Well, I give up. I was trying to make my next post with ultrasound pictures, but the universe is scheming against me, throwing roadblocks in my way, so never mind. Technology conspires against me and our scanner won't configure correctly to work at all... so someday I'll have good pictures up of little kicking fiend inside of me, but for now, pictures of me and Jesse on the day of the ultrasound will have to suffice. I have to say, I think I'm looking rather radiant in these pictures, and this was before the ultrasound. I must have been dazzling afterward! I also love Jesse's shirt and coloring in these pictures... the sky behind us is just perfect - I haven't touched up these pictures at all, the colors were truly vivid that day.

So today I am 22 weeks pregnant, meaning I have an official 18 weeks left before my approximate D-Day. But if I want to be all technical, that leaves 16 weeks until I'm officially full-term. Crazy, crazy, crazy. I'm terrified and trying my hardest not to be. Never before have I been so compelled to just keep putting my fears and anxieties into the hands of the Sovereign God who already knows and has planned for the delivery, not to mention the life, of this precious baby I am carrying. I am reminded again and again that my body and life belong to the Lord to do with as He pleases, and that the life of sweet Baby Girl is equally in His mighty and powerful hands.

She's really started to show, my belly button is rapidly being pushed outward, and I feel her movements quite consistently now - multiple times a day. I am even starting to pinpoint big movements versus kicks or punches from limbs, although not always. Jesse has felt her once but she never seems to cooperate by the time he gets near enough to try to feel her moving. Soon enough it will be unmistakable, though, which will be... fun for him at least!

I have been sleeping terribly, waking up multiple times every night and staying in a half-awake phase for a while after one or two trips to the bathroom. It is so strange to wake up and have to get up - I am usually such a sound sleeper that I don't wake up at all at night. I keep crashing into walls and almost falling sound asleep while emptying my bladder. Thank goodness for a kitten who begs for my attention at all hours since she keeps my eyes open long enough to make it back to bed...

I feel so blessed and excited to be planning for the parenting of a daughter so very soon... it is amazing and awesome to me that she will be a little girl, a young woman, a married woman, and probably a mother herself one day. I am so excited to see how the Lord will grow this precious baby into a woman after His heart. He promises to care for the children of His children and I claim that promise with great anticipation.

Ultrasound pictures to come as soon as we can figure out the scanner problems...