18 weeks, 3 days

Confession: I got scared the other day because ELLIE and I wanted to feel the baby move so I drank half of a root beer (we don't drink soda except for very occasionally) and holymolies this baby went NUTS. Which is a great testament to the fact that we rarely consume sugar and also a great testament to the fact that soda does still make me feel gross.

But worth it.

I can feel that she is growing and people have been wondering how this pregnancy feels different physically from Ellie. So here it is!

Ellie was only 2 1/2 pounds when she was born which is amazingly different than an 8 pounder, however my belly measurements always were on track because of fluid and a normal growing uterus that she just didn't fill up! So yes, the physical weight was a little different, but not much. The main difference was really that her lack of size made her movements much more comfortable. A.k.a. no rib squishing or painful baby stretches.

I'm learning through THIS pregnancy, that Ellie was indeed very active, as we thought she was. Many doctors would assume before asking us that we never felt her move, but she moved a LOT. Her movements were more shifting and rolling and twisting..lots and lots of twisting, and often she would go from side to side of my belly making my belly look super lopsided.

So now I feel way more jabs. I can feel that they are more individual punches and kicks rather than rolls, but the feeling is not all that different at this point.

Other than that: I've been craving (maybe not because of pregnancy) salads. Preferably salads with a spicy kick. That could also be because its summer.

For a while there I was having an aversion to coffee. (GASP-dad.) It tasted too acidic. And then I prayed that it would not be the end of coffee for me as Ellie was the end of peanut butter--and alas--through determination and mostly the selfish desire to continue having coffee, we are back together and it feels great. I drink decaf, but because I haven't had caffeine in a while, I can feel the small amount of caffeine in it. We recently bought a two pound back of decaf that is roasted here in Charleston and it's RIDICULOUSLY YUMMY. We may have to make it a Christmas gift for all of our coffee loving friends (don't worry, the caffeinated kind.)

Speaking of Christmas-it's always on my mind because of this little one's due date and so Chris and I have declared that this Christmas we are going to deck the stinking HALLS of our home. We didn't really decorate last year because we moved here a couple weeks before Christmas. We didn't even get a tree because we spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parent's house. There will be pictures to document the Christmas madness. I'm all about it.

And so now the dilemma: do we make this baby a Christmas stocking? She's due two days before Christmas and if I make one I'm going to fill that bad boy up. But if she's due after Christmas her first Christmas won't technically be until a year later. Who am I kidding-I'm going to make one.

Okay. That is all.