July 4th Vacation

We had a great time during our July 4th vacation!

We spent the first part of it at Lake Gaston with mom's side of the family.  This was the first year we stayed at the Barnes' new place.  It is extremely nice and they have done A LOT of work on it!  Donald even rigged up a rope swing off the upper deck of the boat dock.  Robert and Lindsey came up too.  The weather was perfect and we got plenty of sunshine!  Here are some pictures (you can also see how Evan is growing too!):

Lindsey & Robert 

Jeff and I

The swing

Me and Mom 

Floating---so nice to lay on my stomach!

Sexay

Chillin

Jeff and Rob on the tube

yeeeah

Uncle Roy and the pups

Donald swingin

Brian showing how it's done!

The dock

There goes Jeff...

Mama and Evan

Again, with the view from the top

Aunt Barbara and Yogi  :)

Getting ready to go watch the fireworks

After a couple of days at the lake, we packed up and headed to Atlantic Beach for a couple of days with the Jennings crew.  Again, the weather was perfect (and actually quite breezy!).  I got some good use out of the beach chair that mom made for my pregnant belly-----So I guess there is a good reason for keeping a beach chair for 30 years.  :)  Thanks mom!  We had a great time on the beach and relaxing.  We also went to Beaufort to eat and shop a little too.  Can't believe it's already July!  The summer is flying by!  Here are some pictures from the beach trip:

Hanging out on the beach

hey hottie

The chair!

Lovely!

yep

Out in Beaufort

So yep, we had a great time!

In other news, here is how Evan has grown this past week (27 weeks):

Baby's lungs and immune system are maturing this week as baby prepares for his grand entrance. If he were born today he would have an 85 percent chance of surviving as his lungs are capable of breathing air (with medical assistance, of course). 

Other exciting developments:

• Baby's done a lot of growing over the past few months. His length has more than doubled in the past 15 weeks! And that's not the only thing growing—baby's brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace. His brain waves are now firing away just like those of a newborn baby. If baby is a he, his testes will have completely descended at this point.
• Your baby now weighs in at approximately 14 1/2 inches and just over 2 pounds, or about the size of that roast you made last time your in-laws were in town. (OK, the baby is the size of that roast you meant to cook before you decided that ordering Chinese was a much better idea.)

Yes, my belly is getting pretty large now.  And she seems to be growing very fast!  I am still feeling great (thank goodness), but I must admit---it's crazy to see the scale going up like it has!  I'm hoping to gain about 30 lbs total, and as of now, I should be on track for that.  Our next doctor's appointment is on July 27th, and that's when I do the fabulous glucose test (sarcasm of course).  Hopefully I will pass it the first time and not have to do it again!  One thing that has been difficult is getting a good night's sleep.  I know, I know---I better get used to running on little to no sleep, but it's not just sleeping---it's just being uncomfortable and waking up feeling like I need a back adjustment!  I really need to purchase one of those pregnancy sleeping pillows for your whole body I guess.  Lately, I've been sleeping on the couch because I can seem to prop my body differently on it than in the bed.  But besides the sleep, everything is going great.

We are hoping to get Evan's room painted by the end of the month, so we can start filling it up/decorating it throughout August & September.  I still can't believe we're having a baby....It's so awesome, scary, and exciting all at the same time!  I will try to post another update for 28 weeks with an official belly picture....I need to take one of my bare belly....my belly button is disappearing!!  :)  Thanks for keeping tabs on us!!