23 Weeks

   I have been fighting this sinus infection all week and it's still here! I took a sick day Monday and Tuesday. Fortunately, Wednesdays are half days and we had parent conferences Thursday and Friday. My monthly appointment is tomorrow and I'm going to ask my doctor if there's anything stronger I can take to get rid of this. I haven't been able to smell or taste all week, and that's hard on a person who loves to eat! 

   My mom came on Friday and will go home tomorrow. She has helped with several projects around the house. We touched up the trim work from our painting in November. Then we painted the area under the kitchen counter that faces into the dining area. That was Ryan's idea :) It only took one coat, thanks to a much thicker brush than the one we used for the red wall. We picked out a wall color for the nursery, but that project will probably wait until April. I'm not going to paint the whole room because it's a loft without 4 distinct walls. We'll get our furniture in April so my dad can help put it together when he visits. Long story short, I want to see the furniture in the room before I decide to paint one wall or two. 

   Ryan started his Expectant Father book last night. I got it for him for Christmas, but he has been busy studying for a test for work. He read quite a bit last night after I fell asleep. He was so excited to share some things with me this morning. He was telling me all about couvade symptoms, which are pregnancy "sympathy" symptoms that a husband can experience. I think there's a lot of merit to it because he's a sensitive guy. He read that studies have been done on husbands and wives that show the husband's hormone levels to be very similar to the pregnant wife's. More than anything, I think he was glad to hear this because he thinks he's gained a few pounds since I've been pregnant. Now he knows it's a sign of his love and devotion :) 

   I think it's driving my grandmother crazy that we are not telling the baby's name before she is born. My cousin is due in April with her 2nd daughter, and they are not telling either (nor did they tell with the first child). I thought this would have softened the blow and paved the way for me, but apparently not. Yesterday I got a list of name suggestions from my grandmother, all in good fun. I'll share a few of my favorites... Myrtle, Lovajean, Madge, Mable, Verna, Dauphine, Fannie... I could go on and on. I'm sure we can find something suitable from the list. May I add that Spell Check questioned almost all of these names. 

   I ordered a few bows for the little lady from a seller on etsy. I didn't think I was a bow person, but they are so cute. The seller was nice enough to send me 3 extra for free.