farewell second trimester

I'm 24 weeks and 6 days. Tomorrow we start the THIRD TRIMESTER! I can't believe we're here already. Our pregnancy has gone really fast and I'm sure Ellie will be here before we know it. She is almost 12 inches long and weighs about 1.3 lbs now. All of her organs are developed at this stage and it is mostly maturation and growth from here on out. Her skin, including the ridges that make finger prints are completely developed. She is laying down fat reserves now and starting to "grow into her skin". Her brain is continuing to develop; as the neural connections form she gains more and more coordination. She is also gaining more sensory perception and responds to sounds. Her lungs still have a lot of maturing to do, but she continues to practice breathing amniotic fluid in-utero in preparation for the real deal once she's born. She moves around a lot these days. I've been feeling her for a while now...but it took some time before Jason could feel her. Jason felt her move for the first time Friday before General Conference. That was fun for both of us. I LOVE to feel her move. Sometimes she moves so much over and over it makes me laugh. This morning I felt like she was having a party in my uterus. Not only could I feel all her movements...I can SEE them. After Jason and I felt her moving around for a while this morning, we watched her move too! I could stare at my tummy all day long. I love to see it bounce and roll from her moving around. It is amazing to me to think about a living body inside of me. I have always been fascinated by prenatal development...and it continues to boggle my mind as I think about how she has a perfect little body that I can feel wiggling around inside of me. I feel like my tummy has really popped out the last couple of weeks. Ellie is growing and getting strong! 3 1/2 more months of baking!

24 weeks

24 weeks

A couple weeks ago we had some of our family over for Sunday dinner. It was so fun to have them in our house. We enjoyed a great meal then played Pass the Pigs. Much of our entertainment came from watching the 4 nephews together. This was our view after dinner. Four boys, sharing i-touches all piled on the love sac. And look at the size of Sawyer and Crew's bellies!

Jason recently completed a class with the Boy Scout Association that will allow him to legally take boys climbing and rappelling. He passed his written and practical exams with flying colors and received the highest level of certification possible. Besides his wilderness first responder, he now has his rescue certification for canyoneering and the BSA certification for climbing and rappelling. I am continually impressed by all he does to learn new things and become better. Ellie and I are so proud of him!