19 Weeks and counting

I never followed up with my promise of more posts last week--

in fact, I didn't post at all.

Between moving

school

midterms

and the usual cooking, cleaning, laundry

I feel like I haven't gotten a whole lot done lately.

I've entered a new world where I have to make dinner every night

because I'm feeding two boys instead of one.

Usually, I'll make dinner early in the week

and I'm so bad at cutting recipes down

that we end up eating it for the next five days

and then throwing away the rest

because I can't stand eating it again.

I haven't made larger amounts of anything

but for once, we eat it the day I make it.

and then it's gone.

It's like magic.

There is a plus and minus to this--

I throw away a lot less food....

(which makes me feel much better about buying groceries--because I know I'll use them)

but that chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting?

Gone.

In a day and a half.

Levi ate an entire row in one sitting.

AFTER eating two huge bowls of pasta with meat sauce.

In baby news, we've had a lot more action this week than the past 18 weeks combined.

After coming home from church Sunday and plopping onto my spot on the couch

 (i love that couch...it's heaven in upholstery)

 I felt such a sharp little jab below my belly button

I jumped right off said couch.

The rest of the week has been filled with lots of little pokes and twirls and butterflies

which I know aren't gas

or my stomach rumbling

or anything else I've experienced before.

It's pretty awesome

and I notice it all day long--

sitting up

sitting down

while I'm walking

not just when I'm laying on my back and trying not to move so I can feel something.

Other lovely *side effects* of pregnancy thus far:

Still have to go to the bathroom every half hour

(even if I don't drink anything...somehow)

hips and back always hurt

excessive and loud gas--NOT fun when I'm in a totally silent library

rolling over during the night is a chore

I have to sit up

then turn

then lay back down

otherwise it feels like every abdominal muscle  rips.

In general, my skin on my stomach  feels like clothing stretched too tight

and the seams are about to pop!

Have also noticed:

Constant headaches

 the worst sweet tooth of my entire life

as in...it's insatiable

and  I can't make it go away.

 I make terribly tasty treats every other night in an attempt to please the cravings

(hence the chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and the lemon bars I made the night after)

but it just leads to more baking

(something Henry and Levi are perfectly fine with.)

and the usual fatigue where I sit on my butt with my mouth open and jaw slack watching something

 stupid on TV 

because I just don't have the energy to do anything else.

and of course...

The best part?

I now have to be extra careful any time I laugh

because I've noticed through experience

that I have no control over my bladder anymore.

When did that happen?

I used to make fun of my mom on road trips for this very same reason.

I suppose I got my just desserts.

I've also put on five or six pounds (in total) since being at my lowest weight during the yucky

I-can't-hold-anything-down stage.

Now it's the I-can't-put-food-in-my-mouth-fast-enough stage.

I'm seriously hungry half an hour after we eat.

but I always have that weird sensation that I'm already super full 

and I want to unbutton my pants so I have some extra room.

Crazy, eh? 

just for fun, here are more pictures of my bigger belly.

I've noticed that it's getting harder to see my feet when I stand up straight

Can you tell I'm awake and ready for the day?!

(Not so much)

and you know how I mentioned that I'm tired all the time.....?

when we got home last night I was dead tired.

So the boys made me dinner and cleaned the kitchen

while I ate 4 otter-pops and then crashed

Everything (and everyone) seems perfectly normal and healthy.

Which is exactly what we wanted--

a totally uneventful pregnancy!

Henry and Levi have been champs

doing dishes and laundry and making me dinner

Henry especially has been extremely sensitive to my needs.

Especially when I mention I'm hungry

because when I need to eat I need to eat NOW.

as in immediately. forthwith.on the double.

Like last week, when I nearly bit his head off out of desperate hunger

he bought me a candy bar and kindly said,

"Eat your fast break before you break me fast."

He's such a little trooper to have a sense of humor at a time like this....