18 Weeks and Counting....

• How far along: 18 Weeks
• Total Weight Gained: 8 lbs 
• Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants, regular pants with the belly band thing and regular shirts mostly.  
• Sleep: Finally sleeping well!
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Feeling the baby!! Yay! And I love how my youth girls always rub my belly when they see me, I know some women hate that but I love it. 
• Movement: Yep! I have felt a few taps most nights. Cant wait till Mr.Pate can feel it too! 
• Food Cravings: Salmon, mandarin oranges (which I wasnt a fan of before) and nutella (uh oh- are my WW friends reading this?). 
• Food Aversions: None this week. 
• Morning Sickness: Still none so I hope I am past that.  
• Symptoms: Tiredness (but a little better this week I think), nosebleeds, headaches, hungry all the time, thirsty a lot, heartburn!  
• What I miss: The absence of heartburn and energy. 
• What I'm looking forward to: Feb 17th we will hopefully (as long as baby pate cooperates) find out the gender! Our birth classes start in February. Planning the nursery and registering! 
• Other news: I keep reading on my message boards that people hate when other people touch their bellies, but I love it. I have been trying to research baby gear like pumps, car seats, cloth diapers, etc so I am more prepared to register. I find myself rubbing my belly a lot, ha! I just absentmindedly rub it or rest my hands there. Is that weird? 
• Names: 
• Boy name- Griffin Alan Pate 
• Girl name- We decided on Adalay/Adalei/Adelay and now we need to figure out the spelling and a middle name. Progress... 

Milestones:
According to Babycenter.com : Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.