HALFWAY!!!

Here are my 20 week pictures:

I dressed like this to go out with my typewriters and my friend, Ann, with her typewriter. We sat outside a bagel shop and typed and had a tip jar. This is the third or fourth time we've done it, and it's all really fun!

 

I got these vintage gloves at a yard sale for A DOLLAR! They have cute little gold buckles across the wrist.

I am halfway through this pregnancy! Since we would really like to adopt our second child, this is the only time I will ever be pregnant. I think I would like to have some professional maternity photos taken once I'm toward the end of my pregnancy. I've been saving ideas on my Pinterest boards. 

I've also been looking at ideas for gender reveal photos! We're not going to pay someone professionally and do a big photo shoot like the ones of blue or pink balloons coming out of a box, but I want Matt to take some iphone photos of something sort of cute and clever. TWO MORE DAYS! We find out on Friday. You can be sure the reveal picture will be on Facebook within an hour. Matt and I are so excited, to say nothing of the grandparents! My mom is coming up for the ultrasound, and so are Matt's dad and step-mom. Apparently his younger sister is thinking of joining them, too. Everyone is so excited for us. It's nice.

The Grub is bopping all over the place in there! Mostly I feel it when I'm sitting down and doing something quiet like being on the internet or grading papers. (Last day of school was today, though! I'm done grading for two months!) I can feel a difference between kicks or punches, and rolling or swirling around. It's pretty amazing! Also rather weird. I've sort of gotten used to it, so when I feel it now, it's not as big a deal as it was the first couple of days I felt it. But sometimes I still sit there and grin and try to focus on what it feels like and what I think the baby's doing, and I'm so excited to be able to feel it in there. It's moving around a lot right this moment, actually! Maybe it likes the grape tomatoes I just had.

Even though I can feel the baby multiple times throughout the day, I still like listening to its heartbeat and swishy noises on the doppler. :)

Grub is the size of a large banana this week (but not as skinny). The baby is somewhere around 10.5-11 ounces, and I have gained approximately 10 pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy, which I think is about right. My belly is big enough that it's uncomfortable to tie my shoes. Not impossible and not painful, but my belly is definitely in the way! Good thing I mostly have slip-ons. The bathroom trip thing is getting quite annoying, and I know it's only going to get worse. The past few mornings, I've woken up an hour or two before my alarm to go pee, then come back to bed. Thankfully I'm really good at falling right back to sleep. I don't even want to think about how bad it will be when I go back to school in August, all through that month, and then all of September when I'm huge! Zooming to the bathroom every passing period....

I'm really looking forward to this summer. The baby and I will be able to spend lots of time together (har har), and I'm hoping to get a lot done on the house to transform it to a baby-ready state. I love my job! I love teaching, I love my kids, I love the place where I work.... but I also love having weeks and weeks off every summer.

Next time I post, I will be able to call The Grub by his or her name! Just for fun, here is a sampling of the suggestions from the poll. Some, as you may notice, are more serious than others. See if you can guess which ones came from my 8th graders!

-Nathaniel Wulfric Brian Nicholson (shoutout to the Potterheads!)
-Linda
-Regina Phalange (Friends reference!)
-Ben
-Candice
-Shanique
-Adaline
-Jimmy
-Flaming ball of total black ninja awesomeness III
-Kevin
-Katniss
-Chewbacca
-Thunder
-Spartacus
-Sophia
-Atticus Finch
-Etta Shae
-Bernard