New Meaning for the Term, "Soccer Mom" -

Life, out of nowhere, has kinda gotten a little crazy! Ever have a day where the time absolutely flies by, yet at the end of the day, it seemed like a LONG exhausting day? That was yesterday. (and today, for that matter) I'm doing really well, though. :)

Baby girl is kicking as I speak/type. I got my e-mail newsletter for 24 weeks (which I will be tomorrow) this morning, and it said that she is weighing in at at least a pound and a half, which is amazing to me. Nevermind the fact that it said my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball. (!!!) That seems absolutely enormous to me. I guess that explains why my belly is looking rather large these days, eh? :)

Ryan has started talking to her because she can hear him now. :) How precious is that? When I got home from work last night, I decided to just lay down for a few minutes before I went out to take my daily walk. Baby girl started kicking, which I could see from outside of my belly, so I started talking to her. She got even more active and wiggly as I talked to her, or so it seemed to me. I decided to test that theory, so I stayed silent for a couple minutes, then start talking, to see if there was any difference. Three times in a row, every time I'd start talking to her, she'd start moving around, jabbing and kicking.

I swear I fall more in love with her every day, and I haven't even seen her yet.

Ryan and I stayed up pretty late last night talking about baby girl, and more specifically, what kind of parents we want to be, and how we envision our home life and our daughter's (and future children's) childhood. Even though we've certainly talked about these things before, many times, it's different now knowing she will be here soon! What's fun, exciting (and a little scary!) is that we now get to take the things we loved and didn't love about our childhoods, and decide which aspects we definitely want to carry over, which ones we don't, and even get the opportunity to bring in some new things. It's an incredible responsibility, but one that we're really exciting about.

Our weekend was very nice.. just not long enough. :) Ryan had a going-away party for his coworker on Saturday, which meant I had several hours to myself. I didn't sit down for a minute of it. I packed up several empty boxes, (our apartment is beginning to look very bare) did laundry, did some grocery shopping, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed, cleaned/organized our desk area, ridding it of old/irrelevalant paperwork, (no easy feat) and took a long walk to take advantage of the weather. Can we say "nesting?" By the time Ryan got home, my exhaustion finally caught up with me!

After church on Sunday, I spent time with my Mom going through all of my things that I left in my old bedroom when I got married and moved out. Some of those things will now be able to be moved to our new, bigger place, like my desk and chair, hope chest, framed art, additional clothes, and other miscellaneous items. By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I was officially ready for a day of nothingness.. but of course Mondays are always far from that. :)

In other news, I don't even recognize my feet and ankles anymore. Despite steering clear of salty foods, drinking more than plenty of water, getting exercise, and propping up my feet up every chance I get, (which is somewhat difficult at work, due to my desk arrangement) my typically bony, skinny feet and ankles are swollen beyond my own recognition. I think I may try icing them again, which worked the two times I tried it before. (but MAN was that cold!) The unbelievably gorgeous warm weather, as much as I love it, probably isn't helping matters.

Well, that's what's been up with me--the good, the bad, and even the ugly. :) Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

¶ 12:32 PM