Halloween + 26 week baby update

Before I start on the post, I wanted to say that yesterday was our 4 year anniversary and it was a GREAT day! Because it fell on a weekday this year Richard had to work and we had a childbirth class which both took up most the day! The only thing we had time to do was go out to dinner, so we are going to celebrate and party this whole weekend! I thought I would post about our anniversary after our weekend festivities! One thing I kept thinking over and over yesterday was how when we were first married I thought there was no way I could love Richard any more. But every single year I fall more and more in love with him in ways I NEVER dreamed possible! Every year I think that there is no way I could love him anymore but with each new year I do! I am SOO incredibly glad I married my BESTEST best friend 4 years ago yesterday. I have never been happier in my life and I never dreamed I could ever be this happy.

I know that both of these updates are late in coming (considering I am 26 1/2 weeks), but better late than never :) I have been meaning to write this post but never had time. So that is why it is late! This may be kind of long so I apologize ahead of time.

1. Halloween this year was a lot of fun! We were both still kind of sick so we didn't do a whole lot, but it was still fun! On Thursday we went to our ward halloween party. Richard had had a meeting for work that ended right before the party started so he said that after the meeting we would decide if we were feeling good enough to go. At this point we still had no idea what we were going to dress up as either. So he came home and said he wanted to go, but that we should go as sick people! We decked out in P.J.s and bathrobes, carrying around a thermometer, tissue's and Richard had a mask hanging from his ear. We looked genuinely sick because that is exactly what we were! :) We didn't stay for long because we were both tired, but it was still fun to see everyones costumes! On halloween we vegged most of the day and then we had my sister and her husband over for pizza and cookies! They had the COOLEST costumes! They had gone all out as super heroes! Caitie was Lightening queen and Jake was Jake Justice

Richard had gotten his facemasks in the mail for his early birthday present so he decided to deck himself out as a U.F.C fighter for Halloween night. I was the least creative, but the most comfortable! ;)

After that Richard and I went to some of our best friends The Bennion's for a Halloween party! Everyone brought yummy food and we watched a scary movie! We watched the edited version of the Strangers! We all got genuinely scared and then after the movie we just sat around and talked/told stories/tried to solve moral dilemmas... random I know but when you put two guys (Richard and one of the guys there) who love logics/philosophy/law that is what you get. We had a couple of interesting discussions ;) It was a way fun night!!

2. Where has time gone??? I only have (a little less than) 1 1/2 weeks left of the second trimester (if you say 28 weeks is the 1st week of the third trimester)!! So that means this is my last update of the second trimester!! wow. Before any updates, here is a belly picture from today:

26 weeks 4 days

These last few weeks have been pretty dang good. Here is what has made them good:

--I have figured how to make my back & hip pain be less!! When I sit down to eat or use the computer or watch a movie or whatever, I sit on the couch and not our hard(er) dinner chairs! Also, I have been doing prenatal Pilates with a friend and walking which actually helps! And when I clean the house or are on my feet for awhile, I wear supportive shoes! So that helps a lot.

--My Eczema is gone!! Hooray! At my last appointment I talked to my doc about it and he recommended an over the counter lotion that has made it go away! It makes me so excited!

--I was having a hard time sleeping because I was always running to the bathroom and I just decided to drink all my water during the day and so I have limited my bathroom runs! There are still a lot of them, but at least I am sleeping a little better! :)

But these last few weeks I have had a new visitor which has resulted in my making a new best friend:

About a week ago as we were falling asleep I made the mistake of saying to Richard "I am so glad that I haven't had a problem with heartburn yet during this pregnancy!" and I was jinxed. That night I had such bad heartburn that I slept only about 1 hour from the time we went to bed until 4am. I was miserable. It was so bad it even made me puke! Because I was "so lucky to never have had a problem with heartburn" we didn't have any Tums. So needless to say, we automatically got some the next day. After making a few chances to my habits like not eating an hour before going to bed and taking Tums with dinner and as I fall asleep, I haven't had any problems since.

And here is my favorite story of the past couple weeks: The other day (probably about 25 weeks) I was sitting in our recliner watching William move all over the place. Just as I thought "I should get up and grab our camera to record this" he stuck a hand or a foot out and it made my stomach stick out about AN INCH and it stayed like that for several seconds!!!! It was the coolest but craziest thing!

Ok one more funny story. So I always thought that the "pregnancy brain" was not true until I experienced it myself! Holy cow! Yesterday I was going to wish my brother happy birthday on facebook and was going to write out the happy birthday song. For the LIFE OF ME I could not remember how it went!! I had to ask my friend how it went. Wow! I have definitely been experiencing "pregnancy brain" lately and I just have to laugh!

The other day we also got our car seat!!! It made it all so real! Our friends had bought a really nice car seat from one of the best companies and only used it for a couple months! They are having their second baby soon (yay!!) and one of their relatives bought them a brand new car seat so they just gave it to us! I LOVE it! It's totally cuter than the one I was going to buy! The color is awesome and I love how it isn't as bulky as most of the other car seats!

Thanks so much Miriam!!!!! :)

So here is the official word about week 26 from babycenter:

"The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days."

And my favorite part from whattoexpect:

"And this week, his eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, start to open. Of course, there's not much to see in there, but if your baby spots a bright light (or hears a loud noise) near your belly, you may notice an increase in fetal activity. (Hey, I'm in here, Mommy!)"

I had an experience with what the last thing they said on whattoexpect.com! The other day I made a...loud noise...and I felt William jump! It was funny because it totally startled him and I could feel is whole body jump! opps...

Sorry for the HUGE post. O one more thing: we are (almost) totally healthy again! I say almost because we still have some of the yuckies left over from our colds...those things that take a while to leave. But, we are glad to be feeling better! Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)