25.5 Weeks

Quick picture now that I finally got around to taking one. I'm 2 days short of 26 weeks here, so it's almost the end of the second trimester! Baby is quite active-usually at least 2 longer periods of activity each day, but it is comforting to feel and doesn't hurt. I can actually see my shirt move sometimes with all the kicking! Maternity clothes are becoming more and more necessary, so picking out something to wear in the morning is getting to be a hassle.

I've been feeling okay most of the time. Tired a lot, sick sometimes, and not really handling the heat and humidity as well as I'd like. Quite a bit of heartburn, but I know better than complain when my diet regularly includes spicy Mexican food, chocolate, and ice cream! I get hungry so often, but feel so full right away, especially when I eat fruit. Some of my recent cravings have included the Pot Roast Sandwich at Culver's (had one before the baseball game this week and it was amazing), cheese and summer sausage with crackers, oatmeal chocolate chip cake with ice cream, and tonight...good old Kraft mac 'n cheese, which I have eaten exactly twice in the past 4 years. I tried to feel more grown up my throwing in some steamed broccoli, but it's hard to feel older than 5 when your macaroni is shaped like dinosaurs.

We haven't done much more nesting except scoring a free dresser from my parent's basement (don't worry, there are at least 2 left to chose from if anyone needs one) and fitting it into the closet without taking off the door--I am all about the "tip and tilt" method! I am still searching for crib bedding so I can move on with decorating, but just haven't found anything I like yet. A vacation to the Twin Cities in a few weeks may turn into a big shopping trip (yuck!) but it would be nice to be done decorating by the end of the summer.

DH is finishing his last class this week and then he'll have 2 months of summer before they start up again. I think the summer will go fast for him, slow for me!

Also, today:

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, NIKA!

We really aren't the type to keep track of this sort of thing, but after a checkup at the vet today, we discovered it was her birthday today! After hearing last year that she was the "healthiest beagle they ever saw", we were disappointed, but not surprised, to hear that our little beagle is getting a little tubby. (And we can't even use the excuse that she is "big-boned" because she actually has very fine features.) She is a little over a pound over what she should weigh, so we're going to keep better track of how much we feed her. I'd like to say we'll walk her more, but between the rain, the hot sun (she seeks out and rolls in the first shade she can find), my sciatica, and our schedules, it has not been happening as regularly as it should and I don't see that getting better real soon. Maybe once DH is back from school and she decides to be a little more ambitious at night than just moving from the couch to the floor in her chronic napping position.

I'll try to take pictures more often than every 6 weeks, so check back!