22 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: I'm 22 Weeks!
Size of Baby: The baby is the size of a spaghetti squash!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Okay, so I went back to the doctor this week and I think I have gained ten pounds. Hope it is not because of all of those cookies! :)
Maternity Clothes: Happily stylin' in my maternity sweaters and jeans!
Gender: It's a BOY! Grayson Earl Mays!
Movement: I feel him a lot, especially at night!
Cravings: Still craving mostly dessert-type foods! I do have to say that at least now I don't get nauseous when I think about chicken casserole!
Symptoms: I have been sleeping and feeling so much better. The books were right about the second trimester being the best one. I am still having psycho dreams. The other night I was starring in Little House on the Prairie! Look out, Melissa Gilbert!
Best moment this week: I can now point at my tummy and Claire will say, "Baby Grayson!" She also told the doctor where he was! And I finally got to meet my OBGYN and he was really nice!

Under the Big Top!

For the last two weeks we have been counting down the days until the Circus! If you asked Claire about going she would say, "see elephants dance!" She was so excited. It didn't help her excitement that we got to ride the train there, which is her #1 favorite thing to do!

When we arrived at the Circus, we went to see the camel and elephant rides. It would have been fun to put Claire on the elephant, but after trying to get her to ride ponies twice, I knew she was content to just watch!

After watching the rides, I decided we needed popcorn. We had to eat some sort of Circus food to celebrate (and it didn't help that the popcorn smelled sooo good!) Claire loved the popcorn too! Between the both of us I don't think Charlie got hardly any.

Mmmmm...popcorn!

The first act was probably the most interesting...the lion! The trainer had a hard time getting him to come out of his cage. It was a little scary. Then, when he came out he drug the trainer across the floor and jumped straight back in his cage. They pulled and pulled to get him out again and finally got him to come back out. He then kept laying down instead of performing his tricks. They finally got him to do a few! Charlie and I were a little scared. I just kept hoping he wouldn't get away from his trainer!

Jumping back into his cage.

Finally performed a trick! He still looks mad...

Next, they brought out the bison. He was a little stubborn too (this was the theme of the night! ha!) but he definitely did better than the lion.

And then it wouldn't have been a Circus without the motorcycle-riders on the tight rope. I still can't figure out how they do that.

Yes, they flipped upside down!

And Charlie's favorite...the monkeys! They walked on stilts! It was amazing!

Other things we saw were ponies, a lady on an elephant, and a panther!

The elephant had a Canadian maple leaf on her head!

 We really had a great time! Claire was so tired that during the second half she kept turning around and laying her head on me. Then she would pop up and say, "what's the animals doing now?" Her favorite was the elephant. She stared with her mouth open at the lady and the elephant...I'm not sure she even blinked the whole time they performed!
When we left we had to wait a few minutes for the train outside. It was -4 degrees F! Shouldn't it be warmer now that it is March?!
Claire fell asleep on the train ride home and only woke up long enough to put on her pj's. What a fun night!

We found Jesus!

Way back in October I got super excited about the Little People Nativity set. So, when I found a good deal on it I bought it and had it shipped here. And yes, the set came out in October and sat on the coffee table until we left to go visit family for Christmas. Claire really enjoyed playing with the animals and pressing on the angel to hear "Away in a Manger." It was so cute!
My smart SIL has always wrapped up the baby Jesus to open as the first gift of Christmas. I thought that since Claire kind of understood who the baby was this year, that I would do the same thing. I had a running list of all the things we needed to take home with us for Christmas, and no joke, baby Jesus was the first item on the list. When it came time to pack I started rounding up the items on my list and I couldn't find Jesus. It was like he was here one minute and gone the next. Then, my already pregnant brain couldn't remember if I had already packed him in the bottom of the suitcase. So, when we arrived home I stopped worrying because I thought he was waiting to be found in the suitcase. But, when I looked for him, he wasn't there.
So upon arriving back in Canada, we searched high and low for baby Jesus. We eventually packed up the nativity without him and were all sad that the nativity was missing its most important member. Charlie even asked me the other day when we were at Toys R Us if we could buy a baby Jesus to replace ours.
And then yesterday Claire decided to pull every item one by one out of her toybox. I was trying to help her organize her mess, when what did I find in the bottom of the toybox? He was there all along.

Isn't this like life? We 'get' Jesus and spend time with him. Then we get confused with life and 'lose' him and try to go on without him. But really, when we slow down and clean up our messes, we can see clearly that he was never lost, we were the ones lost without him! So...if you are missing Jesus...take a moment and look around. Chances are he is right there in the bottom of your toybox!

20 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: I'm 20 Weeks! Woohoo, halfway there!
Size of Baby: The baby is the size of a banana!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2-ish pounds maybe?
Maternity Clothes: I just went ahead and pulled out the old maternity clothes from last time and moved in! They do feel great!
Gender: It's a BOY! Gayson Earl Mays!
Movement: Lots more movements. Gotta love the kicking when it is aimed at my bladder!
Cravings: Let's see...I am enjoying most anything that is bad for me...and 90% of that has chocolate as its main ingredient! I told Charlie that this pregnancy has a lot of the same cravings as the last one, interesting huh?
Symptoms: The last two nights have been wonderful sleep-wise, but the crazy dreams continue! I even woke up one morning to tell Charlie I dreamed my mom gave me octogon-shaped cereal with bird seeds on top. She said it tasted like cinnamon, but I could still taste the bird seeds when I woke up! I should write that one down...
Best moment this week: Claire went and got her Cookie Monster stethescope and came over to me. She pulled up my shirt and said, "Grayson's heart-beep, Mommy! Listen Grayson's heart-beep!" So cute!