Personal update

Well, I must confess that I have been very very quiet for the past months.... I guess being pregnant, overcoming the weariness of the first trimester while working full time and taking care of the husband and the house, and the holiday season have definitely been keeping me busy.
But time is flying by and I really want to get caught up, especially as I realized that we are already half way there! The baby was 20 weeks last week, which means "only" 20 more weeks to go. That's crazy!

As you may be able to tell from the "baby updates", our little boy is doing well. He is growing big and strong, and is staying (very) active in his mommy's belly. It's rare that people can actually feel him kick or push, but I can definitely feel him swimming around and poking (or punching, depending on the days) me. Actually, the first time he really punched back was on Christmas day. My husband was having fun pushing on my belly and suddenly *bang* the baby pushed him back! It was pretty amazing! He has also been pushing on the ultrasound machine when he is tired of being looked at :)
The afternoons/early evenings are definitely his favorite active times. That's usually when I can't move without feeling something going on in my belly. It is pretty entertaining, though a little exhausting at times. Though I don't want to complain, because I know it's a sign of a healthy baby!

Though I did not agree with everybody right away when entering my second trimester, I can now really adhere to calling the second trimester the "honeymoon phase." I don't fall asleep in the afternoons or real early in the evenings any more; and I do tend to recuperate from busy days/weeks or late nights a lot faster than I used to. This is definitely a nice feeling; especially as it gives me more energy to get the baby corner organized and work on different projects for the baby and around the house.
However, I do feel I'm getting "heavier"; and getting up or walking around is not always as easy as it used to be. I guess it is to be expected when you carry a balloon with you everywhere you go :)

I've also been preparing myself for the arrival of the baby. My husband and I have decided to go with a natural childbirth, so I have been reading up and doing some exercises. Even though we are not taking the classes, we (I :-)) have decided to follow the Bradley Method. I've already read the book once and am going through the textbook on my one and try to practice the different exercises every day (or almost). I've also started  prenatal yoga. I don't take a class but do it at home with a DVD I bought online. I really like that some of the exercises remind me of Bradley exercises, and it also relieve the tension from my back very nicely. I am never as relaxed as after finishing the yoga class! :)

The one disappointing aspect so far is that I have not had any crazy cravings. Which is suprising because I usually get a lot of those when not pregnant (maybe I'm just reversed :) ). There are things I wish I could eat, like sushi, fish sticks or a rare steak... and there are things I don't really want to see or eat - mostly some mushrooms so far, but no crazy food. Actually, I don't think I've ever eaten as healthy as I am eating now. Throughout the day, while at work, I snack on vegetables and fruits; I try to cook healthy and varied everyday (or every other day); and I don't eat too many sweets (some ice-cream and marshmellows when I can :) ). I guess that's why I have not been gaining any extra weight so far (which is actually a good thing and which probably makes my mom very happy too :) ).

The one thing I've been working on for the past couple of weeks was the baby registry. I decided to go with target, babies'r us and another place for cloth diapers items. And yes, this means I have decided to go with cloth diapers. A lot of people have been calling me crazy, but that's ok. I must confess I did not make that decision too much out of "green concern," but more because I think it's healthier for the baby and it will be cheaper for us too (especially as we are not planning on having only one baby). I am going with the Fuzzy Bunz ones and am very excited to order them soon! (I'm sure I'll be dedicating posts about them soon :) ). Appart from that, I don't think I've made any crazy choices. I'll be breast-feeding, so the feeding part on the registry is kept to a strick minimum. I'm still not a 100% sure about strollers, and keep going back and forth between a lightweight stroller and a travel system.... I wish we had a Babies'r us in town so I could go check out some of them. Hopefully target has the ones I'm interested in and I can go check them out. Oh! I'm also trying to go a lot with neutral colors, that way we will be able to reuse a lot with baby number 2 (whenever that will be :) ).
As far as the "nursery" is concerned, the baby will be sharing his dad's office. We have started cleaning out half of the room to make space for the baby. I don't want to pick any theme, but I'll decorate a little, change the blinds and maybe make some curtains. I also got something for the wall on etsy and I'm pretty excited about the purchase! I promise to take pictures as soon as things get organized! The fact that the space is limited made me double-think about what pieces of furniture are really necessary and what items are really needed. It was a little challenging at times, but I definitely think it's a good thing! :)
Kalen, my husband, has also been helping in preparing for the baby's arrival. In addition to cleaning his office (which was a major clean-up!), he also decided to move the kitties' litter box to the garage. The move required the addition of a cat-door to connect the house to the garage. I think the installation was pretty easy, but getting the cats to actually use the door was not that easy. After 3 days, I think they are finally starting to get used to it and actually go through it without our help... though they keep scratching their door for hours first, before finally realizing they can just "walk though"... I must confess, our cats may not be the brightest of the bunch, but they are definitely cute and awesome :) Now, I just hope they will get used to the baby easily. I'm pretty sure one of them will, but I don't quite know how the other will react (she tends not to be happy when we have visitors). But hopefully all will go well! :)

That's about all I can think of for now. Oh! Wait... Names! Well... we don't have a name for the baby yet. It is actually much harder than I thought it would be. And it's even harder to find one on which both my husband and I agree. But I'm still looking around and "submitting" ideas to my husband. We will see how that goes! :)