Third trimester, here we come!

So, it isn't here yet, but in one mere week, we'll be looking at the last third of the pregnancy! Yay! Luckily, the second trimester went pretty well. I think that it was somewhere around week 22 that the nausea and vomiting ceased. It is terrible to feel awful for so long, but it is amazing how once it is gone, you barely remember how bad it really was. I suppose this is one of the reasons women continue to have children!

With this pregnancy, I have had no cravings or food aversions (except early on when I was nauseous and didn't want any food or drink). Right now, it is just the typical stuff like more trips to the bathroom and noticing that my belly is getting in the way when I'm doing the dishes, etc. My waddle is also in full swing due to the increased stretchiness of tendons. I'm feeling more kicking too due to the placenta being in the back. Although I feel the kicks more often, the intensity is not too bad...yet.

All doctor appointments are of the boring variety now - not that I'm complaining! My blood pressure is still looking good. I have the dreaded glucose test coming up on August 3rd. I am happy that they gave me the syrup to drink at home this time so that I don't have to wait the full hour in the doctor's office. I did really well on this test with Lily, and I'm really hoping that it goes as well this time too.

As far as the baby name goes, I have to hold off on any further clues because another serious contender has come into the picture. The first name under consideration is still a strong possibility, but we've recently found another name that we like, and I'm really having a very hard time choosing between the two.

In every other way, we are ready for this baby now which I'm afraid is going to make for a very long third trimester. With the first, you have so much to do from getting/assembling furniture, to going to various classes, to installing carseats, to getting baby gear together, and on and on. With the second, all this is done and ready to go, so we are just waiting. Granted, it is not like we are just sitting around with a three-year-old, but we are very ready for our family of four (plus Terra). I remember really coveting the time Carl and I had before Lily came because I knew that it would be such a dramatic change for us. And, even though you have an idea of what is to come, you can't really know until it happens, so there is a bit of a fear factor there. This time, we have no delusions about what is to come. Of course, having one (especially one that is walking, talking, potty-trained, etc) is very different than having two, but I know that it will be fine, and I'm just ready.

There are some fears of course, but mainly it surrounds Lily getting all that she needs at this age while staying at home with me and the baby. I think that we will manage okay, but again, you never know what it is really going to be like until it happens. Lily requires lots of activity, and I want to make sure that she gets all the stimulation and peer interaction that she needs. This will be a challenge, but it is top priority for me so we will just have to find a way to make it work. I'll update more about baby when there is anything additional to share, and hopefully, it won't be long until we settle on a name, and I can post more baby name clues!

Freestyle Friday

Lily had her second swimming lesson today. When I originally told her about the swimming lessons, she told me that she doesn't need to go because she already knows how to swim. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm has not increased since beginning the class, but I'm hoping that when they try some new things that she hasn't done before, her attitude may change.

Although the picture is blurry, it aptly conveys Lily's general attitude toward the "not fun" class. :)

Now that's more like it! Lily loved going to the park and sprayground this afternoon to meet up with my friends and their kids for picnic lunch and fun in the sun.

Our motley crew, including Sara's sister's triplets (on the far left), Critter's two children Nathan and Makayla, Bev's three kids Monica, Audrey, and Ethan, Lily, Sara's friend's little girl, and Molly's son Jack. We also have three on the way all due in September/October!

Homemade goodness

This is the peach-blackberry pie that I made with our freshly picked fruits. I usually do not make a homemade crust so this was a bit ambitious for me. However, now that I've done it, I feel much more confident and the results are well worth the extra effort. I highly recommend this recipe. Even my mom and dad gave it their approval!

Nursery pictures

We have finished the nursery for all practical purposes. We are still planning on getting a new mobile for the crib, a new changing pad cover, and probably a new ceiling fan, but otherwise, we are finished. We've had the room together for a couple of weeks now, but I'm just getting around to posting the pics. Since we have two unoccupied bedrooms, we had the movers set up the nursery from the time we moved in. And, because the room is so similar to Lily's nursery in Baltimore, it was really easy to configure the furniture. So, we essentially only had to paint and add some new decorations!

The theme of the room is "the seashore". We wanted the walls to be a sand-like color and decorate with light blue and white for a beachy feel. The bedding has little seahorses on it, and we found two pictures that I really love to coordinate with the bedding design.

All the furniture is from Lily's nursery, as is the lamp, the wipes holder, the CD player, and Terra's picture. We just added some nautical items to continue the theme of the room this time.

This "Family" collage we also had in Lily's room, but we never got a picture of my dad as a baby until now! Baby pictures (from upper left, going across): my mom, me, Carl's mom; (second row): my dad, Carl, Carl's dad.

One of the features that I love about this room is that it has two entrances. The door on the left is the main access to the room, and the doorway that Terra is standing in leads directly to our bedroom. This makes middle-of-the-night trips to the nursery all the more convenient (assuming we can get this one to sleep in the crib!) :)

Tis the season

On Friday, Lily and I went to pick peaches. She had so much fun that we decided to pick blackberries on Saturday, with daddy this time. Thank goodness that Carl went with us because he had some mad skills when it came to finding the ripe blackberries. We went at the end of the day on Saturday so the bushes had been pretty well picked over, but we managed to find 3 lbs. of ripe, delicious blackberries (of which Carl found about 2 3/4 lbs). Now we are looking forward to whipping up some yummy baked goods with our freshly picked fruits!

Lily found several "lucky berries" (as she called them) which were half red and half black. :)

The fruits of our labor

Tori and Sophia visit the Lou!

My college bud, Tori, came to visit us with her 22-month-old, Sophia. We were so happy that they made the trek from Kansas City to see us! We had a fun, jam-packed three days together and can't wait to see them again (hopefully soon) in their neck of the woods!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Playtime with daddy

New name clues

Week 24 clue: A popular trend in baby names is to use a last name as a first name, but the name we have chosen is not a last-name-turned-first-name.

Week 25 clue: The name has less letters than Lillian.

Walking in Memphis

We just returned from a short trip to see Angela in Memphis. It was the first time that I have visited Memphis, and it was great. We look forward to many trips in the future to take in all that the city has to offer. It turns out that it was great timing too because Angela got word that she is now officially licensed as a physical therapist and starts work at her incredible job at St. Jude's Hospital on Monday!!! Congratulations Angela!

We went to the Memphis Zoo on Tuesday. I really enjoy visiting different zoos and seeing the unique features that each one has to offer. I liked this zoo because it was organized by countries/regions from which the animals originate. This carousel was in the China area and featured animals, including fanciful creatures like this dragon, from that country.

In the Northern Territory, they had sea lions, polar bears and bald eagles. Kids could sit in the bubble shown above and feel like they were right in the water with the sea lions. Too cool!

Lily and Angela posing for a pic in the Northern Territory

You can't go to Memphis and not get some BBQ! Here Lily is working on a heaping serving of mac 'n cheese. Needless to say, the pulled pork was awesome. We had to bring home some of their sauce for some homemade BBQ later this week. Yumm-y!

Hanging with Aunt Angela at home. Thanks for the great visit, Angela! We can't wait to come back to see you!!!

Weekend recap

This weekend was all about R & R for the Deetz household. On Friday, Carl, Lily and I went swimming all afternoon and then went out for dinner together. After a late nap (for all of us!), we went to see our community fireworks display. We missed seeing fireworks last year, so this is the first time that Lily has really seen them. She really liked all the different colors and configurations. I have to say that it was a pretty good display for a small town.

Hanging out with daddy pre-show

We sat on a hill overlooking the fireworks site (right by the church)

Enjoying the night

On Saturday, we were supposed to go to a family get-together but a rainy day called for a change of plans. So, we hung out at home together with one rule: do nothing productive all day. It was a great family day with lots of lounging, movie marathons, games, and pretend play. Lily likes to pretend that she is the baby lion, Carl is the daddy lion, and they have to build dens to protect themselves from the hyena (Terra).

Today we watched Wimbledon together--a fantastic game, by the way. Lily and Carl were cheering for Federer while I remained true to country on this patriotic weekend. ;) Below is a short video of our little tennis fan watching the game.

The Name Game

Since we reveal the baby's gender early on, we like to keep the name a surprise until the end. This is not kosher with some members of our family though, especially my mom who is on a personal mission to discover the baby's name ASAP. So, I promised my mom & sister that this time around, we would give clues to the name to keep it fun and test others' powers of deduction. We decided on one clue per week, starting with week 20. Since we are now at 23 weeks, we have given 4 clues so far. And here they are:

• Week 20 clue: The name does not start with L. Many people were guessing names like Luke, Liam, and Leo to go with our little Lily. While these names are cute, we have decided on a name that does not begin with L.
• Week 21 clue: It is a name that does not lend itself to a nickname.
• Week 22 clue: The name begins with one of same letters as someone in my immediate family. This narrows the possibilities to: A, E, F, J, K, or S.
• Week 23 clue: It is not a family name on either side. In fact, I don't know anyone personally (friends or family) who bears this name.

*I must add the disclaimer that we are still only 90% sure of the name and reserve the right to change the name up until delivery time. :)

Also, I have to add a congratulations to Carl who is, as of today, a second-year resident! Woo-hoo!