23 Weeks

How far along?  23 weeks exactly

How big is baby?   1 lb.

Total weight gain/loss:  +3 lbs. this month;  +7 lbs. total

Maternity clothes?  Maternity tops are still a bit tent-like, but regular tops are getting too short, so I wear maternity tanks under my regular tops often.  Regular pants no longer button.  :(  I mostly wear my regular dresses to school, though, because they are comfortable and fit the best, despite my growing stomach.

Stretch marks:  Just the stretch marks I already had from Connor and weight gain/loss over the years.

Sleep: I am still waking up at least once in the night to use the restroom; I have a hard time falling back asleep.

Best moment this week:  Connor has really started to care about his "baby sister," as he calls her.  He kisses and hugs my stomach, tells her goodbye when I drop him off in the mornings, and wants to buy her toys.  :)

Movement:  Lots of movement lately.

Food cravings:  Giovanni's cheese bread, Grippo's barbecue chips, sweets

Food Aversions:  I don't have many aversions at this point, which may be cause for concern in the weight gain department.  I was doing well the first several visits, only gaining 1 lb. each month, but it was eye-opening to have gained 3 lbs. this month.  I am going to have to watch more closely.

Gender:   girl

Labor Signs:  None.

Symptoms:  Nausea (if I get too hungry), fatigue, some trouble sleeping, and terrible skin.

Belly Button in or out? In 

What I miss:  Sleeping through the night, clear skin, energy

What I am looking forward to:  Buying decor for the room, now that we know what direction we want to go in (carnival theme with white/yellow bedding and "Robin's Nest" wall color).  I want to find a marquee light with her initial, some prints with carousels, ferris wheels, etc... and Jason really wants to get her a stuffed elephant.  :)

Upcoming appointments/events:  Nothing until our next appointment on Nov. 20th.

Weekly Wisdom:  Be careful...I fell down the stairs nearly two weeks ago, and I think I broke my toe (and my tailbone STILL hurts two weeks later).  I have always been clumsy, but my balance is definitely more off than usual.  It was scary, but I was glad to see at our appointment last Thursday that everything is fine with the baby.

This month's photo is a comparison of my pregnancy with Connor.  Notice that even though I was already 25 weeks along with Connor in this photo, I am already bigger at 23 weeks with Baby #2, not including that I am pretty much bigger overall as well.  :(

Fall Break Road Trip

Fall break for our school system is only three days, so we normally stay home, relax, and enjoy the time off, but this year Jason's parents graciously invited us to stay with them in a condo on Amelia Island, Florida.  Neither of us had ever been, and an almost-free vacation with family is not something to pass up, so we packed up and headed out right after school on Tuesday.

Jason's mom knew how much we loved Asheville (and that it was about halfway to our destination) so she graciously made us a reservation to stay there for the night before traveling the rest of the way to Florida on Wednesday.

We definitely didn't want to waste our few hours in Asheville, so once we arrived, we headed to our favorite spot (besides the spa at the Grove Park Inn) in town (and one of my favorite restaurants of all time), Tupelo Honey Cafe.

We enjoyed delicious food (fried chicken, biscuits and gravy for Jason, and tomato soup and grilled cheese for me, and a little bit of everything for Connor -- He especially loved the biscuit and honey.) and were able to sit right by the window to enjoy the city during dinner.

Connor spent most of the meal looking out the window, and he turned to me at one point and said, "I love this town."

With our bellies full we headed to our hotel and went immediately to bed, knowing that it would be an early morning.

Wednesday we hit the road again, making one more stop on our way to Amelia, in one of our other favorite places, Savannah.  We hit the city at a perfect lunchtime hour, and stopped at Green Truck, which has the best burgers either of us has ever had, as well as the most delicious fries, and all homemade condiments (including an amazing ranch dressing).  I dug into my burger too quickly to snap a photo, but it was as good as we remembered from our trip to Savannah in May.

After that we were back on the road for a little more than two hours until we finally made it to our destination.  This was Connor's stance for the remainder of the trip, after his belly was full of my burger and fries:

Stay tuned to my next post where I'll show you all the fun we had on Amelia Island...Connor loved the beach!

Connor's Dinosaur Train Celebration

Although the news of Baby Davidson #2 being a girl was announced a couple of Saturday's ago, the main feature of that day was the celebration of Connor's 3rd birthday.  We celebrated with a Dinosaur Train theme, complete with a dino bouncy house, which was a huge hit (Connor cried when we took it back.).

He had a fantastic time with family and friends, and we are so thankful for everyone who came to celebrate our sweet boy's special day (with an extra special thank you to Kim for the delicious cupcakes -- they were amazing -- as well as to my mom for making an extra dessert and corn salad).

Here are just a few of the many photos from the Dinosaur Train celebration!