Jenna 1.7

Age: One year and 7 months
Milestones:  She started smiling intentionally, not just as a reaction to her emotions.  She'll do it now and then if she knows someone is taking her picture or looking at her for a long time...which makes me feel like she is really getting to be such a big kid!!

She also "rode" her first horse (a.k.a. sat on it for .5 seconds and got really nervous,) wore her first ponytail, and got her first little burn, which was SO sad!  She put her hands on a fire pit that had been burning the night before and was still hot.  Luckily, it didn't seem to bother her much.  I put a bunch of aloe on it for a day or two and she was fine.  She also knows how to count a little bit.  She knows when it's time to say 2 and sometimes 6 and 7.  And apparently, she knows Spanish.
My Favorites: Having tea parties with her (super cute, plus pregnant mom doesn't have to move around too much!!) and reading with her.  I also really love what a good helper she is!!  She loves throwing things away, closing things for me, and helping me cook.  It's nice to have an extra little pair of hands around and so cute to see how excited she is to help!
Her Favorites:  Spoons, washcloths, praying (which is extra cute because she always throws in her own prayer requests,) those little cars she can Flintstone around in, animals, tea parties, babies, putting on clothes herself...

...Olaf from Frozen, reading books (particularly Fancy Nancy...her favorite part is when she says "merci!",) being with family, smelling things, roughhousing with Poppy, and DANCING!
Surprises: It's amazing how much she learned from being with kids that are bigger than her for basically an entire month.  Whether it was her cousins, the Hobbs boys, or friends from church, she spent a LOT of time with 1-3 year old boys and is SO different.  Much more bold and adventurous, which is a lot of fun!
Other Notable Moments: Seeing a bunch of farm animals in person for the first time.  She was particularly excited about the horses and chickens!  She's also a LOT more coordinated after this month and confident walking around on different terrains.  This is probably because she spent so much time chasing her cousins around, who are not nearly as timid as she has been!  I love how much she learned from them and how much fun they had together!
Looking Forward To: She's on a waiting list for gymnastics and I'm SO excited to see her in her little class!!

That face! 

Stopping to smell the petunias

A high five...

A kiss...

Aaaand a 1/2 high five, 1/2 kiss...also known as: my personal space bubble is much larger than yours.

I really thought she was going to be more excited about this...guess I'll just have to let it go (ba dum chhhh)

27 Weeks

Jacob and I finally have a plan for picking a name!!  We've had a list (a looong list) of names that we're considering but every time we go to look at it we can maybe narrow it down to three or we just can't agree at all.  SO we've decided that every night we'll each vote on one name and after a month, we'll see what the numbers say!  I'm really hoping this will help us figure out how we feel.  She can't be Baby J forever!

How far along? 27 weeks!!  The baby is the size of a rutabaga!  I don't actually know what a rutabaga looks like (am I alone in this, or am I vegetable-knowledge deficient??), BUT I know that right now Baby J looks like she will when she's born!!!  Only just less wrinkly and more chubby :)

Maternity clothes? Yes!  I started wearing my old maternity pants and some that were lent to me...I forgot how comfy they were!!  Except for the fact that I'm wearing pants in 100 degree weather but, hey.  You can't win 'em all.
Sleep:  Really good, except laying on my stomach AND back are officially out of the question.  I rolled onto my back a few times the other night and kept waking up with my left arm totally numb.  I forgot that that whole baby-belly-can-cut-off-your-circulation thing is the real deal
Best moment this week:  Seeing Jenna play with the Hobbs boys!  So cute to see friendship forming in the third generation of our families :)
Miss Anything? I've been thinking a lot about cookie dough lately!!!  And turkey sandwiches!! Yummm...I miss them so much!  The other night I turned to Jacob and reminiscently said, "Do you remember after I gave birth to Jenna and the only thing the kitchen had at 11 PM was turkey sandwiches and I ate two?  That was amazing."  He totally laughed at me and said that he didn't remember that, which is a shame because it is a VERY fond memory of mine that I've been thinking fantasizing about a LOT lately.
Movement: Yes, she loves music!  Especially something with a lot of bass, like rap.  My baby is going to be hardcore!
Food cravings: Chips and salsa! I've bought three different salsas in the past week and have just been devouring them.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No, I've felt fine this week. Phew!
Have you started to show yet: Yes, I'm feeling a liiiiitle large
Gender: Girl!!  Which was especially fun this week because my friend Christina came in from Austin and had made all of these cute headbands for Jenna AND some matching ones for Baby J!!  They are SO adorable and I'm so excited to see the girls in them side by side!!

These are the ones the girls have matching!  Shameless plug: go check out her stuff on Etsy and Instagram

Labor Signs: None yet, although it is comforting to know that IF I went into labor, at 27 weeks Baby J would have a 90% survival rate!  Obviously, I want her to cook a little longer, but it's nice to know that in case of emergency, I'll still have my baby
Belly Button in or out? It popped all the way out when I was exercising the other day!  Jenna actually reached out and grabbed it, which I found hilarious but I probably won't tell Jacob about because he might throw up.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy!! 
Looking forward to: A last minute visit from Rachel this weekend!! I know it doesn't seem "last minute" if I know about it a week in advance, but when you have to fly from MN to TX to see each other, it feels positively spontaneous!

26 Weeks

Major thanks to my guest chalkboard artist this week, Christina!!

How far along? 26 weeks...I think I'm almost in my third trimester, which is CRAZY!  I forget exactly when the switch happens but I think it's sometime around now.  This pregnancy has gone by so fast!! Oh man...we really need to pick a name...

Maternity clothes? For SURE.  I look like a stump in most of my non-maternity shirts, so it's nice to have things that are extra long and stretchy!
Sleep:  Good!  Especially since coming home...it was fantastic to be in my own bed again!  Although sleeping by myself for over a week + getting bigger has definitely made me much more of a bed hog...I'm pretty sure I need this comforter:

Poor Jacob!

Best moment this week:  LOTS of sister time (and cousin time, for Baby J, Jenna, Sofia, & Asher!)  And then of course, being with Jacob again...yay!  AAAAND having Jacob take Jenna for a Daddy/Daughter Day so I could have a pregnant mommy nap day...YAY!!!  I was going to go for a pedicure too, but really just could not bring myself to get out of bed. Which I should probably be embarrassed about but I'm not.  Zzzzzzz...
Miss Anything? My sense of smell is SO weird!  I'll have some days where I'm super sensitive to smells and some days where I can't even smell Jenna's poop diapers.
Movement: Yes!  Jenna saw my stomach moving for the first time, and it TOTALLY freaked her out.  She looked at me like, "what the HECK was that?!"  Which were exactly my thoughts the first time I saw Jenna move so...what goes around comes around, I guess!
Food cravings: Sweets!  I feel like I physically cannot make it through the day without some sort of dessert.  And I still need to pass my glucose test one of these days.....ay yi yi
Anything making you queasy or sick: Just general motion sickness
Have you started to show yet: Yup
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Mostly out.  Jenna pokes it every chance she gets
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy, although there were several weepy moments.  I started tearing up at the airline counter when I found out they had accidentally given away my extra large window seat on the plane...not good news for a super motion-sick pregnant lady traveling alone with a one-year-old in her lap. I held it together pretty well and the airline was super helpful though...probably just because they saw my huge self about to melt down and put out a red alert to everyone. Womp womp!)
Looking forward to: This might seem premature but...fall!!  I'm just so excited for apple cider, chili, all my leaf decorations, football, sweaters, Halloween costumes for my TWO little pumpkins, and then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas!!!!  It can't come soon enough!

25 Weeks

Naturally, I made the writing red, white, and blue in honor of the 4th of July.

How far along? 25 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes, and my jeans officially CANnot button any more.  Definitely time to either stick with leggings 24/7 or make the switch to maternity pants.  By the way, Target maternity tanks are my favorite things EVER.  Obviously, since I'm wearing two of them in my photo above...aaaand at least one in just about every other picture I've taken during this pregnancy.
Sleep:  Between traveling, Jenna waking up every 20 seconds, and random 2 a.m. pregnancy insomnia, sleep has not been the best...thank goodness for my Kindle, which I keep under my pillow and stocked with the Anne of Green Gables series!  She's my bosom friend.
Best moment this week:  Seriously, so many.  Really great family time, really fun play time, and visiting my uncle's farm!!  Seeing Jenna around so many people I love and watching her around the chickens, horses, and inflatable duck in the swimming pool was pretty much tops!
Miss Anything? No...in fact, Stacy and I were just talking about how much we DON'T miss worrying about swimsuit season!  Being pregnant has its perks, and being expected to have a big belly is definitely one of them!
Movement: So much!!  She does this move that either feels like she's playing the bongos or like she's a cat kneading my stomach before a nap...maybe a little bit of both.  Stacy and I were cracking up the other night because as we were chatting, both Baby J and Sophia were going wild in our stomachs.  Baby J was pounding out a beat that I'm pretty sure was her saying, "pay. at-ten-tion. to. ME. pay. at-ten-tion. to ME."
Food cravings: You know what, there's been SO much good food around this week that I can't even pinpoint one type of food that I've specifically wanted. I just wanted it all!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Car rides!  I've definitely gotten motion sick a few times
Have you started to show yet: Yeah, and I have been feeling pretty big lately
Gender: A girl, which I literally get more and more excited about every day!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Pretty much out! 
Wedding rings on or off? Still on, I'm thrilled!
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy, although I had a few weepy moments.  When you put together being tired and being pregnant, it's pretty much to be expected!
Looking forward to: Naturally, more time with family, and then being reunited with Jacob!  It's tough traveling without him, and I know Jenna & Baby J miss him!