24 weeks

How Far Along: 24 weeks
Size of Baby: Just over 1 lb and almost a foot long (about the size of an ear of corn!)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +12 and growing!
Maternity Clothes: I'm pretty much exclusively in maternity pants with the exception of one pair of pre-pregnancy jeans that still fit.  I can still manage to fit into some pre-pregnancy tops and dresses that are long and flowy enough.  It is amazing how fast things are getting tighter though!

Movement: I've noticed patterns of movement.  She is most active after meals and in the evening.  Last night Jason put his IPad up to my belly, playing some music and she kicked along :)
Symptoms: None really.  I've been feeling great!  I have noticed that I'm slowing down a bit.  Our evening walks are taking a little longer than they used to.
What I Miss: My old wardrobe!
Girl or Boy: Girl!
Belly button In or Out:  Still in!
Stretch Marks: None yet.
Cravings: I haven't really had any strong cravings where I have to have it now.  I do crave something sweet most evenings but that is really nothing new!
Best Moment This Week:  Actually seeing those little kicks make my belly twitch and move! It's like there is a little alien in there trying to get out!

We have started working on the nursery.  Last weekend we painted it a light grey and painted the ceiling and trim white (they were yellow).  Our color scheme is going to be grey/white/yellow with pops of pink. I hope it turns out as cute as the vision in my head!  This weekend we made a few accent furniture purchases but the room is still pretty empty.  We are getting a crib from my sister within the next couple of weeks and a glider from Jason's parent's.  Once we have those we'll be doing pretty good and will just need to work on decor!  I'll post pictures when we have a little more to show.

Restaurant of the Month: S

Last week Kelly and I went to Squires for dinner.  Squires is located in Lafayette Square and like many of the restaurants there has a great urban decor with exposed brick walls. I have been to Squires a couple of times, but it's been a while.  I was anxious to go back.  We got there around 5 and sat in the bar area where we  were able to take advantage of happy hour.  Kelly and I have found that this is the way to go during the week.  It's amazing how cheap our meals have been lately thanks to some great happy hour specials. There was also a live band playing - I think they are there every Thursday evening that was very good and drew quite a crowd.  We started with the goat cheese broiled with ozark forest wild mushrooms and served with warm herb flat bread.  It was so delicious!  I love goat cheese and have tried many varieties of dips made with it, but never one that included mushrooms which I also love.  It was served hot and bubbly with warm, soft flat bread.  I could have made a meal of that alone!  Kelly and I learned our lesson on ordering too much food last month so we opted to split the veggie burger topped with roasted sweet red bell peppers & cilantro cream cheese.  It had great flavor from black beans and the roasted red peppers.  But I think I was more interested in dipping the chips that came on the side in the remaining goat cheese dip :)  It was the perfect amount of food and we left satisfied but not stuffed. 

Restaurant of the Month: R

With so much baby excitement around here, I completely forgot to post my monthly restaurant review.  My July pick was Roxane's in Clayton.  Kelly and I had both been here for drinks before but never tried the food.  The menu had a wide variety of small plates so we opted to order several things and share.  We started with the Spinach Dip served with tortilla chips and warm bread.  Spin dip is always favorite of mine and is a little different everywhere you go.  I wouldn't say it was the best spinach dip I've ever had but it was good.  It was hot, bubbly and thick with lots of spinach and some chopped tomatoes.  For the main course we ordered Cheese ravioli with spinach and prosciutto and Buffalo chicken pizza with mozzarella, celery and bleu cheese.  Kelly also ordered the Jerk wings with island spices to take home for later.  So by the time all this food was on our table we looked like a couple of really hungry girls :)  It was way more food than we needed and all of them were much more than I anticipated from a "small" plate.  I think our favorite was the cheese ravioli which was stuffed with spinach and had prosciutto on top with some type of cream sauce.  It was delicious and the one plate that we managed to finish off.  The pizza was big enough to share for a meal in itself.  The crust was thin but not cracker-y and the chicken had just enough buffalo sauce to pack some punch without being messy!  The celery and bleu cheese complimented it nicely.  Needless to say we had leftovers but surprisingly our bill was very reasonable due to some of the small plates being half price during happy hour.  We got all of that food for $20!  While I didn't get to sample any cocktails, I would definitely recommend Roxane's as a great place for happy hour and appetizers/dinner.  It's a popular place with the twenty something crowd and was definitely buzzing by the time we left. 

It's A...

GIRL!!!

I had a great dr. appointment yesterday and we were able to see our little girl!  It's amazing how much she has grown since we saw her for the first time at just 9 weeks.  She actually looks like a real baby now :)  Jason and I loved watching her move around on the screen and it was definitely a moment that I will never forget.  We almost were not able to find out the sex of the baby.  She is butt down at the moment and the tech could not get a good view for the first half of the ultrasound.  But like a good little girl, she eventually moved around enough that we were able to get the anatomy shot :)  I had a feeling it was girl all along and had a dream the night before that it was a girl.  Jason went into the appointment thinking it might be a boy, but at one point the tech said "oh, that baby is giving you the evil eye".  That's when he knew it must be a girl and she already inherited the dirty looks I shoot him on occasion ;)  I think Jason knows he's in for it with a girl and that she will have him wrapped around her little finger from day one.  The other comment that he made was "All I can think about is paying for her wedding"!  I guess that's what going to 4 weddings in the past month will do!

The Dr. reviewed all the measurements with us after the ultrasound and our baby girl is looking healthy and beautiful.  She is petite right now (42% for size) which I am ok with since I am on the small side myself and am hoping to deliver a small baby! Although she is breech now, the dr. doesn't seem concerned and she has plenty of time to turn.  I will get another ultrasound at my next appointment since the tech was not able to get a shot of her lower spine because of how she was positioned.  I am excited that we will get to see her again!

We revealed the gender of the baby to our families last night with a dinner hosted by my sister.  It was so much fun to tell everyone together.  I think most of our family was surprised that it's a girl.  Most were guessing boy! 

All the old wives tales predicted a girl

Can you tell I was excited?!

First present from Grandpa Griesenauer

So cute!

My sister put together a great party!

Jason and I can't wait to meet our little girl in December.  She will be the 3rd granddaughter for my family, the first grandchild for Jason's family and the eleventh great-granddaughter for Jason's grandmother.  I have a feeling that she will receive lots of hand me downs, be very loved and maybe a bit spoiled :)