20 Weeks? More like 24 Weeks

So much for "I'll do a photo every 4 weeks."  Think you've missed a lot of posts?  Not exactly.  I've only managed one so far this pregnancy, at 14 weeks.

Megan: 22 weeks
Kara: 24ish weeks

23 weeks

Ok, so what is going on these days at 24 weeks?

For the most part, I feel great!  I told the doctor the other day that other than my giant belly, there isn't much to remind me I'm pregnant.

For the most part, I still have a normal amount of energy.  On vacation and weekend outings, I do require more breaks than usual.  This isn't a big deal except that Tyler assumes every time we sit on a park bench, he thinks we're going to have snack time.

I've started back to work, so I may very quickly discover that I feel MUCH more pregnant when standing/being active for nine hours a day.  That's a bit different than binge-watching Netflix with my feet kicked up all summer!

The big news is we're having a GIRL!  It still hasn't sunk in yet.  There will be a post on this later, but my major source of anxiety the past month was trying to figure out a girl nursery theme that both Jason and I liked.  Tyler has started calling Bump "baby sister" which is about the world's most precious thing.  It's starting to get real, yo!

She's moving around some, but still hasn't been consistently kicky enough for people to feel externally.  I can feel her kicks, and I finally got Jason to successfully feel one the other day.

So that's 24 weeks!

Chillaxin'

Tyler is a tv addict.  We're actually ok with that because my kiddo is seriously learning stuff, and it's not like he watches 12 hours a day or anything.

I love watching him watching tv.

"Mom, can't you see I'm trying to watch UmiZoomi?

Jason was not as enthralled by the episode:

Here is another day.  Apparently Daddy's pumpkin (what we call belly) is very comfy.

Snapshot of Time

It was not a great day.

In the arboretum parking lot, Tyler had insisted on being strolled.  Two minutes later, he wanted nothing to do with the stroller, which meant I had to chase after him AND lug an empty stroller behind me!  Seriously, someone invent a stroller that levitates or shrinks or something when your kid isn't in it.  I hate pushing an empty stroller.  We hadn't left the house until after 10, so Tyler and I sat on a bench so he could eat a snack (and I could take a rest!).  Problem was, I hadn't brought myself a snack, and it was nearing lunch time, and I was getting hangry.  More like hungry-cranky, but that's not nearly as catchy of a term.  I was sweaty.  I was losing my patience.

Then, Jason called us over because he wanted to take a picture.  I was way not in the mood, but posed for one anyway.






Photos amaze me sometimes.  I usually think of them perfectly capturing a moment.  This day, though, I didn't want to capture that particular moment.  I wanted to leave and eat lunch and sit in my air-conditioned car with a fully strapped-in toddler.

When Jason got his pictures back (this is another film shot), I was shocked by the photo.  This picture didn't summarize the day we were having, but it caught something much better instead.

I'm not normally a fan of B&W, but love this photo.  Besides, getting my eyes open and Tyler looking (and smiling!) at the camera all in one shot is a miracle.  Definitely one of my favorite pictures Jason has taken with his film camera.


What a beautiful snapshot of time.  Because this happened about two seconds later...

Yes, he is jamming his fingers in my eyes.  Ah, the precious moments of motherhood.

Twinning Preggos

When my sister Kara and I were in high school/early years of college, we would occasionally get mistaken for twins.  We're 2.5 years apart, but at the time, we shared a wardrobe and had very similar hairstyles.  We look quite different from each other now, but we do share something very special in common -- we're both pregnant!

Kara is due 9 days before me.  When she visited the other day, we couldn't resist taking some belly photos together.

Yes, we both happen to own the same maternity shirt.  When I saw she was wearing hers, I put mine on for a photo.

...and back to the shirt I was actually wearing that day

"Yeah, don't touch my belly"

"Whoa!  There's a baby in there!"

and one with Mom 

Big Weekend

We basically do nothing.  Ok, not nothing nothing, but we're not very socially-active people.  Last weekend was quite an adventure for us!

On Friday, Mom, Kara, and Addison came to Raleigh for a visit.  Tyler was ecstatic, especially when I told him we were going to Pullen Park.

Addison really wanted to ride the boats.  Tyler really wanted to ride the train.  We did both.

There were several camps at Pullen that day, so we had to wait several trips of the carousel before it was our turn.  Tyler was slowly melting down, especially when he'd see a little kid get on the lion (which was the animal he wanted to ride).  He didn't get to ride the lion, but Grandma made the horse seem just as cool by making excited neighing and snorting sounds (which explains the "raspberries" Tyler is making in some of the pictures).

Afterwards, we cooled down with popsicles.

We ate lunch (yes, after eating popsicles, judge all you want), played some at my house, the kiddos (sorta) took naps, and the adults talked baby stuff (my sister Kara is pregnant, too).  It was a great day!





The next morning, we woke up early and headed to Charlotte for an IKEA trip, looking for nursery furniture for Baby Sister and birthday presents for Tyler.  Jill and Jodi met up with us there and did a fantastic job of entertaining Tyler while Jason and I made purchasing decisions and assisting Jason with heavy lifting since I'm no good to him right now.  I didn't want to be "that person" with a full-fledged camera in a store, so forgive these phone-quality photos.

Thanks to Jill and Jodi for capturing their own pictures of him, too.

Though Tyler says his favorite part of IKEA were the "meatboooooolllllls" (who can blame him?), he also mentions Jill and Jodi and has asked multiple times since then to go back.

We drove back that evening, and Tyler was eagerly ready for bed.  Poor guy!  He had done a lot of walking (and running!) around the store and was exhausted!

Sunday morning, we went to church, came home for an early lunch and nap time so that we could go to my cousin Riley's 2nd birthday party (yes, she's only a few weeks older than Tyler).  It was a great chance to catch up with family, eat some yummy food, and see my cousin Adam's new house (he hosted).  I didn't even bring my camera that day, but my aunt Carol took a family picture for us.  It's not often we get a photo of all three Selfs together, so I was very excited.

Phew!  What a weekend!  I'm utterly exhausted, but very happy I got to see so much of my family and have great days with them!

"What I Did on my Summer Vacation," by Tyler Self

I played on a really cool scooter.

I got to watch tv in bed, nestled in Mom's really cool pillow

I picked up seashells and tried to hear the ocean in them.  It was not successful.

I got to ride the elevator, and sometimes even got to push the buttons!  (no picture, because Mom just focused on preventing me from pushing the fun yellow "call for help" button in the elevator instead of taking my picture)


All the ladies (and some guys, too) fawned over my super cool hat

I listened really well...
like when Mama and Daddy said "Don't climb the sand dunes"

Or, "We're going to walk on the beach, but we're not going to get wet, ok?"

And, of course, "Don't lie down in the sand."

Ok, with all honesty, I asked Tyler about vacation:
What was your favorite part about vacation? "Vacation at the beach"

What was your favorite part about the beach? "Everything"

What was your favorite part about the hotel? "The elevator"

What was your favorite thing you ate? "Pizza"

What was your favorite thing about the aquarium?  "Fishies"

What was your favorite part about the battleship? "Water and crocodiles"
Um... what?  Maybe he saw something I didn't!

Overall, I think he had a really fun time.

Wordless Wednesday -- Utter Joy

(photos courtesy of Jason)

Wrightsville Vacation -- Wednesday and Thursday

Here is the longer, more detailed description of our beach vacation, along with lots more pictures.  For the first two days of the trip, see yesterday's post.

Wednesday:
We went out to the beach again Wednesday morning and did more sand-playing.  We did a little bit of playing in the water, but he was still more interested in the sand.  We went back to the pool as well.  Tyler enjoyed it again.  This time, he even went underwater!

We took showers and went to Bluewater Waterfront Grill for lunch.  It's a hotspot at night, but we opted to go at lunch when it's more low-key (and cheaper).  Jason and Tyler got the world's yummiest fried shrimp, and I got some mahi mahi (and maybe stole some of Tyler's shrimp as well).  Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon in downtown Wilmington, walking along the river walk, the Cotton Exchange, and along the roads.

we sat outside and enjoyed watching the boats

That evening, we walked along the beach again.  It was beautiful!

The "best" shot we got after lots of attempts to get Tyler to look at the camera.  He has really sensitive eyes, so I don't think he liked the setting sun being right behind me.

playing with a shell

I'm not a fan of sharing bath photos publicly, but this one was too funny not to share.  Rinsing off all the salt and sand in his inflatable duck tub

A few of Jason's photos from the evening beach walk:

This one just made us giggle.  What is that expression???

"No no no no NO!"

Thursday:
We went out for breakfast at Causeway Cafe.  It's always packed, and you definitely get the idea you're not welcome to linger long after you're done eating, but the food is delicious and crazy cheap. After that, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and checked out.

On our way out of town, we went to the battleship.  I've actually never been, so I was looking forward to it.  It was... hot.  I mean, I know it was July, and I didn't expect a fully air conditioned boat, I just forgot how little I can tolerate heat now.  Next time, we go in March or something.  Tyler was even less of a fan of the heat.  The only thing that distracted him was the fact that every doorway had a wheel.  Big fan of that!

"I'm on a boat!"

stopped and had snack in the mess hall to rehydrate and revitalize a tired, hot, cranky boy

It was just a few days, but we had a jam-packed vacation full of fun festivities and LOTS of pictures!