27 weeks + one day

well, i have been pretty tired, bad sleep and forgetful...i forgot to take my 26 week picture and then i forgot to take my 27 week picture until the next day. so here it is.

yes, almost daily i have someone ask if i'm "about to pop" and are very very very surprised when i respond, "no, i have quite a bit to go yet." thankfully, i am in my last trimester now (just barely).

i enjoyed the second trimester, when the belly became firm and was definitely showing. but then my belly button popped WAY out (and is a little herniated i think and is painful if poked or accidentally hit) and i started feeling very self-conscious and basically unhappy with how it looked.

now a few months later, being so big, having so many people comment on it in public (some totally innocently, some are rather rude although i'm sure they dont mean to be...the best one was this man who said "you, uh, look, kind of crazy." because i had 2 kids and was so pregnant. but it was actually funny to hear that from him.) i'm feeling pretty unattractive and helpless because its just my body's way of carrying a baby...

one good thing about the way i carry is that the baby seems to be outside of my body and i can feel all the movements and see them very clearly. that's kind of fun! i am really loving all the moving this one is doing.

i guess i'm not loving the attention, but then on the other hand i'm still recording pictures and posting them...i guess i think its interesting to see the changing shape and its really looking very much like my body with ezekiel.

i wonder if its because of the way my abs healed after having my first baby, or if its the way i carry boys (i guess we'll find out soon enough). i definitely dont think i exercised enough after my first or second pregnancies to fully recover/heal. even now, i really would love to go for more walks but diedre seems to want to go in a stroller more and i cant push two kids at this point. and as in previous pregnancies, the baby's head drops very early and makes walking difficult/painful.

as far as life and parenting go, i'm really trying to cut out tv for the kids. it has become an insane amount which i will admit: 6.30am to 8.30/9am (2-2.5hrs) and then a movie for diedre during quiet time (1hr) and then sometimes tv in the afternoon/evening (either kids or adult programming) 4pm to 6pm (2hrs). Poor diedre! wasting her life away with TV. of course when kids are totally sick, i think tv is fine, fine, fine. but when they are healthy, they should be playing and doing stuff...anyway, we have gone a few days with no or very limited tv (i offer the choice of either a show in the morning or a movie later in the day) and that has gone totally fine. ezekiel seems to ask for tv before bed or when he first wakes up, but he's easy enough to say no to.

derek took time on sunday to get all the logs milled in our backyard (yay!!!) so now there is lots of lumber to stack for drying. slowly our yard is being reclaimed and usuable for kids which also helps with keeping them away from tv. we also have been driving to the park alot because i didnt want to try to make diedre walk when she still had scabs on her legs from chicken pox.