week 22 - asparagus!

Hazelnut is ~11 inches long, and weighs almost a pound! Apparently he sleeps 12-14 hours a day in between all his kicking and fluttering. I've been feeling a lot of movement INSIDE, but I have yet to feel it from the outside. I've been a little discouraged about this as I really want Lowell to experience it with me, and my Mom encouraged me by emphatically insisting, "Oh, it's just that you were in SUCH GREAT SHAPE before you got pregnant, and your muscles are SO STRONG AND TIGHT that the baby isn't strong enough to kick ALL THE WAY through the muscle!" Load of crap? Potentially... but thanks mama. I'll go with it!

I've been having a few clumsy/blonde/pregnancy moments lately. The most recent one happened the other day while friends and I were headed to a woman's retreat for the weekend. We stopped at Tim Horton's for a treat, and I was REALLY looking forward to an egg salad sandwich. I envisioned it clearly, and could almost TASTE it. When I opened my sandwich with my mouth watering, I was extremely disappointed to see chunks of chicken rather than egg. I was complaining about my misfortune when my friends informed me that they HEARD me order 'chicken salad'. I had NO IDEA (and I may or may not have continued to gripe even though it was completely my fault). It's sooo convenient to blame these moments on pregnancy. (And when I continue to experience them post-pregnancy, I'll blame them on lack of sleep... and then later accuse age.)

Two weeks ago we shared a video slideshow version of the book we used to share our pregnancy news with my family. This week, you get to see their reactions to the news!

A few things to note:
1) We were trying to be subtle with the iPhone camera which explains the shoddy videography.
2) Each segment was recorded in a different province as we weren't all together at the same time.
3) The book wasn't ready yet when we visited Dan & Carlynne in Ottawa, so we brought a make-shift little mini-album for the occasion.
4) We told my parents the book was a thank-you gift (liars that we are).
5) My Mom had never seen a pregnancy test before.
6) Kylie was sitting down and nicely looking at the book with Marc & Shareen, but stood up to get fussy Ty a snack on THE PAGE BEFORE the giant positive pregnancy test picture. (Good timing Kylie!)
7) I'm pretty sure Shareen in particular was a little caught off guard with the news. :)
8) My laugh is fairly ridiculous, and Lowell informs me that it's an accurate representation of what my laugh ACTUALLY sounds like. Super.

Reaction to Baby News from Lowell & Julie on Vimeo.

On one final note, let me add that I have the most amazing husband ever. While I was busy having a blast at our church's woman's retreat, Lowell and my Mom went to the local big huge Moms & Tots sale (that only happens twice a year), so it felt like Christmas when I came home! I can't wait until Hazelnut can use these items that we have scored from sales, Lowell's amazing sisters, and my wonderful cousin Zell!