18: Check!

Just like 17, week 18 brought lots of sleep in the evenings. Jason had soccer every night which means I get to rest all afternoon after getting home from work. I miss having him here like crazy but I sure like to come home and put my feet up before having to start dinner.

Anyway - here's the juice:

• How far along: all the way through 18 weeks!
• Baby is the size of: a sweet potato. I've never tasted sweet potato before. Hmmm... During week 18, baby was about 5.6 inches long and 6.7 ounces. I swear my tummy grew a gajillion (that's a real number) inches over the last week. I've definitely popped. 
• How I'm feeling: Rested. The mornings are still hard to start though. It just takes me so much longer to do things. I'm trying to get back into a morning flow. I am tending to doddle. (That's a real thing, too.)
• Total weight gain/loss: I didn't weight myself this week. Judging by the size of my tummy, I had to have gone up though. We'll see next week! 
• Maternity Clothes: I'm going to need to get out there and start looking soon. This tummy is no joke now.
• Morning Sickness:  Drinking lots of water to keep it away. :)
• Best moments this past week:
• Thursday evening I was feeling the baby consistently tapping in the same spot. I decided to see if I could feel anything from the outside. I pressed against that spot and waited (very) patiently. Eventually I felt the softest little nudge. There was a major/minor freak out. I haven't felt it from the outside again. Jason is so ready to feel it!
• Jason had another goal keeper training this weekend in the Orlando area. We left straight from work on Friday night and fought the rain and the traffic. He spent all weekend playing soccer and I spent all weekend in a giant, cozy, soft hotel bed watching TV and sleeping. It was glorious. We were both so happy.
• Earlier in the year, I had to pack up my classroom and move to a totally different part of the school so we could have some work done. I didn't like my new room at all. Well, this week we got to move back! Yay! I love my room. I am so happy to be back.
• Food cravings: Not really. Actually, my level of hunger has declined. Perhaps that's because I'm drinking so much water to keep the nausea away.  
• Wedding Rings: On. Although, they were hard to get on Saturday night. I think it might have just been because I tried to slip all of them on at the same time. Let's go with that. I haven't had a problem since then. Thank goodness. I did have a minor panic attack about how everything was getting bigger. Maybe it wasn't minor.
• Labor Signs: No Way!
• Movement: When I take a minute to pay attention to what is going on I can feel it. Most of the time, even if I am laying on the couch, I am busy doing something... computer-ing, talking on the phone, planning meals, sleeping, folding laundry, talking myself out of emptying the clean dishes from the dishwasher... Actually, I just felt a little movement. You heard it here first. The kid says, "Hi, friends!!" 
• Belly Button: In. But, man, it seems to be getting deeper!
• What I miss: Sangria. Margaritas with sugar. Moscato. This would totally have been a weekend of alcohol consumption. Between moving my classroom and laying around in a hotel all day, there would have surely been a beverage or two.
• What we're looking forward to: 
• This weekend we're traveling back to Orlando for my most favorite soccer weekend of the year!!! Every year we go to the Disney President's Day Tournament. I love everything about the weekend. I love how the team stays in the same hotel and all of the boys are running around and bonding, I love how they always challenge Jason to a game of Air Hockey and no matter how many times they lose, they still think they will get him next time. I love that Jason brings the PS3 and there are FIFA tournaments and competitions in our room all day and night. I love the Saturday night barbecue that the team has. I love everything about it. I usually love the Sangria that one of the moms makes. This year I'll be pretending with fruit punch. MMM...
• NEXT WEEK we find out the sex of the baby! We are super excited. We will find out on Wednesday but won't tell anyone for a few days. We're still trying to figure out how we'll let everyone know. I'm thinking lunch on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I love lunch.
• We can't wait for Jason to feel the baby kick. He's so excited about all of the things that are going on and so interested in everything. I can't wait for him to actually feel his baby kick/punch/roll for the first time. (Need a tissue? No? Just me??)
• Weekly wisdom: 
• Take a nap. Or two.
• If he wants to go get a National Training License let him. Vacations are the best!
• Take time to relax and pay attention to your tummy. Feeling the baby move is pretty fun... once you get over the initial creepy feeling.

A 19 week picture is coming soon. 18 weeks is a sweet potato. I couldn't draw a sweet potato without it looking like Stewie from Family Guy. Next week will be better. :)