Half-way There!!!

Saturday marked 20 weeks in this pregnancy - the 'official' half-way point (assuming this baby lasts for the whole 40 weeks, which I doubt, but you never know!  Nicole was due on the 17th of December, but was born on the 9th).  Baby is approximately 10 1/2 ounces, and about 10 inches from head to heal!  So, how are things going for me lately?  Well, I'll tell you! ;)

• My right shoulder aches constantly…all day and all night…probably from the way I sleep.
• My sciatic nerve (also on my right side) also aches constantly…causing me to feel a LOT more pregnant than I look!  I usually waddle around the house vs. walking… ;)
• I've gained 4 pounds so far, which puts me right on track for gaining the least amount suggested.
• I look slightly pregnant, but if I suck in my gut you can't really tell… so I usually walk around sticking my stomach out as far as possible!  ;)
• I feel the baby move more each day, which I absolutely LOVE!  I can't wait till Ryan and Nicole get to feel her move!  Yesterday I was singing along to Christmas music in the car, and our baby was 'dancing'.  :)
• We're pretty sure her name will be Rebecca Hope, and I was just reading in the scriptures this morning about faith and hope, which almost made me cry!  (Nicole's middle name is Faith.)  I'm so grateful that we get to have another baby!!!
• I could easily sleep 12 hours a night if I had the time.  I am still always feeling tired, but it's actually not as bad as it was in the first trimester.
• I drink tons of water, all day long, and still feel thirsty most of the time.  Consequently, I spend a large amount of time in the bathroom - for me there has been no real lessening of the need to pee with the second trimester.
• The nausea has died down a lot, but it's still difficult for me to brush my teeth without gagging.
• Despite all of the complaining I do, I love being pregnant!  ;)

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We woke up to beautiful snow on the ground this morning!  Cole and I were so excited, but we about turned into popsicles on the way to school because of how bitingly cold the wind was!  We're supposed to get a good 2 - 4 inches of snow today, so I hope it keeps falling!  It's soooo pretty!!!  Nicole claimed this morning that Rebecca is definitely gonna love the snow as much as we do. :)

We decided to let Nicole have a birthday party with friends this year.  She got to pick three friends to invite, and they're all able to come, which is exciting!  Now let's hope that I can handle 4 little girls for two hours… ;)

Ryan is starting his new job this week!  We've been a little stressed lately because he has to drive quite a ways to get to work, and our cars are wheezing their last breaths.  (Well, one of our cars is basically dead, and the other one is not far behind it.)  We've been looking for months at getting another car…as soon as Ryan had a job to afford it.  Last week we found an excellent deal on the car that we wanted, and our awesome credit union actually worked with us to get us approved for a loan even though Ryan hasn't started his full-time job yet!  So, yesterday we made one of the biggest purchases of our lives and bought a 2010 Prius!  It should save us enough on gas to almost pay for itself in 10 years (yeah, we'll be driving it a lot)!  I still pretty much had a heart attack when I was writing out the check for it…but we both felt like it was the right thing to do after a lot of study and prayer, so I'm trying to remind myself to trust in the Lord!

We had four different Thanksgiving celebrations this year, and by the end of the week we were pretty much all-partied-out.  But it was SOOO nice to be near family!  :)  And now we have Christmas to look forward to!  :)  :)  :)  I still haven't gotten around to putting up any decorations, but hopefully I will this week.  :)

Life is good!!!  *Count Your Many Blessings…Name Them One by One!!!*