Weekend Highlights + 18 Weeks Belly Update

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas! (Which, in California, means we got some rain - yay!) We decided to kick off our weekend Friday night with some Christmas shopping at the Americana in Glendale, partly because we wanted to check out their massive tree. While we were there, we got a pleasant Christmas-y surprise - it snows at the Americana!

View from Barnes & Noble at the Americana

It was a very pretty and magical sight, especially for a Southern Californian. Not to ruin the magic of it all, but this is what the "snow" actually looks like up close:

So it was more like a giant foam party, but prettier and classier. (And I don't know if you've picked up on this theme yet, but Joe can't resist photographing water drops/bubbles on leaves.)

Merry Christmas!

Saturday we had a brunch date with Joe's mom and uncle. It was my first time meeting Duane and it was fun to listen to all of their family stories.

Duane, Kathleen, Me, Joe

Sunday we went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetary, where we mistakenly thought Marilyn Monroe was buried. There are a lot of famous (and rich) people buried there, but not Marilyn. That is also where my 18 weeks photo was taken. You can check out all of the pictures here.

18 Week Bump Update

Total Weight Gain:Up about 9 lbs. I feel like I ballooned right after Thanksgiving (probably not a coincidence). 
Maternity Clothes: Yes! I got one pair of maternity jeans on sale after Thanksgiving. They are the comfiest jeans ever (and one of only three pairs that still fits).
Symptoms: Feeling good.
Best Moment of the Week: Rainy days and an overall Christmas feeling make me happy. 
What We're Reading & Watching this Week: For date night we watched Lincoln, which was really good. Daniel Day Lewis definitely deserves an Oscar. We're almost done with season 2 of the Tudors and I think Joseph is nearly as obsessed as I am now. We're almost to the destruction of Anne Boleyn, which is where I completely stopped watching the first time around. We've also been reading up on Tudor history to get an idea of how accurate the show is. Although not completely accurate, and highly dramatized and sexualized, I think they did a pretty good job.
Food Cravings: We were just commenting that I don't have any weird, random food cravings. Not yet, anyway. I think the most consistent ones are honey greek yogurt, fish, and cereal. I HAD to have Cracklin' Oat Bran yesterday, and I haven't had that in over a decade. If you think my cravings sound healthy, they really aren't. Don't forget, fish sticks count as fish. Also, I'm just really hungry ALL THE TIME. They say you're only supposed to eat 300 extra calories per day... Yeah right.
Exercise: I've been doing good with my pedometer goal of at least 10,000 steps. I made Joe go for a walk with me on Saturday night, and we ended up walking all the way to Trader Joe's in a drizzle to satisfy his craving for bran muffins (sympathy cravings?) Now he's home sick though, so maybe all the walking in the rain this weekend wasn't a great idea. Planning on going to the gym and doing some weights this week as well.
What I Miss: Nothing at the moment.
Happy or Moody? Both! But mostly happy.
Movement: Nothing yet, at least, nothing for sure. I thought I felt something, but it hasn't happened again so it was likely in my head. I could feel movement as early as this week though. So exciting!
Looking Forward to: Our next NT scan is next week, and this time Joseph is coming with, so he'll get to hear the heartbeat for the first time. And, of course, more ultrasound pics! Maybe even 3-D pics, if we're lucky.