22.5 weeks

Another no-makeup photo. Oh well. The kids have been sick and I've been stuck inside. 

But come on--you can definitely tell there is a baby in there!! 

You might notice how empty the mantel looks. 

On the side you will notice the stacks of boxes that are taking over my house. 

I'm in a packing/throwing away mood. My friend said her husband said nesting plus moving is bad news....we'll have nothing left. But I have decided: if I don't love it, I'm not taking it to the new home. What that really means is that I'm going to have a lot of boxes of stuff and no where to put them, since most of what I'm getting rid of is broken second-hand shelving. 

I feel pretty good. Yesterday was the first day I noticed that I don't like to bend over much. 

Today I had to ask a friend I was helping if I could sit down. That's kind of embarrassing. I'm not sure if it's low blood sugar or what, but standing for long periods of time makes me feel like I'm going to pass out. It only takes one time of waiting too long to realize that I need to 1) recognize the signs 2) get over my pride and 3) sit down quickly. I have felt this way for 3 of my pregnancies and the doctor says that's normal. So anyway, I have a good excuse to sit a lot. 

The baby weighs 1 lb 1oz. He is the size of a banana, and 3 days bigger than my due date. I had an extensive ultrasound and everything looks great. The kids (and Joe, of course) can now feel the baby moving and love to sit by me with their hand on my belly. Actually, Joe likes that for a few minutes but after 4 kids says it's old news. He's jealous, that's all. 

Right now the only name Joe and I are at a compromise on is August Benjamin. He likes it because August is a unique name; I like it because my grandfather's name was Augustus. Benjamin is after my brother, Ben, who was killed in a car accident in 2004. 

The kids hate the name, but are coming around to it. Sometimes they call him Auggie, or Augustus, or Ceaser Augustus, or Peter Parker. 

Ok. I found the house unlocked again yesterday and Ammon and I hung out in it for about half an hour. They just need to do a final cleaning, patch up some bricks I made them move (they put an outside gas connection in the wrong place--three times!), and paint the front door red. 

I love it. 

Life is good. 

Knock on wood.