In the homestretch!

I generally do not love pictures of myself (I never feel like I look the same in pictures as I do when I see myself in the mirror - go figure), but I'm posting a couple because most of my dear friends and family are far away and have not seen me pregnant. 

This one is at about 24 weeks.

This one is from today, at 31 weeks.

Only about 9 weeks or so until the little guy arrives.  We can't wait to meet him!  This is definitely a different stage of pregnancy.  I feel like I waddle everywhere, I move slowly, and I often feel uncomfortable - not in pain or sick, just uncomfortable.  But the flip side is that I know the baby's movements and schedule and now feel so much more connected to him.

During the first trimester, I felt sick every day.  Actually through about 16 weeks.  (I had read that this would stop around 12 weeks, so I pretty much counted the days until 12 weeks rolled around.  Then it continued for another month.  Fun.)  But the good part about the sickness was that I knew that if I was sick, then he was still in there growing and developing.  Then the nausea stopped and I felt much better, but I couldn't yet feel him kicking or moving around.  That was bizarre and made it difficult to feel like I was really pregnant (except, of course, for the increasing need for maternity wear).  It was such a relief when I started to feel him kicking!  Now I think he has moved from soccer to gymnastics and is all about the summersault, taking advantage of every opportunity while there's still room in there for him to do all his acrobatics.

Although we spend many waking moments thinking about, talking about, and getting ready for the newest addition to our family, we do have other things going on as well.  Our Portuguese studies seem to be going well.  Send us all your best Brazilian Portuguese vibes during the first week in May - that is when we need to pass the big test. 

The past month or so has also felt warm and fuzzy in terms of reconnecting with people I haven't seen in awhile.  Sometimes the transition periods feel a little lonely, so this has been good for the soul.  A former student employee and good friend from my days at FFYP is now in the Army and has been in D.C. several times for training, and it's always great to get together.  I had a very happy reunion and giddy trip to Penzeys with a dear friend from Caracas last Saturday.  I barely knew her the last time I was in the D.C. area, but now it feels like home just to be in the same area as her again.  Saturday morning just hasn't felt quite right without a trip to the market and breakfast with the girls.  (Now we just need to get C & G back here!)

T and T are coming to visit in a couple weeks, and I can't wait for them to explore D.C. and to just have some time to hang out.  S and A, my cousin and his wonderful wife, are in town this weekend and we met them at the Newseum this morning.  We always have a great time with them, and the Newseum was incredible.  Definitely the best museum I have visited in D.C. so far.  Of course, I'm a news junkie, so it was probably a good match to begin with, but I especially enjoyed the fact that the exhibits are a little more in-depth than those at other museums we've visited.  In the picture below, P is in front of a portion of the Berlin wall displayed at the Newseum.