To: This is our last week of teaching. Next week is the MCT2 and the week after that is our final week. I'm looking forward to teaching like crazy this final week before testing.

Fifteen Weeks

Fail on the picture taking this week. We took one yesterday, but I didn't realize I was making a weird face until too late. Then we were going to take another picture today but I'm already in my pajamas and I'm too lazy to change out of them. Sorry. Maybe next week.

Alright, I don't know what day to write these posts. According to my due date I should write them on Fridays. According to the emails I get from BabyCenter.com, I should write them on Mondays. And according to the sonogram, I should write them on Wednesdays. So, yeah, I'll probably just end up posting them Monday-ish. Maybe a little before, maybe a little after.

How Far Along: 15 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of an apple according to BabyCenter.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I went to the doctor yesterday and I've gained a pound, but that still puts me at -1 for the week. I'm definitely not worried about gaining weight.
Maternity Clothes: I've had to wear maternity clothes exclusively a few times this week. I don't think I'm ready for full-on maternity clothes, but I like them.
Movement: I'm pretty sure I can feel Little Baby moving around now even though most of the pregnancy books and people say it's still a little too early.
Gender: Don't know yet, but next time we go to the doctor we'll be able to find out...if we decide to go that route. Eric's pretty sure this is the last baby (we'll see) and we want to do the whole walk-out-into-the-waiting-room-and-announce-"It's-a-boy/girl"-thing. So I don't know that we'll find out. I think I'll just stick with maybe yellow, gray, and white as the colors so it could go with either.
Sleep: I think I'm at the point now where I need to stop sleeping on my back, which really stinks. I love sleeping on my back. It's what I missed the most when I was pregnant with Kaleb.
What I Miss: I'm anticipating missing sleeping on my back.
Cravings: I'm pretty much craving anything that someone says or that pops into my head. But it only lasts a little while then I've moved on to something else.
Symptoms: I've been pretty sore/tender this go around. I'm pretty much over my nausea now which is SO great.
Best Moment This Week: I'm hoping we'll make the final decision this week about whether or not to find out what Little Baby is.
What I'm Looking Forward To: We have a super yummy supper menu planned for this week. So, yes, I'm looking forward to food.

Book Review: Maze Runner Series

The Maze Runner series is a trilogy centered around a boy named Thomas and his involvement with a futuristic government program.
In the first book, The Maze Runner, Thomas is sent to The Glade where all his memories have been wiped, leaving him not only disoriented but also the Newbie. Thomas meets the other Gladers and tries to adjust to his new life there. Then, something unexpected happens and the Gladers are forced to deal with everything thrown at them.
In the second book, The Scorch Trials, Thomas continues to deal with WICKED in a new environment that makes The Glade seem like a paradise. He's dealing with the loss of some friends from the Glade and the introduction of some Cranks that are helping the Gladers survive. In the end, Thomas has a falling out with a good friend because of an effort to save his life.
The third book, The Death Cure, breaks the mold of the first two in the same way that The Hunger Games trilogy's third book is different from the first two. In this book Thomas is finally coming face-to-face with WICKED and has decided not to let them play him anymore. As he and his friends search for a way to survive in a world full of Cranks, Thomas must face the reality that he may be the only way for the world to survive.

This series is definitely for mature audiences due to the graphic nature of some of the characters (especially in the second book...I almost stopped reading it myself). It is very fast-paced and keeps you guessing about what's going to happen. It is a very good series to read if you enjoyed The Hunger Games series.

A Learning Experience

This morning was not good. One of Kaleb's friends from daycare had her birthday party today and we were really excited to go. Kaleb's just now starting to get the concept of the birthday party so he knew there would be cake and presents and fun. The only problem is that he thought it would be HIS cake and HIS presents. This obviously caused some problems throughout the party. When we got there everything was fine because they were all just playing. But after they ate their hotdogs he started getting mad that he couldn't have any cake yet. When they did start singing happy birthday to the birthday girl, Kaleb threw an all-out throw-down fit! I was holding him and he was kicking and screaming and thrashing and crying. I was SO embarassed! I took him outside and made him calm down, all the while I was trying to hold back my own tears. Now, I know that he hasn't been to many birthday parties other than his own so I understand the confusion and frustration of not getting to be the center of attention. Still, he can't act like that. We made him apologize to the birthday girl when he finally calmed down enough to go back inside, but I just knew we'd have another meltdown when present time came.
Kaleb told her he was sorry and ate his cake and ice cream, then they went to play again. When it was time to open presents, all the little guests were taking the presents into the living room so the birthday girl could open them. Kaleb was the only one who tried to open the presents. Now, the other guests aren't a whole lot older than him. In fact, one was younger. But he was the only one to throw a tantrum that he didn't get to open the presents himself. Eric took him outside that time and I stayed inside, surely red-faced. I know that if I had seen another child act the way Kaleb did I wouldn't have judged because kids are ego-centric at this age. But since it was my kid I started questioning my parenting abilities. I know that I'm a little lax with him when it comes to discipline, but I think that's going to have to change. I don't like spanking, but I like being embarassed in front of my friends even less. So I guess you could call today a learning experience.

Fourteen Weeks

How Far Along: 14 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of a lemon or a fist depending on where you get your sizes.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm still down a couple of pounds but this is the first week I haven't had to take a nausea pill so I'm sure it'll go on up.
Maternity Clothes: I'm having to mix and match. If I wear a regular shirt I need to wear maternity pants with it, but if I wear regular pants I need to wear a maternity shirt. With a couple of exceptions, I'm basically "buttoning" my pants with a rubberband.
Movement: Maybe...it may be the quickening feeling. Or hunger
Gender: Still unknown.
Sleep: Sleep's okay at the moment.
What I Miss: Nothing yet.
Cravings: Ummm, today I really wanted some of the locos tacos. But for the most part, anything starchy like mashed potatoes or noodles.
Symptoms: Is there an opposite of nesting? Because that's what I've been doing lately.
Best Moment This Week: Maybe feeling Little Baby move. Or at least getting close to that point.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting my house clean. I know it doesn't really have much to do with Little Baby, but it's really a wreck.

Thirteen Weeks

Sorry guys! Still no camera. Don't worry. I'm not showing anyway. Well, there's a bump there, but it's more of a food baby than Little Baby. Haha!

How Far Along: 13 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of a medium shrimp. Now, to me that seems smaller than a lime, but he/she is now 3 inches.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm not for sure, but I think it's somewhere close to last time. I mean, I only ate 2 pieces of Easter candy.
Maternity Clothes: Nah...not really. I can only fit in a few pairs of my pants now, but I have enough stretchy fabric to hold off wearing maternity clothes.
Movement: Nope. But I can't wait to start feeling it.
Gender: Still unknown.
Sleep: Sleep's not great but it doesn't have anything to do with Little Baby. It has more to do with insomnia and thinking about what needs to be done at school.
What I Miss: Feta?
Cravings: Brothy or clear soups like miso and chicken noodle
Symptoms: Still pretty tired and a little nauseated but hopefully that will end soon.
Best Moment This Week: Getting verbal Congratulations. It made it seem more real.
What I'm Looking Forward To: I'm looking forward to having a chilled, relaxing week/weekend. I don't really have any plans so I'm going to lay on the couch as much as possible.

Nash-viz Days 1 and 2

Eric and I went to Nashville to visit Haley and Josh and it's been pretty fun. Much more fun than the last time I was here.
Tuesday was spent driving....all day. We left around 9:30 and went through Birmingham, then up near Huntsville, and on to Nashville. We went to Arby's for lunch so we didn't have to spend a lot of time eating and could spend more time in TN. It was a pretty long drive. Not gonna lie. When we got here Haley was still at work so we chilled out around her house until she got home. When she got back we decided to eat at the house to save some money then go out for dessert and Hunger Games. We drove down to the Opry Mills mall and had some Marble Slab ice cream. I was so excited that we were going to get to see Hunger Games on IMAX. Like, too excited probably. Well, turns out they were only playing Wrath of the Titans (yuck!) on IMAX so we had to watch it on a regular movie screen. I was dissapointed, but I quickly got over it because I really wanted to see the movie. It was a really good adaptation from the book..except for Peeta. Josh Hutcherson was really not how I pictured Peeta. I don't know who I would cast for him but I don't think it was J. Hutch. Anyway! We got back to the apartment around midnight and went to bed. It was a long day.
Wednesday we woke up early(ish) and went to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast. It's apparantly a staple of Nashville. The line was out the door and around the corner. Haley said it's like that all the time. It was really good! I had the small appetite meal with 4 silver dollar pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I didn't even finish the eggs. Eric had the choclate chip pancakes which were REALLY chocolatey chippy. After we ate, Haley had to go to work so we drove around Nashville with Josh. We went back to the place called The Gulch and saw where Taylor Swift lives. She lives in a penthouse in Nash-viz. I was pretty disappointed that she didn't live in this huge house, but whatevs. After driving around, we came back to the apartment and chilled a little bit. Then Eric and I took off on our own and went to downtown Franklin. It was soo cute! There's all these stores and restaurants in a little area. We ate at a little Irish pub and eatery. It was legit. I had shepherds pie and Eric had fish and chips. Then we walked around some more and went to Sweet Cece's, this ice cream place that's ALL OVER Nashville. We came back to the apartment to wait for Haley to get home. We had plans to go play lazer tag and eat steak and spaghetti but we were all pretty exhausted so we postponed it to tonight. Instead, we ate some pizza at Perfect Pizza and it was really good, too. It's nice having our own personal guides here.
Today was low key, too. I'll post about today and tomorrow when we get back to Jackson Friday night. Can't lie. Really looking forward to seeing Kaleb again. It's been almost a week since I've seen him! That's the longest I've ever gone. Anyway, Haley should be home soon so we can go tag it up.

12 Weeks

So we finally got to tell people that we're expecting a baby in October! I've been keeping it a "secret" (as much as I can) for 6 weeks. That's probably a record. I plan to do an update post every week with a picture, but in order for that to happen I have to find/fix my camera. Don't worry. I'll try to have that done by next week.

How Far Along: 12 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of a lime
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've actually lost 4 pounds! How is that possible? Oh yeah, I haven't been eating as much this time as with Kaleb.
Maternity Clothes: I probably don't NEED to wear them, but since I wasn't allowed to say anything for a while it was really the only thing that made me feel pregnant. I probably need to wear some of the maternity pants or some really stretchy fabric.
Movement: According to BabyCenter Little Baby moves with I poke my stomach, but I can't feel it yet. Of course, I imagine I can sometimes.
Gender: Pretty sure it has one, but we don't know it. We're toying with the idea of not even finding out this time.
Sleep: I haven't gotten to sleep as much as I did with Kaleb because, well, he's awake during the days and wants to play. I try to crash early in the night though. I'm sleeping fine, but I'm starting to wonder when I need to stop sleeping on my back. I'm trying to hold off as long as possible because I remember really missing that.
What I Miss: Nothing yet
Cravings: I'm kind of going the opposite direction. Nothing sounds good most of the time.
Symptoms: I've had more nausea this go around. With Kaleb I wasn't sick very much at all. Every now and then when I didn't eat I would start to feel bad, but it wasn't everyday and I certainly didn't have to take medicine. This time I've been a little queasier. I haven't thrown up at all, but sometimes I have to teach sitting down.
Best Moment This Week: Finally telling people! I was overwhelmed by the amount of congrats and likes on Facebok.
What I'm Looking Forward To: I'm looking forward to seeing people now that they know. I'm also looking foward to Easter Sunday and I'm going to try to cherish it as our last one with just Kaleb.