Adventures in Chicago

Since we've been here we've been pretty busy! We've...

tried out some new cuisine (just look at that concentration!):

 

checked out the local park:

experienced some pretty cool weather (this was all in one day):

tested out the local beach (literally 2 blocks north of where we're temporarily staying):

(Like our make-shift "beach" toys?)

tested every ounce of Mommy and Daddy's patience...

been so darn cute that Mommy and Daddy can't get mad...

and grown a baby (it's hard to see from this angle just how big my belly is; I'll have to have Paul take another picture)!

Here's the latest baby update:

• How far along: 31 weeks and 2 days (sorry it's been so long since I've done a baby update!)
• Baby’s heart rate: in the 140's - exactly where it should be
• Total weight gain: 30-ish pounds
• Maternity clothes: absolutely nothing else
• Sleep: it takes me 4 pillows to get comfortable (2 under my head, one at my back to keep me from rolling onto my back and one between my legs), most nights I get about 5-6 hours of sleep and I'm either up super late or I'll be awake for about 2 hours in the middle of the night - I guess it's this baby's way of easing me into the full amount of sleep deprivation he'll cause
• Best moment this week: when Paul told me that for 8 months pregnant I was doing great (with all the physically-demanding LIFE we've been experiencing these past few weeks/months)
• Movement: constantly, especially when I eat chocolate. :) This baby likes to stretch his legs about 5 times a day and my belly takes on the weirdest, lop-sided shape I've ever seen. I'll try to catch a picture of it. He also gets the hiccups about 20 times a day, just like Ilana did when she was inside, so my belly twitches for 5-10 minutes every once in a while.
• Food cravings: more thirsty than anything, the other day I picked up some orange-strawberry-banana juice ... YUM!!!
• What I miss: being able to hold Ilana close and hug Paul the normal way and walking without being winded
• Milestones: this baby is establishing a routine of regular awake and regular sleep times. I'm starting to pick up on it.
• Belly button: almost completely stretched out and flat :(
• Weekly Wisdom: don't stress, just know that I won't get everything done, but I can get done what I can do right now...unless I can sleep :)

Paul's been really busy hitting the ground running at work, but we are enjoying having him home in the evenings and not have to read/write/research or in general be a student. It's nice to have a "semi-normal" life. :) I say to myself "oh, this is what this is like!" a lot. He's able to help bathe and play with Ilana a lot more than he used to be able to, which is SO nice! Moses is still uneasy with all the transitions, but in a week we'll be in our apartment (oh yeah, we also found a place to call home for a year or so). So, hopefully once we get settled there he'll settle down a bit. We're getting used to this!
-H