Pregnancy: “You Cantaloupe” “Watch me!” (A week late)

(If we could all just ignore the fact that it looks like my face was hit with a stinging-curse and has been turned all puffy, that would be great….really, really great).  

How far along? 24 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs
Maternity clothes: I need more.
Stretch marks: The ones I already had have gotten more pronounced.
Sleep: It really varies. Some nights, I feel like I slept really well, and other nights feel like I haven’t slept at all. 
Best Moment this week: Throwing my sister-in-law’s baby shower on Saturday. It was really fun and made me even more excited for mine!! Also, my best friend got married—she eloped! (Technically that’d be part of next week since she got married on Monday, but next week’s post doesn’t have the word “cantaloupe” in it, so there.)
Miss anything: Jake. A lot. Like, a lot a lot.
Movement: Oh yes. She’s a little dancer. 
Food Cravings: I’m back in see-food eater mode. It’s actually terrible. 
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing specific. 
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I’m back in more-or-less happy mode. 
Looking forward to: Thursday (Aug. 21): I have my next doctor’s appointment, and we always listen to Julia’s heartbeat, AND Jake comes home!

Pregnancy: A Grapefruit-sized little Girl

How far along? 23 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs
Maternity clothes: Yes. I need some new maternity pants though. These ones are starting to feel kind of tight. 
Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones (Apparently, lotioning up every day is working…for now)
Sleep: Five to six hours, but I just got a body pillow, so hopefully my number of sleeping hours will go up.
Best Moment this week: I had two: Thursday, I got to drive down to Utah and see a bunch of my cousins and aunts, and today (Saturday), I went over to Burley with my brother- and sister-in-law for a family reunion. All the kids that were little babies last time I saw them are running around and speaking in more or less complete sentences. Yesh! 
Miss anything: Jake
Movement: Oh yes. It feels like she’s doing summersaults in there. I’ve felt some definite kicks (or punches, I’m not 100% sure which). I think we may have quite the feisty little girl on our hands.
Food Cravings: Still hot fudge on vanilla ice cream; it’s actually kind of ridiculous how much I think about it.
Anything making you queasy or sick? My niece’s diapers…but they’d make a non-pregnant person a little queasy, so I don’t know that they count.
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I’m back in more-or-less happy mode. 
Looking forward to: Being able to put Jake’s hand on my stomach and have him feel her kick. Sorry everyone else, but no one gets to feel her until her daddy does. (It’s only fair. He helped make her after all.)

So, for those of you who don’t know, Jake has received a pretty cool opportunity to provide “opposing forces” for some marines in Utah. I don’t know how much I’m allowed to tell you (not that I know that much), but basically, the marines have some training that they have to do for new drills, and they need bad guys. Jake is getting paid to be a bad guy. He’s pretty stoked. They technically start tomorrow, but he left yesterday, so he could catch a ride down to Utah with his uncle.

On an unrelated note, here are some pictures from my fun with my cousins!

     

Pregnancy: Princess Papaya

How far along? 22 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs (or more…still don’t own a scale)
Maternity clothes: Yes. There are still a few t-shirts that fit, but I’m quickly coming to the end of being able to wear those.
Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones (Apparently, lotioning up every day is working…for now)
Sleep: Five to six hours.
Best Moment this week: Meeting up with a friend and possibly finding a birth photographer (keep your fingers crossed!)
Miss anything: Sleeping through the night…still  
Movement: Definitely. It’s still hard to know for sure what is her and what is gas, but I know she is moving. :)
Food Cravings: Chocolate. Specifically, hot fudge on vanilla ice cream….which I think I’m going to go dish up for myself…
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that didn’t make me queasy when I wasn’t pregnant.
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm still tending to be more moody.
Looking forward to: Feeling her kick, and knowing for sure that it was her.

And for those of you who are sick of all the pictures of me, here’s a picture of Jake: