Today I am 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant

So. I'm still pregnant despite all of the vacation stress that occurred last week (I do have things to write about that, but I need to do this pregnancy update or another week will pass and I'll just be over it), so I guess that means this baby is in it to win it. Or something.

Anyway! I'm still relatively energetic (as opposed to the first trimester), but some small things are starting to tire me out.

• Dragging Hank up and down the stairs all the time, as he has suddenly been rendered incapable of doing it himself: really takes the wind out of me. 

• Trimming the bushes in the yard: I can only do one at a time, no more powering through the whole yard at a single shot. 

• Brushing the pool: I did it once and I will not do that for the rest of my pregnancy. I was pretty useless the rest of the day. 

• Cleaning the house: Ha! Gotcha. I don't do that anymore. 

I'm hoping that all of the running around after boys and carrying of children counts as exercise because I sure as hell am not inclined to do anything more than that.

I'm feeling more and more movement and most of it can be felt from the outside by this point, which is fun, and also awkward since most of the kicks are happening below the waistband of my pants... which probably looks weird when I want to feel them with my hand.

I FINALLY gained some weight while we were on vacation, probably because the food was delicious and plentiful and I didn't have to make it (isn't it always better when you don't have to prepare it?). Proportional to my increasing weight is my increasing belly, which looks WAY bigger at night than it does in the morning. Maybe because my body is feeling abused and tired by the time nighttime rolls around, so it just gives up. I'll have to do a picture comparison because I swear I look five months pregnant at 7am and seven months pregnant by 7pm. Regardless, this belly is all-around larger than it was last time and the time before. I suppose that's to be expected right?

Please disregard the streaky mirror.

This week, baby is the size of a: spaghetti squash

How far along: 22 weeks and 2 days

Next appointment: July 25th (THIS is the ultrasound appointment. I had to cancel the last one since I didn't think I'd make it back from NY in time.)

Exercise: Stairs. In our house. And traveling with two small children. That totally counts.

Sleep: Less than optimal since we were not at home for a week and a half, but not horrible. I would LOVE to take a nap every now and then though. I don't think that's in the cards for me.

Food cravings/aversions: No aversions. And no really strong cravings recently. Kind of boring.

Movement: Lots of kicks, punches and flutters.

What I miss: Having clothes that fit. The full-panel pants are still too large for me, but the below-the-belly waistband pants are a wee bit too tight.

What I'm loving: John getting to feel the baby's movements. 

What I'm looking forward to: Hmmmm. Not much at the moment. Cooler days?

Best moment this week: Coming home to our house. With the boys' things. And my bed. And air conditioning.

To accomplish before baby comes: Figuring out the situation for the backyard. John leveled the lower yard a couple of months ago with the intent of putting a swingset or the like on it... and then we didn't give it another thought. We should probably work that out soon.

Thoughts and feelings from Significant Other and Siblings: The boys are convinced that they are getting a brother. When I asked them if they think the baby is a boy or a girl they both replied confidently, "boy".