Our deck is nearly done. We just need a week of dry weather so we can stain it and it'll be ready to go! We had a bench made for it and are debating on what type of table to have made also. You can't imagine how handy having friends who know how to do things like that has come in handy. We plan on getting a fire pit too to make the nights last longer. I can't wait for the summer, I'll be out there all the time. Oh, and I'll have a new baby! I bought some flowers today. Light pink carnations, some tulips and another flower that I can't remember how to say or spell, but they are really fragrant and Alyssa had some purple flowers like them on the table at Easter. But mine are white and pink. 

Brandon is going through what I hope is just a phase. Separation anxiety at night and during the day for his naps. It's worse at night. It took nearly two hours for him to fall asleep. We are trying to just let him cry then to check on him every once in a while but when we leave or won't pick him up it seems to make him more mad then if we had never come in. John can't bare to hear him cry. He thinks I'm cruel. But I would rather go through this now when he won't remember it than in a couple years when he can crawl out of his bed and walk to our room... I just want this to be nipped in the bud before the baby comes. I can hardly deal with this when I'm actually getting a decent amount of sleep, I'm sure I wouldn't be a nice person to be around if I were sleep deprived. It's been nice being able to experiment with food and seeing what he will and won't eat. He's pretty brave and eats things that John or I won't. He likes seaweed with rice that John won't touch and raw tomatoes that I can't stand. He loves scrambled eggs, multi grain cheerios, green peas, peaches, teddy grahams and oyster crackers. he is getting the hang of eating long noodles and prefers them to smaller pasta. Of course it's more of a mess for mom to clean up!

I was at Ross today buying a lamp and I ran across a dumpling maker that makes 5 different sizes. One is really small and would be good for ravioli's (tomorrow nights dinner, who's coming over???) and a larger one that is about the right size for a personal sized calzone. Can't wait to try them all out! 

John's mom came home last Monday from Vegas and came over on Saturday to visit a while with us and to see how much Brandon has grown. She had been gone for 3 months and I'm sure he has changed a lot to someone who hasn't seen him for that long. She is deciding what to do. If she's going to go back or stay here and work. She wasn't able to use her vacation and family medical leave at the same time and keep her health insurance so she just might have to work a while then take some vacation and go back. Grandma still has 8 or 9 more chemo treatments and she is doing really well. Especially considering her age and the kind of cancer it is. 

I am officially 24 weeks pregnant today with only about 15 more weeks to go (39 total). I have gained 12 pounds and I am thrilled about that. If I can just keep the pace of weight gain to what it has been I should only gain about another 8 to 10 pounds. Let's just hope I do and have an easier sized baby. At my next appointment I have my glucose screening test and going by the weight I have gained I am confident I don't have gestational diabetes. My blood pressure has been good and with any luck I'll be able to keep it under control and not have to go on medication like before. I want to find out how much I weighed with Brandon by this time in pregnancy. This time I did start out 20 pounds heavier but I also gained over 70 with Brandon. So let's hope I have gained less this by this time than last time. 

Well I should get going. With any luck John will be coming home within a few minutes. That and Brandon is starting to destroy the kitchen.... it's his little way of telling me he wants some attention!!! Oh but he's just so darn cute!