Week 28

Week 28, beginning of the 3rd trimester!

As you can see from the picture, I'm getting pretty large out in front. It looks like I have a basketball under my shirt! A friend of mine reminded me the other day that this is just the beginning - that my belly is going to get MUCH larger. Hmm, can't wait. I started the ritual daily kick count exercise yesterday, to make sure baby girl is still happily growing in there. She's so active that when I count after dinner, it only takes her 5-10 minutes to move 10 times. I know she'll slow down as she starts to fill out in there, but for now, she seems to be doing just fine. There haven't been any super-uncomfortable kicks yet, just a few jabs at the bladder that feel funny.

We wrapped up the Baby Makes Three class on Saturday with a circle of sharing for both the moms and the dads. We took turns discussing how our parents were and how we wanted to be as parents (moms talked about their moms, dads about their dads). The women all got a little emotional, some with tears in their eyes, some just got red-faced with wavering voices. The men on the other hand found it difficult to think of what to say. That is, all but Lawrence! He jumped right in and said he wanted to emphasize the importance of sports for our baby because he didn't have that growing up. I was shocked at his excitement to participate, but later he told me he just wanted the circle of sharing to be over with :) I shared that I was worried I would be too much of a disciplinarian because my mother was not so much with me. It was great to verbalize thoughts about how we wanted to be as parents - at least I thought so, not so sure about Lawrence :)

Baby girl's nursery is coming along nicely. Lawrence and I worked on baseboard prep on Sunday, and Trever's friend Kimberly came by and offered to paint faux-finish clouds on the ceiling. I think that will look great and I'm really excited for her to do it. She also checked out my color and fabric choices and said they were very nice and went well with the rest of our household decor, which was a nice affirmation. The pictures and frames came in as well - I decided to go with the green and blue cow pictures per everyone's suggestions (thanks!). They are really cute. The sheep wall hangings should be here tomorrow. This weekend we don't have any classes, so I'm hoping Lawrence can get pretty far with the painting. Since it's Easter on Sunday, he will of course have to break to find the hidden eggs around the house. (Every year I fill plastic eggs with candy and then hide them around the house - Lawrence likes that he gets candy and I like trying to stump him with my hiding spots :) Should be a fun and productive weekend (I know, it's only Tuesday, but I can't wait!)