26 weeks, her name, and the NATO Phonetic Alphabet.

Her name is Juliette.

We liked that name when we were expecting Charlie but by the time we got a positive pregnancy test for this little one we loved it. Part of the reason we so very much hoped for a girl was because we just wanted our little Juliette!

I guess we're even nerdier/cooler than we thought, because when we told our friend Nicole (hi Nicole!) she told us that 2/3 of our kids would have names in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. You know--Alfa, Bravo, Charlie and then right on down to Juliet (spelled differently, but still) at J. If we'd only known, we could have named Grace "Golf" so she could fit the trend. ;)

This week (we hit 26 today!) has been less eventful than last (no hospital stays, getting adjusted to Steve's latest trauma schedule, and Charlie is rocking the potty training thing). Thank goodness. I'm still struggling to be pregnant and keep up with the house, the kids, the bills, etc. while Steve is on this hard rotation, but Saturday morning when I woke up dreading the day and prayed for help, Heavenly Father gave me a really lovely morning of kids playing peacefully so I could have a little downtime/nesting as I finished cleaning the storage/toys/etc. out of Juliette's someday-bedroom. It felt so good to get her room tidied and organized, and to have a little respite from breaking up the sharing-fights that have been so prevalent as of late. I am terribly thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord.

 I stood really weirdly here but its the best side-shot we got this week.

Pregnancy brain isn't too bad lately, but I am clumsy as all get out. I burst into tears last night after dropping a large wax chicken candle on Steve's foot. He doubled over in pain (it was a big, heavy chicken candle) and I just started bawling (alternating at times with a single laugh or two as I imagined Steve having to explain the cause of a broken toe to his Emergency dept. co-workers after this, which I then also felt terrible about so I went right back to crying). I just felt all the little failures of the week kind of collapse on top of me, and I felt so sad that I told Steve even chocolate couldn't fix it. Which was true. He, very wisely, made me go to sleep. Which did fix it. :) (Also, luckily, no broken toe.)

My poor little body. It still doesn't understand that baby girl isn't coming out until October, so I'm still doing the Braxton-Hicks thing. Today was the first time since last week that it got crazy--they started coming close together and very uncomfortable during sacrament meeting today, and by the second hour of church I knew I needed to get home to lay down. We left early. The fakey-contractions stayed the same frequency and intensity until I took a nap around 3ish, and though they are still coming a little (6 hours after they started) they seem to be slowing down again.

I hadn't expected to have this kind of thing going on, so I'm SO glad that I've spent a couple days when I've felt good prepping freezer meals for myself and the kiddos. Tonight we just popped some french toast sticks in the toaster oven for them--I feel much better feeding them stuff out of the freezer when I know what's in it. And it has saved us from a lot of extra "cereal dinners." :) I plan to do another round of them whenever I can, especially as get closer to baby's arrival. To Juliette's arrival!

More happy things? Our new nephew, Miles, was born this week to Steve's big brother Kev and wife Rachel! He is adorable, and we wish we were closer to Utah so we could go meet him. The third trimester is just around the corner (it starts at 28 weeks) and this week we've got the glucose screen and another doctor's appointment. I've still got a good stash of sweet pork for salads. I love food, so I just can't express how happy that makes me. We had lots of fun friends visit this week, and I learned the basics of how to knit. The baby book I ordered from Carter's should come soon. And Steve brought home donuts for breakfast yesterday morning, which made for much rejoicing from myself and the little sugar-busters! (By the way, Krispy Kreme has a Ghiradelli caramel and chocolate chip donut right now that I highly recommend.)

Our little bun is about 14 inches long from head to toe (the size of a head of lettuce curled up? These produce sizes are getting a little sketchy if you ask me) and she weighs 1 2/3 lbs! Isn't it crazy that she could weigh up to... oh gosh... ten pounds in just 14 weeks?! Here's to another week of baby-baking! We can't wait to meet this girl. :)