13 Weeks and the Bump.

You guys. I am THIRTEEN WEEKS today! THIRTEEN! That means in one more week, I will OFFICIALLY be DONE with the wretched first trimester!!!

Though the end of the first trimester doesn't mean my little body officially understands that it's time for us to stop feeling nauseated and start eating vegetables and hamburgers, it does mean that we've gotten what is (to me) the most grueling, lonely, and self-worth-doubting portion under our belts. I want to cry when I think about how I felt three or four weeks ago. Honestly, I can't think about it. It is too heavy.

But hooray. Thirteen weeks. Baby is working on getting fingerprints and vocal chords, and is almost 3 inches long from crown to rump--about the size of a peach! It is kicking hello right now. So hello from baby. (Maybe it's ears are burning since I'm bragging about it's many feats of growing.)

Thanks to the arrival of the stretchy pants in the mail (hooray for mail order!) and to feeling better in the mornings, today I got dressed, braided my hair(!), and took my first official belly picture of baby #4. :)

Steve had his first day back at work after his week off. He was done at 3. It's 5, and he's still not home and hasn't called, which indicates that either (a) it was very busy and he will be tired or (b) he caught an interesting case at the end of his shift and opted to stay a little late. I'm hoping for his sake that it's the latter.

We got an offer on the house already. It's very low, and came from a rental company. They didn't even send someone by to take a look, just dropped an offer on us sight-unseen. We've been negotiating, but I'm not sure if we can hit a number that will work for them and not put us in financial-limbo for the next couple of months.

One good thing about having been so sick for the past few months is that I have let go of my worries about EVERYTHING that isn't totally immediate. Which is very, very unlike me. I've always got a plan. It's my safety net. But I actually said to Steve yesterday as we discussed potential temporary housing options between closing and moving, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. We'll just deal with it when it comes."

He laughed and said, "Welcome to the other side. How does it feel?"

It definitely doesn't feel ideal. But its kind of the only way to cope for now. :)

After school today I played the ultrasound video from yesterday for the kids (mainly Gracie). She brought her Goldfish cracker snack over and stood by the sectional, watching baby move and exclaiming over how cute it was. Juliette and Charlie came over, too, and when it was over Charlie asked me to play it again.

Though Juliette insists that she herself is a baby, and doesn't seem to willing to sacrifice that title no matter how I praise her for being a "big girl," she has been really fascinated by the ultrasounds since we first showed her the gummy bear sonogram a few weeks ago. Today she sat beside me while I baby-blogged and asked repeatedly, "Wanna see baby?" Which means, Hey Mom, let's look at the latest ultrasound picture!

So we looked at the ultrasound over and over, and every time she smiled and declared it "so cute" and told me, "That's the baby!" She was even able to identify baby's little body parts--head, tummy, back, foot, and hand--in the ultrasound. Takes after her daddy, I guess. ;)