22 Weeks

This week...

Baby Bell is the size of a... papaya! She’s about ten and a half inches and weighs about 15 ounces - almost one pound! Grow, baby grow! 

My bump is... feeling pretty big, but I know I am only a little over halfway there! I can only imagine how I am going to feel towards the end of this journey! Michael has been getting a kick out of watching me try to get out of bed in the morning because I can no longer just sit up. Essentially, I have to scootch over to the side of the bed and then kinda roll out of bed. It is awkward...and apparently entertaining...

I have been feeling... so much movement! It has been wonderful to feel her kicks/punches getting stronger and stronger. I can generally tell when she is awake and when she is asleep, which is fun. I also have been using the fact that "the baby is still asleep" as justification for not getting out of bed as early as I need to - not so good!

A few nights ago, I could actually see some of her movements happening on my lower stomach - it only lasted a few minutes, but it was really cool to see! Unfortunately, Michael was out of town so he missed it, but I am sure there will be more where that came from! Overall, I am still feeling good - just trying to keep up my energy as we work through the renovations on the home. I tend to run out of steam pretty quickly in the evenings, which is a challenge when you are removing wallpaper until midnight...

I have been craving... nothing too specific. Apparently, she is not going to be a picky eater - definitely takes after her Dad on that one! However, I have been forcing myself to eat at least one, if not two, bananas every day. During these past two weeks, I have started getting leg cramps in the middle of the night - seriously painful! I am trying to cope by getting some extra potassium in my diet, as well as drinking more water! We shall see how it goes!

Our favorite thing has been... enjoying the reactions of family and friends when we shared that we are expecting a little girl! It has been so fun to talk with our family and friends about our little one and how the pregnancy is going! We have also gotten some really sweet notes and gifts, making us feel so blessed and supported!

I also had a chance to go baby shopping with my mom last weekend when Michael was out of town! We went to Buy Buy Baby and Pottery Barn kids in Kansas City. I have never been so excited and so overwhelmed, all at the same time! There was so much to get that I hadn't even thought about, and then there were so many choices for every item that you "need". How is someone supposed to choose?!?! After the initial shock, it got a little better and I started putting things on the registry. We were able to decide on a lot of the items for Baby Bell's nursery, including a majority of the furniture and the general theme. I am excited to see how everything comes together!

We are looking forward to... making our house a home! We have already started in on the wall paper removal and our contractor is starting the popcorn ceiling removal. It is going to be so nice once everything is done and we can settle in! Until then, we are just going to enjoying watching our place come together! We will also be enjoying the last few weeks of summer before our favorite time of year begins - football season of course! Go Cats and Chiefs! :)