A Month's Worth of Thoughts

As is my style, I can start this post with an apology about my infrequent posting, but I'll spare you. We all know I am no where near the monster blogger that Justin is.

As Pecos alluded to in his post, I was in the States for most of July. As always, it was wonderful being home, and I was far busier than I predicted I would be. Of course, a lot of this busy-ness involved shopping for the baby with some very generous grandmothers-to-be. You can see the booty below. And don't worry, I'm not really crazy. Not all of this clothing is for a wee babe, it's just all for her first year. Justin seems to think we have enough, I think not. When I asked Justin to pick out some favorite pieces he picked out the two below. The first one is clearly a favorite because Elizabeth can represent Ward-style. Of course, if you follow baseball, you might think she's representing Washington Nationals-style, and that's okay too. Can you believe there is clothing with dachshunds on it for baby girls? I could not. When Liz found this beauty, I about died, and then I think Mom and Liz almost died of embarrassment as I rejoiced to the Gymboree gods. Too cute. Expect future pictures of Elizabeth sporting this while posing with Pecos.Here is Pecos modeling the piece he picked out as his favorite. I think the bib suits him and if he ever becomes a drolly dog, I'm sure Elizabeth will lone it to him.Okay, enough about baby clothing. I do understand that there is more to having a baby than cute clothing emblazoned with images of dogs. We've been preparing with lots of research and the latest points of focus are cars and cribs (we'll be sad to say goodbye to the Ka, but it's just too small). Researching car seats almost killed me. I'm glad that task is completed.

Since we are so festively preparing for her arrival, I should confirm that all is still well with Elizabeth. I had an appointment with an OB when I was home just because I wasn't going to be able to see my doctor here for awhile. The OB is a friend of my father's, and I certainly got some special treatment in the form of a very extensive ultrasound. I was very lucky that my dad got to witness the ultrasound and watch Elizabeth wiggling around. She spent a fair amount of time trying to get her thumb into her mouth. As you can see below, she eventually succeeded. More important than being cute, everything else with her checked out perfectly normal.I also went to see my doctor here in Germany this week, and again, all is going well with both Elizabeth and myself. Here's a profile shot from that appointment.
Today marks my last day in the second trimester, tomorrow, at 27 weeks, I enter the third. I've been feeling really good, but I'm starting to worry about how my back is going to feel in a few weeks. My torso is just not very long and this baby has to grow from the almost two pounds she is now to six plus pounds. Hopefully all the weightlifting I've done over the years (and a special emphasis on my core for the past year) will pay off.

For Carole's viewing pleasure, here is my belly at 24 weeks. I'll take another picture at 28 weeks and try to post it more promptly.I am now, undeniably, pregnant and wearing maternity clothing full time. Well, honestly, since I'm a work-from-home slob, I'm in gym clothing most of the day, and boxers borrowed from Justin for most of the night. All of my "real" pants now have elasticized waists, I just don't wear them very often.To wrap up, being in the States was great. It's always wonderful to get to spend a big chunk of time with my family and it's very hard to leave them to come back. Of course, knowing Justin and Pecos are here waiting for me makes it a bit easier.