24 weeks, Yay! He’s made it. If, by some awful chance Britt was born now, he’d have a pretty good chance of surviving.

This will be a mini post, because there has been a lot that happened in the past week–namely Thanksgiving and Britt’s first baby shower, but I don’t have pictures yet. I’ve also gotten requests for updated pictures of me and my growing belly, so when I get home tonight I’ll try to remember to download them, or at least get my camera so I can do it here at work tomorrow.

So, in this post, I’ll talk about our trip to Utah. It was pretty fun. We did a lot of running around on Wednesday. My sister did my hair for me for my birthday, and we prepped for “the big meal.” On Thanksgiving day, we watched the Macy’s parade–NBC is by far the best at showing it–and finished meal prep. We had it at our house, so we didn’t have to go anywhere. My aunt’s family came, and my cousin had her baby with her–of course, like where else would she be–so, I got to see her for the first time since she was a month old. She’s adorable!

The food was delicious, of course, and even though I knew I shouldn’t, I ate a lot. I paid for it later. We went to a movie, and during the whole thing I felt like I wanted to die, my stomach was so unhappy with me. Oh well…it tasted good. I’m still getting used to the fact that my stomach can’t stretch like it used to.

Friday Mark and I got to attend the temple with my friend Leslie. It was a great experience. I was even able to sit by her during the session, so that made it even better. I’m so happy for her.

Saturday was great. My aunt Teri and cousin Cassie hosted a baby shower for Britt and me, and it was really fun. There were so many people there–a lot of whom I haven’t seen in a really long time, so it was great being able to visit with them. Britt is going to look adorable in all of his cute clothes, love his soft blankets and I’ll love using the other accessories that he probably won’t appreciate.

At the doctor’s office yesterday she said I’m the right size, and he has a good heartbeat. He started kicking while she had the doppler on my stomach, and she could see it when he kicked. Mark heard it on the doppler. I was laying back to far I guess, so I didn’t see. The rest of the day he moved a lot, and I kept trying to see my stomach move–but as soon as I’d look down, he’d stop. Funny Britt, really funny.

I think this picture is week 23….

This week’s post is a little early, since we’re flying to Utah tonight for Thanksgiving. I figured I’d be busy tomorrow, and probably not get around to it.

Our life this past week hasn’t been too exciting. We’ve been getting more and more settled into our place. I actually cleaned out all of my Mary Kay products and “supplemental items” so we could figure out where Britt’s stuff is going to go. And, we finally got rid of our donation items–it’s a great feeling to be moving toward less clutter. Mark has taken to organizing his cds, dvds, videos and computer software, so it looks like our place has been taken over a bit, but he’s making progress so I’m trying very hard not to freak out.

We are very grateful for the innumerable blessings that we have. I asked Mark what he was thankful for, and the first thing he said was me. I am so thankful for him too. He is so supportive, helpful and patient with me. This morning as I was running around late for work, he made sure I brought all of the things I needed, but almost left behind. What would I do without him?

Our families who are so willing to help with anything we need and give advice and encouragement at any time.

The gospel–it is the focal point around which our lives turn. It gives our lives purpose, meaning, and goals to work toward; without it we would be lost.

We have great friends who are fun, helpful, encouraging and a great support. We know we can rely on them if we ever need anything.

It is also a great blessing that we were able to find a bigger apartment in a great area for a great price. The added space is really great, and we have fantastic neighbors. And, living in this place wouldn’t be possible without the great jobs that both of us have. Mark’s company would hardly be able to work without him, and I have really great bosses that make work a lot more fun.

Mark said he is thankful for talents, and that is one I had forgotten about. He has a lot of outward talents, like music, art and doing things with computers and technology. Mine are more hidden and I tend to overlook them, but I know they are there and I am thankful for them as well.

And, last, but definitely not least, we are grateful that we are on the road to parenthood. We’re thankful for Britt and look forward to his coming–seriously, we can hardly wait. I realized last night too that he is already a part of our lives–especially mine, and that I am already responsible for him and his well being. I guess since I don’t smoke, drink, eat sushi or anything like that I didn’t have to make major changes to make sure he was healthy. But, last night I was making cookies for a work party and kind of wanted to just eat the dough, or cooked cookies for dinner–I used to do this in college. Then I realized that cookies weren’t a good dinner for him and he’d be getting hungry, and needed the nutrients a healthy meal would bring. So, I made a real meal, because I’m already his mommy and he needs me. I guess I’ve been making these “healthy” meal choices since the beginning, but this is the first time it hit me so much.

So, Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh–and this week Britt is starting to get more fat on his body. He can also hear what we’re saying–so I’m trying to cut down on yelling at the stupid drivers LA has. He’s getting more muscle too, so his kicks are getting harder. He likes to move around at night–and Daddy can feel him too!

Sorry no photo–there aren’t really good ones for this week.

First Change: Our website layout and colors. I didn’t mention it last week because, frankly, I didn’t know it was going to happen. When Mark put in his cool little picture thing, some internet browsers–IE 6 to be exact–made the page shrink every time you rolled over the picture–bug problem. So, he changed it. I guess it was about time. Since it’s not really our wedding web site any more, it didn’t really need to keep matching the wedding colors. So, hope you like it. I’m sure it will change again in the future–Mark’s been wanting to change it completely for a while, but hasn’t gotten around to it.

Second Change–I now feel big. I look in the mirror and it’s really obvious I’m pregnant. I guess I can’t complain because last week I finished my 5th month, and I am now embarking on the 6th month of this crazy, fun, tiring, fattening and exciting adventure, but still.

It’s becoming more real as the weeks go by.  Only 18 more weeks and he’ll be here. We’re a little more prepared–we’ve chosen the essentials: crib, car seat, stroller. And we’re starting to stock him up on clothes for next fall and winter–they’re on sale now, it’s great!

Last Friday we were at the mall getting a gift for someone else, but Mark saw a monkey he thought Brit would like–and I’m sure he will. It’s so incredibly soft we couldn’t stop petting it. We decided it has to be put away until he gets here or it will be shabby!

In another store, there was a sale, so Mark picked out a shirt and pair of jeans for him. I liked another pair of pants better, but he wanted this to be a “daddy outfit.” I thought it was so cute, how could I argue.

The next task is to get things cleaned up in Brit’s room so we have a place to put things, including him! It’s pretty scary in there right now, but maybe this Saturday we’ll finally make the trip to Salvation Army I’ve been wanting to make since before we moved.

Third Change: Getting use to friendly neighbors. In our last place, not so much. This one, they go out of their way to talk to you. There is one family that has kids, and we were invited for cake on Sunday night for their birthdays. Of the 6 apartments, only one man wasn’t there because he was running errands or something. It was fun to get to know our neighbors better. We found out the other couple that moved in at the same time as us are devout Christians, The family is Jewish, along with the single man, and then there’s us. It’s rare in LA to find so many religious people living in the same building. But, that makes it really nice too. Tonya, the mom, offered to let us use her bassinet for Brit, and her son’s clothes–he’s 1. That was really nice too.

Fourth Change: Little Brit. He’s like a little person more and more. This week his eyes are developed–but still shut–and he’s beginning to grow his lung sacs.  He’s 1 pound and nearly a foot long! And his daddy can sometimes feel him kicking and moving around!

22 week picture:

So, some of you have been requesting pictures of the pregnant me. Luckily for you, we’ve been taking a picture every Sunday since week 4–when we found out.

It’s interesting, because when I look down at my stomach, or look in the mirror I see a much bigger stomach and feel much fatter than the picture portrays. It kind of makes me feel better.

So far I’ve gained about 6 pounds. I looks like a lot more, I know. And, in the morning I’m a lot smaller than I am at night, I guess from all the water and food I’ve eaten throughout the day. Roll over the picture to see the “Then and Now.”

Here’s the ultrasound picture we got on Halloween. In case you don’t see him at first, he’s on his side, with his head on the right side.