Top Ten List

I actually ran into a friend yesterday who said she'd been checking in on my blog to see if I'd had the baby yet. Thanks, sweet Krista! You made my day.

I have always assumed that, due to my lazy blogging (like one post every month or two,--sad, I know) that I didn't really have any readers besides my hubby and Cindy-who are just too nice to tell me to give it up.
So, here's an update for all three of you:

I am now officially 8 and 1/2 months prego and I thank God every day for this blessing and his answer to my prayers!!! However, being 8 and 1/2 months pregnant entitles me to whine and complain a little, don't you think? So, I've decided to make a top ten list about pregnancy.

Top Ten things that are not so good about being 8 and 1/2 months pregnant:

10. Due to my 500 times a day bathroom runs, I'm spending more money on toilet paper than gas for my SUV.

9. Sleepless nights due to leg cramps and heartburn.

8. Wanting to scour every baseboard, light fixture and everything in between, but never having the energy to do so.

7. Wondering and worrying about my upcoming delivery-hoping that the baby is healthy and that the complications didn't hurt her development.

6. Wondering and worrying if she's really a girl!! Seriously, three people have told me stories about ultrasound mistakes in the past three weeks. (Not that I wouldn't get over it and love a boy just as much, but EVERYTHING I have for the baby is pink!)

5. People asking me if I'm sure that there's only one in there...

4. Having only one outfit that still fits, yet is getting tighter by the day.

3. Still trying to come up with a name....

2. Swollen feet and swollen everything else--loving my new double chin.

and the number one worst thing about being 8 and 1/2 months prego......




1. Waiting and enduring these last two weeks! (And you thought it might be the hemorroids.)

So, now that I've celebrated my pity party and gotten it out of my system, I will try to be more sensitive and remember those who have trouble having children. I really do consider this baby a gift and blessing from God.

"Dear God,
Thank you for this blessing. Thank you for answered prayers. Thank you for supportive and prayerful friends. Thank you for pregnancy. Amen."

Why, oh why are girl's names so difficult to choose? Or is it just me???

Thanks for the name suggestions. It's funny how so many of the names you suggested were already on our list :) I really like a lot of them, so we'll see which one she ends up with. (Is it possible for a child to remain nameless for days or weeks or even months?)

I'm seriously stressing about this name thing. I'm sure hormones are involved, but I am on the verge of needing a therapist or something. Do you think there are any who specialize in baby-naming prenatal stress disorder??

Seriously though, there are many facets affecting this decision (and making it so difficult!) First of all, my husband is very much into knowing the meaning of a name and choosing one based on it being a "good" meaning. Apparently, names with meanings such as "blind,"(Bailey) "wild one"(Sheridan) or "crooked mouth" (Campbell) are out of the question...

I, on the other hand, make it difficult because I just can't justify giving my child a name of someone we already know, like our friend's kids. I have this hang-up about copying other's names-even if I like them.

I have no idea why. I know it's weird and stupid. Again, hormones may be a contributing factor to this mania.


Also, we have given our boys surnames for first names (Ross, Grant and Payton) and Bible names for middle names, so it would be nice to find a girl-appropriate surname for a first name and a Biblical middle name to go along with that theme. Yet at this point, I'm okay with that not happening--just so we can find SOMETHING we can agree on!

So, with all that said, here are a few names in the running (subject to change on a moments notice in the event that I were to befriend someone with any of these names.)

Oh, and one more thing: We have decided to include our combined middle names for her middle (or second middle name)--Kay+Lee. At least that's one name decision under our belt...

1. Carrington Faith Kaylee (okay, so I lied. I do know two little girls with the name Carrington, but they are only aquaintances, so it's allowed:)

2. Eliana Faith Kaylee--that's ana like "ohna"-(short o sound) and it means "God has answered my prayer" which, of course is very appropriate :) I'm not totally thrilled about this spelling though.....might change it to Elleana or Ellyana and call her Elle or Elly.

3. Tatiana Kaylee---she would have my initials with this name, which would be kinda cool ;) I know an aquaintance whose daughter has this name and they call her Tawney for short... kind of cute, especially since our daughter's hair will likely be a tawny brown.

Well, those are the only three full names we have tossed around since we found out it was a girl, however none of them seem like a homerun, if you know what I mean. We simply like them and hope that if we choose one of them, that we will grow to love it on her.

Some other names we like:
Sophia, Arabella (Bella for short,) Carys or Careese (Reece for short,) Carrigan or Kerrigan or Caregan (with a french accent above the e ,) Cherie, (yes, I like french names..) Aria, Arielle and Phoebe.

Any other suggestions? Give me your thoughts, PLEASE and I promise this will be my last post on naming this child!

Once again, here I am apologizing for being such a lazy blogger. The summer has been pretty uneventful, yet busy and I never seem to get around to keeping up with this blog. I have been keeping up with my new blogging friends by reading your posts and then being too lazy to comment. :)

So far, my pregnancy is going well! Praise God! I mean, I'm huge (bigger than I was at 9 months with the boys, and I'm only 7 months) bloated, grumpy, pee my pants every time I sneeze and pop heartburn pills like candy, but other than those trivial issues, "little girlie" and I are great. The doctor told me that he thinks (cautiously) I may have made it over the hump and doesn't foresee any more problems. Yahoo!!! And thanks again for the prayers. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY appreciate it.

The boys are doing great this baseball season. Ross and Grant were chosen for their All-Star teams, so we spend most nights during the week at practices and most weekends cheering them on at out of town tournaments. David is coaching Ross' team, so he goes with Ross to his tournaments and I take Grant to his. Payton gets to be bat-boy for Ross' team, (complete with a miniature uniform) so he gets to feel special too. Thankfully, all of these activities only last the month of July! I have no idea how we'll do this next year with a baby......

Okay, so now that I've updated my blog, I need your help. Send me some girl name ideas. We are at a total loss. You'd think I'd have all kinds of girl names left over from three previous boy producing pregnancies, but for some reason I can either not recall the names or I don't like them anymore. I like names that are not too common, and flower names like Lily won't work because of our last name:) Otherwise we're wide open..So send away. Inspire me, PLEASE!!

Oh Boy!! It's a Girl!!!!

Yep, that's right. I get to buy pink things!!!!!!

I'm still in shock. I kept asking the ultrasound tech if she was really sure. :)

Also, my doctor was "causiously optimistic" about the complications I've had for the last eight weeks.

Although that was before I had another scare last week, when I woke up in the middle of the night with blood everywhere.
The doctor had mentioned to me that if that were ever to happen, to call him right away as it could be the placenta abrupting. I was scared to death that this was what was happening and had to call the doctor at 2:00 AM Thursday. At that point, I had two choices: go to the hospital or wait it out at home and go into the doctor's office first thing in the morning. I decided to wait, as I was feeling the baby move and the doctor told me there was really nothing they could do but wait and see.

The next morning, I had yet another ultrasound (I think I've had about five ultrasounds so far,)and it confirmed that while the separation hadn't really healed much, if any, that it was not affecting the placenta at this point. Of course, there is a chance that it will affect it......but I'm still trying to remain as positive as possible.
I spend a lot of time in prayer and am doing my best to give this situation to God. Unfortunately, it gets really hard sometimes not to "take it back" from Him so I can worry some more.
Anyway, I know I've been totally deliquent at keeping up with regular posting on this blog. I just haven't really felt like blogging much, as I'm sure you understand.

I do check in on your blogs every few days, when I just can't take another episode of "7th Heaven" or "Little House..." while being partially confined to bed. So, keep the commentaries on A.I. coming-they are creatively funny! Although, ever since my Brookie and Carly were voted off, I just can't be as excited about watching the shows as I once was. Here's my opinion regarding the final contestants:

1.Thanks goodness Jason is gone!!!!!!!!! I thought he was always "just okay" and totally didn't like the fact that he stayed longer than Michael, Carly or Brooke. He reminds me of Raffi. Maybe we'll see him on the cover of a hippy kid's cd one day.

2. I really like Syesha. I realize that I may be in the minority here, but I think her range is awesome and her voice is beautiful. I do realize she is maybe a bit more softer pop, but then again, so is David A. I figure she'll be the next to go.

3. David A. is talented in a cute Oliver Twist sort of way, but an American Idol, he is not.


4. David Cook is my fave to win. He's awesomely talented and totally fits the bill!

It's THE most wonderful time of the year!!

Here goes my first post after a too-long break.

First and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment regarding my recent pregnancy complications, (and THANKS to my special friend Cindy who initiated those comments and prayers.) I wish I had had the energy and emotional ability to write you all and thank you personally two weeks ago, but I will visit your blogs soon and let you know how meaningful those verses and supportive comments were to me.
Here's a medical update: I have what's called a subchorionic hemorrhage. There are a few different varieties of these, but mine involves a separation between the amniotic sac and my uterus. Sometimes these hemorrhages aren't a big deal and heal on their own (reattach) but mine is a very large separation and the doctors don't know how this will go yet. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and I have around a 50/50 chance of the pregnancy continuing.

Everyday, God is teaching me that he is in control of my baby's life and I am learning to trust Him more than I have ever had to trust Him before. Somedays are more difficult than others. Somedays I bleed. Somedays I have cramps. Everyday I wonder if this is the day. However, I have reached the point where I can honestly say that either way this child is born-whether into this world or into our eternal home, I will completely and totally love and continue to trust my Jesus in all things, even in my pain. I have come to realize that God's wisdom is ultimately perfect, and my wisdom is ultimately not perfect. Besides the gifts of peace and supportive friends and family, I am now feeling the baby move on a regular basis, which of course, is very comforting to me.

Now the reason for the title of this post and a subject that's not as deep, but brings huge amounts of happiness to my life--IT'S BASEBALL SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!
My husband and I live for this time of year. I'm not quite sure how or when exactly we became such baseball fanatics, but it is our family's favorite sport by far. David played baseball in high school and I've played on my share of church softball teams, but I think we just really love the thrill of the game. There is nothing like watching our boys catch the winning catch or hit the winning run, especially if it's after they've been in a slump. I could go on and on about the life lessons they have learned through this sport, but mostly it's just our thang! It is so fun for us, that we have two batting cages (one inside our basement and one outside) and a baseball field in our backyard. The field is still awaiting some brick dust and bases, but still works for team practices at our house.
All three of our boys are playing (on three different teams) and David is coaching two of them. David takes turns every year on which two teams he coaches, as coaching three teams would not really be feasible. Coaching two teams gets a bit hairy at times! This year he is coaching Ross -12 and Payton -8, (and Payton's first year of having Daddy as coach!) Grant ended up with our family's favorite (other than Daddy) coach and we are sooo thrilled. It looks like it's going to be an exciting season in more ways than one.

Ross ended up with a lot of great players on his team and I am fairly sure they're going to end up winning a lot of games. While David and I try not to place an emphasis on winning regarding the boy's sports activities, we are thrilled for Ross considering the last year has been a big time "losing" year for him. His football team lost most of their games. His basketball team lost ALL of their games, and last year's baseball team lost all but two of their games. We were sure God was trying to teach him a bit (okay a lot) of humility, but it looks like (hopefully) that lesson time is over. :) Whew!

Now I'm off to wash mud-covered baseball pants....the one bad aspect of baseball season.

Also thanks to Cutest Blogs on the Block for my new (and free!) blog colors and graphics!

be back soon!

I'm taking a blogging break until I get over this blasted morning sickness (which lasts all day.)
I'll still check in on your blogs when I feel up to it, and I look forward to posting on my recent trip to swim with the dolphins soon!

When one is trying not to think about the miserable pregnancy nausea that is afflicting one, it is best not to watch television where every other commercial is about one of the following:

1. food

2. toenail fungus

3. mucus

When one is trying to not get one's hopes up concerning the gender of the child one is carrying, it is best to not listen to the radio where every other song played is about a little girl.

Songs heard in the last 24 hours:

1. "Stealing Cinderella"(don't know who sings it.)

2. "Dancing with Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman

3. "I Saw God Today" by George Strait

4. "All-American Girl" by Carrie Underwood

If one were to risk turning the radio back on in one's car, one might be lucky enough to hear "This One's for the Girls,"and "In my Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride, too.