20 Weeks!

It's hard to believe, but I'm halfway through my pregnancy! I'm 5 months along and am definitely looking every bit of it. Thankfully I'm still feeling great and am enjoying each day. Of course I'm feeling a few growing pains, but overall I'm generally pretty happy.

This week we had our second ultrasound. I have been looking forward to this for months. The baby looks great! Everything is just as it should be. He/she was moving around a ton! It was fun for Dan to see all the movement since he can still barely feel it. I feel it plenty though!

Unfortunately, Baby Levin is a modest little one. He/she had his/her legs crossed the whole time--even while doing somersaults--so we still don't know the sex. To be honest, I'm a bit frustrated by that, though of course it's not the baby's fault. The technician thinks it might be a girl, but only because she couldn't see anything that would indicate boy. When I asked her for a percentage, she said 50%. Not exactly very assured. I'm not sure where that leaves us. Dan and I are considering getting a private scan to find out the gender, but we may not. Maybe this is the first of many tests in patience as a parent. It may be good for me to wait another 20 weeks to find out.

How far along? 20 weeks (5 months!)

Maternity clothes? Definitely

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? Pretty good

Best moment of the week: Seeing our little one in the ultrasound

Miss anything? Nope

Movement: So much that we couldn't get good views of him/her!

Food cravings:  None

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Have you started to show yet? Yes

Gender: Maybe girl? They couldn't tell for sure

Belly Button in or out? Even

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy

Looking forward to: The second half of my pregnancy

Farewell My Friend

It's a sad day, my friends. My Kindle is dead. After a few great years together, I stupidly leaned against it and cracked the screen. There is absolutely nothing I can do to fix this device. I am devastated.

My dead Kindle

I know that really it's just a thing and that this is a serious case of "first-world problems." At the same time, I LOVED my Kindle. I took it everywhere with me just in case I had a few minutes between appointments or while waiting for the bus. I'm currently reading a book that is almost 1,000 pages. Do you know how awesome it is to throw my Kindle in my bag instead of that huge, heavy paperback?

976 pages!

So, I need your help. I am definitely interested in getting another reading device and am leaning heavily toward the Kindle. However, with our little one coming in June, I've also been thinking about getting a tablet of some sort. Several new moms have raved about the benefits of having a tablet during those midnight feedings.

The thing is though, I love my Kindle because it feels like I'm reading a book. I like that it's not back-lit and that I can read it even in direct sunlight (not that we get a lot of that in England). But, I'm not in a 9-5 job any more and am not tied to my computer like I used to be. So maybe it wouldn't bother me as much to have a back-lit tablet.

Can you please weigh in? Do you have a tablet? Do you love it or hate it? If you were starting over, would you get a kindle and a tablet, or reduce the number of devices and just get one or the other? 

Accidental Wedding Crasher

Today I found myself in a slightly awkward position. I became a wedding crasher.

Just me and the guys, crashing weddings

Dan and I are in Southern England while he attends a business meeting. I am reaping the rewards by staying in a lovely hotel and relaxing. After a nice breakfast, I wandered into the hotel library to get a bit of work done and noticed that everyone was very dressed up. In fact, a few men had flowers pinned to their lapels...hmm...

As I continued to look around, I noticed the guitar player set up in the corner; two little children in adorable matching suits and a man with a very nice camera moving around the room. Yeah...I was in the middle of a wedding.

I had already parked myself on the sofa in the library, which was adjacent to the actual ceremony and reception. As any typical Generation Y'er would do, I posted my dilemma on Facebook. Some of the responses I got are priceless:

In case you can't read them, my favorite pieces of advice were:

• Act like I know the bride and groom, wish them congrats and go straight to the appetizers
• Run up to the groom and act like it's his baby I'm carrying
• Scan the room for Vince Vaughn
• Stand up and make a toast

In the end, I just stayed where I was and watched the happy couple mingle with their friends. Sadly, there wasn't any free food and I abstained from the champagne, but it was a lovely way to spend a morning :)

19 Weeks!

This was a fun week for me. I got to hang out with my good friends Dina and Ed who were visiting from the States. My friend Karen hosted an awesome girls-only sleepover on Saturday where we did nothing but eat junk food and laugh. And, Dan got to feel the baby kick for the first time!

If all goes well, we should know the sex of the baby by this time next week. Dan and I both think we're having a boy. I don't have a real reason behind my guess, but Dan said he thinks I'm having a boy because my stomach is getting so big. Ha! What do you think baby Levin is?

How far along? 19 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yup

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? Not too bad

Best moment of the week: The girls' sleepover, hosted by Karen

Miss anything? Nope

Movement: Tons! I can even feel it from the outside now!

Food cravings:  None

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Have you started to show yet? Definitely

Gender: We find out next week!!!

Belly Button in or out? Out-ish. It's still neutral most of the time, but when I move certain muscles it pops right out

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy

Looking forward to: Finding out the sex next week!

Cards Against Humanity

Have you ever heard of the card came Cards Against Humanity? Until very recently, neither had I. Let me tell you though, it's now one of my favorite things.

The game is very similar to Apples-to-Apples, if you've ever played that. Everyone is dealt several "answer" cards that vary from one word, to long phrases. Players take turns reading a "question" card. All other players throw down an answer to the question. For example, the question card may read:

What are my parents hiding from me?

And someone may throw down this card:

A murder most foul

The tagline for the game is "A Party Game for Horrible People." Most of the cards are very dirty, politically incorrect, or otherwise inappropriate. If you can check your tact at the door, this game is hilarious. I highly recommend it!

Dina and Ed Come to England!

Last week one of my best friends came to visit me in England! The last time I saw Dina was at her wedding in April.

In the nearly 13 years we've known each other, this is the longest time we've gone without seeing each other. It was so great to spend some quality time with her and her new hubby Ed!

We managed to squeeze a lot into their four days in North Yorkshire. Dina and Ed were treated to a gorgeous snowy England. This is definitely the most snow we've had since Dan and I have been here. We made the most of it with great outdoor hikes and lots of tea breaks :)

Harrogate in the snow

Tea break!

Some highlights included our time with Mr. George Pickles, the Ripon Hornblower, and our visit to Richmond. Everything was closed for winter, but we went on a fun hike around the castle.

The Ripon Hornblower

Waterfalls in Richmond

Richmond castle

We did tons more, but I didn't take a lot of pictures. Overall, it was a great few days! It went by way too fast, of course. Thanks for coming to visit us Dina and Ed! Come back soon!

18 Weeks!

It was another growth week for me and the baby. It's really exciting, but at the same time I'm starting to feel those aches and pains that pregnant people talk about. It's harder to do simple things like put on my shoes and get in and out of the car.

I'm still absolutely loving being pregnant though. It's an amazing experience to watch my body change in such a dramatic way. I definitely need to buy more maternity pants though!

How far along? 18 weeks

Maternity clothes? Pretty much. I can still wear regular shirts, but I'm in stretchy pants, dresses or skirts

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? It's getting harder to get comfortable, but the Snoogle helps

Best moment of the week: Hanging out with Dina and Ed!

Miss anything? Nope

Movement: Yes! I love it!

Food cravings:  None

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Have you started to show yet? Definitely

Gender: We don't know yet

Belly Button in or out? Still neutral. Neither in nor out 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy

Looking forward to: Having Dan feel the baby kick