Week #25 update!

This week the baby is 1.5 pounds and about 13.5 inches long and approximately the size of a rutabaga.  I've been following along with my phone app each week, and patiently wait to see what fruit/vegetable our baby is compared to each week.  I realized this week that I had no idea what a rutabaga is or what it looks like.  So, for those of you like me here's a photo:

Apparently rutabaga's are often confused with turnips.  This is all very fascinating, right?!  The baby is starting to look a little more proportional and developing hair and even fat.  We definitely have a kicker, and I'm more and more certain that this baby will have Ben's long legs.

I had my glucose test this past Friday morning (Halloween), which was not as bad as I thought it would be.  I did have to drink "the drink" (shown below):

The taste actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (orange flavor).  But basically, you have to drink the entire bottle in 2.5 minutes (UGH!) (Also, they will watch you like a hawk!) and then wait one hour to see how your body processes sugar.  I've essentially become an expert on getting shots/having blood drawn as of late so the blood draw was super easy.  We will not find out the results until we go to the doctor next Tuesday, but if the results are favorable we can move on.  If the sugar levels are high, there is an additional three hour test that will be needed.

Traditionally on Halloween, Ben and I go over to my sister's house to carve pumpkins, give out candy, and hang with our niece and nephew.  I headed over to Emily's school for a little Halloween parade in the afternoon with my sister.  (After we were able to get much-needed and super-relaxing pedicures!)  At first, Emily was Sofia the First (pictured below:)

However, she decided that she wanted to be Princess Elsa from Frozen after coming home.  My nephew, Alex, knew that he was going to be Leonardo since last year.  Here we are after their successful venture of trick or treating: 

They really are a lot of fun to watch develop from babies to toddlers to little miniature adults.  Emily, especially, is very opinionated (which she has been since she entered the world on her own terms).  Being an auntie really is the coolest, hopefully they will think that I'm still cool as they continue to grow up, ;)

Several people have been asking me about how I've been feeling and how I'm still able to keep my energy up to work out in addition to working, cooking, etc...(you know - all the things that you do without thinking about it).  The answer is that I've still been feeling REALLY good.  The days that I do workout, I feel better about myself and actually sleep much better.  I certainly do not work out every day, but here's a little sample of what I did last week:

• Monday: yoga video at home (Check out this site that I use for free yoga videos)
• Tuesday: 5 mile run/jog (before work)
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: 5 mile run/jog (before work)
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: 6 mile walk (weather was perfect and took full advantage in the afternoon)
• Sunday: rest (Ben's support crew for Wildhorse)

I just try to do about 30-60 minutes of physical activity 4 to 5 days a week to keep myself feeling good.  

Speaking of Ben's race at Wildhorse, it was nice to have an extra hour to snooze before heading south for him to run the first race in the XTERRA series.  Wildhorse is a race that you really love to hate, because the course is so challenging.  I did not know what my volunteer duty was going to be, but we had to arrive at 6:30 am.  There is a stream crossing that all the distances (4 mile, 10k, 10 mile, and half marathon) have to cross...twice.  Little did I know, the volunteers for the water stops have to cross it as well! 

When the race director told us that we had to cross the stream, I immediately said "heck no!"  It was 41 degrees, and the stream was chest high water.  Luckily, I got to stand on the dry side of the stream and direct runners to and from the start/finish.  It was nice to see Ben and the other racers right at the beginning and then right before the finish.  The second time through the stream crossing, Ben wanted to give me a big hug (which I refused!) but I was able to snap a photo of him before he set off for the finish line (shown here):

The weeks and the weekends have been really busy (typically for this time of year) and time is really flying by.  Thankfully I get a very generous Winter Break from work, and I calculated that I only have 25 more working days this year!  That is completely BANANAS!  I've already been making plans for January, can you believe it?!?  That is all for now, until next week y'all!