The Leo Family: Half-Way Point, Acrobatics, Cliches, and Baby's First Pictures

Here's Baby's first picture!!! We're so excited! For those who have trouble deciphering these photos, the baby's got her right hand balled up in a fist against her cheek. S/he spent most of the photo session time kind of balled up in general, with her chin on her chest, and her knees pulled up. In answer to the most commonly asked question, we are planning to be surprised by the sex of the baby, so we did NOT find out what we're having. We are assured that the baby's nether regions are normal, however, just like EVERYTHING ELSE! Healthy heart (which we got to see beating), brain, spinal cord, organs, and fingers and toes. We're told everything looks normal and healthy, and that the size of the baby based on measurements puts us within three days of our due date. So, everything looks pretty much on track! It was a beautiful moment, and a wonderful way to celebrate our third anniversary! The baby was being funny and rolling around and kicking a ton. When the technician took pics of the bottom of her feet, she was bicycle kicking and we could see all the movement of her legs and arms!! The baby moves pretty much all day long and I've had to get used to her acrobatics. A lot of people have said that all the movement means it's a boy...we'll just have to wait and find out!! I've put some more pictures from the ultrasound at the bottom of this post.

Here's our belly shot from our 20 week photo session. We are currently 21 and a half weeks along and the baby is the length (crown to rump) of a large banana. It feels wonderful to be past the half-way point of our pregnancy and is hard to believe how fast it's gone!!

Cravings are in full swing. Though I feel ridiculous at how incredibly cliche it is, I've absolutely been craving whole pickles all the time. There's one deli here in Des Moines (Manhattan Deli to be specific) that has the best pickles I've ever had. I will miss them when we move. But I've also had my other regular cravings and get hungry every couple of hours or so. Weight gain is right about normal...to the lower end, so far.

In other news, Peter finished the bar exam last week and feels pretty good about it. He's mostly relieved to be done with it!! We then had 48 hours to move out of our house so our renters could move in. It was a stressful weekend, but we got everything out of there and into the storage unit in Sioux City! Special thanks to Carla Olson for helping me clean the house, despite her being in her 36th week of pregnancy!!! Special thanks to ALL of our family and friends who helped with the move, as well! You're all so special to us!!

We're staying with Peter's parents this week, then going on a vacation to Duluth for a full week. Tonight, it's off to the Hotel Pattee, (where we got engaged), to celebrate our anniversary and relax!!! Neither of us can wait!

I'll sign off for now, but here are a few more baby pictures. Keep in mind that the baby hasn't gotten any baby fat, so it's a little skeletal looking right now. (Grandma, if you click on the picture, it'll make it a little bigger for you!):

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