19 weeks

How far along?  19 weeks,2 days
Maternity clothes?  It's a mix...although I feel like this bump is getting out of control and soon I will be packing away more of my regular clothing
Sleep?  Good overall, I have been waking up a few times with leg cramps
Best moment last week? Seeing our family on Thanksgiving
Movement?  Still waiting....
Food cravings?  OOOO, this week I had popcorn and hot chocolate, it was WONDERFUL
Labor signs? None!
Belly button in/out? In
What I miss:  Energy
What I am looking forward to: December 7 our 20 week ultrasound :)
Milestones: We are now just one week away from halfway!!!

My thoughts: As this is also around Thanksgiving I thought it would be a good time to share some of the things that make me thankful, I think I notice different things now that I am pregnant. I am really thankful for my husband who is truly my best friend and indulges my pregnancy whims. Also with the coming arrival of our baby I am thankful for our family's and their excitement about the newest family member. While I will not be able to stay home with our baby, both our mother's have volunteered to babysit their grandchild; I am thankful our child will be loved and cared for by the women who raised us! So not exactly what I had expected to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, but I am VERY thankful!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was a great Thanksgiving for us! We started out by having breakfast with the Stillingers and watching some of the parade. We then went back home so Heather could bake her pies for dinner with the Bechtels. For the second year in a row we hosted Heather's grandparents, parents, brother and Kate for Thanksgiving dinner. This year due to logistics Justin had to made the turkey by himself, but he did a great job. (The past several years we have deep fried turkey and it is soooo juicy and yummy!)

(Justin didn't want to get a picture of him taken, but I took it anyway!)
It was really nice to get to spend the day with lots of our family. Next year there will have to be another seat at the table ;)

Flooring!

Here's a  time lapse video of Justin installing the bamboo flooring in the work-in-progress nursery today.
It's approx 3 1/2 mins long spanning a time of 2 1/2hrs. Tahnee decided to help near the end :)
We'll be adding music to it as time allows.

SUPER SATURDAY!!!

Today was a super Saturday for many reasons, but mostly because we got to see the Jacobs family. We met Jeremy, Becky, and Brahm for some shopping at Buy Buy Baby in Allentown (this was my first time in the store and I would say I prefer it to Babies R Us, but I could be biased since they are also owned by Bed Bath and Beyond), anyway we had a nice time shopping. We got a couple small things for our baby and a welcome baby gift for a friend who is expecting in a couple weeks. Plus Jeremy and Becky gave us some pointers on what items to register for and what items we probably won't need. Then we went out for lunch at the Allentown Brew Works. As you can see in the picture Justin assisted Brahm in drinking some water out of an open cup, a wonderful skill for such a little guy!
We said our good-byes, but not before Becky lent me a bag full of maternity shirts and dresses. Between her and cousin Amanda I have been very lucky to borrow lots of great maternity clothing! Then we went over the the Lehigh Valley Mall to look for a couple more maternity items (I don't really need anything right now, but it never hurts to look at the sale items). Anyway I found 3 shirts at Gap Maternity for under $20 TOTAL and then got a pair of jeans and another shirt at Motherhood in Boscovs for $30. SCORE and SCORE!! I really think I am now set with clothing :)
Now we are home, mostly relaxing (Justin is going to work in the nursery a bit) and just enjoying our evening together.

18 weeks- I can still see my feet :)

How far along?  18 weeks
Maternity clothes?  Yes, just pants (they are soooo comfy)
Sleep?  Good
Best moment last week? I got a haircut
Movement?  I have not felt the baby move yet, BUT  I swear (and Justin said he saw it too) one side of my stomach will stick out and then it won't...
Food cravings?  Last weekend I wanted carrots and dip...sometimes salt or something sweet
Labor signs? None!
Belly button in/out? In
What I miss:  Energy
What I am looking forward to: December 7, when hopefully we find out what color to paint the nursery :)
Milestones: This is the start of month number 5!!

Update on Ben

Ben started limping about 3 days before we took him to the farm. We had asked that he go to the vet as soon as possible, although we had been more concerned with monitoring his lumps and skin condition. The vet found a very aggressive bone cancer is his front leg. His leg was amputated today. The weight bearing bone was almost completely gone and a fracture would have been imminent. We don't know how much time Ben has left (they have said maybe around 6 months), but we do know his quality of life will be vastly improved! The surgery went well and Ben should return to the farm tomorrow.

MaPaw Farm

Saturday we took Ben (he's the one in the center that does not look like a Husky) to the MaPaw Rescue farm in Boyertown. We have adopted two dogs (Tahnee and Glacier) and have been fostering dogs for almost two years, but with the pending arrival of our newest family member, we felt the need to make our lives and home a little more simple...at least for awhile. Ben had been our longest foster at over a year and Heather was really attached to him and his large ears :) We will visit Ben and all the other MaPaw dogs and hopefully Ben will either find his forever home or be able to come stay with us again in the future. In the meantime if anyone is looking to find a furry friend check out sibes.com.