20 weeks, Halfway

This week I hit a big milestone, I am halfway through the pregnancy! I was 20 weeks on Monday and to celebrate, my lovely husband treated me to an amazing prenatal massage at Massage Envy. It was so relaxing and definitely has helped some of the minor back pains I've been having. I just cannot believe how fast the first half of this pregnancy has flown by! I am definitely ready to meet my little boy, but I am also enjoying being pregnant and wouldn't mind it slowing down a little bit.

20 weeks, 5 days belly:





Does it look like there's a cantaloupe in there?

In other exciting news this week, I have been feeling the baby moving around pretty consistently in there. I usually feel him at least once a day, sometimes more. Tom has even got to feel him wiggling around once! I can't even describe how amazing it feels. I am trying to enjoy these sweet, light little kicks because I know before long he's going to be doing a number on my ribs and anywhere else he can get a good jab in and it probably won't seem quite so cute and tender.

But then again, maybe it will. Who knows..I'll tell you when I get there.

Thankfully....

Thankfully there is not a real bottle of Hershey's Syrup this size, or I might look like I am pregnant with triplets.



We went to St. Louis a few weekends ago with our friends Jessica,Aaron and their adorable little girl Ava for a church conference and we found this in the Cracker Barrel store on the way home. Tom and I just cracked up because he likes to tease me about my chocolate milk cravings. It has been one of the only consistent things I have craved so far. Now I know this is not one of the healthiest cravings, especially since we do drink 2% milk which can have a whole lot of calories in it, but I did buy some low-fat chocolate syrup and I limit myself to no more than one glass a day. And hey, I am getting my calcium (which baby and I both need!), so that counts for something, right??

By the way, the Hershey's bottle turned out to be a piggy bank. Maybe I should have bought it to save up for all the little bottles of Hershey syrup I might be purchasing over the next few months...?

No gym, no problem! Wii have a solution...

There is a way to beat those New Years Resolutions of getting into/staying in shape without having to go to the gym. Here's how:



And more specifically:


We got a Wii a few weeks back, and let me tell you, it is much more of a workout than I ever imagined. We have the Wii Fit which is really fun because it takes your weight and height and keeps track of how many minutes you work out each day and your number of calories burned. It holds you accountable, too! If you haven't worked out in a few days, the little Mii person will say "I haven't seen you in awhile, where have you been?" and then you realize that a computer is making you feel bad for having a few lazy days.

I have been doing some of the Aerobics workouts to help give my heart a good workout on the days I don't make it down to the treadmill and elliptical. I did the basic step workout last week and my calves were sore for a solid two days! The workouts require alot of moving and shaking around and I feel like I am probably shaking the baby like crazy in there. I will try to update with pictures of us actually playing the Wii...

So if you don't have a Wii, you should definitely get one. After all, you're having fun while getting exercise. I can't honestly say I have fun while waiting for my 30-45 minutes on the elliptical to pass by ever so (seemingly) slowly.

Yo Adrian!

After finding out we were going to be parents to a little boy, what else was there to do than go shopping and buy him his first little outfit?

Target was our stop of choice and they just didn't have that many cute things for boys out right now....until...at the very back of a messy rack we found a onesie that was made specifically for Tom's son:



That is one proud daddy-to-be! If you knew Tom's childhood obsession with Rocky, you would definitely have more of an appreciation for this adorable little outfit. Needless to say, our baby will be a Rocky supporter, like it or not.

I'm now outnumbered...

My sister has been on my case about how I have not blogged in a long time(and how she wants belly pics)...so Tiff this post is for you.

Speaking of Tiffany (and her wonderful husband David), she had a 3d ultrasound done when she was pregnant with Baby Dave and they loved it. In the 3d ultrasound, you can find out the sex of the baby as early as 16 weeks! We had already decided that the adults weren't going to exchange gifts this year--just the kids. So her and David treated us to the ultrasound under the "it's the baby's Christmas gift not yours" clause. We were beyond excited. We thought it would still be weeks or months until we would know if we needed to buy pink or blue and now we only had days to wait??

Here are some pics from our morning at First Glimpse at 16 weeks, 5 days:












Just in case you missed it, IT'S A...BOY! (hence, I am officially outnumbered...but totally happy about it) We were sooo thrilled to hear it is a boy because from the first ultrasound at 6 weeks, his strong heartbeat just made us think boy. Besides, we had this bad habit of referring to the baby as a boy from the very beginning, and were worried if it were a girl she would have a complex about having been called a boy for so long. The ultrasound tech kept us waiting for a little while because her rule of thumb is she has to see "the parts" 3 times before she confirms the sex. As far as baby Jenks goes, everything looks great! He is approx. 6 inches long and he weighs 7 ounces. His heart rate is 148 bpm, which is right on track. All of his measurements are looking wonderful! To make it even better, both Tom's parents and my parents were able to be there along with my sister and her family and my good friend Leah.

I thought it was cute when Tom asked the ultrasound tech how much one of the machines would cost us, but his excitement quickly faded when he found out that it was like taking out a mortgage but having to pay it all back in three years instead of thirty. I think he would have me hooked up to one of those machines all day if he had his way. (That would be fun to be able to see baby whenever we wanted! hmm....)


So I will leave you this evening with a more current belly picture. Here's what I have to show at 18 weeks, 3 days: