I am not totally sure what to write about today, so I will just write down some things that I am thinking.

1. For some reason I am suddenly really into smoothies. I wasn't just indifferent before, I really didn't like them very much, because in general I would rather just eat the things that go into them as opposed to having all of those things blended up together. But something about being pregnant has made me really crave smoothies, I think because it is a very efficient way to get a lot of nutrition. It became such an obsession that we ended up buying a special single-serve blender just for making smoothies. I still don't like bananas, but there are some very delicious non-banana smoothie recipes out there (like this one, which I made without the banana, using cashews instead of walnuts, ginger instead of nutmeg, and regular milk instead of almond milk), and I like being a little bit creative.

2. Things are starting to grow in the garden. There are little sprouts of lettuce and chard, today some of the potatoes started to pop up, and little pea shoots are shooting out of the ground. The rhubarb has at least twelve stalks, and they are getting close to being a foot long (rhubarb dies back completely in the winter here, so this is all growth that has happened in the last few weeks). I also bought some herbs at the garden center and planted them today. Gardening was much harder work today than it normally is I think, and I had to take a long break afterward, but it was satisfying.

3. I got a haircut yesterday, and it is shorter than my hair has been in several years. I sort of have mixed feelings about it, because it is a bit shorter than what I asked for (just barely below shoulders), but a summer haircut is good.

4. Today I am 23 weeks pregnant, and apparently this means that if the baby were born today it would have some chance of surviving. It seems a little crazy to think that some babies are born that tiny, and I hope this one stays put for a good while longer!

5. I am feeling the baby move around more and more. It is still inconsistent, but I am definitely getting kicked and punched sometimes – it is no longer a mistakable for a rumbly stomach or gas. I am loving it :-)

6. There are some things about being pregnant that are not as great. First, my feet keep turning dark red or purple from blood pooling, so I have to sit with my feet up a lot. I am not sleeping all that well (okay, but not as well as usual) because I am finding it harder and harder to get comfortable. I am normally a back sleeper and it is becoming less and less comfortable to sleep on my back for any period of time, and when I sleep on my side my hip and shoulder hurt. There are several extra pillows in bed of various shapes and sizes that help, but I fear that the days of good sleep might be done for quite some time. Also, I am hot all the time, and at night even though we are keeping the house cool enough that Jeff has to wear his winter socks to bed, I often find myself throwing off all of the covers and waking up a little sweaty. I can only imagine what things will be like when it is super hot in August and I am super pregnant.

7. The weather here has been unbelievably good. Highs around 25°C/77°F, sunny, sometimes a few clouds to block the sun from being too direct, and no mosquitoes yet. It is great to be outside. Everyone here has completely forgotten that winter exists, and we are enjoying one of the nicest parts of the year :-)