*Your Pregnancy: 22 Weeks

**
*Real estate within your belly is getting tight, with growing baby leaving
little room for your lungs to...well...breathe. Expect the huffing and
puffing to start soon. There's not much room for your belly button, either
-- it'll pop out any day now.If people are telling you that you look smaller
or bigger than you should at this point, remember that each woman grows —
and shows — at her own rate. What's important is that you see your
practitioner for regular visits so she can make sure your baby's growth is
on track.

*Baby's now the size of a papaya!*



Baby's settling into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It
shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as
they start and st

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.

*From me:*

Baby is being pretty good most of the times, but there are still those
mornings (like this morning) where I can barely leave the bathroom. And now
more than ever I'm having to eat every 2-3 hours otherwise I'll get sick.
The worst time is during the night as I have to force myself to eat a little
something right before going to bed because Baby will make me eat first
thing in the morning.. and I'd better hope that I don't wake up during the
night.If I do wake up and try to go back to sleep Baby thinks that it's
"wakey time" and starts wanting to eat... something that isn't very
plausible at 4:30 in the morning when all I needed was to go to the
bathroom! But on a good note, Baby has finally gotten over his or her
shyness around Daddy! Micah felt Baby move those two weeks ago and then
NOTHING since then.. Tuesday night I called Micah into our room cause Baby
was moving and sure enough, Baby kicked! Not once, not twice, but three
times! Once even kicking him in the cheek as Micah gave Baby a hug! And
since then Micah has felt Baby move every day... I thank God for little
things like that.

I just came back from looking out the window and everything is so pretty!
The ground is frosted white as far as you can see and the sun is glittering
brightly off the fallen flakes. It's been steadily getting colder and colder
here the last few weeks, but without any sign of the coming snow. Saturday
morning Micah and I had gone to a few yard sales and saw frost in the higher
elevations of town, so we knew that it was on its way. We woke up Sunday
morning expecting to see snow on the ground. No such luck.

It was actually as we were walking into the library that afternoon that we
saw a few flakes falling here and there. And the air smelled of snow. Crisp.
Fresh. Impending snow really does have its own specific smell. Just like the
woods after a rain or the ocean waves crashing on the beach. Even the wind
across the fields and tundra has its own unique perfume.

We went to sleep that afternoon and when we woke up--- snow! We were
downright silly driving to church that evening. We stopped by and picked up
Jacob and Nathan and then blared Christmas music full blast. The first snow
of the season calls for Christmas music. Once we got to church the boys
threw a few snowballs around as I literally jigged my way into the church.

But the brushing of snow that covered the ground when we went into service
didn't even care to what was there when we came out! Whew! Snow!

Phooey. I should have taken pictures.

Micah went to warm up the car while I got the ice brush and went happy. I
brushed off Joey's car and the Nowling's car and our car before Micah took
the brush away from me. :P Now why did he do a thing like that? I was being
helpful! So what if I was having fun at the same time and getting more snow
on me then on the ground. Hey, at least the cars were cleared!

Once we got home last night both of us were jazzed up from the snow and not
too sleepy due to our afternoon nap so Micah did a video chat with Brandon
and played on the computer while I cleaned the kitchen and bathroom while I
actually had both energy AND motivation. I tell you what, it's hard to get
both at the same time when you're pregnant!

At one point Micah showed Brandon the backyard via webcam, with all its
newly fallen snow. Brandon was envious--- but mentally chilled to the bone.
Wimp. :P

This morning I got up extra 20 minutes early cause I was leaving 15 minutes
early. I drove in the snow all of 1 time last year and Micah was in the car
with me the whole time. Until this morning, I had never driven in snow by
myself before. Oh boy. But Micah has been preparing me for the last two
months, telling me the differences between snow and ice driving, what to do
and what not to do, precautions to take, what to do "If"... all the things
that would keep me alive and, well, not dead.

Then, since the beginning of October, I have been putting in practice a few
of the tips that he instilled in me, such as pumping the brakes instead of
slamming on the brakes, adding 2 extra car lengths to my following distance,
going to the light to turn instead of trying to cross 2 lanes of traffic,
etc. As I was already getting into the habit of winter driving, today did
not come as quite as big a shock as it could have. I left early, turned at
the light, drove 5 miles under the speed limit, had min. three car lengths
between me and the car in front of me, watched brake lights, pumped instead
of slammed my brakes, took my foot off the gas when approaching lights, even
if they were green, until I saw if they were going to stay green.

What's really a blessing is that I work on a military base. A military base
does everything humanly possible and then some to insure that there aren't
any accidents or traffic violations. The speed limit never goes above 35
miles an hour, which right there makes a HUGE difference in winter driving
safety. The slower you go, the less chance of something happening. In fact,
There is only 1 mile from the base gate to our house, so I only have to
drive 2 miles a day at speeds higher than 35 mph. Just another blessing that
God has given.

There is a bit more news but I actually do have pictures to accompany those
stories, so you'll have to wait for tonight!

m.

you're 21 weeks pregnant!




Gasp...is that a stretch mark?!! Take deep breaths and remember -- they'll fade after delivery. Your skin may also feel dry and itchy, especially over your emerging bump. Take a cue from your fetus, now coated by vernix (a milky, protective cream), and slather on the lotion. You're probably feeling pretty comfortable these days. You're not too big yet, and the usual aches and pains associated with early pregnancy are, for the most part, gone. Relax and enjoy it while you can — the third trimester may bring with it a new crop of complaints.

Baby is now the size of a Banana!




Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now


On my end:

I'm feeling pretty good these days. The only time I get sick is if I go too long without eating, which has only happened two mornings this week. I have a lot of energy and am trying to stay active, though I still do get sleep around 1 pm. Naptime! Baby is staying really active, too, though thankfully only during the day. Actually, the little one's schedule is pretty regular. Moves during the day, with the peak being 10 am to 2 pm, and then starts quieting down as the afternoon goes and the evening comes. By 8 or 9, baby is virtually silent and by the time I hit the hay at 10 or so, Baby is sleeping the night away. Hopefully Baby will decide to keep the schedule once he/she pops out-- I like active during the day and sleeping at night!

These are the muffin pans that we got at Target. I just looked up the regular price online and the cheapest I found them was "on sale" for $12.99. Ha! I got all three for $7.50. Come Christmastime be prepared to get baskets of Snowmen, Snowflake, and Christmas Tree shaped cookies, cupcakes, and muffins!



m.

So yesterday us girls, Jenna, Joleesa, Sarah, and I, went out to eat and
then shopping at 5th Ave afterward. I have a bunch of pictures from last
night that were taken with my handy dandy POINT AND SHOOT! Woohoo.. I forgot
how much fun it is to take pictures just for the sake of taking pictures.
Not being worried about lighting and angles and ISO and the million of other
little things that can get in the way of just taking a picture of a girl
being goofy in a bucket hat!

But those pictures are at home on the camera and I won't be uploading them
until tonight, so you'll have to wait until then for the shopping post.
However, I did want to share my awesome deals that I got at Payless.

Now, I'm a girl. Which means I like shoes. However, most of my shoes are
kind of boring. Black heels. Brown heels. Black boots. Brown boots. Black
tennis shoes. Brown tennis shoes. I have tons of colorful flip flops, but
that's not really something you can wear in the winter, you know?

And now with being pregnant my feet hurt all the time so I need to wear
something with more cushion, yet not entirely flat because I need to make
sure my arches remain.. well... arched. Otherwise that can add to lower back
pain.

I have a really good pair of brown tennis shoes that I've been wearing with
my brown clothing items, but if I wear black, like I do 70% of the time I
either have to wear my ballet flats that make my feet sweat or my clunky
gray vans that don't look very pro.

So my mission was to get a comfy pair of black tennies and maybe some fun
shoes for later when my feet are swollen or even for next summer's
sundresses.

I found three!

These are the black tennies I got for work. I'll be able to wear socks so my
feet don't get too hot, they're cute (always a plus), they have an inch lift
in the back so I get the added support I need, and they're slip-on, which,
normally I don't like how it feels, but if my feet every need a break (which
they do quite a bit), slip-on shoes are way easier than trying to untie,
take off, and put back on when you have to go up front two minutes later.


These are my "fun shoes" for when I want to be youthful and casual.


These aren't quite like the ones I bought but close enough that you get an
idea. Skimmers for summer.


The most awesome part? The price! The black tennies were originally $30, I
got them for $19. The skimmers were $19, I got them for $7, and the "fun
shoes" were $25, I got them for $4! Woohoo! Got to love sales and smart
shopping!

Alright.. ta ta for now!

And btw... the tennies are super comfy.

m.

Baby, I'm so thankful that God has give you to us and I count the days until I can hold you in my arms. Each night I pray for you, that you'll stay safe and grow strong. I dream of what the future holds for you and what you will go, and do, and be. Little one, you are loved. ~Mommy~

Friday night Micah and I were enjoying a quiet moment with just the two of
us when Baby started moving. "The baby's moving!" I said to Micah and he
quickly placed his hand on my tummy. Now, this routine has played itself out
a number of times before where I've felt Baby and as soon as Micah tried to
feel, Baby decided to take a nap at that very second. It's been a little
frustrating, the little stinker.

Well, we thought Friday night was going to be just like all the other times,
but as soon Micah put his hand on my belly, there was a brief pause and then
we bought felt *THUMP*, Micah on the outside, me on the inside. Micah yelled
excitedly "I felt it! I felt the baby!" And as if to add an exclamation
point to the matter, Baby decided to give one more mighty kick before
settling down into stubborn silence.

Micah's face... I don't think that I'll ever forget his face. His eyes lit
up and he got the biggest smile that I've ever seen on his face, I think it
even rivaled the one when we got married.

Ya'll might not understand the significance, but for Micah he wanted the
first time he ever felt a baby kicking to be with HIS baby. So he's never
felt any of his nieces or nephews kick while Bek was pregnant, no any of his
many friends or other family members. He wanted to feel his baby first...
and he did. Friday, October 30th.. Ironically, Isaiah's Birthday as well.

Also ironically, Baby must have decided that once was enough for Daddy
because he/she has refused to move for him since that night, even though I
feel Baby almost constantly. But eventually Baby will stop being shy and
Micah can play with his little son or daughter until I'm worn out and ready
to swat both of them. Stop playing so I can get some sleep!

hehe.. I can't wait.

m.

Here are the baby bump pictures taken on Saturday at 20 weeks, 1 day!













We got some more that we really like that are more artistic, but they don't
show the bump as well as these do. So, we'll save those for the scrapblog!
Which, btw, I need to finish and get up there. I have basically the whole
thing done so I just need to insert the pictures, but I'm still playing
around with the layout and if I want to go chronologically..or if I just
want to go.

So, there's a baby in there!

m.

Here I am at 7 am on a Sunday morning.. CRAZY! No, what's really crazy is that I got up at 6 am. HA! Me, 6 am on a SUNDAY morning.. my last chance to sleep in before the next work week starts. Why am I up like this on a day like this? Because of Daylight Savings Time, of course. Last night/this morning marked the transition to "Fall Back" where we set all our clocks back an hour. A great way to gain an extra hour's sleep if you need it. Also a great way to wake up extra early when you don't need to...

I went to bed at my normal bedtime of 10 pm. Like clockwork, Baby starts getting sleepy at 9:30 and by 10:00 I'm zonked out on my feet. Normally I don't fall completely asleep until 10:30, wake up once during the night when Micah comes to bed from studying or watching a movie or whatever he does (anyone who knows Micah knows that he is a night owl.. no 10 pm bedtime for him! that's for sissies!.. or pregnant women, hehe), and then I'll get up at 7am during the work week. On weekends, I TRY to sleep in, but it doesn't work.. Baby lets me sleep until 7:30, SOMETIMES 8:00 and then is like, okay, you're done, get up. If I try to sleep to 8:30 or, heaven forbid, 9:00, I start getting sick, even if I've eaten something, because Baby is ready to MOVE!

Well, this morning I was up at 6 am, my normal 7 am, due to the time change. Oh lovely. Don't mind me, I just don't have to get ready for church for another.. THREE HOURS!!!! So, what to do.. what to do.. get breakfast? Check, leftover pancakes. Blog? Check, that's what I'm doing right now. Work on pictures? Check, multi-task, baby! Take pictures of baby things and post them? Ooooo.. now there's a thought...

So, I grabbed out our big camera and started taking pictures when I remember that DUH! We just got back our little point-and-shoot from the fix-it shop and since these don't need to be all pro, really, easy way out, anyone? So I switched out and used the little point-and-shoot for the rest of the pictures. SO MUCH EASIER!!!! I've missed that little thing.

I'm still uploading the pictures so you'll have to wait for another post before seeing the baby things, but that's okay cause at the energy level that I am currently at, you'll have another 2-3 posts before it's time to leave for church. I hope ya'll can manage that!

In other news... Micah and I enjoyed a relaxing day yesterday. Actually, we did quite a bit, but it was still nice to just kick back, you know?

He slept in, I got up because Baby kept making me throw up (thanks a lot in there!), but then we had some breakfast: pancakes, eggs, and sausage for Micah, eggs, sausage and toast for me. Then got ready and headed out to run some errands to Lowes and Target. However, on the way there I convinced Micah to stop in at a yard sale I had seen advertised on Craigs List for having a lot of baby stuff... (the rest of the story will be in the post with the pictures). After the yard sale we headed on to Lowes were we picked up a few must-needs items (such as a hammer... long story, needless to say, my high-heeled shoes were glad to be out of a job) and bought the parts to assemble our own coffee table! It's kind of hard to explain so I'll probably just have to take a picture of it later when I get it all cleared off, but needless to say: $30 and 5 minutes, I say that's a deal any day!

We splurged a little at Target. Does anyone ever look at the mini-store they have set up right in front of the carts with all the dollar items and odds and ends? If you never look through there, you might take a peek some time. It's Target's own little "Dollar Store" and they have some pretty cool stuff. I was jazzed because they had started bringing out the Christmas items, which is the best deal of the year!

Let's see.. what did we get?

3 silicone 6-muffin pans (Micah and I are on a silicone craze right now, picking up odds and ends here and there. We've managed to find a cake pan and a 12-muffin pan at Value Village for a fraction of their original price. This was no different. $2.50 each! And the best part? They're CHRISTMAS! One is green and the cups are in the shape of Christmas Trees, one is blue and the shape of Snowflakes, and the last is red and the shape of Snowmen!

2 Silver Pails with Snowflakes on them ($1 each!)

1 Wooden "Welcome Sign" that has Penguin holding a candy cane and wearing a hat and scarf (So cute! $2.50!)

2 Christmas Stockings (Both of these are super well-made, $2.50 each, and adorable. The first one is mainly red and white and has a snowman on it. It reminds me of Momma. The second is blue and has snowflakes on it, very dainty, and will be stuffed for a very special little girl)

I also got a oval red metal bucket with handles (looks like a mini washtub) to use year-round, since my main color in the Kitchen, Living Room, and Dining room is.. RED! $2.50, baby!

Then.. Micah let me splurge.... I bought our first Christmas Ornaments of the season!!!

Now, for us, Christmas is our favorite time of year. But for me especially, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (you get the idea) to decorate for Christmas! That actually was one of the reasons for my choosing to go with red as a main color in the house, because it will be SO easy to decorate come Christmastime.

When we first got married, Our living room was blue because all we had was blue stuff left over from my bedroom before we got married. But after we had the house for a bit and I got to work out my style, I fell more and more in love with red and by the time we moved up here, blue was long gone.

The thing was... 90% of the Christmas decorations we bought that year were... guess.. blue! We decorated our tree in blue, white, and silver. Pretty, classy.. wasn't really into it after the fact. And now, there is no way that I'm putting a blue and white tree into this red house. Not to mention, the majority of our Christmas stuff is still down south, waiting to be shipped up here. Or rather, brought up here, cause there is no way I'm trusting my glass ornaments to the postal system, insured or not.

That being said, ever since I was a young teenager and saw a tree and house in an article in Better Homes and Garden (my favorite magazine of all-time), I have had this dream that was just waiting for me to get my own house and my own tree and, well, my own way.. hehe. I shared my dream with Micah yesterday and what do you know? He loved it! In fact, he more than loved it, he had the same tree in his dreams! Go figure?

Our Christmas Tree?

The Old Fashioned Christmas Tree!

We'll be buying a real tree, putting it in the stand, and wrapping a Christmasy plaid quilt around the base. We'll hand the lights, wrap plaid ribbon as garland, hang some cranberries and popcorn strings (though we might just go with the red beads due to no wanting Milo to attack our tree in search of food), then we'll be doing classic ornaments, like the ones we bought yesterday: wooden snowmen, bits of felt for the scarves, aged metal snowflakes... We're going to get jingle bells from Michaels and spray paint them to hang in lieu of regular balls. Neither Micah nor I like the cutesy look of some of the ornaments, and we're not really the cabin-decor type of people. Instead, we just like the Classic Christmas. Remembering the good old days when Christmas was more about family and friends than Christmas lists.

You know what I'm really excited about? On the way home from Christmas, stopping at Cracker Barrel and stocking up on their After Christmas sales. If you ever want to do an Old Fashioned Tree, Cracker Barrel is the place to go!

Which, all this talk of Christmas reminds me that I need to check with Mom to see if there are any non-breakable Christmas items that she can send up here with the next box of baby stuff.. yes.. she went shopping again on Friday... got to love baby stuff at yard sales!

Okay, so to finish out our Saturday.

We finished up at Target and headed home where we put together our coffee table, cleaned up a bit, and then got the candy ready to hand out to all the kids... then we laid down for naps. :) Once 6 pm rolled around, we ordered a pizza (1st time in.. 6 months? If not longer?), turned on our porch light, and popped in Lion King 1 1/2 (I had never seen it). Every so often our doorbell would ring and we'd pause the movie to go hand out candy to the hoards of kids that came. Actually, most of them weren't kids. Most of them were teenagers, 13 and 14 years old, admitting this one time a year that they are STILL KIDS and not adults quite yet. Funny how teens will go on and on about how grown up they are, but hang the offer of candy above their heads and they're dressing up and going around with a pillow case with the rest of the Princesses and Firemen. Micah and I don't do Halloween by any means, but we'll be good neighbors and hand out candy. Keeps you from being egg'd :P Especially with all these teenagers going around.

So the night ended with Micah eating as much candy as we handed out and me retiring at 10:00 like I said at the beginning of this now insanely long post.

So, all's well that ends well.

Ta ta!

*you're 20 weeks pregnant!*

You're at the halfway mark — congratulations! Your baby weighs about 10 1/2
ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about
10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (The way your baby is
measured changes now.) He's swallowing more these days, which is good
practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black,
sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his
bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (although some babies
pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).


*Baby's now the size of a cantaloupe!



* Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for
nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those
taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best
to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what
you'd like your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.