26 Weeks

And the belly continues to grow!  That has been the thing we have noticed most lately.  It is growing at an accelerated speed these days.  Although in a couple weeks I'm sure I'll regret this next statement I'm gonna say it anyway . . .It's kinda nice!  It's nice because I was in such an in between point before it was hard to find clothes that looked right on me.  Now almost all of the maternity clothes I have here work.  The weekly pictures are below.  But now, on to baby!

Along with my belly, baby continues to get bigger and bigger.  He/she now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures about 14 inches.  According to babycenter.com that is about the size of an English hothouse cucumber.  I told Matt that I bet he never thought someone would compare his child to an English hothouse cucumber!  He agreed.  Thebump.com has a new vegetable for this month.  It is an eggplant:

One of the big developments this week has been in the baby's ears.  Apparently the nerve in the ears is more developed so baby is getting even further familiarized with mom and dad's voices.  He/she is also inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid to get those lung prepared for life outside the womb.  There are about 14 more weeks to get them ready.  Pretty exciting!

Matt and I have continued to work on the nursery.  I am happy to say that the room is FINALLY empty!  We are hoping to get some painting done this weekend.  We'll see how it goes!  With the weather getting so nice outside, we also need to start getting the yard in shape.  I have decided not to throw my annual "Take Back the Summer" party this year.  It just seems like too much with trying to get both the nursery and the yard in shape by early May.  And since my main pregnancy symptom has been back pain (that increases when I try to do too much) I just won't be of much help.  It made me a little bit sad that I will not be able to throw my party this year, but in a way I think it's actually a really good thing.  It means that I am moving into a different chapter of my life and way past the whole reason I even started having that party.  To say this baby has made me a happier person would be a major understatement.  I cannot wait to meet this little person who has already changed my life in the most unbelievable ways!

Time for the belly pictures!  As I mentioned above it is growing at a much faster pace these days!  One article I read said it is about a centimeter a week.  I feel like it is more than that - I'll let you be the judge:

Another thing I've noticed about these pictures lately is that my toes are pointed more outward than they used to be.  The ones last week especially!  I have to say that it is the coolest thing ever how the body changes to accommodate this little baby inside me!  I feel so blessed to be his/her mom!  (Someone please refer me to this post when the baby is up all night screaming and I am exhausted beyond belief . . . hehe!)