The Wonder of The Hot Dog Truck.

The Hot Dog Truck at the Galleria has held a long-time special place in Ali’s heart. It’s one of those eat-your-money for 30 seconds of moving back and forth rides, but Ali has NEVER wanted the money in it – the one time we did make it do what it was supposed to do, she was scared to death.

But I’m all about free, lasting-longer-that-30-seconds fun, so we typically take a trip to visit The Holy Grail of mall fun when we’re there.

However, I think she and AJ are starting to get a little too big to fit in their favorite playplace…standing up is quite impossible, and swapping sides is like trying to pass someone in an airplane aisle:

So I decided to take a photographic trip back to smaller times…

August 2008, giving Daddy a Hot Dog:

November and December of 2008 afforded many visits, probably because of Christmas shopping:

Yes, Ali and AJ fit in it oh-so-much better in 2008,

than 2010:

In 2009, we introduced Luke to The Hot Dog Truck, and I’m pretty sure it became a standard favorite activity for their family after that, also:

But no matter how overly-big they are for the Hot Dog Truck and it’s surrounding friends,

They still absolutely adore it.

22 Weeks – 5 Months.

I'm growing in humongous stretches and bulges. I feel HUGE, and I've hit that stage where my stomach feels like it is constantly stretching. Ali's noticing too - she'll suck in her stomach until it touches her backbone and say, "Mommy, can you do this too so your belly isn't so big???"

Total Weight Gained: 9.4 pounds - eek!! However, I AM thrilled with the fact that my weight gain seems to be mostly in my belly (or...maybe I should just say from the waist up..I guess there ARE other places that have grown also), so I am still able to wear my normal jeans (with a rubber-banded waist, of course). The hope is that if I'm still able to fit my legs into my favorite jeans at 5 months pregnant, maybe it won't take me 5 months to get back into them after Noah is born.

Cravings: Noah's sweet tooth has apparently pushed through his gums. Cheesecake and Gummy Bears are a major food groups right now, and for the first time in...ever, I made brownies completely on the spur of the moment one night last week, which qualified me as Chris' fantasy wife.

Aversions: Sleeping on my side. I still hate it. I bought a wedge pillow (Thanks for the tip, Leslie!!!) so that I'm at least partially propped when sleeping on my back, but what I REALLY want is to be able to sleep in my normal position, on my stomach, again. I've been grumbling at Chris about putting his engineering degree to work to make me a raised full-body pillow with a hole in the middle for my belly to hang down into. If only Tempurpedic would give me a mattress to review for pregnancy sleep health, he could just saw a hole right in it... and keep the hole to replace it after the baby comes, of course.

Movements: Starting last week, he's kicking so hard that it is visible. Which is now going to make you all stare at my belly like the girl at the checkout counter at Five Guys did last week. She COULDN'T LOOK AWAY, and he wasn’t even moving. I have no idea what was so fascinating.

You must check out: The MOST amazing photographical progression of pregnancy ever. It's awesome. The guy that took these spoke at a photography panel I went to at BlogHer, and he showed the pictures up on the screen. As the photo progression ended, you could nearly taste the level of estrogen in the room as it rose to record-breaking heights. The video at the beginning is awesome, but I really love the week-by-week photos below it...so keep scrolling down.

Sneak Peek: Of the nursery in progress (still a lot to do but still PLENTY of time), paint on the walls, furniture put together, and with the bedding:

Bowling Double Date

We went (Free) Bowling again last week again, this time adding a new friend, Ethan. Ethan calls Ali “Girlfriend 1” and AJ “Girlfriend 2”, so he was absolutely thrilled to come along and be surrounded by girlfriends…
The girls, however, were a bit more bored with the game this time around.

They resorted to girlish things, such as using the ball return vent to give them a model-being-photographed windblown look,

And posing on the other side of the ball return as The Little Mermaid.

Not to miss out on the fun, Ethan had to climb up too, but naturally, added a much manlier pose to the activity:

Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly how Mermen sit on rocks.

It's the Yittle Fings, Part Twenty-Nine,

The following conversation took place directly after naptime...

Ali: "I didn't want to talk to you when you put me down for a nap."

Me: "Were you mad?"

Ali: "No, I wasn't mad at you. I was just nervous."

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"Here's your marker, Mommy. And this is my marker. Don't take my marker. There is just no need for that."

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I looked in the backseat on the way home one day...

"Ali, WHY are you sucking on your toes???"

"Because I'm thirsty!!"

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Ali was dancing in the hotel room at the beach, and wanted Chris' Dad to dance with her. But instead of asking him, she found a much more "flattering" way to approach the subject...

"Papa, are you too old to dance?"

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I was in the other room, and Ali screamed out in alarm,

"Mommy!! Oreo doesn't look happy!!!"

"Does she look mad?"

"No!! She looks serious!!"

"That's okay, baby. She's a cat."

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"Ali, You haven't finished picking those pictures up yet. I told you to pick them all up."

"Mommy, You need to be patient!!"

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Ali's been quite obsessed with how long her hair is getting. She's constantly measuring it with her hand to see where "it comes down to". The other day, she informed me quite wistfully,

"I really, really, really really want my hair to grow down to my bum. Then I'd tee tee on it."

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I was worried about something, and Ali said, "Mommy! Don't be sad!! You have cheesecake!!"

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She ran into the room and proclaimed gleefully, "Yesterday I bringed Happiness to the WORLD!!!!"

Happy Beach Pictures.

20 Weeks.

Noah and I hit a growth spurt right after my last update post. Sleeping is getting uncomfortable (which really scares me since I have 19 weeks to go) – I can’t sleep on my back anymore without feeling crushed, but I still can’t sleep on my side without feeling nauseous. So I’m propping a pillow under one side of me and doing a hybrid.

Total Weight Gained: 4.2 Pounds. It was more, but then all the walking in NYC plus the fact that Noah didn’t care too much for the conference food put me back a couple of pounds.

Cravings: I hate Milo’s. Yet, I have been 6 times in 2 weeks. Not the hamburgers, mind you – they still disgust me. The chicken fingers, fries and honey mustard sauce is totally calling my name – continuously.

Aversions: Coke is finally absolutely delicious again!!! Hallelujah! I was surprised by all the food that I couldn’t eat at BlogHer – I’m not sure why – it was just different, I suppose.

Movements: Noah was really active, but has slowed down quite a bit this week. His feet must be tired from BlogHer like mine.

Travel: My travelling went really well with Noah in tow – I didn’t have too many problems, other than on the tiny plane on the way back, I got pretty sore. Oh – and Noah could totally feel the pressure changes. He was completely still on the flights except for takeoff and landing, when he would go crazy.