Yesterday marked 24 weeks of being pregnant with Baby Cheese. I was excited to reach 24 weeks considering that it's a bit of a milestone because from now on if something should go wrong, and the baby is born early (not that it will happen, but just saying), then the medical team will do everything they can to save the baby.  Up until this point the chance of survival outside the womb was not great enough.  For some reason, this milestone is a relief to me, even though I have no desire to have the baby any earlier than when the doc schedules my c-section.  Babies need to grow and develop the way nature intended, if possible.

My pregnancy book says the baby gained at least 4 ounces this last week.  I believe it.  Once again, I'm having round ligament pain, which is always an indication to me that the kid has outgrown his space, and is working on expanding it.  Last night I glanced in the mirror and got a good sideways view of my growing belly, and said to Nate, "Holy cow, I am getting so big.  Seriously, how can I get any bigger?  I have 3-1/2 months left!"  He was like, "Yeah, I know.  I'm wondering the same thing.  You're getting to that, 'Oh, honey' stage."  That was not consoling.

I'm almost in entirely new territory as far as the weight scale.  Since I started this pregnancy 14 lbs heavier than I was when I got pregnant with Cooper, putting me in the "overweight" category (ugh) my goal has been to only gain 20 lbs my entire pregnancy.  I feel I've been doing ok with this goal, considering I'm at 24 weeks and have only gained 10 lbs.  That gives me another 8 lbs. or so for the baby to get to his probable 9 lb weight, and a few pounds of pregnancy whatnot to add to it--totally doable, I think.  But I'm not happy about seeing the scale climb.  With a goal of 20 lbs total gained, that will put me at 10 lbs over what I was at the end of my pregnancy with Cooper, which means 10 digits higher on the scale than I've ever been before. I have 2 more lbs to go, and I'll be at that heaviest point, and will still have another 8 to go.  Sheesh.  I probably shouldn't stress or be bothered by it so much, but I am because I want myself and my baby to be healthy, and I want to be able to lose all this baby weight and then some before I ever have another one, or more like within a year of having this child.  I'm disappointed in myself for being overweight to begin this pregnancy, but then again, at least I'd lost 10 lbs last year before getting pregnant, so it's a lot better than it could have been.  This is all more of a personal vent for me about this than anything else.  It's just something that's been weighing heavy on my mind (no pun intended).

Aside from the typical pregnancy discomforts and these little stresses, things are great.   Last night Cooper was playing with a cup and I put it upside down on his head and called it a hat.  He knocked it off, so I picked it up and placed it on my belly (I was laying down), and said, "Look Coop, Cheese is wearing your hat."  Cooper thought that was hilarious and started to laugh.  Then I said, "Cheese thinks it's funny too, and wiggled my belly so that the hat wiggled and bobbed.  Coop giggled all the more.

Then last night as Cooper and I snuggled on the couch before bedtime, I was laying kinda half on my back half on my side, a position which is not very comfortable right now without belly support because the baby shifts to whatever side is down.  So I could really feel him on my left side, the side closest to Cooper.  I told him where the baby was, and he felt my belly on the right side where there was "no" baby, and then again on the left side where most of the baby's weight was at the moment.  He was excited to feel the baby, and then I said, "I think he just wanted to snuggle with you too."  To that Coop leaned down and kissed my belly and said, "I love you, Cheese."  Then Cooper proceeded to tell me some of the things he is going to teach his brother to do when he gets big, like ride his bike, and kick balls, and such.  I love that these brothers are already developing a bond.

One other noteworthy humorous moment was the other night during family prayer, Nathan was giving the prayer, and he was asking for the baby to continue to grow healthy.  But he didn't say "the baby," he said "Baby Cheese."  We all started giggling, and Nate quickly ended the prayer.  He said he didn't mean to do that, and felt it was probably disrespectful to the Lord, but that it just came naturally because that is what we call this child.  I told him God probably understands. :)  This poor kid, he's probably going to be called "Cheese" by our family for his entire life.

What to do on a 70 degree VERY windy day? Why, fly a kite, of course! Coop and I were able to let out all the string and keep it up for about 15 min, until Coop lost interest. Pretty fun!

Ten days ago my bestest long-time friend, Melodee, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  The news was shocking, and the last 10 days have been a whirlwind for her, since she starts chemo this Wednesday.  With all this, I have been thinking so much about Mel and our friendship.  You see, even though we've been friends since 7th grade--21 years and counting (wow, that makes me feel old), and she currently lives in TX and I in NC, we still keep in touch.  Can't believe it's been that long!  But no matter the distance in miles or the time that passes between talking to one another or seeing one another, whenever we do get to talk or meet, it seems like no time has passed because we just go on being friends.  

With freezing rain falling all day, turning our driveway and grass into a very slippery mess, we stayed indoors all day, except to take the trash can to the curb, and to pick up the mail. Coop thought it meant we could go ice skating. Ha!

Being indoors all day is rare for us. Even yesterday when the wind chill made it feel like low 30s, we were at the park for two hours, and even had a picnic. We were frozen, but enjoyed being out. So today was a bit of a challenge for me with no outside time to entertain Coop and vent some of his energy.

This morning Cooper was upset that Nate had to work, so Nate sat him down and explained responsibilities and how we all have things we have to do, but may not like to do. This also coincided with the moment Coop was whining about having to brush his teeth. Having overheard this little lesson, I explained to Cooper each of our responsibilities as family members: Daddy works to provide for us; Mommy takes care of the children, the house, and the meals, and then I asked Cooper what he thought his responsibilites in our family might be. He thought about it, and said, "Pick up my clothes and my toys, and help Mommy with the house." You better believe I jumped on that opportunity, since today was a heavy cleaning day for me. Coop worked right alongside me all morning, helping me sort laundry and put it in the wash, dust the upstairs furniture, clean both upstairs bathrooms, make beds, and vacuum the rugs downstairs. He had his own cleaning rags, and did pretty well for a 3 year old, I'd say. Every time I vacuum now, I have to let him have a turn first, or a tantrum is guaranteed. He's quite the little helper.

After all those chores it was time for lunch. Then he wanted to snuggle, so we headed upstairs to snuggle with blankets on the couch and finished watching "Mary Poppins." He loves the penguin part, and asked to watch that segment and the carousel horses three times.

After that we made chocolate chip cookies, and he helped me do everything except put them in the oven. After such a domestic day, it was time for some BOY stuff, so we played trains for awhile, then trucks, and then my favorite...target practice with the dart gun and books! I LOVE this activity and find it's a big stress reliever for me, and Coop loves it too. We line up all the paperback books, and see who can shoot down the most. So much fun! Ended up being a great day despite the yucky weather.

Cooper learned about planets yesterday at preschool. We were talking about them, and he asked who lives on each one because we live on earth. He was confused when I told him no one lives on them.
Later in the afternoon, it was still blue sky, but the nearly full moon was visible in the sky. Coop excitedly pointed it out and then said, "And I know who lives on the moon, Mom."
I said no one lives on the moon either, to which he said, "Uh-huh! That boy lives on the moon!"
"What boy?"
"You know, the one who is fishing all the time."
Thank you, Dreamworks, for making my child think some poor lonely little boy is stuck on the moon and all he can do is go fishing all the time.

Tonight at dinner Coop said I had red hair. I told him mine is brown, but what color is daddy's hair. He responds, "Um....gray." I almost died laughing. Nate was not so entertained.

Today marks 23 weeks pregnant with Baby Cheese. It's going by so quickly, which is great! The developmental information for this week says he should be about 11 inches long and weigh just over a pound. He's getting big!

I already have a bond with this baby, just as I did with Cooper before he was born. I know the approximate times of day that he'll be awake and moving, and I find myself looking forward to those times when I can feel him. His most active time is about 10 pm. That's when he usually gets to kicking. Since he's still head up, it's hard for others to feel him kick or move, but last night Nate felt him move for the first time.

When I was pregnant with Cooper, his little bottom was right where I'd naturally rest my hands on my belly, and when he was frantically kicking, I used to pat my belly right there, as if patting his bottom. This usually calmed him and stopped the kicking.

Baby Cheese finally turned around, and now his kicks are more at my back, but that also means I can feel his back on my belly. I can't find his bottom, so for now when his soccer practice gets out of hand, or I'm trying to sleep, I rub my belly right along his back, and it calms him. I wonder if after he's born whether he'll like to have his back rubbed just as Cooper liked to have his bottom patted whe he was fussy.

Tonight at dinner Nate made the comment about having two boys at the table soon. He was coming at it from an overwhelmed perspective. I agreed, but also shared how ready I am for our family to grow. I feel ready for another child, in a very calm way. I'm excited to have another personality added to our mix, and to see what Cheese is like. I'm also interested to see what he'll look like. Seems with our genes that there's lots of possibilities, seeing as Coop is blonde haired, and blue eyed, yet neither of us has either of those traits.

On a different pregnancy subject, I keep forgetting that I want to record some of the strange/ funny food cravings/ aversions I've had this time around. So far:

First trimester: Couldn't look at meat; could hardly even open my freezer for other things because I'd see or smell the meat. Eating or cooking it was out of the question. I did however eat an entire jar of pickles in one sitting. That was at my parents' house back in Oct, and my dad said, "Boy, you ARE pregnant, aren't you." Also couldn't get enough cheese, and craved grape koolaid once for a few days like nobody's business.
Second Trimester (after morning sickness went away at 17 weeks): Ham, ham and more ham. We've eaten so much pork in the last month or so. One week every dinner and lunch had pork except for two. Still love cheese. Do not like salad much.
Have gone to Olive Garden three times and eaten little or no salad, but polished off an entire appetizer plate of calamari by myself as my dinner entree. Wow that sounds good right now! I also went through a 2-week period where I couldn't get enough of Taco Bell's Nacho Bell Grande with no refried beans, and extra meat. This past week or so has been all about carrots--not the already peeled baby kind, but the peel on, long, fresh kind. I eat them raw as snacks and at dinner. One day I'd eaten 4 whole carrots throughout the day, before dinner. Every night before bed I have to eat, or I wake up at 2-3 am starving. So I wait until 11 pm and eat a bowl of Corn Flakes or Special K with sliced bananas piled so high they nearly fall off. I also can't get enough strawberries, which has been with me from the beginning of this pregnancy. Would love to eat Pralines and Cream ice cream every night, but I know that's not healthy, and so only allow myself that luxury every so often. Have also craved orange soda a time or two, but after a swig or two, that was enough, and I didn't want any more. Still don't really like to eat chicken.

It fascinates me that pregnant or not, your body will tell you what it needs. Someimes I need a banana like it's the last thing on earth, and the carrot craving has seemed to coincide with the baby's eyes developing (according to my pregnancy book). I am amazed that my body can grow another human being with little or no active participation from me. Creation of life is such a miracle, and I can't wait for the next 16 weeks to fly by so I can meet our little Cheese.

Today was a bit chilly, so our play time together was indoors today. Cooper and I found just about every firetruck, fireman, fire-related anything, and played fire fighters. We set up a building out of Dulpos, and put a bunch of people figurines from his train set, some from Duplos, and some animals from Duplos, and then set up all the fire fighters and trucks and such. We played for over an hour. His chinese star with the suction cups was usually the fire, that or Duplos flowers. He has some firemen figurines that shoot pretend water objects, so we used those to knock out the fires. Some of these things were my idea, and some were his. It's fun to see how his imaginative play is becoming more complex. We had a great morning.

Last night we had Nate's Aunt Denise and Uncle Jim over for some good ol' Boston Patriots football. We had so much fun stuffing ourselves with football food and cheering the Pats on. Coop was ecstatic that Denise was coming for a visit, and the two of them spent hours playing together. He just loves it when she comes. Even thought the Ravens beat the Pats this year, we had a great night of football and family.

Cooper has been talking incessantly about camping for the last few days. An episode of his most recent cartoon obsession, "Caillou," must have been about camping. Anyway, Nate being the great dad he is, and realizing there's pretty much no chance of me going camping this spring since I'll be 7 months pregnant, he dug out the tent, sleeping bags, pads, blankets and pillows. He set up the tent on the front lawn, and we all piled in for some stories and snuggles.
At first Cooper didn't like having the door closed. I think he was a little claustrophobic. He also wanted the bright lantern on, not the small flashlight. But soon he settled in, and we read a few stories together. Being in the front yard meant we had wi-fi access, so he watched a few children's music videos on my phone. It was a little crowded in our 2-man tent with all 3-1/2 of us, pillows for me, and such, so at that point I made my exit and Coop and Nate spent another 90 minutes in the tent, until Coopster fell asleep. I'd say he had a great night.
After we'd put away all the stuff, Nate commented how disappointing it is that Coop is still too young to remember stuff like this for the rest of his life. This is definitely a family home evening we'll have to repeat in the future.

I've been feeling for several days now like I should post this, and I can't seem to shake the thought, so I'm following the thought/feeling.  Nathan and I were asked to speak in our church Sacrament meeting last Sunday.  In our church the members of the congregation are asked by the Bishop or his counselors to speak at various times, and about specific topics; this is in place of having a pastor or priest that gives a Sunday sermon.  I was asked to speak on the Holy Ghost (the third member of the Godhead), and to base my remarks upon a talk given in 2001 by Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, who was General Young Women President of the church at the time, entitled A Comforter, a Guide, a Testifer.  I patterned my remarks after the structure used by Sister Nadauld.  

Now, you don't have to travel to church history sites, or to the temple or even to church to feel the Holy Ghost and to gain a testimony.  The power of the Holy Ghost can be with us anywhere that is conducive to the Spirit.  It is our responsibility to keep our lives clean and worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us at all times.  Our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, have not left us alone.  Not only have we been shown the way, we have a member of the Godhead to comfort and guide us.  It is our responsibility to "receive the Holy Ghost" as our confirmation blessing states, and as such to search for Him, to listen, and to follow the promptings as we are comforted, guided, and testified to.

I know thing things are true.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that by following Him, we can find our way back to our Heavenly Father, to eternal life, and to exaltation, and that the Holy Ghost is given to us to help us find our way.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I'm 22 weeks pregnant today.  This pregnancy is definitely harder on me than my first.  This week the low back pain started, which I'm sure is caused by the size of my ever-growing belly.  Speaking of which, I thought I'd share some of the funny/ not so funny things people have said to me about my size.  These would be good to put on your list of "NEVER say to a pregnant woman--EVER":

• Wow, you're finally looking pregnant.  I mean, really pregnant! (That one was my dear hubby.  He says he meant it in a good way.  Ha.  My immediate translation was, "Wow, you big whale."  I totally cried.)
• When are you due?  May?  Wow, you still have a LOOONG way to go, but you sure don't look it. (an extended family member in NC on Nate's side, said to me on Christmas Eve)
• How far along are you?...That's all? Wow, you look a lot farther than that. (Lady at church)
• Oh my gosh--look at the size of your belly!  You're pregnant! (Lady at church)
• I hope you're pregnant.  [Yep--someone actually said that.  Granted, it was a 7 year old at church, but still.  My friend overheard it, and told me I should have said, "Nope, I just had a really large breakfast." :P]
• Oh, you're pregnant.  How sweet.  Are you having twins? (random lady behind me in the checkout line at Wal-Mart)
• Your husband said the baby's not due 'til May?...Oh, bless your heart.  [Thank you, random old southern lady at one of Nate's dog competitions.  That one made me laugh though, because it was such a "Southern" thing to say.]

While spot cleaning my carpets today, Coop was helping me look for spots. There was a big stain on the carpet that had been here since we moved in. Since the carpets had just been cleaned before we moved in, I figured the stain was permanent, so I told Coop that one wouldn't come out. He said, "Well, Mom, you should just try." So with my rag wet with just water, I rubbed at it, and most of it came right out. Yay! I told Coop he was so smart to try, and he said, "Yeah, Mom, I'm smart a lot, but you're not too smart a lot." Nice. Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid.

This morning I dressed Coop for church, complete with a tie. Nate dressed in a similar tie, and Cooper was ecstatic. Suddenly I heard, "Mom-may!!! Wook, I'm big like Daddy! I'm big! We have the same tie and now I'm big. You said it would take a few years, but now I'm big, and baby cheese can be born, and I can play in the road (he thinks that's what big kids can do), and shoot my real gun like Dad. I'm just already big!" He was grinning from ear to ear, and that's all he talked about on our drive to church. He is obsessed lately with being big.
But then at times like tonight, he wants snuggles and kisses and wants to be my little boy again. I am mush.

Also tonight I was laying on the couch whike we watched the Patriots football game, and Coop was playing with his flashlight. He put it right up to my belly, and to my surprise, the baby swatted it. I thought it was coincidental, since I don't know whether babies can see in the womb. But Coop moved the light two more times, and Cheese hit it again and again. Maybe it was the pressure, or the warmth, or whatever, but Cooper was delighted to "play" with Baby Cheese. He asks nearly every day now whether Cheese can can be born yet, and likes to tell me about all the things he's going to teach his little brother, and how they'll play. He is alreay great a being a big brother.

Tonigt Coop saw the rock he gave me (mentioned in last post) sitting on my night stand. He said, "Oh, that's your lucky rock, Mom."
Me: "Yep, because you gave it to me."
Coop: "I have another lucky rock (which he pronounces 'wok'). You can buy it from me."
Me: "Wow, I can? How much does it cost?"
Coop: "Three."
Me: "Three what?"
Coop: "Three costs." Pause. "That's not a lot of costs. It's a good price, not too expensive. It's a good deal."
I had to chuckle. Do I comparison shop enough, or what? Raising a little haggler.

Yearerday Nate took Cooper and Brody for a walk so I could take a nap. Pretty soon, I hear Coop calling, "Mommy (he says it with a little southern twang: mom-may), as he dashed up the stairs. I scarcely had time to open my eyes before he was shoving something in my face, literally, like right near my eye, while dirt fell on my cheek. He was so excited to give me a "special rock" he'd found on their walk. It was so sweet, and I set it on my nightstand. This morning as I was dressing him, he saw the rock, and said," Oh, your special rock! Do you just love it?" I told him I loved that it was from him and how thoughtful he is. He started telling me about finding it near the stream near our house, and how there were other rocks, but this one was really special, just for me. I love this kid.

He must get it from his father, who tonight after going to Scouts with the teenagers at church, drove out of his way to bring me my favorite ice cream. He also let me sleep in this morning, got up and fed Coop, and multi-tasked work and child care so his tired, pregnant wife could sleep. He's so selfless and wonderful, and a great example to our son.

I love my boys!!

After completing a large to do list of house cleaning, one-on-one preschool time with Coop, and a bunch of other stuff, I was in need of a little down time. So Coop and I watched a cute little cartoon episode of a kids show called "Wibbly Pig." It was a cute episode about pretending to be robots. After a nice 20 min rest, I suggested to Coop that we go build him his own robot costume, to which he exclaimed, "You're the BEST mommy!!" If I can get him to say that once a day, I've done my job. :)
So this is our robot. Anyone seen Cooper?

This past Wednesday marked 20 weeks pregnant for me, the halfway point of a full-term pregnancy.  Since I know I'll be delivering this baby via c-section at 39 weeks, I'm actually more than half way through this pregnancy.  It's gone by so fast!  I'm really liking this timing, since the holidays and such made the time fly by.  I can't believe I haven't posted any belly pics yet.  It seems every time I think about it, I've already gotten ready for bed, or Nate isn't around, or something.  So this time, I snapped a picture of myself in the mirror one day when I thought about it.  This is actually at 19 weeks.
As with Cooper, my body is not hiding the fact that I'm pregnant.  I'm just one of those lucky women that show, show big, and show early.  Apparently up until recently, I've looked like I've just been gaining weight to those not in the know.  This week Nate commented, "Wow, Babe, you're looking pregnant; I mean really pregnant."  He meant it as an endearing, sweet comment, but it was a bad day, and my mind quickly translated that to "Wow, you whale of a pregnant woman--look at the size of that belly."  Ah, hormones.  In my defense, the doctor does estimate this little guy to be a bit ahead of schedule as far as size.  At 18 weeks they estimated through ultrasound him weighing about 10 oz (granted there's a margin of error), while most babies at that stage are around 8 oz. or so.  I've only gained 7 lbs. thus far, something I'm rather happy about as I'm trying to stay as healthy as possible considering where I started from.

I can't be thankful enough that the morning sickness went away at 16 weeks 6 days--11 weeks to the day it began (6 weeks, 6 days).  It disappeared with Cooper at 17 weeks as well, and I was hopeful that would be the magic number again, since it didn't subside after the first trimester.  Thankfully it was, and I was able to enjoy the holidays and all the holiday food, along with not feeling nauseous all the time.  I had forgotten what it was like to feel "normal" about food.  It is such a big relief.  Nate is also relieved as he no longer has to cook dinners, and we're back to having delicious meals, as he put it.

Baby Cheese is quite the soccer player, just like his older brother was.  Today while visiting the doctor, the nurse was trying to get a heart rate, and Cheese kept kicking her, and moving around.  It took her almost 5 minutes to get a good reading.  I enjoyed every minute of it, hearing and feeling him move so much.  I can feel him kicking quite often, and if not during the day, then reliably at night around 10 pm, and usually once or twice during the night when it wakes me up.  That's when he seems to like to do his kicking, especially to my poor bladder.  With him being breech, and kicking so low, Nate and Coop haven't been able to feel any kicks just yet.

Coop asks every few days whether Baby Cheese is ready to come out yet.  He's getting more and more excited about being a big brother.  He was especially excited the other day when he announced to me that he could teach Cheese how to do things like play football, and dig in the dirt.  Most nights after stories, he'll hug my belly and say goodnight to Baby Cheese, or say something like, "That's Baby Cheese right there, huh, Mom."

Nate and I are coming to the realization that in five short months we'll be the parents of two, which is a little daunting.  We're so excited for this little one to join our family.  As Nate puts it, we'll be a real family, not a single-child family.  I think it's funny he says it like that.  He is so happy that his boys will have siblings to grow up with, and not have Coop be an only child.  We are both saddened a little that Coop is growing up so much, and although he's still little, he's so big, and will soon not be our little baby any more.  It is certainly going to be a big change for us all.

Meanwhile, I'm getting excited.  I am resisting the urge to pull out all the little baby clothes and start washing them and setting up the crib and such.  With it all going in Coop's room, it's just way too early to start doing those things yet, so I gotta find some other way to curb my nesting instinct.

This pregnancy is definitely harder for me physically than with Coop, probably because I was out of shape before getting pregnant this time, and I'm three years older.  But while it hasn't been without challenges, I relish every moment.  Even though pregnancy is hard for me physically, I am so thankful to have the opportunity to carry my child, and be a mother to another little boy.  Here's hoping the second half of my pregnancy pass as quickly as did the first!