A little salty, a little sweet and a very busy week

This week our little baby girl weighs about the same as a bag of tortilla chips and is the length of a package of Oreos. The nerves in her fingertips have now developed, so she now has the sense of touch and is busy touching her face and everything else in there. Her eyes have now developed fully, except for the eye color. The hair on her head is also bright white for a bit longer until the color starts to come in a few weeks down the road from now.

This week she has really been making up for lost time in terms of moving and kicking. Travis has felt her move around a few times and likes to try to coax her into a good kick when he gets home from work at night. Today has been her most active day yet -- she's been moving around in there non-stop for the last 5 hours or so! She was even kicking enough to wake a sleeping cat in my lap after dinner (the cat wasn't pleased).

Thanksgiving was last week, and with that came one of the first big signs that we both truly love this baby: we got up before dawn was even a glimmer on the horizon to get a deal on chair for the baby. I had my first Black Friday shopping experience. We got up at 3:30 to head into Babies R Us. When we got there, the people right ahead of us got the last chair that was in the store, but we still got to order it through the store for the same price. And, I got a call saying it's already in so it took no time at all! We were pretty excited to get such a comfy chair (and ottoman!) for half price! Since the Toys R Us sale was at midnight, we really missed the rush going in for just baby stuff that started at 5 a.m. Feeling then adventurous, we headed to the mall to try our luck there. Even the mall wasn't as terrible as I had imagined. We got a couple Christmas presents and a couple things for the house, so all in all it was a successful outing.

After our leisurely nap, we ordered the baby's furniture Thursday afternoon. After some sweet talking on the phone, I managed to get the $385 they wanted to charge us for shipping (TO THE STORE, MIND YOU!) waved and we were both proud and excited for that (as was Aunt Molly). Travis also decided to finish getting the primer on the walls to get rid of the horrible zoo stripes in the baby's room and pulled out all the old carpet and padding to make way for the new carpeting. So right now, the baby's room is a barren, empty place. But, we can both see what it going to be, which is very exciting.

We were also very excited to see our families this week and get a chance to ask Uncle Eric, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Molly to be the baby's godparents. Some may find it a bit odd to ask such a question so soon, but I've always viewed the godparent role as a very big deal and I thought it'd be cool to ask before the baby is born. All three seemed excited to take on the role!

Saturday night was one of the worst of the pregnancy so far. Every time I spend the day on my feet doing things around the house, my lower back aches by nighttime. It had, up until that point, but irritating by manageable. But on Saturday, the pain just kept getting more and more intense. After some brainstorming and talking with Molly, we've determined that we're pretty sure the baby is sitting on my sciatic nerve during those times. So, I decided to lay on the couch for a little while with an ice pack on my back, hoping the cold might inspire some movement. By the time I stood up to try to go to bed, I could not lift my legs without my body buckling. Luckily Travis was there to help me get to bed, and by morning things were much better.

Tomorrow is our 5 month check-up with Dr. Maurus. Travis got us all signed up for our birthing classes at the hospital next month, so we'll be spending yet a little more time at ol' Trinity. I'm really glad my doctor is located right in the hospital the baby will be born in, but man I feel like I'm there once a week anymore! My prediction is that I have gained 5 pounds so far -- 5 pounds in 5 months. We'll see if I'm anywhere close tomorrow!