This Baby Needs a Name!!!

"Baby Sister" is about as close as we have come to an official name for this little bundle of joy. Before our ultrasound I told Jeremie that I wanted us to come up with a girl name, just in case, so the baby would have a name as soon as we knew the gender. Because we were having such a hard time coming up with something Jeremie suggested that we wait until we knew if we needed a girl name. I agreed, because I was so sure it was a boy. And here we are, 16 weeks to go, and Baby Sister is no closer to a name than she was a month ago. The search is on!!!

I started by checking out babycenter.com's list of top 100 names. Aside from the most popular names, like Olivia and Ella, there isn't much there that Jeremie or I like. From that list our top choices are Lucy (for me) and Jordyn (for Jeremie). I have also looked at other naming websites, but nothing has been helpful.

Recently, I picked up a name book from a friend. It has over 50,000 girl names! I hope to be able to find something that both Jeremie and I love. (And yes, I am doing all the naming research- Jeremie doesn't read AT ALL!)

Our naming requirements are:
1. It has to flow with Mae, because that will be the middle name. (My grandma's middle name.)
2. We would love to pick a "J" name so that the baby has both of our initials, just like Mollie June.
3. We like old-fashioned, traditional names that are timeless. Unfortunately, names like this are currently popular.
4. A name that is at least 50 or lower on Top Baby Name lists. Anything higher than that will be too common.

When we have some new ideas I will be sure to post them. Meanwhile I will be reading, reading, and reading some more!

Happy Birthday, Mamu!

Monday was Jeremie's grandma's birthday! Here is a picture of all three big great-grandchildren sharing in the celebration with her. Next year there will be more big enough to crawl up there on her. Unfortunately, it looks like there won't be enough room for all of them!

Birthday Fun

Mollie went to her good friend, Finley's birthday today. It was a yellow sunshine sing-along theme. Mollie had a wonderful time singing, playing games, and (0f course) eating cupcakes! Here are a couple of pictures of Mollie and the birthday girl. Happy Birthday, Finley!

Five Months

Here are a couple of shots of my belly at five months. I'm not as big as I thought I'd be with baby #2 at this point, but found out at the ultrasound it's because the baby is laying sideways instead of straight out. In one of the pictures you can see Mollie trying to be like me by posing the same way. What a little sweetheart! And I included a picture of me at five months with Mollie for comparison's sake. Pretty close to the same size! The biggest differences are my hair (so poofy- what was I thinking?) and I am starting to look "older" now. I guess that's what two years of motherhood does to you! :)

Silly Mollie

Here are some fun pictures of Mollie from the last month. She got an easel for Christmas and here is the proof that she loves it- marker all over the face! Mollie also has discovered how much fun it is to sit on the fireplace, because I like to sit there when I'm cold. To make it even more fun she now likes to out her chair up there and then sit down... I know, I know. It's super safe! :) By the way, you'll have to excuse the hair... It's the nature of bed-head when you have curly hair!!

It's a...

GIRL!!!

We had the Big Ultrasound today and I got quite the shock with the results. I was truly expecting to hear "It's a Boy" but got an unmistakable "It's a Girl". Typically the techs will say they can only be about 85% sure with little girls, but this tech said she was 95% sure with this one!

The ultrasound started with this little one acting just like her big sister; the feet were tightly crossed at the ankles, covering any chance of learning the sex. I was a little disappointed at first, but knew it really didn't matter what the sex was and knew that there was a good chance that the feet would move at some point. It took until about 3/4 of the way through checking all the vital organs for the tech to finally get the shot she needed. And when she did we got to see the bum in the lower right corner of the screen with legs over her head. There was NOTHING between her legs- clear as day! I was so shocked I asked her again and again, "really?" Jeremie's reaction was laughter and "YES!!!" He was hoping for another little girl and was so excited with the results.

It took me a few hours of letting the news sink in before I really got excited, but only because I was so prepared to have a little boy. Now all I can think about is how wonderful it will be that Mollie, my girly-girl, gets a little sister. They will only be 26 months apart, so they will undoubtedly grow up as close as can be! (With a few, or should I say many, fights over Barbie dolls and dress-up clothes.) I also am super excited to form a strong mother-daughter bond with this little one, too. I have so enjoyed my mommy-daughter time with Mollie and feel so blessed to be able to enjoy that time with another girl. Little boys grow up and get married and their wives get to be the one who is especially near-and-dear to their hearts, but little girls always have a special place for their mommies.

Our new little girl still doesn't have a first name solidified... I am excited to figure that out. We are tossing around the idea of Jourdyn or Lucy for the first name. Jeremie also likes Isabella (so we can call her Izzy) and I also like Allison (so we can call her Allie). The middle name is decided- it will be Mae- after my grandmother.

The great thing about choosing a first name that starts with "J" is her initials will be JM, like Jeremie and Mariah. Mollie's initials are MJ, for the same reason. We'd love to keep that name's sake tradition going, so feel free to pass on any suggestions!

PS- I think we may have a thumb-sucker on our hands. She was searching for it or had it in her mouth the entire ultrasound. If you look closely at the picture you may be able to see her hand on its way to her mouth!

Ultrasound Date!

We scheduled our 20 week ultrasound appointment for Friday morning, January 22nd! Hopefully we will be able to learn the sex of the baby... You never know if they will cooperate, but hopefully he or she will. I still have a strong "boy" feeling and will be very surprised if they say it is a girl. I have even started thinking in terms of "he" whenever I think of the baby without realizing that I'm doing it. Hopefully we will have details to share soon!