Week 24

Hello from 24 weeks! Apparently, Little Girl is now 12 inches long and weighs over a pound. To celebrate the fact that she is now the size of a $5 Foot Long, here are some updates and answers to questions that I get most frequently:

Food
I haven't really had any overwhelming cravings, I just have an excuse to want things that I have always liked, including:
-popcorn
-pizza
-grapefruit cups (from Costco...mmmm)
-sunbelt fudge covered granola bars
-fig newtons
-dill pickle chip dip
-wheat thins
-quesadillas
-Costco hot dogs
-bread, in all it's wonderful forms
-Reeses Peanut Butter Cups 

During my first trimester, I absolutely did not want anything sweet. It was very unusual for me, and Brian said that he realized why husbands gain "sympathy weight"-- because their wives stop eating dessert and the husbands eat it for them!  In the last few weeks I've definitely gained back a desire for  sweets, but I can't handle as much as I used to! So I've learned to be sparing, or I end up sick.

Names
We have a few names we like, but we will wait to tell or decide until after Little Girl comes. Basically the only thing decided right now is that the name has to be easy to cheer at sporting events- because Little Girl will definitely be involved in athletics. :)

Nursery
We have an extra room, but it will double as a guest room because we don't want to get rid of our extra bed, and we love visitors! We're going with a lot of white with accents of turquoise, light green, and pink. Check out some of my inspiration  here, here,  here.

We will probably be traveling a lot in the fall when Brian starts doing away rotations, so we are planning on using a pack-n-play instead of a crib. Then Little Girl will be used to her bed wherever we are.

Right now I'm working on painting a dresser white and replacing the knobs with clear crystal ones. My next projects will be painting the bookshelf white, finding space in the closet, embellishing the white curtains, painting the frame of an oval mirror I got at goodwill, making flag bunting, piecing a baby quilt, sewing matching pillows to go on the guest bed, making a hanging bow/clip holder.... I am going to be busy and have so much fun!

Other Weird Pregnancy Stuff
I've had really weird, crazy, vivid dreams. In one I was trying to drive a car with an infant in my arms. In another, I was teaching my class on a boat at they were all sailors. In another I was really worried about running out of toothpaste. I have always had very vivid dreams, though. At the beginning of every school year I dream about trying to teach procedures but having no control, with students all over the place. I also have recurring versions of dreams where my teeth are falling out in my mouth--I read somewhere that teeth falling out in dreams is a sign of stress. At least I haven't had that dream since I've been pregnant!

I get equal amounts of comments saying "I can't even tell you're pregnant!" and "wow, you're starting to show!"  I'm not sure what to make of either one. You can't tell I'm pregnant? Do I always look this pudgy? or for the other half, wow? Am I that big?  I'm sure everyone is just trying to be nice and tell me what they think I want to hear. So thank you, all you nice people. :)