some of the normal daily activities that are becoming more and more difficult as the belly continues to grow outward... !

* getting in and out of the car and not hitting my belly hard on the steering wheel
* turning around to see out the back window when i'm backing up - not so easy to twist around anymore
* washing dishes! the height of the sink is at just the wrong height - it hits me right in the middle of my belly, so i have to either stand on my tiptoes or turn sideways to wash dishes!
* brushing my teeth and leaning over far enough so that i spit in the sink and not on my belly - especially in the mornings when i'm half asleep :)
* getting in and out of public bathroom stalls - why do they leave such little room to get it and close the door?!!

it's all worth it in the end! ...on with the adventure...40 more days!!!

the growing belly

so i guess when you're pregnant you're supposed to document the growth of your belly with pictures. i like to think about it as documenting the growth of the baby, not so much the belly...but since you can't see the baby, the belly shots are all you get (it seems a little less weird that way!).

anyway, for those who are interested, here is a series of the growing baby/belly...i'll post the ones where you don't actually see any skin so it's less graphic...

she has a name!!!

Our sweet little bun in the oven finally has a name! ...well, only a first name so far, but that's a BIG step from none at all! We are still working through a lot of middle name options to choose the right one, but we thought we'd start spreading the word that her name is...





... Sierra ! There you have it! We picked it mostly just because we like it :)
Once she has a middle name, we'll let you know.

...and that was me a week ago - growing and growing...

Move over!

I have loved getting to feel this little girl move around so much! It makes all of this seem all the more real...except still very surreal at the same time.

There has been a definite progression of baby movements - from the first tiny flutters to stronger kicks to stretching and rolling. It's funny because when I haven't felt her move in a little while I will try to encourage a little kicking - drinking something sweet, poking or rubbing the belly, asking her to kick for mommy, etc. It's just all so ironic, because I'm sure one day when she's a toddler she will really be kicking mommy and then I'll have to tell her "no, we don't kick people." ...I hope she doesn't remember all these times in the belly when I've asked her to kick me! ...poor thing will be so confused :)

The way I describe her movements now is almost like she's nudging me saying "hey, move over a little bit...I don't have enough room on this side", as she stretches out some body part and holds it there for a few seconds (distorting the shape of my belly). It's really cute. I'm sure it's getting quite cramped in there! I'm also now experiencing those kicks and movements that actually hurt just a little bit - I can't really figure out what she's doing or why it feels so uncomfortable, but I'm sure it all goes back to the very tight quarters!!

I'm loving it though!! Even as I type, I'm watching this bulge move from one side to the other!

...oh yeah, and she's starting to get the hiccups pretty frequently...poor little thing!!

Here is a picture of the BEAUTIFUL bedding that my mom made!!!!!!!!!!