15 Weeks!!!

This feels like such a milestone to me. 15 weeks. 15?! How did I get here?? I found out when I was a little over 4 weeks pregnant. So I've known I was pregnant for almost 11 weeks, almost 3 months! I LOVE waking up on Fridays (well some of it might be because it's always payday, for one of us!) so I can read my updates from my pregnancy apps about what's happening to baby this week :) One of my apps told me today is 175 days until my due date! I told J that, and he couldn't believe it. It doesn't seem so far away now! From the looks of me, I am definitely pregnant. It still looks like fat when I sit down, but I'm sure my time will come. I can't stop staring at my stomach (which is not a huge change...usually I just stare at myself in general! I can't help it, being this beautiful :P) and every day I try to see if there's a huge change... In next few weeks, I should be able to start feeling baby on the inside, and I cannot WAIT! It's a little ridiculous how much of my mind is consumed with all-things-baby. I get pretty obsessive over things, and this has been no exception! I'm always asking J the silliest questions, too. We have the same parenting basics, but someone will mention something on a blog or board and it'll get my mind thinking. Last night it was, "Will we spank our kids?" Sometimes it's "Will our kids be smart?" This craziness in my head is ridiculous! I hope none of my friends/ coworkers are mind-readers, because they do NOT want to know all that's going on in there.

I am feeling much better since last weekend. Still a little congested, but I'll make it :) This is my last weekend of not having to work...probably until baby comes! It's a strange thing to think about. I plan on making the most of it, though :) We have a guest room that is currently filled with random crap we don't use. Mostly stuff that needs to be donated. So I plan on taking all of that stuff to the donation center tomorrow. J said once the room is clean and neat, I can start buying baby stuff to store in there! :) I am a member of an online "community" for women who are also due in July. And pretty much 9/10 ladies are more prepared for their babies than I am for mine! Since we only have 175 days left, I wanna start doing SOMEthing. Not tooooooo much, like finishing the nursery or anything, but just a little here and there. So we aren't hit with a huge list of things we still need closer to July. We'll see, though.

J and I have also started looking at houses to move to, still renting. We wanted to stay with our realtor, but most of the houses they have just aren't very nice looking, or are in bad parts of town. They were also going to let us move a month before our current lease is over, which would be nice considering how big I'm getting. We went on another realtor's website last night and found at least four that we loved, so we think it'd be worth it to wait the extra month and move at the end of May to a house we REALLY like, and could stay in for a couple more years until we have enough saved up to buy a house. We just have to go talk to this potential new realtor, and see if they'd let us look at the houses!

How big is baby?: The size of an orange, apple, or baseball!
Stretch marks?: still stretching and marking away :-/
Maternity clothes?: Found more shirts I already own that I can wear! Pre-pregnancy they were too tight on me and hugged the wrong "curves", if ya know what I mean. But they're perfect for now! Still going to have to get some more work outfits soon, though.
Sleep: Same semi-normalcy. My boobs still hurt, which makes it hard to sleep on my side. But that's the only way I'm comfortable... I have a feeling as I get bigger I might have to kick the husband out of the bed, though. :P I like being able to stretch out!
Best moment this week: Definitely Tuesday. I got the promotion I've been wanting for FOREVER! I can't shoot it from the rooftops, like I want to, but since no one really reads my blog...haha. VERY excited that all my hard work over the last few months has paid off. J and I are excited that one of us will have a steady paycheck for once. It's not officially official until the 13th, but I will be doing basically the exact same thing I've been doing since November, except working more consistent hours. I am very blessed to have the job I do, and my bosses are wonderful people. Unfortunately, I won't qualify for any paid maternity leave, because I won't have had been full time for a year when I give birth. But we'll make something work! Maybe it's time Marisa learned how to save...
Movement: none yet! I can still feel where baby is, which is cool. but can't feel baby moving. I'm starting to wonder if I've been feeling the right thing all this time, though. I feel like baby is supposed to be creeping closer and closer to my belly button, and I think she's been in basically the same spot for the last 7 weeks or so...hmm.
Food cravings: starting to crave pickles more and more! And Capri Suns are soooooooooo good.
Gender: Still feel strongly that it's a girl in there. But we'll know for sure on the 15th! J and I have scheduled (okay, I did the scheduling...he just said "yes, dear") a full day of stuff :) After our u/s we're taking a tour of our hospital's birth center, and then we're going to start our BRU (Babies R Us) Registry. I got a flyer in the mail for a $10 gift card, just for registering! So I'm happy :) We might plan something else for that day (u/s isn't until 3:30!), but I don't wanna overwhelm the husband...
Labor Signs: No thank you.
Belly Button in or out?: In and looking normal. As normal as an off-center belly button can be :(
What I miss: Jimmy John's mostly. I did have a BLT from there earlier this week, but it just wasn't the same as my turkey sandwich...I am definitely asking someone to bring me one as soon as baby is out!
What I am looking forward to: Obviously, the gender ultrasound. And I found out today that J's grandparents that live in WV are coming to visit next week!!!!! VERY excited about that one :) His grandpa reminds me a LOT of my dad's dad, who passed away a few years ago. They were both Baptist preachers, and both very handsome :) His grandpa married us last September, and they are just very special people :)
I am always touching my belly and talking to baby. I can't wait til this all gets even more real...