More than halfway to baby!

So...I'm 25 weeks and 1 day pregnant [6 1/2 months]. Only 104 days left until my due date. How has the last 25 weeks flown by so quickly?

I know I meant to keep up with the pregnancy more in my blog, but let's face it - this pregnancy has been no walk in the park. Last week was the first full week since I was 6 weeks pregnant that I didn't feel like puking after everything I ate/drank. I do feel my energy coming back to me, but between keeping up with JJ and enrollment advising, I'm still fast asleep before 10pm most nights. That fact has made watching the NBA playoffs a little difficult, but that's what highlights and score alerts are for, right?

As of my last doctor's appointment a week ago, I've only gained like, 13 pounds. Doesn't really surprise me since I've had virtually zero cravings this pregnancy [i just eat what sounds good; with jj, i wanted cereal and ice all.the.time], but it kinda does since I gained close to 45 pounds with JJ. I know I have time to put the weight on, and I'm sure I'll gain a bit during my last trimester - but for now, things seem to be holding steady. Which is awesome. I think I've also been more conscious of what I'm eating and what I'm doing, because I really don't want to gain 45 pounds again. People keep telling me I look fantastic for being nearly 7 months pregnant, which is super flattering - but I still feel big. :P

Baby boy's activity has stepped up quite a bit the last few days, which is exciting and comforting. I always feel on edge when I don't feel him move for a bit, so I do the whole "drink some juice and lie down" thing to be sure he's OK. Usually, that'll do the trick - but lately, I've felt him moving on a pretty consistent basis. My favorite part of pregnancy is feeling the baby move, so I'm definitely enjoying it right now. He's kicking hard enough now that people can feel it on the outside [and i can see my belly move sometimes] - we're getting closer and closer to an outside baby. Eek!

We do have a name pretty much set in stone, finally - J and I have been at odds over names for most of my pregnancy. I think we finally picked one that we're both happy with...but I won't be saying anything about a name for a few more weeks until we finish exploring our options. I never realized it would be so hard to pick a baby's name! It was easy with JJ because he was named after J [and has my dad's middle name as his second middle name]. This time though, we started from scratch. I'm not one of those people that has name lists floating around, so I had no sense of what I wanted to name my second child whatsoever. Glad we finally came to an agreement on something; for awhile, I thought baby would come home with no name [and i'm not exaggerating, either].

Besides names and a few baby onesies I couldn't resist getting from Carter's, I pretty much have nothing else prepared for baby boy no. 2's arrival. Granted, we don't really have much to prepare for since we'll be reusing a lot of stuff from JJ...but I still feel like I should be more prepared than this. It was this way the last time, too, so I'm not quite sure why I'm silently freaking out about how time is flying and I need to get on the ball. Within the next couple of weeks, I'll start getting new crib sheets and look through JJ's old clothes for things the new baby can and can't wear, but we have all the other things - crib, car seat, stroller etc. I do want to find a doubles stroller that has a sit and stand option for JJ; that may be our only "big" purchase this pregnancy.

Things are starting to feel more real now. When I talk to people and they ask how I'm prepared for life with two kids...well, I'm not. I'll just have to jump into it headfirst once new baby arrives, because I have no idea what to expect. I'm grateful that JJ's potty trained and pretty independent, but I do worry about how he'll adjust to another human being in his life. He'll still be my firstborn and will still be the center of my world, but he'll be sharing it with his little brother now. I think that's what scares me the most - not the whole labor/delivery process, but all of us adjusting to four instead of three. I know we can do it though.

25 weeks, 2 days [haven't done this survey in seven weeks - yikes!]
Total weight gain: 13 pounds [first appt. weight = 167; appt. last week = 180].
Maternity clothes? Some of it's becoming a little snug, but for the most part, I'm comfortably in all my maternity clothes.
Sleep: Still hit and miss, but getting better. Wish I could sleep all the way through the night though - I get up most nights because I have to pee or I'm hungry.
Best moment this week: Not baby related, but JJ had his first swim lesson yesterday. :)
Food cravings: Yeah...none. Which is weird to me, but at least I'm not eating the same thing over and over again.
Gender: Everyone knows, but it's another boy. :)
Belly Button in or out? Still in for now, but I don't think it will be for much longer.
What I miss: Same 'ol - sleep, wine and sleep.
What I am looking forward to: My mom's coming back from her trip to Hawaii this weekend. She's bringing back awesome Hawaiian clothes, jewelry and food. Sweet.
Weekly Wisdom: Never take kiddos for granted. They grow so fast.
Milestones: Viability Day was a week ago - and I'm near the end of 2nd tri. Wow.
Differences between #1 & #2: Nausea has finally gone away - I think it stuck around for a good 6 weeks longer than the first time. I've had more issues [feet tingling, pelvic pain etc.] this time around than with JJ...probably because I've had to be more active this pregnancy because of work and chasing him around.

J. Bear the Swimmer. Sorta.

Those who know my kid know he's active. Veeeeeeeeery active. So I knew I had to do something with him this summer to keep him entertained besides weekend trips to the zoo and nightly walks. My mom had wanted to put him in swim lessons last year down in our hometown, but I couldn't make them...so this year, I checked into swim lessons here. Both my university gym and our local Y offered them, so I signed him up for the ones at the Y.

Last night was his first lesson. Oh boy.

Now, most kids love water - and my kid is no exception. But I think he was way overly excited to be in the water, so he barely listened to the instructors. He wasn't bad, per say - splashing other kids with water, pushing them around etc. The fact that he got in the water without Mommy behind him was a huge step [and bittersweet for me, because it shows he's becoming more independent], but after that, he just wanted to play.

He was supposed to be learning how to swim on his back. Instead, he smiled for Mama.

All the other kids were paying attention, except for him. I literally stood by him the entire lesson to be sure he didn't try to either climb out or swim too far into the pool, but he quit paying attention to me after a bit. I felt bad because he literally was the only one who, for most of the lesson, wanted to do everything but what he was told to do. But, at least he was having fun, right?

I'll admit that I probably kept him pretty sheltered the first couple of years of his life, so besides daycare, his interaction with other kids was limited. Now that he's older and interacting more, I want to put him in more lessons [he's doing swimming now, obviously, and we'll probably do weekend gymnastics classes in July and August to see how he likes that]. He's so active that he needs a way to burn the energy, and these types of activities will do it. I also hope it helps calm him down as he gets used to it, because having my kid be the only one out of seven not paying attention probably got me the side eye from the handful of parents that were actually paying attention to the lesson.

Learning how to swim on his belly using the board - except after this was taken, he abandoned the board. :)

He has swim lessons this week and next week, then he has water play at daycare on Fridays - so he's practically going to live in the water the next couple of weeks. Guess that means I'd better be prepared to take him to the pool and work on his swimming, eh?

New York [and Connecticut] state of mind.

Good gracious - has it been a month since I blogged? How has the last month or so gone by so quickly? Yeesh.

Anyway. I dedicate this post to my fantastic trip to visit my college roommate in Connecticut. I promised I'd come visit when I was in her wedding last year [best wedding ever], and I had time to do it this summer. My trip was bumped from July to Memorial Day weekend once I found out I was pregnant again, which worked out better - both of us being off work meant uninterrupted hang-out time. Just like our college days, sorta. :)

I will admit, flying while 6 months pregnant wasn't my smartest idea. I had awful motion sickness from OKC to DFW [thank goodness a salad and water did me some good before my LGA flight], and we were delayed nearly two hours because of rain at LGA. So, I was stuck in the airport trying to keep my legs moving because those also got restless while I was flying. A and her husband still came and got me from the airport though, which I am still so grateful for - they're awesome.

Driving from LGA to their place in Connecticut was...eye-opening, to say the least. NYC is freaking MASSIVE, first of all. Even people who have never been to Oklahoma know that this state is pretty flat - and unless you live in a major city [or a college town], your town probably doesn't have a multi-story building. OKC and Tulsa have some pretty tall buildings [Devon Tower comes to mind], but the entire town isn't full of tall buildings. NYC, however, is - and it's mindblowing to see it in person. The buildings, the landmarks, the sporting venues [our plane flew by CitiField on the way in and way out of LGA]...seeing it in person is just incredible. I felt like such a tourist.

I got in late Friday night, so we pretty much knocked out once we got back to their place. On Saturday, A and I caught a train from CT to Grand Central Station so we could explore NYC - but let me pause again for a second. I can't believe people out there catch trains and cabs everywhere. Public transportation isn't really something we use around here that often. I mean, we have city buses and an Amtrak station, but nothing like what they have out there. It's so foreign to me! Anyway, back to the story...

Saturday, we spent all day walking around NYC. Yes, even my 6 months pregnant self was able to keep up and walk around [and let's face it, I needed the exercise], and it was so much fun. The city is freaking spectacular. We hit Bryant Park, Central Park, Times Square, had lunch with a Nestie, and we saw a Broadway play [Memphis, which had a guy from the original cast of "Rent" as their lead - flipped out when A and I figured that out]. We were literally in NYC from 10am to 11pm, and it was the best day ever.

first view of grand central station. Amazing.

tiny view of central park. this place was spectacular.

times square - and the ball. not sure why i wasn't aware the ball stays up all year...

lone shot i could get from seeing Memphis -- intermission. this play was faaaantastic though.

Sunday was spent in CT shopping, hanging out and eating the best Thai food I've ever, ever had. We headed back to NYC early Monday morning so I could catch my early afternoon flight, and we made a stop at the Rockefeller Center before I caught a cab to LGA. It was awesome.

Looking over the entire city was such a surreal feeling. Again, I can't believe how massive the buildings are up there, how much stuff there is...the vibe up there is just so different from Oklahoma that it was a culture shock. I do, however, plan on going back as soon as possible to see more sights and spend more time up there. NYC was super cool, where A lives was super cool...the trip was just super cool. :P

Special, special thanks to A and her husband for allowing me to crash at their place and showing me around the area. It was so great to spend extended time with her [and cheer on the thunder together since she and her husband are thunder fans!] and just get away for a few days. I owe you guys one!!