Third Trimester -- and Blooming!

It's official -- my third trimester has begun and this baby is less than three months from his due date (March 8, for those who aren't counting along with me). Brian is actually keeping better track than I am. He's the one who informed me of this special landmark occasion. Wahoo!

I'm starting to get the friendly belly pats from friends (will hopefully be a month more before strangers start in, too). And, I'm starting to get noticed for how "big" I am. Sensitive ladies at church are kind enough to tell me I'm "blossoming," "blooming," or I am getting that "pregnancy glow." Less sensitive examples are the man who tried to make polite conversation by telling me, "I've been noticing the last few weeks that you seem to be getting fatter and fatter." -- or, the doctor who treated Samantha last week who confidently guessed, "you must be in your last month!"

Yes, I'm getting bigger, and people are noticing the change. This little baby is kicking a lot. It's easy to see and feel him from the outside -- and hard to ignore him on the inside. I've got all the familiar aches and pains that came last pregnancy, as well as some new stitches and cramps that the doctor says are perfectly normal and should just be ignored. (Easy for him to say, of course.)
We've been discussing possible names for this baby. No wait, I should rephrase that to say I've been discussing possible names. Brian has been consistently vetoing almost everything, and kindly refusing to suggest any names of his own choosing because it's still "too soon." So, I call him William or James or Nathan since those are names I like (even though all three have been vetoed twenty times over).

Here's the obligatory pregnancy picture for y'all... At 6 months and two days, here I am with sweet baby James, or whatever he happens to be called eventually: