nine weeks!

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bump watch: all the pants still fit, but it's becoming a (literal) stretch for some of them. it's a little bit amazing (and somewhat frightening) that even eating a small meal results in an instant food baby. i've heard this stage described as the "beer gut phase" of pregnancy. if only there were a liter or two of spaten or dunkel to blame this on!
sweet pea: is an inch-and-a-half long, which bumps us up to prune-sized! elbows are now formed and those little legs have indentations where the knees will be. (incidentally, knee caps don't form until children are between two to five years old.) looking at the picture below, i can't believe how much changes in a week! looking a little less alien and a little more like a bebe!
Fetal Development Week 10
best moment: this has nothing to do with sweet pea, but we got our itinerary for our upcoming trip to Europe! Nick is accompanying the men's glee club from the University of Pittsburgh on their European tour, and i'm accompanying him. see what fun things happen when you marry an organist? we'll have plenty of free time to explore the sights on our own, but it was fun to discover that the travel agency has already set up city tours and some excursions for us. 
symptoms: heartburn and acne like whoa. also, just when i was feeling like a super-preggo for not being sick yet, i up and lost my supper last night. i think it was mostly because i took my prenatal vitamin on an empty stomach and waited too long to eat. won't make that mistake again!
cravings: nothing too crazy this week! i've been noshing on Nick's leftover birthday cake (both chocolate - one with peanutbutter frosting from his parents, one with cream cheese frosting from the choir), but it's mostly because it's there. maybe it's time to freeze the leftovers instead of shoveling them in my mouth?
what i miss: that flat-tummy feeling. which is not going to be returning anytime soon.
looking forward to: seeing the Eiffel tower, eating Belgian chocolates (and their famous frites!), and exploring Amsterdam! i'm so glad Nick has been bitten by the travel bug as fiercely as i have. and now sweet pea will be off to a good globe-trotting start!

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