23 Weeks

Here's a 23 week bump shot. As you can see, I'm getting bigger and looking more and more pregnant every day. The baby is getting more active and really kicking away. Yesterday I was laying on the couch with Max, and Max was resting up against my belly when the baby gave him a nice big kick. This surprised the heck out of Max because he turned around and gave me this look that said, "what was that?" It was really cute.

Jim and I went on a tour of the Maternity Floor at CMC yesterday. It was really helpful for us to learn where to go, and to be able to picture what everything is going to look like on the big day. We had never been there before, but everything was really nice and looked very new. There were even a few babies in the nursery during our tour. I was impressed by the nurses and how knowledgeable and helpful they were. Jim on the other hand, seemed to be most impressed that all of the rooms are equipped with Wi-Fi and flat screen tvs.

Happy Father's Day!

In honor of Father's Day, I thought it would be fitting to post a picture of Jim as a baby with his father around the same age as Jim will be when our baby is born. I believe this pic was taken of the two of them sometime in 1978, and his dad had it done as a surprise gift for his mom. Sweet right? It's hard to believe that next year at this time Jim will be celebrating his first Father's Day as a father. And even though he spent his one and only Father's Day as a father-to-be in Las Vegas on a boys weekend, we still wish him a Happy Father's Day! So to Jim and all the other fathers out there - Happy Father's Day!

With Jim in Las Vegas, I spent the weekend with my companion Max. We spent alot of time cleaning and organizing the nursery, and Max was my little helper. He is so inquisitive and really likes to be right in the action. He sat by my side the whole time I worked and followed me every time I moved or left the room. He sniffed every box I opened or packed and watched each thing I did with a look on his face that said, "please let me help." I feel like he gives me an idea of what it will be like to have a toddler around.

I had my monthly prenatal checkup on Friday, and everything looks good. The baby is moving and kicking like crazy now, and Dr. Wicker said I'm just cruising right through this pregnancy. Let's hope the next few months go the same way.

I'm Addicted

Last weekend Jim and I went to Chicago for his cousin Ryan's wedding. We reminded ourselves that this is most likely our last big trip before the baby arrives so we better enjoy it. Come October we won't be able to just pick up and fly off for the weekend anymore. In the past year we've been to Chicago, New York, Las Vegas twice, Seattle, Florida, Philadelphia, the beach, Buffalo a few times, and some other various locations. We know that won't be happening again any time soon. When we got to Chicago we decided to make the most of it, so we went into the city to enjoy the sights, but what did we do? We went shopping for the baby! I'm not sure how this happened, but we ended up coming home with almost an entire extra suitcase full of baby clothes. Now some of these clothes we acquired were gifts, but the majority of them were bought by mom and dad. We usually come home with a suitcase full of gifts for Max, but I think that is probably a thing of the past as well. Poor little dog! I'm not sure how people resist the urge to buy these little clothes. They are so small and adorable that I cannot stop. Not to mention that they all seem so inexpensive compared to adult clothes. And they are inexpensive, it's just that when you buy 8 to 10 $12 outfits at a time, things start to add up quickly. Now every time I go shopping, I pick up a couple of outfits for the baby. I'm addicted, and it's really bad. I keep telling myself I am not going to buy any more, but then I see a newborn velour track suit, and I just can't help myself. The little guy's closet is already filling up, and we still have quite a few months to go. Thankfully we are not having a girl. Girl clothes are so much cuter than boy clothes, and I cannot even begin to imagine the damage that I could do then.


Despite overloading on baby clothes, we had a wonderful weekend in Evanston/Chicago. The wedding was alot of fun, and we got to spend time with members of both Jim's family and my family. Here's a picture of the proud parents to be at the wedding.

It's Official

I guess it's official. I've finally "popped" and now have a visible baby bump. I found this out yesterday when another one of my male co-workers asked me, "Are you pregnant?" I told him I was in fact pregnant, and his response was, "I figured you probably were because you are in too good of shape to have such a big beer gut." You gotta love men.

Here's a 21 week bump shot.

"He's gonna be a soccer player, oh yes he is"

For those of you who haven't seen Billy Madison or not so nice friends of mine over the last 10 years, you may not know that this is a somewhat famous quote from the movie and what friends used to say to me while rubbing my stomach. Either way, we have some kicking going on in the Lilley house. No, it is not Christy finally kicking me out after coming to her senses. At 10:39 Tuesday evening Christy called me up to the bedroom because she said the little guy was kicking. I "rushed" up there, and after putting my hand on her belly for a while, felt several little kicks. It was pretty darn cool. Now most of you who know me, know that my child will never play soccer. But it is nice to know that if baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, football, track, badminton, tennis, swimming, etc... don't work out, we have his kicking skills to fall back on.

Things are going well. Furniture and clothes are being purchased, child care is being discussed, and advice is being sought. I try to compare it to our wedding but this is a much more exciting time whereas that was filled with uncertainty and nervousness. This is another day, another exciting story, building to a great crescendo. I am really looking forward to the next 4 months. And if you haven't seen her recently, Christy is the cutest pregnant chick you will ever see. I promise, you won't be disappointed when you see my little baby mama.

Halfway There

Last week we hit the 20 week mark. It's hard to believe that I am halfway finished with this pregnancy. In some ways it seems like the past 20 weeks have gone by quickly, but in other ways it seems like I've been pregnant forever. Hopefully the next 20 weeks will go by just as quickly.

This is a pic of my 20 week bump. I'm definitely getting bigger and rounder, but apparently it's not obvious yet to everyone that I'm pregnant. Today a male co-worker of mine who doesn't know I'm pregnant asked me, "Did you shrink your shirt?" I wasn't sure how to respond to this question, so I just said, "Yes. Yes I did." I guess this was his way of telling me that he noticed I am getting bigger. Hopefully in the next few weeks it will become more obvious that I am actually pregnant and not just having trouble with my laundry.

Pregnancy Brain

Well apparently that feeling of memory loss where I walk into a room to get something and then completely forget what I went for, or go to yell at Greg and call him four different names before I get the right one, has a name. It is pregnancy brain, and it is recognized as an actual symptom of pregnancy. According to WebMD, there are a number of theories why pregnant women experience this loss of memory. One of the theories includes brain shrinkage. They say that the brain shrinks 3-5% during pregnancy, which takes approximately six months after birth to return to normal. Another theory is that the brain is being marinated in a huge amount of the pregnancy hormone oxytocin during pregnancy, and oxytocin has been shown to have amnesia-like effects. Others say that there is an evolutionary aspect which causes memory impairment so that women will forget about other stuff and focus on preparing for their baby. Whatever it is, it is frustrating.

Now let me give you an example of pregnancy brain. Yesterday I got into my car to go to work, and I left my purse at home. Who leaves home without her purse? It's not like it was in a strange place or out of view. It was in the same place I always leave it. Right by the door, so I have to walk right past it on my way out. My purse contains my cell phone, my id badge to get into my office, my wallet, my chapstick and pretty much everything else I need to get through the day. This wouldn't have been such a big deal if I hadn't needed to stop and get gas on my way to work. Of course I realized this as I pulled up to the gas pump and went to grab my credit card. I was already more than half way into my drive when I realized this, so there was no turning back for home. It's not like I could have called for help if I ran out of gas, so I prayed that I had enough fumes in the tank to make it to work. Luckily I made it there, but there was no way I was going to make it home. I had to ask a co-worker to take pity on me and my pregnancy brain and let me borrow $20 so I could make it home.

At least I didn't forget my lunch. Now that would have been a real tragedy.

Decisions Decisions

This weekend we ordered our crib and nursery furniture. It may seem a little early, but the salespeople told us that it could take 4 months to come in, so we figured we might as well get it done. The last thing I want is to have a baby but no crib. After debating over a few different styles and doing our research, we decided on this set by Westwood but in a darker finish. Surprisingly this was a relatively easy decision, and Jim and I actually agreed for once.

I'm just glad that by the time it comes in, I won't have to help put it together. Sometimes pregnancy has it perks! Besides, that's what Greg is for.