Baby Belly, Apartment, and School

Stephen here. This is my first post in a while. Hello everybody.

So we've got three quick items today: A couple cute baby-belly updates, a video of our new apartment, and a question about grad school.

The Baby Belly
Here are some updates of the cutest mom around:

Taken on Friday, at 24 weeks.

She's definitely showing now, although some people do still think it's just barely. I beg to differ--my son is definitely in there, and he's even made it so she can't fit into some of her non-elastic clothes, as shown below.

There is not supposed to be a wedge-shaped gap in the skirt.

It's pretty fun.

Our New Apartment
As we might have mentioned, we just recently moved (to get a bigger place for the baby). Here's a 2-minute video tour, if you happen to be interested.

Stephen's Grad School

So I really don't like grad school. I mean, in a sense, I'm glad I chose to do grad school--it's already helped me get a job (which I really enjoy), and it's and rounded out my education in some interesting ways.

But now, it's just making my life miserable. Seriously--it makes me unhappy, and it just seems utterly ridiculous to pay thousands to inflict unhappiness on myself. Since I work full time, my evenings are spent either going to class or doing homework for it. I seriously have no free time other than the metro, unless I slack off. Thus it's very hard for me to make time for the things that are important to me, such as dating my wife, being involved in church, working out regularly, and pursuing my writing (and, eventually, playing with my son). I know all students are busy, but this really surpasses any experience I had as an undergraduate. Plus, I'm not really that interested in school-learning anymore.

However, I'm committed to finishing--as a matter of principle, I'm going to finish this, and I do know (at some level) that completing the degree is good for me professionally. Lots of things that produce lasting good come at a heavy initial cost--this is one of them.

So there are two options:

1. Keep chugging along, and just plow through just to get it over with as soon as possible. This is nice because even though it stinks now, it means that soon, it will all just be done--no dragging it out.
2. Slow down, taking half the class-load but extending the amount of time I'm in school. I feel like this would be nice since I wouldn't be as stressed, and I might be able to live life a bit more, but it does kind of drag things out.

What do you think? Please let us know in the comments.

Boy oh boy

In case you haven't heard we are having a baby boy! Here are some shots of him at 21 weeks.  

And finally, the belly pictures you have all been waiting for...

7 weeks and feeling sick, sick, sick.

12 weeks and not looking any bigger in the slightest.

14 weeks and still not showing.

Skip ahead 6 weeks (end of the school year/girls' camp/feeling lame at not gaining weight or showing)...

20 weeks and finally starting to show a little bit.

23 weeks YAY! people actually think I am pregnant now (sorry I forgot which way I faced for the previous pictures)

We are SOOOOOOOOO excited to have a little boy (no names yet)! He has been kicking hard enough for both mom and dad to feel since 16 weeks and yesterday was the first time we could actually SEE some of his movements. I rarely get sick and the 2nd trimester has been leaps and bounds better than the 1st. Some clothes are getting tight, but I still can wear almost everything in my wardrobe. I am very SLOWLY gaining weight, but expect to see that change at the next few visits. However, the doctors are not concerned in the slightest and say that everything is going very well. This week I signed up for a childbirth class (ahhh!) and bought airline tickets for Christmas (hopefully flying with a newborn is not too bad).

In other good news:

-We moved into a fantastic 2 bedroom apartment for only $30 more per month than our 1 bedroom apartment.

-We just passed our 3 year wedding anniversary! Best 3 years ever and we are celebrating late this year (last minute moves are tiring) by going to a National Symphony Orchestra concert.

-Steve's contracting job at DC public schools turned into a full-time regular job with benefits and he has less than a year to graduation.

Beach trip

We finally made a trip to Ocean City, Maryland's most popular beach city. What a nice break, just the two of us!!!

The car ride there took 4 hours thanks to the toll road leading up to the bay bridge:

However, the way back only took 3 hours and we still had the perfect amount of sun, water, and food time to enjoy ourselves and still make it back to play board games with friends at night.

They have a fun boardwalk with plenty of ice cream and greasy beach food!

I love this picture. Later on he got an earful of sand from a wave much bigger than this. We had so much fun in the waves and I haven't laughed so much so hard in a while.

First time in the Atlantic ocean! (we went to Florida for choir tour in high school, but I didn't even stick my feet in when we went to the beach... what a weirdo!!) I am happy to report that it is much warmer than the water in California.

HALF of Steve's ginormous Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. Anyone have any recommendations for what to eat at Ocean City? The food was fine, but we weren't super impressed. Thankfully the ice cream made up for it :)

And what would a day at the beach be without a painted statue man collecting money for who knows what?

Overall rating: A

It wasn't nearly as crowded as I had thought, the weather was beautiful, and we will definitely come back again!