26 weeks.....and counting

So time is completely flying right by.....there are some days where I feel like there is so much to do to prepare for this bundle o' joy and other days when I feel like we are in really good shape.

We received a free changing table today....what a wonderful unexpected gift this weekend! It totally matches the crib perfectly (again, free!) ...but the room that is to become Baby Dworak's sleeping quarters has become a storehouse full of baby stuff. Must get this room painted and organized!

I have plans to go register sometime in the next week or two...but truthfully feel a little overwhelmed about stepping foot into a Babies R Us or walking through the baby aisles at Target pregnant....I know this is going to sound completely strange, and I know keep saying this, but I still really can't believe this is happening. I ran into some staff people at work this week who I hadn't seen in months and who were suprised to see that I was pregnant, and I must say, I share their surprise! They look at me...they look at my belly....and I, too, look at my belly and I still can't believe it...that as we are talking about "due dates" and all other baby-related topics, that we are referring to ME and OUR baby! I am also now finding that complete strangers want to chat about Baby Dworak...the tellers at the bank, the cashiers at Target (which, by the way, I am now getting offers of whether I need help carrying my bags to the car - how nice of Target!)...complete strangers ask how I am feeling, whether the baby is moving a lot, when I am due etc. etc.

About this little baby...it is moving... and moving a lot. It likes to move when I want to fall asleep....it likes to move shortly before I wake up in the morning...it likes to move when or shortly after I eat...it especially likes it when I drink orange juice (yum....sugar!)...it likes to move when I am hungry. Not only am I feeling it move all around but I can feel its little body in certain positions. I am not quite sure yet what I am feeling...whether it is a foot or a bottom or a head....but it's definitely something!

As for other news, the past two weekends have been full and fun. A wedding, brunch with friends, lunch with friends, dinner with friends, hanging out with neighbors on our back patio, welcoming new students at Orientation....all reasons why I LOVE summer. You can't help but be out and about and social when the weather is so gorgeous.

Where did June go? And now July?

I am officially 25 weeks along today....the last four weeks have FLOWN by....mostly due to recent travels.

We traveled to Chicago for a family wedding and to pick up baby gear that Baby Dworak's cousins no longer need. We now have a crib, a pack and play, a changing pad, a highchair, lots of baby books, and lots of other misc. things he or she will need....even a potty training seat. :) If only we could start using that right away. :)

We then traveled to Bozeman, Montana where Grandma and Grandpa Jelinek joined us (well, soon to be Grandma and Grandpa :) ) - they were very excited to see us. We did LOTS of hiking, toured Yellowstone, relaxed at home, enjoyed those mountain views....it was a great 9 day break.

And here were are at home again....I hope to post some pics of our recent trips in the next few days. :)

As for the pregnancy front, I keep reading pregnancy books and they talk about a range of emotions you may be feeling during each week and the entirety of your pregnancy. i.e. "You may be feeling excited and want to meet your baby now!" or "You may be feeling anxious and nervous, wondering what you have gotten yourself into...."

My feelings seem to be hovering more in the latter catagory. And then I feel a tinge of guilt that I am not feeling more overtly excited about all this. I mean, we are having a baby! This is a HUGE deal! I think it is not that I am not excited....I think it is more so that I feel there is so much I need to know that I don't know and so much to do that I have not done yet? And these weeks seem to be on speed mode! This is my emotional state. But, if I pause and set these emotions aside, I know that as this little baby continues to move and kick inside me - I am and will be so very very curious to see what he or she will look like and be like....and I know as the weeks fly by that I will be excited to finally meet this little life that will be our son or daughter and I know when he or she decides to make their grand debut, we will LOVE our baby to pieces. In the meantime, I am thankful for the (hopefully) additional 15 weeks or so I will have to work on all the rest. :)