Weeks 23 and 24...Things are gettin' real!

I'm combining posts this week since the last two weeks seemed to run together, but there was one theme for that time that seemed apparent to me.  While I'm definitely taking this pregnancy very seriously, it has been hard for me to wrap my head around it at times and everything seemed so far away.  In the last two weeks however, all this pregnancy/baby stuff is starting to feel very real to me and the following things might have something to do with it:

• John and I made one of our biggest decisions (and financial commitments) for the baby this week.  Baby Girl is already officially registered for daycare at Little Saints here in Madison Lake.  We were lucky enough that the first place we called had a opening in November.  Supposedly, that's rare?  On top of that it's highly recommended and only two blocks from our house.  We toured the facility and had an interview with the director and felt very comfortable so we handed in our registration (and fee, of course) and we're good to go!  Now the hard part will be actually going through with it and leaving Baby Girl to go to work everyday! We just aren't going to think about that for a while...
• Baby Girl is moving all the time and seems to be everywhere in my belly!  Unfortunately, she's pretty sneaky so John still hasn't been able to catch her yet.  Hopefully it's soon because I'm really excited for John to feel her kicking. Plus he's still using that "Zen Dad" line, so I'm ready for that to be over...
• My regular dress pants are getting snug and I only have a 3 pairs that I can still do the "rubberband trick" with as long as they're strategically paired with long enough tops.  Luckily, I've been able to be creative with my existing wardrobe but it's not going to last long.  Right now, a floor length jersey dress, a flowy cotton skirt with an elastic band, and my sweatpants are my new favorite articles of clothing.  My mom and I are getting together on Mother's Day to do a little maternity clothes shopping so hopefully I can add some comfortable yet professional looking pants to my wardrobe!
• I'm becoming very aware of the time left before the baby comes and all the things we have to do between now and then.  I've already gotten a good start on my May project - rearranging the bedrooms in the house.  Yesterday I spent 5 hours going through the closets in the basement; reorganizing and deciding what can be kept or donated.  Next will be moving furniture among the rooms to make as much space in Baby Girl's room for baby stuff as possible.  Also, I should be continuing my baby gear research and starting to think about registering.  I'm trying not to stress, I swear!  I'm probably driving John crazy with my sense of urgency right now, but I'm the one with a tiny human in my body that's coming out on her own schedule.
• Our waitress at dinner last night asked when I was due.  This was the first stranger that's asked me about my pregnancy.  That was fun for me and I thought it was pretty flattering; since she was confident asking, it means I must look pregnant and not fat!!!
• I'm reading a few pregnancy books right now: What to Expect When You're Expecting, The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy, and a book the doctor gave us.  I had been reading ahead a little and I've gotten to the late stages/labor/delivery part of each book.  After reading the first few paragraphs of those sections, I promptly closed the books and went back to reading Harry Potter.  There's no sense of urgency to return to those pregnancy books anytime soon! :-)

So there you have it! There's where my mind has been the last two weeks!  My plan is just to take everything one day at a time and one task at a time.  Everything will work out and, really, we do still have a good amount of time.  I'm just super thankful I'm feeling well and so far everything has gone smoothly.  I have another doctor's appointment next week so I should have some fun baby stats to report!

Finally, here are some baby bump pictures for the last two weeks!  Baby Girl is making her presence known to the world!

Week 23 - Target Field

Week 24