22 Weeks....

Just a quick update on this pregnancy... I am now 22 weeks and I'm feeling great. By the end of the day I'm tired and a bit achy but really what else is new! I feel that way when I'm not pregnant too! This baby seems to be a bit more active than my other two, but it could just be my memory or lack of! Every morning when I wake up I can feel this little girl moving around, probably trying to get me out of bed and when I lay down at night without fail between 10:00-10:15 she goes crazy! I know it might sound crazy but I absolutely love it! I have found myself putting my hands on my stomach just so I can feel it from both sides a lot more this time than last. I also will grab just about any ones hand and try to get them to feel her move too!

Ethan and Katelee attack my belly every night when I get home and multiple times after that. Katelee is never satisfied with my shirt and pants covering the baby and will pull my shirt up and my pants down every time just so she can touch my skin and kiss it! (She has tried this multiple times at church or in public... luckily I can usually tell when she is going to try it and I can prevent it... So far...) When I get tired of that I just have to say, "Ok, time for baby to go night night!" And Katelee will cover me back up! So cute! Ethan loves this baby so much and it is so sweet to watch him. He always hugs my belly and kisses and says "I love you baby!" The other night we were asking him if he liked the name Ashlee and he said "it's ok" then we asked if he liked Elizabeth and he said "yeah." Then a few minutes later I asked him for a hug and kiss before he went upstairs to bed. He hugged me and then kissed my belly and said, "I love you Ashlee Elizabeth!" I have been going back and forth on the name but when he said it out loud it just sounded right and I loved it more when I heard Ethan say it!!! I really think Ethan gets it, he gets that he is going to be a big brother again and he is really excited about it! It is so much fun to see him excited and so in love with this little unseen baby already! When we got the ultrasound done he couldn't get enough of seeing the baby. He would even show people that came over the pictures of him baby sister!

I can eat anything I want and usually not have any problems... I really don't have many cravings except for (and don't judge) the buffalo chicken sandwich from Hooters. It is so good and it just hits the spot... But being that I only go there for their lunch specials I haven't had one in a while! Anyways, early in pregnancy I craved or I guess it was more of, I tolerated Top Roman and Pop Corn, but now it's really just a matter of what will make the hunger go away! I have actually been exercising with this pregnancy and that feel pretty good. I'm not running nearly as far or long as I was before, but I still feel pretty good about it. Sometimes I look at my belly and think, "I'm really going to get bigger than this???" But I guess that is normal with all of us girls, we hate to see our waistlines expand... and expand and do it some more!!! :)

This pregnancy has been great and so exciting. My old(er) age has really made my focus change from the pain and annoyances that come from carrying a child to Joy and amazement... I still cannot phathom how wonderful and unbelieveable it is that my body, my inperfect body, can create a perfect human in just 9 short months! Everything from lungs, heart, liver, ears, toes and a cute little mouth are created and formed from something so small that it cannot be seen with the eye. I also find it amazing how all of these body parts work together to make blood flow, oxygen move and my baby smile... Chris will tell me little tid bits about the human body and how it all works and I am even more in ahhh!

I also find it amazing how I love this little thing inside of me with every ounce of my heart already! I love imagining what she will look like and who she will take after more and so much more! I love carrying a miracle around with me and then seeing the other ones when I get home... Oh how I love being pregnant and able to create and carry this child! Seriously the joys of motherhood don't start when the child is born but when she is conceived...