20 Weeks & I Got Clams

Broken Heart... Valve. An Update!

So, first off... thank you to all of you who have expressed your concern about my Dad's surgery. The surgery went well and although he's had some bumps in his recovery (I guess that's why no one ever says open heart surgery is easy??) he's doing remarkably well. He's so optimistic, and even through the moments of excruciating pain, he manages to find the bright side and has totally managed to keep his glass-half-full attitude!

Dad, you are SO loved by your family and friends and we are all pulling for you to get through all this recovery stuff as soon as possible. Thanks for being so strong and managing to put smiles on our faces even when we are frustrated and think you have every excuse to be too! You manage to keep up your "good spirits" and go with the flow. I love you so much and am so grateful for the wonderful example that you are to all of us.

Razor Clam Digging 2009

If there's one thing that the Nielson family loves to do, it's get together and have a good time. I suppose if there was only one thing you could love to do, that'd be a good one, right?

So this weekend Sam's parents, sister and her husband all came up and it was a grand ol' time. Sam and I had already been planning on getting our Christmas tree Saturday morning and it worked perfectly into the Nielson weekend agenda o' fun. We cut our tree down and then Maria and Jodi went to town with the decorating! Woohoo! Let the prego girl just stand aside and hand off the light strands, I was TOTALLY ok with that :) It was so much fun and there is nothing like having your tree up and decorated. Love. It. Thanks Maria and Jodi!!

Then, it was off to Ocean City (just north of Ocean Shores) for the Razor Clam dig! If you've never done this, then you've never experienced the feeling of being up to your knees and elbows in ocean water/sand/muck, in the pitch black, in the freezing cold. So. Much. Fun.

I opted to sit this one out and play the supportive lantern-holder role. You know, played the prego card. Which seriously isn't that lame of a move since Sam is always sick after we go clam digging for at least a week afterwards. But it's always a blast.

I also thoroughly enjoy the chocolate milk/donuts ritual that usually follows the whole event.

20 Weeks - Half Baked
Crazy, right? How did this thing get half done already? I'm feeling good, and apparently so is Baby BOY N.! He's moving. A lot. He loves to wiggle around a bunch at night while I'm trying to get to sleep... I'm afraid I have a night owl, and I only have myself to blame for that.

Oh, and we hit another fun milestone! Last Saturday morning when Sam and I were just waking up Baby N. was really hopping around in there. I told Sam we should maybe start seeing if he can feel him, knowing that usually it takes many many tries until the husband successfully feels said baby. Nope. It took about 30 seconds. Baby N. reached right out and gave Sam and pretty good high 5 right in the palm. Pretty cool.

So here's today's belly shot. Actually, this was taken yesterday and I fully feel that my belly has gone down a bit today. It's kinda weird and is very influenced by how much is in my stomach and um... bowels. Nuff said.Still, pretty significant difference, right? How did I think I was showing at week 12?

It's really a strange feeling though. It just keeps growing and I have no control over it! So, on that note... I think it's about time for my afternoon snack :)