Real life

How far along?  26 weeks, 3 days

Total weight gain: um, yikes...17lbs--which is making my goal weight seem a little unlikely as a stopping point. Also, everyone says my belly is tiny, which begs the question: where is all of this weight going??
Maternity clothes? definitely...all other shirts are now awkwardly too short in the front
Stretch marks? no, and I am finally in a good routine of faithfully lotioning the bump in hopes that there will be no stretch marks...
Sleep:  yes please, all the time.
Best moment this week: getting down to less than 100 days until she's here!
Miss Anything? sleeping on my belly
Movement: so much
Food cravings: finally got Jimmy Johns, so I am in good shape until the next one strikes!
Anything making you queasy or sick: it is happening a lot during meals lately, but thankfully it is fleeting and usually goes away
Gender: princess, ballerina, diva, girl.
Labor Signs: not today
Symptoms: all of them...ha. There is no doubt that I am pregnant.
Belly Button in or out? I'm afraid it's happening...it is not going to stay in there for 13-14 more weeks
Wedding rings on or off? on, no problems there
Happy or Moody most of the time: :)
Looking forward to:  Friday morning at 2am--if my water doesn't break by then, it will be a victory that I made it farther than with Adelyn

This girl is so very active, loves the sound of her daddy's voice, loves to kick/punch/headbutt my right floating rib, and is starting to seem more and more like a reality instead of a far off concept.

Nothing too exciting happening around our house...we have been working hard at meal planning/budgeting/shopping wisely, and last week we did a pretty good job. We shopped today for this week's meal plan, and spent more than we hoped, but we also bought a lot of meat that should last us through the next couple of weeks as well. I got a good printable for meal planning here and am hoping to use that to be consistent with this.
Last week I made this spiced chicken for the first time, and it was good (would have been better if I had really followed the recipe instead of "winging it"...mine was a little too spicy and salty, but it's a keeper. This week I am trying beef and broccoli which I have never made before, but we are so tired of chicken...so we'll see how it goes. If it's a winner I'll share the modifications I am making to the recipe, but if you don't hear about this one again, assume it was a failure ;)

Other than that, we went to the opening game at ECU with my parents, and while it was a great game and a great victory against Appalachian State, it was also a million degrees with direct sun and no breeze. We left at halftime, still got some great sunburn, and came home totally overheated and wiped out. Go Pirates.

Adelyn did amazing for a long day being babysat by my aunt, and once again reminded us that she's actually a really good toddler. We sometimes fail to give her enough credit for how easy she is now, because she was SUCH a hard baby. My aunt said she didn't fuss once all day, and she took a two hour nap! I don't know how that happened, because as it is, she is jumping up and down in her crib saying "manamanamanamana" over and over. We must be doing something wrong at our house...

We are getting close to deployment time for Nathan, and while I can't post specifics about where/when he is going on the internet, it is getting to be soon and real and a little daunting. We have a lot of things we want to accomplish before he goes, and not nearly enough weekends/days off to make it all happen. We are working hard on our marriage, our finances, and communicating about how we are going to get through this first BIG separation...it is going to be an adventure. We also have a lot of little things to do before Baby Sweet T makes her debut in only about 3 months...eek! I'll be posting soon about the crafts I have planned to finish the girls' room. Wow, two girls. It's getting real.