All About Levi & This Pregnancy

Well we finally finished Levi's bedroom! It has taken a lot longer than expected. Zach finished painting a few weeks ago, but we hadn't purchased or put together any of the furniture until the past few weeks. So now we finally have it ready. Not, that I'm ready for him to come, but at least he will have a nice room to come home to when it is finally time.
I realized that I haven't really done a whole lot of blogging the past few months about Levi and the pregnancy. I think it is partly because we've been a little busy and partly because I just haven't been in a "blogging" mood. So now I'll go through a couple things about this pregnancy.
Energy
I've definitely been lacking on energy this pregnancy. I don't remember being this tired when I was pregnant with Chloe, but I was also able to take naps and sleep in on the weekends. Now I can't come home and take a nap after work because I have Chloe to play with and I don't sleep in on weekends because Chloe is up at 8am. So my energy has definitely been zapped.
Size
I feel HUGE! I know that with each pregnancy you start showing sooner, but I just feel so big. Every doctor's appointment I'm measuring right on track, but I just feel huge...did I mention I feel HUGE! My hands and feet also swell all the time. I can't walk around for long periods of time with my arms down at my side because my hands swell really quickly. So I always have to push the stroller or the grocery cart just to keep my hands from hanging down at my side. Chloe has also found my belly button. She likes to pull up my shirt to see my belly button and poke it with her little finger. Then she laughs. It is really funny!
Cravings
I crave all things sweet. There are these wonderfully glorious yummy treats that I like to make, but I have had to stop making them because of how "healthy" they are. You take crescent rolls or biscuits and flatten them out a bit then stuff them with marshmallows and cinnamon sugar. Then you wrap them up and pinch all the sides together and put more cinnamon sugar on the outside. I even sometimes put honey on the inside...YUMMY...see they are just too "healthy" to eat all the time. I am allowing myself to have them instead of my birthday cake, but that will probably be the last time for awhile. I also crave Kool-Aid, oranges and McDonald's cheeseburgers.
Moving & Grooving
Levi moves and grooves all day long. Chloe moved around a lot, but normally she would move around just during certain times of the day. Levi just moves all the time. I like it, and he doesn't hurt me like Chloe did when she would kick back towards my back. I've even started feeling some of the Braxton Hicks contractions. I first thought my pants were just too tight and trying to suffocate me, but then it occurred to me that they are actual the "fake" contractions.
Emotions
I'm not normally a very emotional person. I'm really not great at consoling in times of need and I would rather make a joke than sit in awkward silence. While being pregnant with Chloe I was a bit more emotional, but nothing terrible. This time around it is just ridiculous. I have been so very emotional. I couldn't even watch the movie trailer for War Horse without fighting back tears. I cried when I accidentally put a virus on my computer because I first put the virus on and then because all of our videos since Chloe was born were on my computer. I did get the virus off and all the videos are safe, but it was a rough few days. I cried because one Sunday I didn't think I would get to have lunch with Zach, which is common because we only get to have lunch together once or twice a week. I cried when Zach received his paperwork from the travel agent for his upcoming trip to Jamaica for his brother's wedding. This has actually been a big easy trigger. In the almost six years we have been married we have only spent a total of 2 days apart and that was at 2 separate times. He's only going to be gone for 3 days, but just the idea of him being out of the country while I'm HUGE and pregnant and at home with Chloe has been hard. Being together is one thing that we have always taken very seriously. It isn't a trust issue just a fact that we are best friends and one of the topics we talked about before we got married as neither of us wanted it to be habit to be apart overnight. It is just how our marriage works so whenever this emotional basket case thinks about all the crazy "what ifs" like a plane crash or a strange kidnapping I just can't help but shed a few tears. Luckily my mom is coming in town to help with Chloe and to help time fly by while Zach is gone. For a normal Jenna this wouldn't be as big a deal, but for pregnant emotional Jenna it has been hard.
These are just a few examples as when I asked Zach about the ridiculous times I cried he just laughed and said he just blocks it out and doesn't take it too seriously.

Well only about 9 more weeks until Levi should be here. Maybe this last trimester won't be so emotional and I won't feel so huge, but more than likely my belly will grow larger and larger and the tears will continue to roll.

Happy New Year!

Chloe enjoying a ride in her swing

Chloe going down her slide Chloe and Zach launching smoke bombsChloe sitting like a "big" girl at Subway

Levi's Room

Levi's Room

Our new year has started off great! We have had a lot of great family time and spent a lot of time getting ready for Levi's arrival (which is only about 11 weeks from now!). We have been able to spend a lot of time outside playing on Chloe's playset and swing, going for bike rides and walks. Chloe has really enjoyed the time outside and will now go to our back door and say "outside" because she wants to go out and play.

I feel like for the past few months we keep saying that Chloe is "almost walking" and she is still almost walking. She loves to walk through the house and when we go out, but she doesn't want to let go of our fingers. She's taken about 2 or 3 steps tops and then kneels down and looks up at us like "how dare we let go of her". She's becoming quite the little drama queen sometimes. Surely she must get that from Zach :)

We've finally weaned Chloe off of her formula and onto regular milk and regular food very slowly as she didn't take to milk right off the bat. We started mixing her milk and formula together until finally we are on milk only and no more formula! She has also started really picking up on eating regular food. She likes ham, chicken, turkey, hot dogs, mac n cheese, green beans and all kinds of fruit. The only things she isn't too fond of are hamburgers and french fries. Which really isn't a bad thing. She's also started talking a lot more. She says words like "outside, ball, shoe, socks, birdie and uh-oh". She is also starting to say please, grass and rocks. When Zach takes Chloe out on a bike ride she points at everything and asks what it is and so he is teaching her all the outdoor things.

Zach has been working very hard on Levi's room. We started out with a completely clean slate. The walls and the ceiling were all white and we had cleaned out the room and the closets. It took us (mainly Zach) 3 weekends to get all painted, but it is finally done. I am always amazed at how great of an artist Zach is. He free handed the car and dog on the wall based on a few pictures and then painted it all. He also has such an eye for what will work. I am very much a symmetrical kind of person so I had to have him plot out where the squares would be on the wall for me to paint as if it was up to me they would all be in the same size and in a straight line. Zach laughs at me because of this all the time. Everything needs to be symmetrical or centered or I just can't grasp it. So I tell him if he doesn't want it to be centered and symmetrical then Zach has to do it while I'm not watching as once it is done how he wants it it always looks great, but I can't picture it in my mind. He's normally always right.

So we have about 11 weeks left. I had my glucose testing a week ago and I was pretty proud of myself. Which Chloe the glucose test was just one hour and one sample of blood from each arm. This time I had to fast for 12 hours and then get my blood drawn 3 times for a total of 5 tubes of blood over 2 hours. Last time Zach came with me, but this time I didn't want to make Chloe sit for 2 hours and do nothing so Zach stayed home with her and I sat by myself. I was really dreading it, but then it turned out pretty good. I was able to sit and get my blood drawn by myself and without passing out! I didn't even have to lay down while she drew my blood. While I was waiting in between times they had to draw my blood I just sat and read my book. It was very relaxing.

The pregnancy has been going good. I've definitely been more tired this time, but that is probably because I've been taking care of a one year old and working. I've also been craving McDonald's cheeseburgers and anything sweet. The pregnancy has gone by so fast. I think because the holidays went by so fast it was like 2 months just went by in a blink of an eye. Because it has been going by so fast I have really realized how far behind we are from when we were pregnant with Chloe. By this time with Chloe her room had been long done and ready for her arrival, but with Levi we just have the room painted and we are still trying to get everything ready. I know you are thinking 11 weeks to go, but it will fly by!