Three Thanksgivings & 26 Week Update

I have held this lifelong love-hate relationship with Thanksgiving - I love the time with family and friends, but I hate the food.  Seriously.  Turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, anything pumpkin-flavored - it just gives me the culinary willies.  Growing up, my mother would serve me hot fruit and a baked potato at every Thanksgiving meal, not because other dishes weren't offered to me, it was the only food I would eat.  However, people love that traditional food, and I am perfectly happy not being the person responsible for cooking it all.  This year, I had the rare opportunity to eat not just one meal, but THREE Thanksgiving meals:

Thanksgiving meal #1: Preston Class Progressive Dinner

Our first dinner was a progressive dinner with our friends from our Sunday School class.  The evening started off with drinks and appetizers at Natalie's house where we stayed for about an hour catching up in her kitchen.  Hello Captain Rodney's cheese bake:

Then we moved on to Daniel and Whitney's house for the main part of the meal.  Whitney worked really hard on the delicious turkey and side dishes, which some of us also brought.  I was introduced to Jennifer's green beans wrapped in bacon, baked in butter.  Have I mentioned I love living in the South?

From there, we headed to Randy and Mary's house for dessert.  Mary had chocolate martinis for everyone (sadly, I could not partake) and several other desserts including my favorite - s'more cookies.  Two are my limit, so of course I had three:

Thanksgiving meal #2: Wine Club

Our wine club was formed from our Junior League small group, and it has grown over the past 12+ months to include many ladies who are not in the JLM.  Sam (who is due a few weeks after me) hosted the dinner, and her sweet husband cooked most of the food:

Thanksgiving meal #3: JD's parents' house (Hattiesburg, MS)

We started a new tradition last year of spending Thanksgiving with the Graffams.  Mary (JD's mother) took over most of the cooking this year as we could not drive down until Thanksgiving day.  She put a lot of work into the food prep, and I know that JD's dad was very hungry waiting on us to arrive!  This year, my mother joined us in Hattiesburg as my sister and her family booked a fun cruise for the holiday.  We enjoyed a nice meal, and spent the rest of the weekend shopping and relaxing.  No pictures of course.  In fact, the first meal's photos I ripped from the Internet, and someone else in the wine club posted pictures on Facebook or I wouldn't have had those either.  I am the worst at taking photos.  My sister is concerned that Baby Graffam won't have any pictures as it grows up.  Speaking of babies...


26 Week Update

Several of you have asked, so here is a rare baby bump photo taken by JD (who would take pictures everyday if I let him):

BABY STATS

How far along: 26 weeks.

How big is baby: As big as an eggplant, weighing around two pounds.

Total weight gain:  Nada.  Zilch.  I still weigh less than right before I got pregnant.  But, the baby is growing and that is all the doc cares about.  And I am happy because I am still allowed to run.

Maternity clothes: I switched to maternity pants around 25 weeks.  My regular pants weren't too tight, but they just fit...weird.  Maternity pants were just so much more comfortable.  Once you open the maternity clothing floodgates, it is hard to stop.  I now wear maternity tops though my regular tops would work as well.

Sleep: I am doing really well in this department most nights.  It was the first trimester that was the worst with the back aches.  I've learned to sleep with a pillow under my stomach for support and, so long as Buddy doesn't knock me off of said pillow in the middle of the night, I sleep pretty heavily.

Best moment of the week: I read somewhere that the baby was developed enough so that you could hear its heartbeat if JD pressed his ear to my stomach.  So he tried, and what happened?  The baby kicked him in the face.  I'd say we are going to have our hands full in March.

Food cravings:  None that I can recall.

Food aversions:  Anything and everything in the first trimester.  No meat, only fruit and salad.  I think I lost 12 pounds from that alone as morning sickness was never an issue.  My food aversions have mostly abated by now, and I am back to eating my regular food as we approach the third trimester (next week!).

Symptoms:  Um, being pregnant?  Don't really know how to answer this.  Crazy sinus issues and sensitivity to smell.  But then again, JD says my sense of smell is super-human and should be studied by science.

Movements: Practically all day, every day I feel little kicks.  We were eating dinner the other night in the den, and I had the plate on my lap.  I was holding the plate, and started to feel it rock back and forth.  That's when I realized the baby was moving/kicking the plate.  Guess I had it too close to the belly;)

Gender:  Much to our families' and friends' disappointment, we decided not to find out the gender.  What a neat surprise at delivery!  Most of the old wives' tales predict boy, but who really knows?

What I am looking forward to: Holding the baby. Naming the baby.  Starting this new chapter in our lives as a family, and learning how JD and I bond as a couple in this new dynamic.

What I miss:  Having a drink.  I never thought about missing alcohol as I would often not have a drink for weeks, but there is something about having a nice glass of wine during the holidays I am missing right now.

Next appointment: November 30th.  It's the dreaded gestational diabetes test too.  I pray I don't have it.  JD  had ACL surgery today, so tomorrow will be the first OB appointment he will miss.  I will miss having him there, but will be sure to take good notes to fill him in on everything when I get back to the house.  If he isn't too medicated to talk...