Please Vote!

So it's down to two names-Jordyn (Jordy) Mae or Josephine (Josie) Mae.

Josephine means "God will add"
Jordyn means "From the down-flowing river" and is the river in which Jesus was baptized.

We are torn between the two, so help us decide! Cast your vote here and we'll post the results!

Birthday Fun at the Y

Jeremie, Mollie, and I went to a birthday party at the Y this weekend. I think Jeremie may have had more fun that Mollie! He played so hard that he came home with masive blisters on his hands from trying to do flips in the bars. He got really close to going all the way around! I asked Jeremie to play "rough" with Mollie in hopes that she would be more adventurous than she is with me when we go to class at the Y. She is way too fearful, just like her mommy. I think it worked pretty well. I'm not in any of the pictures from this family outing. I must have overdone it around the house earlier in the day, because by the time we got to the party I could barely walk. I ended up on picture duty the whole time. It was still very fun, though, watching my two favorite people and have so much fun!

Six Months

Here is a picture of baby and me at 25 weeks. I'm finally starting to "feel" pregnant these days. I'm getting tired more easily and having more difficultly carrying Mollie. I'm also starting to really enjoy my daily treats... It's not feeling so good to feel chubby from them, though!

We started our house projects to get ready for the baby's arrival, too. We moved furniture around last weekend to start Mollie's new Big Girl room. The walls will be pink and the bedding is light green with pink, yellow, blue, and lavender flowers. Mollie's nursery will become the baby's room. Although the theme and bedding are staying the same, enough of the decorations are being moved to Mollie's new room to allow us some space to freshen up the nursery for the new little one. I'll be sure to post pictures when everything is complete.

By nature I am quite the "nester". As you can imagine, as a pregnant woman I'm REALLY a nester. It feels really good to me to be getting these projects done. It makes me feel ready for the baby's arrival, even though I know that it is a false sense of readiness. I can only imagine the craziness that my life will be for quite some time after this new little one arrives!

Winter Fun

Here are some pictures of fun around the house. We are really, really ready for Spring! Only 20 days and counting!

PS- Check out Jeremie's arms in the picture with the milk crate. Looking good!

PSS- Yes, Mollie is tied to the bed. That is the kind fun thing daddies come up with.

My New Inspirational Verse

I get a verse of the day emailed to me by ChristNotes.org each morning.

This morning 's verse was:
"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38-39

This is what Jeremie and I have been working on recently. We have been going through so many, many trials this past six months and have had many, many days of frustration and pure disappointment. And, for the most part, we have been attempting to change things on our own and according to our own purposes. As Acts clearly states, if a purpose is of human nature it will fail.

Just in the last few weeks, we have been changing our focus. We have been starting to want to do it God's way, not our own. And surprise, surprise, things are looking up. We are focusing more on our marriage and family and asking God how we can support those we love rather than trying to meet our own needs.

There will still be many bumps in the road ahead of us, as I don't think we are through this valley yet. But at least there seem to be some bright spots up ahead. We are praising God for it!

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!