Bump Watch: 26 Weeks

So much for my resolution to be more on top of these bump watch posts... Emily, you were absolutely right to call me out on my impending failure. Sorry about that! I was slammed this week at work with a couple pretrial deadlines, and my parents were in town for 24 hours this weekend, which led to a lot of last-minute cleaning and prep work... But hey, part of the prep work was starting to put together the nursery, so there are crib pictures in this post!

We've been running out of white wall space in our apartment, so starting with this week's bump picture, we'll be posing me in front of the baby's crib. :)



This week's photo was taken a little later in the week than usual (again, see above-referenced being slammed this week), so that may explain a little why my belly looks like it's grown more than in other weeks... But I think KeddieCub also had a bit of a growth spurt this week!

And here's the weekly blurb from BabyCenter.com --

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

And for those of you who just scrolled down to see the promised pictures... :)


Our beautiful crib and bedding set!


The diaper stacker and the interior of the crib (with our old dressers as placeholders
for the nursery furniture we'll be getting sometime between now and January)


Daybed on the other side of the room, which pulls out to create a king bed
(this is, after all, the "nursery-slash-guestroom")

The room is starting to come together! How exciting! We'll continue to document the nursery prep process and keep you all posted!

YAC is back!

Now that the summer is over, people are back in town, and the church ministry year has started, Young Adult Connections is back up and running!

We had a kickoff brunch a couple Sundays ago, at the home of Tim and Lori Bentch -- tons of good food, some structured time of discussing and planning for the year, and a lot of great time just hanging out with fun people. :)


Carrie helping to prep desserts


Mary, Thomas, Tim and David -- part of the indoor half of the group


And the other half of the group eating outside


Tim, Dave and Phil


Lovely ladies --Lis, Carrie, Milla and Christina

And then the following Sunday (last week), Phil and Dave hosted a YAC brunch of their own after church. The invitation said that soup would be served, and that we could bring side dishes or desserts if we wanted to contribute.

And wow, was soup ever served.

I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of this event, but there were probably about 20 people there, and four different kinds of amazing homemade soup -- sweet potato, chicken and white bean, and other scrumptious deliciousness. Dave is a gourmet, and his roommate Phil is certainly no slouch in the kitchen... I feel like I say this all the time, and it's becoming a bit of a cliche, but really, good times were had by all. :)

And finally, this coming Saturday, David and I are hosting a YAC Halloween party. We'll be sure to take tons of pictures!

It's just so wonderful to see this ministry flourishing and growing. Every single time we throw an event, we get a number of newcomers who express interest in joining a small group and being included on the YAC email list. (We've started a whole new small group for young professionals in the area, and we're planning to start another grad student group this fall.) And it's also really exciting to see others stepping up and planning/hosting events -- with the Halloween party, it'll be three YAC events in four weeks, only one of which David and I had primarily responsibility for. There has always been a felt need in this demographic for community -- and we're so thankful to have so many great people coming alongside us to help provide that community!

Bump Watch: 25 Weeks

My resolution for next week: get the bump watch post up sometime before Sunday evening! Some historian and chronicler I am, if I can't write a post about a particular week in pregnancy development until the evening of the very last day of the week... And how can I live with deceiving all of you into thinking that our baby is the size of a rutabaga right now, when I know I'll be getting the 26 week update tomorrow morning, telling us that he's actually about the size of an English hothouse cucumber?

(By the way, am I the only one for whom these particular vegetables don't really provide any frame of reference? How big is a rutabaga, anyways? Hmm, must learn more about vegetables before the baby is born -- or at least, before he's ready to start eating solid foods, and I'm ready to start nagging him to eat his veggies...)

All of that aside -- here's the 25 week bump watch picture!

We've been faithfully taking these photos on Wednesday nights, after small group -- it's a fun part of our pregnancy routine these days. :)

And here's what BabyCenter.com has to say about our KeddieCub this week:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

I'm pretty sure that our son's hair will be straight and dark brown... But I guess we'll see when he's born -- in just over three months!!