The Half Way Mark

Yay, I am finally 20 weeks! This baby is officially half cooked. We had the 20 week ultrasound today and both the nurse and doctor started laughing when they were greeted with this on the screen:



I was given a pretty good promise it's a boy. A boy more than willing to give mommy and daddy the money shot. (Sorry if you're offended by the thereness of the picture; there wasn't a more discreet one available. I also kinda think it's funny.) He was not very willing to sit still for measuring, which meant I got to chill on the bed and watch my little one wiggle on the big screen for almost an hour. It was really starting to annoy the nurse and doctor, who got a bit rough with the belly trying to get him to cooperate. He's a little on the small side, but other than that, he's just perfect.

I did my second progesterone shot the other day and it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the first one. I had it injected in my bum and I think the meatier area helps a lot. I knew that extra junk in my trunk would someday come in handy.

Since I have a total of four pictures of myself pregnant with Ben, I wanted to document the pregnancy more this time around. I'm half way done, and I've taken a whooping three pictures. Better than last time though. Here's the belly a couple of days ago:



I've decided the further back you put the camera, the better off you feel about yourself. I'll be taking all my pictures this way from now on.

There you have it. Ben gets a little buddy and I don't have to buy much. Win-win all around!

Dear 17 Alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone,

Thank you for almost making my arm fall off.

My doctor highly recommended I inject you into my body to prevent a preterm labor I may or may not have. I'm glad I have a doctor who is concerned about the condition of a past pregnancy and is taking action against possible bedrest. I like that in a doctor. I did my own research on your product, and with no bigger warnings than "pain at the injection site," thought, I'll give it a try.

I grew a little concerned when I was told I'd be given two different needle sizes, a larger one for sucking up the medicine and a smaller one for injecting the medicine. I was instructed not to use the injection needle to suck up the medicine because it was so thick it'd dull the needle (this is with using new needles for every injection).

Sounded bad, but I wasn't too worried. I'm not exactly a stranger to needles; I don't love them, but I can handle them. I think most women who have given birth can handle them, whether they want to or not. Add to giving birth a serious surgery and all the blood donating and needles that goes with it and you could say I've been poked a time or two. But nothing in my previous needle-loving history has come close to pain of this shot. It has now been four hours and I'm just barely regaining the mobility of my arm (with the help of a heating pad).

Thank you for strengthening my uterus walls so I won't again start dilating at 30 weeks. But seriously, could your oil based product be any thicker? I'll answer that for you. No, because if it was any thicker, it'd be mashed potatoes.

You hurt my heart and you hurt my arm,
Liz

Fabulous Fun Finds

I was blog stalking today and found the cutest website, Fabulous Fun Finds. I was going to send the link just to my sisters, with what I'm going to talk them into making me, but I thought I'd share it with the world instead (or the 5 of you who read this blog). There is too much cute stuff on there. A lot of it looks almost easy to try to do yourself, too. Or if you have really crafty sisters, you could see if they'd make it for you...

If this next baby is a girl, I really want this dress:


Either gender would look so cute in a knit hat like this for the winter:


And don't you think I could get away with using this handbag as a diaper bag??


There was so much other cute stuff, including pillowcase dresses and wall decals. It's a great place to get DIY ideas. For sure if you have kids, you have to check it out. Way too cute. How do people come up with this stuff?

My Favorite Little Mann

Feels like it's been a while since I did a post on Ben, so I'm doing one now. I know I've said this at every stage so far, but seriously, two year olds are my favorite. They're just the funniest little creatures.

Ben has one major passion in life. Lawn mowers. This passion began last summer when John taught him how to mow lawns at his mom's house. It's a passion that is continually being fueled by a dad who will spend hours of his free time watching youtube videos with Ben of people mowing lawns. If that isn't a patient and loving dad, I don't know what is. He also takes Ben to the Home Depot or Sears every weekend so Ben can indulge in his favorite pastime. That boy could spend every waking second next to a lawn mower. It kills me.

Thankfully, he also has some backup passions. He's really into sports, babies, motorcycles and cleaning (turns out he does have a bit of me in him after all).

I've always been one of those people who prefers to clean by myself. I'd rather the boys get lost (hence the Saturday morning lawn mowers addiction) so I can do things my way and clean in peace. But because of that I was always afraid my kids wouldn't learn how to pick up after themselves. Apparently I do enough everyday chores for Ben to catch on. He loves to help with the dishes, vacuum, dust, fold laundry and sweep. He's quite the little helper.

He likes to clean with his shirt off. It makes him feel manly.

Ben's love of sports is another passion that is fueled by John. I'm always so glad I married someone who genuinely loves being a dad. I don't know what I would do without him! I might just be forced to watch youtube or play endless rounds of catch. The horror. Just kidding. But I am so thankful for John. Last night the Cubs were playing (or so I heard, I wasn't watching) so John dressed Ben for bed accordingly. Ben added his favorite hat as a special touch.


Ben has such a soft spot for babies. He's really excited to get his own this fall. For now, he's making do with his little cousin Macy. He loves to feed her bottles or just sit and cuddle. I hope he still loves them this much when he's forced to share mommy and daddy.


I wouldn't have guessed that two year old boys care what they wear, but this one does. He has a favorite outfit that he insists on wearing. It's a sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed all the way to his elbows and snow boots that are a size too small. The snow boots he puts on himself, on the wrong feet, the sides wide open, with his pants scrunched on top. It's the ugliest outfit and he looks so homeless in it, but the boy loves it. I still cringe when he grabs for it, but I stopped fighting him on it months ago.


That Benny really is my favorite kid. He's hilarious, he's energetic, cuddly, caring. He's the very best!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

(Does that title make anyone else laugh out loud? I'm so easily entertained.)

Sorry it took me a bit to pick the winners for the giveaway. I sort of forgot about it. But I promise not to forget to make you something gorgeous and wonderful and most likely life-altering.

The winners are... Shawna, Megan and Jamie!! Hooray for you! You get more junk to put out at your next yard sale. Just kidding. Sort of.

So, you three lucky winners, email me your most favorite colors (lizmann00 at hotmail dot com) and I'll whip you up something precious and get it to you sometime this summer. Megs, include your address so I can mail it; Shawna and Jamie, I will just deliver it to you in person.

Thanks for playing!!