Twenty-Three & Twenty-Four.

How far along? 24 weeks.

How big is baby? Growing and stuff. After the initial excitement with all! The! Growing! the baby will sort of just plod along happily, growing steadily. He’s about a foot and a pound, give or take a bit. Papaya-sized, apparently.

Total weight gain: +12 lbs. I'm starting to feel BIG. (And there are still 16 weeks of growing!)

Maternity Clothes? Yes. I’m currently lusting after these  – I have the khaki version and now they are on SALE.  Also! You guys, I had the greatest idea ever - I've been using my belly band as a sort of tank top under low-cut shirts that doesn't bunch up or add bulk. (I got the idea after I saw these on The View.) Shirts that used to be perfectly classy are suddenly inappropriate thanks to this annoying cleavage - not anymore!

Stretch marks? No. Though I did have a mini-freak out about a mark on my boob. (It’s all good – just an imprint from my bra. Calm down, everyone. Or, just me.)

Sleep: Good enough – my standards of good sleep are definitely adjusting, which is actually a good thing, as I’m able to function without having to get eight hours of sleep straight now. This will come in handy in a few months, I imagine.

Movement: Pretty much all the time. It’s still really awesome, but I think I’m so used to it now that it can be almost distracting. I just want to spend the time to enjoy feeling him move, but instead I have things to do. Like, what’s that about? Psh. Life is getting in the way. My little sister, Emmie, and Mike both got to experience a few kicks this weekend – which is nice, because I want to share what it’s like. I want to be all, “See?? He totally kicks! All the time! I’m not making things up!” I can tell that he’s growing, because the movement is getting higher – it used to always be around my lower belly, but now I’m getting some action near my ribs and belly button.

Food cravings: Instant oatmeal, these gems, and various other sweet things. Particularly vanilla frozen yogurt with chocolate chips and peanut butter. Yum.

What I miss: Not using a billion pillows to sleep at night. Waking up all night long to shove pillows between my knees, under my head, and various other places is tiring. If I decide to turn over (which I do a dozen times a night), it's a Big Ordeal. By the time I've actually made the move from left to right, I can't fall back asleep. Before getting married, I was a one pillow kinda girl - now I'm a four pillow kinda girl. I am getting greedy.

What I am looking forward to: Going to the beach. In a mere SEVENTEEN DAYS. I don’t care if I’m pale and round, I am going to be SO RELAXED afterwards. Last year was a ton of fun, and I expect this year to be equally awesome. (Not really pregnancy related, but sort of because I have a question to ask you about it. SEE BELOW.)

Milestones: I joked about baby’s first trip to a bar, since we went to one for my friend’s birthday (don’t worry, no smoking Ohio’s bars). I also had my first baby shower, which turned out to be just delightful. Lots of delicious food, fun people, and adorable baby clothes made for a wonderful party. And my fears about attention? I mostly received money as gifts, so there were very few gifts to open. Less pressure! Score. I also received my first Happy Mother’s Day wishes and even got an (amazing!) gift from my husband. AND we made our very first baby-related purchase! An infant carrier was on sale for $20 at Babysteals. When it arrived, I promptly ran into the bathroom and modeled it in front of the mirror, imaging a little baby tucked inside. It's awesome.

Oh, and THIS: Gas. That's all I have to say about that. (If you know me? Pretend like I never said this. It'd just be awkward.)


SEND HALP: Like I said, I'm going to the beach soon. I'm not sure what to do about beach wear - should I just wear my bikini like normal (it's not a string bikini by any means - more of a v-neck halter) even though I have a big belly now? Should I spend the money to get a proper maternity swimsuit? Or just a swimsuit top to go with my regular bottoms? Part of me cringes at the idea of spending money on a swimsuit that I'll only wear a few times. Another part of me cringes at the idea of how The Public will react to seeing my swollen bare belly parading around. You tell me, WHAT SHOULD I DO? I am not above putting a poll in here. I cannot figure out how to put a poll IN the post, so just vote over there in my sidebar - okay?