Name Voting Update

I may be disabling the Name Voting soon. Jon and I have decided on a name, but we're just waiting a little while longer before we announce it to the world.

Here are the results as they stand now:
First Name:
Julia - 34% (13/38)
Jolien - 28% (11/38)
Davin - 21% (8/38)
Josephine - 13% (5/38)
Glynnis - 2% (1/38)

Middle Name:
Adelia - 27% (10/37)
Amelia - 24% (9/37)
Glynn - 21% (8/37)
Alice - 18% (7/37)
Pauline - 8% (3/37)

I've been asked a few times, so here's the explanations to each of the names that were posted. Most of them are family names, which is the direction we intended to head towards.

Alice Adelia - Nanny's (Jon's grandmother) name. A very special woman who I never had the privilege of meeting. She lived in Jon's house since before he was born and was there until she passed away about 3 years ago.

Josephine - Jon's dad's first name is Joseph, even though he goes by Don.

Davin - My mom's brother's name was David, so this was a variation on that. My only uncle who passed away my senior year in high school. He's very missed. If we have a boy next, this will probably be his name.

Glynnis/Glynn - My sister's given middle name is Glynn. She's always hated it and I've always loved it. She dropped her middle name when she got married and took our maiden name as her middle. I always threatened to keep it in the family with one of my kids because I thought it was rude to just get rid of her name. But that's just me. (Oh yeah, and my mom's middle name is Glen - named after her Godfather). Apparently many people who have taken the poll agree with my sister since it didn't get very many votes. To which she replies "See?? I told you!"

Pauline - My grandfather was Paul, my mom is Paula, my middle name is Paulette. 'nuff said.

Adelia, Julia, Jolien - names we've liked. Both Jon and his dad's initials are JAH, so one of our goals was to give her those initials as well.

Name announcement coming soon!!!

Shopping

Jane took me shopping last Sunday to spend the rest of the birthday money she wanted to give me for maternity clothes. Score! We went to Motherhood Maternity and I was able to get a few really cute tops. Then we headed over to Target where I found the clearance section - my favorite!!!! They had so many fabulous things on sale, it was amazing!!! I got a ton more tops and a few comfy pairs of lounge-around pants. So much fun!

Crib

Jon and I had a pretty lazy weekend. Saturday we just weren't motivated to do much of anything, though we had a short list of errands to run. We tossed that list out the window and just kinda took it easy. Jon did want to accomplish SOMETHING to make it feel worthwhile, so I suggested we put the crib together. So we did!

It looks wonderful. And she'll now have somewhere to sleep. We also rearranged the furniture a little in the room and I'm very happy with it.

23 weeks

We had another doctor appointment today and all is well! We heard the heartbeat for the very first time with the handheld doppler and it was beating away at 150. So cool! I'm measuring 26 centimeters, which is equivalent to 26 weeks gestation. Dr. White claims this could mean she's going to be a big baby or that maybe she's just hit a growth spurt. I claim he's just measuring some of my chubby belly which is throwing off the measurements!! haha.. In any event, his prediction is that we'll have a 8 1/2 - 9 pound baby!! Oh my.... And with the size of mine and Jon's head, it's enough to make me want to stop this whole thing right now!

Side note: Jon was 6 lbs, 11 oz and 18 inches long at birth (and he was overdue!) I was 8 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long. So maybe she'll cut right down the middle.

My blood pressure is still great - 122/78, just slightly higher than last month, but Dr. White is very pleased.

Next month is the glucose test. And next month also marks the start of my 3rd trimester! Beginning in March, my appointments progress to twice a month. And in April, it's once a week. So hard to believe, it seems like time is flying right by!

New bedding/nursery pattern

So we think we've decided on a new color scheme and theme for the nursery. The only disappointment is that it's only available online, so I couldn't see it in the store to be sure I really liked it. But it's received rave reviews online and the other sets by the same company that they do carry in the store seemed to be very high quality.

Cocalo's "Tropical Punch" bedding set and nursery accessories. (No, it's not Noah's Ark - it's baby animals!) It's got the brown and beige in it to allow the furniture and walls to stay the way they are, but it's pink enough for Jon who wants the nursery to be "girly". I'm very excited! And we're definitely keeping the brown paisley pattern for the high chair, swing and pack n play. This design only replaces the pink and brown daisy pattern we had originally chosen.

Staying Put

I had to make the hard decision not to come to California in March like we had originally planned for a baby shower. I feel so blessed to have such great friends like Michelle and Debbie who wanted to put together such a great event for the little one who's about to enter our lives. And I was really looking forward to seeing all the people I haven't seen in a while.

I really hope to see everyone in California again soon and promise that we will come visit with the baby as soon as we can.

Thank you again for everyone's excitement for celebrating this miracle. We love you!

We have furniture!

Jon and I drove out to Combine on Saturday morning to pick up the furniture we found on Craigslist. We were very pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Virtually perfect, and no obvious blemishes. The finish was absolutely pristine.... which means - we will NOT be tackling the tough job of sanding and painting it. The wood was much blonder/lighter than it looked in the pictures, so we will also not be installing wainscotting in the nursery because we don't think it needs any lightening up in there now. Thanks to Cody and Fallan for helping us get it home - you are lifesavers!

Oh, and check out my first registry gift on top of the changing table. My diaper bag! It was a gift from Maggie, the dog next door (Sarge's girlfriend) as a thank you for babysitting her while her family was out of town for the holidays. Thanks again Maggie!! And John, Christina and Hailey too!

The set still looks a little darker than it actually is. This is the changing table/dresser.

The tall dresser. Tons of storage room, which we need in order to fit all the clothes! The crib hasn't been put together yet.

HOWEVER, the only minor setback is that we've decided to choose a new bedding design. The plain pink and brown was going to be very difficult to tie in, and Jon does not want to paint the room again since we love the wall color so much. Soooo... we're deciding now on a new set that has more color in it and one that will tie in the brown on the walls, the natural wood color of the furniture and the white accents on the window and doors around the room. We'll find it! We know we will.

In other news... I actually felt the baby kick on the outside of my tummy tonight! I was sitting still and she was practicing some kick-boxing in there, so I pressed firmly and concentrated. And before I knew it, my hands jumped!! It was so weird to feel her on the inside and the outside! Jon was at work, but we're hoping he'll feel her kick during his next few days off.

We have our next appointment on Wednesday, so there will be another update then!

'til then...

Registered

ugh... Jon and I both agree that registering for a wedding is MUCH more fun than registering for a baby. Overwhelming is an understatement. I could barely even get past the bottles! So many to choose from!!!! I talked to my sister after we got home, and she recommended taking all the bottles off the registry since we don't know which kind the baby will like. Both of her boys liked completely different kinds, so you just never know. All that work in the store for nothing!

We first went to Target (our registry is here) and I think we were both disappointed in their selection and the lack of access to test things out. Especially after visiting Babies R Us the next day. But at least we got started on thinking about things we might need (and took a detour to score some fantastic Christmas clearance things afterward!!!). Saturday we went to Babies R Us (our registry is here) and we both appreciated the time they take with the customers, and the access you have to test out the strollers, playpens, highchairs, etc... We were testing a stroller and the associate came right over to help us figure out what the heck we were doing. So we are definitely making Babies R Us our store of choice!

We found a stroller we both really liked, in color and ease of use. We both decided to stick with mostly gender neutral things so that we'll be able to use everything again for baby #2 should it be a boy (we hope!). We weren't thrilled with the choice of colors for the highchair and playpen but we checked online when we got home and found the PERFECT brown paisley pattern. We're so excited!!! The one thing that will definitely be GIRL is the nursery. Jon chose the pattern and we both love it.

Soooo... I guess what's most important is that we registered for the crucial things, as well as a bunch of other goodies. AND - perhaps the best news of all, is that we're pretty sure we've found a crib, changing table and dresser on craigslist.com! Jon's planning on picking it up later this week, so I'll post more when we get it home.

It was definitely a Baby Weekend, and I think we both realize just how much we have to learn!

'til next time...

Crib set. Pink and brown "Pop Daisy" collection.

"Berkshire" pattern for highchair, swing and Pack N Play. We love it!

Pack N Play

Inventory!

I spent the other night going through ALL of the clothes and blankets Amy and Jalynn gave to us. Oh my goodness!!! I had to retake the pictures just to show how much was in those boxes. It's crazy! And I even forgot that my sister had given us two boppies.

Here are the diapers my sister and Amy gave. The plastic bag on top is even full of loose diapers! Now, don't get me wrong - I realize we're going to need tons more diapers than this. But we're still so thankful for people giving us their leftovers.

Receiving blankets, all-purpose blankets and cloth diapers galore!

And then there are the clothes! From left to right are 0-3 month, 3-6 month, and 12 month clothes. In the front are the gowns.

Wylee tried to help me but even he got worn out.