Week 28.  

 
Amelia has had a very busy week.  She's been practicing her acrobatics almost nonstop.  Most of the time, I find this quite amusing, with the only exception being her occasional 3am performance.  She has one move that I think is particularly neat.  It's where she shifts some substantial part of her body (butt, shoulder, or possibly even her head) from one side of my belly button to the other and then back again.  When she does this, there's a big lump that moves back and forth.  It's really fun.

This week has also been about give and take.  I gave Amelia a gift this week -- the gift of my waist.  This part of my body used to be a flexible bendy part (even up until last week, there was a little bend).  This week however, my waist has become entirely the property of Baby Amelia.  She has taken it over completely, and it bends no more.  You know how you see those pregnant women on television who have to sort of turn sideways and push themselves out of the chair with their arms?  Well, that really happens.  That's me at week 28.

When I told Bill that I had given Amelia the gift of my waist, he had an interesting observation.  He pointed out that she has given me a very unique gift in return.  Bill said, "Well, to thank you she's given you back your belly button . . . . "  Very funny, but also true.  It's not quite an outie yet, but it doesn't have very far to go.  No more lint collection in there for a while.

Okay, time for some new photos. 

This is a belly shot of me at 28+ weeks.  As you can see, the ol' tummy has grown almost exponentially over the past month.  If the baby keeps growing at this rate, I can't imagine what things will be like in February . . . .

This is a photo of what used to be a blank wall in Amelia's room.  Because we're not sure how long we will be in this house, I didn't want to paint the room a "baby color."  I wanted to leave the existing neutral beige, figuring it will make the house easier to sell.  That being said, I did want to spruce things up a little.  I found a perfect solution with some removable wall decals.  These look like they are painted on, but they peel right off without damaging the existing paint.  I picked some red poppies and butterflies to go with the baby bedding.  I think they turned out pretty good.  (It was while I was attempting to affix them to the wall that I realized I no longer have a bendy waist).

Finally, here is a photo of Amelia's finished playhouse in Kansas City.  Can you say AWESOME!?!  Puter and Aunt Martha went WAY over and above the call of duty here.  It's spectacular!  The only downer was that some busy-body neighbors called the city to enforce some kind of zoning ordinance.  Despite a signed petition from most of the Kalahurka's neighborhood, they were forced to move the playhouse around to the back yard.  That's a bit of a bummer, but it still looks great.  Thanks again Mom & Dad Kalahurka and Aunt Martha!

Well, that's all I've got for now.  Until next week!