HOLY HALFWAY THERE!!!

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! We're having a blast here in New Mexico with my folks. Eating good food, playing fun board games, watching all the Christmas movies we can squeeze in... it's been grand! It's also the last Christmas before we're a family of three, which is kind of insane.

Holy moly, we're already half way there! This kinda freaks me out. There's a lot to do in the amount of time left! Ben and my family agree, my tummy grows noticably larger every day, which is pretty funny. They're taking bets on the timing of my belly button going from an innie to an outie. Kole says it'll be mid-conversation, and I'll hear an audible "FFFFP," while Ben thinks inversion will require some force, like from a sneeze. We shall see.

20 Weeks:

(Izzy had a drive-by appearance)

Pregnancy Highlights!!

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: 10 Inches from head to heel - the size of a banana! 13 ounces.

Weight gain: +10

Maternity Clothes: Gradually accumulating more and more maternity clothes - amassing from very dear friends and family... and goodwill. Great thing about maternity clothes is, no one wears them for very long!

Gender: GIRL!

Movement: She's been moving around a ton! Mostly when I'm still. Ben can finally feel her from the outside just a tiny bit, which is really cool.

Sleep: I finally figured out how to get the pillows positioned just right... problem is I need like three of them. Once we get all those pillows on the bed, there's no room left for me... Still working on finding that fine line.

Symptoms:  Feeling great!

What I miss: Sushi...

Cravings: I still want lots of milk and pasta, but we're trying to moderate that with veggies so the weight gain isn't to crazy.

Best Moment this week: Ben feeling the baby move for the first time, and getting to spend this weekend with my wonderful and insanely supportive family. They have been so incredible. We're going to have one lucky kiddo as far as grandparents go!!

What I am looking forward to: Going up to Michigan in a few weeks to see all the Zuverinks!!!

BABY ROOM FUN

Okay guys, this may be super lame, but I LOVE THE BABY'S ROOM.

So, we started with the idea of putting a tree on the blue wall. Want to make it girly without having to redo the whole wall. We chalked off the tree on the wall, and covered it in a super light pink paint. "Ballerina Gown" to be exact.

Next is the whole tree against the crib, so you can see how it'll fit in the room. 

I realized it needed many more curly cues. So I added those free-hand. Then I made drew a bird on a piece of paper, cut it out, traced around it with chalk on the wall, and then filled those in with paint. You can see them:

But it needed leaves! So I experimented with the types of leaves I wanted on the tree:

It's decided. Heart leaves it is. So for the next several days, we added leaves and leaves and leaves. Oh and some squirrels too. Final product: 

This is just the tree itself. 

This is tree plus crib full of stuff.

This is tree plus crib full of stuff from a different angle. 

All in all, we're really happy with how it turned out. More nursery pictures when it all comes together, but for now, the wall is momentous enough. 

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Congratulations to all family members! We have another Chica to add to the Zuverink/Bennett/Franklin lines! Dr. says everything looks great. Here are all the pictures we got to keep from today. She was moving around all over the place. 

*Sorry daughter, this is the only time I'll show anyone proof of your gender*

Look at that FOOT!! 

Look at that scary pirate skeleton face!!! Maybe she'll come out with an eye patch and a parrot.

YAR!!

Awwww, back to being cute!!

So that's all for now - big enough news to warrant a post! At 20 weeks (in a week) I will post another bump picture and some pregnancy highlights!!