Bar Results and the State of the Baby Bump

First thing first: I passed the California Bar Exam! The results are hugely relieving since the next opportunity to take it is at the end of February within days of my due date, and the next opportunity after that is at the end of July when I will have an adorable five month old. Definitely not ideal times to be studying for and taking an extremely difficult test!

Second thing second: My baby bump is getting bigger and bigger! I am constantly touching the foreign shape of my abdomen, and it grows so quickly that I am never used to it and am constantly surprised by how big it is! I feel my baby girl kicking and moving all the time, especially when I am sitting or lying still. My back and hips are sometimes sore, and if I eat too much, my lowest ribs are tender from the stretching. And yet our baby still has to quadruple her body weight before she exits! Yikes!

Here's my bump at about 18 weeks:

19 weeks 
I never realized how slimming black is until I took this picture. My tummy looks a lot smaller than in the previous one.

20 weeks 
Michael and I went to a rap concert that had something to do with Humble Beast. I don't remember what. He knows. I stuck the bumper sticker on my stomach and apparently thought it was hilarious.

21 weeks

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks:
No Picture!

25 weeks:
I definitely look pregnant! At this point, strangers ask me when I'm due and I occasionally notice middle aged and older women giving me a tender, misty eyed look. Too funny!

Photo Shoot

In the apartments where Michael and I used to live, we had the privilege of striking up a friendship with one of our neighbors, an incredibly hardworking mom named Yesenia and her boys who loved Michael to pieces. Yesterday, I got to take pictures of them.

Aren't they unfairly beautiful?

Playing in the leaves.

These next two shots would have been awesome if it wasn't for the horribly positioned leaves right over Christian's face. Oh well.

Boo. :-( Get out of the way, leaves!

Family.

The whole time I was taking pictures, I could not get a good one of Christian's little brother, Matthew. He was at the same time super active and super camera shy, so he was constantly running around with his back to me. Finally, I resorted to lying to him, telling him that there was a squirrel in the tree. He froze just long enough to get this shot.

Then he realized their was no squirrel and I got this shot right before he ran off.

Little model.

My First Reach Concert

My husband has been a big Christian rap fan for the past few years, and I have to admit that I've gotten a bit into it too, so I decided to go with him and a few of his students to the Reach Records "Unashamed: Come Alive" tour.

So, last night, I was on my feet for almost five hours straight in a room filled with a few thousand young people singing things like, "I'm fresh! Not because my swagga' right!"

And it was fun. I got to see the main guys that my husband talks about and listens to so much on stage rapping and going crazy.

And it was exhausting. When we were five rappers in and I had already stood for three hours straight, my back was killing me and I felt like I was going to fall over. My sweet husband walked me to the back of the room and I sat down and drank lots of water for about half an hour and then got back up for the last and best part of the concert.

When I woke up this morning, my feet and back were still sore and I had rap stuck in my head! What an experience.

Halloween

You're never too young to wear a Halloween costume!