Weird dreams and laughing hysterically

Nothing out of the ordinary happening over here in baby land. Cody put together the crib a couple nights ago and when I get the energy, I'll post pictures that I took of the process. We put a baby doll in the crib for now so that it doesn't seem so lonely. However, that little lump under the blanket in the crib creeps me out every once in awhile.

I've been tired lately. I've been getting a lot of hours at work, which is fantastic, but I do get more tired more easily now. I'm on my feet a lot at work, so it can get painful after awhile. I get cramps in my feet, my stomach starts to feel heavy, and my bladder aches when I need to use the restroom. I am really grateful for all the hours I've been getting, though. It's nice when everyone else goes on vacations and I get all the hours because I don't ever go anywhere.

Cambria has been kicking a lot more lately. It used to be that I would only feel her at night, but now I feel her stronger and stronger during the day. The movements that I feel are always really low and to my left or right beneath my belly button. I never feel any movements anywhere else. I don't know if it's because she just hasn't moved up yet or if it's because she favors those places.

Speaking of movements. I had a dream last night that I could finally feel her kick on the outside. I was sitting with Cody's sister, Melody, (in my dream) and I told her to put her hand on my stomach and she felt it kick. We were really excited! Then Melody took her hand away and we could SEE a little fist the size of a marble underneath my skin. I reached down and grabbed the fist in between my thumb and index finger and the fist spread into a little hand that was no bigger than a thimble. Melody and I were totally shocked because we'd never heard of anything like that happening. So we just kept playing with that little hand. It was very real and very creepy. I just really want everyone else to be able to feel on the outside what I can feel on the inside. God probably does it that way so that the mother has that special time with those movements before anyone else can share them. It certainly makes me feel closer to little Cambria every time I feel her move. It won't be long until everyone else can feel it too.

Cody and I went to Old Navy a couple days ago and we found some cute clearance baby clothes. I've been buying clearance because that's the best place to find long sleeves and warm materials. Companies don't think that when mother's are shopping for their babies they are, sometimes, shopping for when they are born which is, usually, seasons away. So right now all we can find are shorts, skirts, tanks, and swimsuits. But at Old Navy we got a long sleeve onesie that has dogs all over it- including dachshunds! We got a matching sleeper with that onesie. When the guy at the register was ringing us out, he couldn't figure out why one of them cost more than the other and he said, "These are the same things." And I said, "No, one's a onesie and one's a sleeper." Then I busted out laughing at how silly I sounded. I was speaking the language of baby! I couldn't stop laughing. He said, "You can tell I don't know anything about that stuff." I hope he didn't think I was laughing at him. I think hormones can go either way, they make me laugh hysterically at stuff that is only mildly funny and they make me terribly upset about stuff that is only mildly upsetting. I wasn't expecting the laughter part.

Anyway, that's my update for now. Tomorrow will be 21 weeks! We're more than halfway through the pregnancy. I'm getting more and more eager to meet this little beauty! Oh yeah, and last night Cody and I realized that having a child means we get to celebrate a whole new set of holidays- Mother's Day and Father's Day! I got my very first Mother's Day card yesterday from my mom and it was so sweet! OK, I'm done. :-)

-Alicia