18 Weeks.

What a chilly and rainy Tuesday! Gracie and I spent the morning at The Natural Science Center. It wasn't busy at all, I think we literally saw 3 other kids. It was fun for her to kind of have the place to herself. She just did her thing! I had a craving for Mexican, so we stopped by our favorite Mexican restaurant for an early lunch. She loves their cheese dip and rice! She gets this from me, not her daddy. ;)

(I took this a few days ago. She was ready to paint!)

I'm 18 weeks pregnant today! Our baby is now the length of a bell pepper, almost 6 inches! Only 154 days to go! I'm still feeling really good. I have occasional heartburn and I'm a moody momma! This is no different than my first pregnancy. :)

I'm almost certain that I gained at least 5 pounds...yesterday. I don't remember having this type of appetite with Gracie. I try to go for the good stuff first--an orange, strawberries, crackers and cheese--but I've found that I'm totally addicted to the Quakers Chewy Granola Bars...and can easily eat 2 or more at a time. Any flavor will do, but peanut butter and chocolate chip is my favorite! Lucky for me, we just bought a variety box at Costco. It looks like they should last a while... I did read that an increase in appetite is common at this time, so looks like I'm right on point!

I'm still feeling lots of baby kicks, and they are getting stronger and more frequent. I've been surprised at how much I'm feeling this early on, but I do remember my doctor telling me I would possibly feel this baby sooner this time around. It may also be that I'm more aware this time, since I've experienced those movements before. In other news, Sean has also felt the baby kick! He thought he did a couple of nights ago, this baby will throw a pretty powerful punch from time to time, considering its size, but last night he definitely felt the baby. :) Part of what I love about pregnancy is being able to share what I've been experiencing for a while with my husband.

I'm still stubbornly wearing my regular jeans, although I did break out a pair of my Gap maternity jeans over the weekend (I'd forgotten how comfy that wasteband is!). I guess I'm in an awkward size stage at the moment. My normal clothes are getting noticeable tighter, but the maternity jeans won't stay up...which is an issue, obviously.

I went looking through older pregnancy pictures and found one of me at 18 weeks with Gracie.

This second picture is my attempt at a belly picture this morning. I'll have to get a better shot when someone can take the picture for me!

I think the bellies are still looking similar!

Thursday is the big day for us! We'll hopefully have a cooperative little one and should be able to find out the gender. I'm looking forward to sharing the details of our ultrasound and maybe even a picture. :)