I don't know if I'm just noticing it more because I'm pregnant, but it seems that so many people are having babies this year. My cousin Kayce is having twins in April, and her sister Tasha is having a little boy who is due a few days before my baby. Four people I work with are due within a month of me. My niece Dylan and Jason's cousin Lisa are due in August, and we just found out that some very good friends of ours have a little one coming in September (names withheld b/c I don't know whom all they've told). Congratulations to everyone!
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As you can see from the pics below, my belly and boobs are really growing. And, yes, I am obsessed with them. Pregnancy is truly a crazy person's dream - so many things to be obsessed over. Bodily changes, weird signs and symptoms, paint colors, nursery decor, safe baby gear - all these topics and more have been dominating my thoughts over the past 6 months. Thank God for my therapist and completely understanding husband.
Except for the extreme nausea and vomiting over the first three to four months, my pregnancy has been fairly uneventful and easy. The worst part of vomiting during pregnancy is that each time I throw up (which I still do at least once a week), I lose control of my bladder. Jason has had a hard time understanding this, but he really has been incredibly sweet and supportive. I grow more and more in love with him each day. I'm glad we waited almost 9 years into our marriage to have this baby. We're both such emotional and sensitive people that we needed the super strong foundation we've been able to build. I can't imagine going through this with anyone else but him.
The coolest part of expecting a baby is seeing how excited our families are about this little girl. There are so many grandchildren on each side that you'd think it would be no big deal. My little baby is not even born yet, and she is loved so much by so many people already. I am overwhelmed by all the love and support we have. This baby is a lucky little girl. Now, if we can just settle on a name for her. Sloan Parker is again the name of the day. We'll see what we think tomorrow.
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Here's my beautiful wife at 16 weeks, and then at 25 weeks. She is totally obsessed with her tummy and other growing parts. It's really cute. There is a cliche about pregnant women glowing. It's no cliche. She really looks beautiful and alive. She loves it too. She currently is at 25 weeks.
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But there is something that I just thought of that is a must for our child. It's a set of books that I am still completely in love with to this day. It's a couple of A.A. Milne's books entitled "When We Were Very Young" and "Now We Are Six." Most important I guess, would be the "When We Were Very Young" one as she's 6 years away from being 6.
The poems are so wonderful for kids. I must have read them a million times as a kid and as I got older and played music, I wanted to (and still want to) put the poems to music for a children's album. I'm sure getting the rights would be impossible. So if anyone wants to be cool and like, get this for our daughter, or be real cool and find an old vintage copy for our daughter and sign it, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing her Daddy will read and/or sing these to her and maybe she'll love them as much as I do. Anyway, after the "read more" I'll post one of the poems I liked. It's called "Disobediance"
Disobedience
James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James
Said to his Mother,
"Mother", he said, said he;
"You must never go down to the end of the town,
if you don't go down with me."
James James
Morrison's Mother
Put on a golden gown,
James James
Morrison's Mother
Drove to the end of the town.
James James
Morrison's Mother
Said to herself, said she:
"I can get right down to the end of the town and be
back in time for tea"
King John
Put up a notice,
"LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
JAMES JAMES
MORRISON'S MOTHER
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID.
LAST SEEN
WANDERING VAGUELY;
QUITE OF HER OWN ACCORD,
SHE TRIED TO GET DOWN TO THE END OF THE TOWN-
FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD!
James James
Morrison Morrison
(Commonly known as Jim)
Told his
Other relations
Not to go blaming _him_.
James James
Said to his Mother,
"Mother", he said, said he:
"You must never go down to the end of the town with-
out consulting me."
James James
Morrison's Mother
Hasn't been heard of since.
King John
Said he was sorry,
So did the Queen and Prince.
King John
(Somebody told me)
Said to a man he knew:
"If people go down to the end of the town, well,
what can anyone do?"
(Now then, very softly)
J. J.
M. M.
W. G. Du P.
Took great
C/o his M*****
Though he was only 3.
J. J.
Said to his M*****
"M*****", he said, said he:
"You-must-never-go-down-to-the-end-of-the-town-if-
you-don't-go-down-with-ME!"
-- A. A. Milne
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Last night, Amy and I watched a doc from Netflix. It was National Geographic's "In the Womb" In it, ultrasound imaging techniques allow the viewer to enter the world of the human fetus -- inside the womb. You follow the journey of a growing embryo from its inception as a single-celled organism to the beginning of brain activity to the first heartbeat. It was pretty interesting and helpful in mapping out all that happens as the baby develops.
Now that Amy is in the 25th week, we learned... this is when the baby's senses really start to mature. She is starting to hear things as the amniotic fluid is a great sound transducer. I guess I really have to step up my talking and singing to her. Sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to Amy's stomach but this helped me (along with feeling her for the first time move around in there) grasp the fact that she's developing away right in there.
I told Amy last night that sometimes I don't know if I can grasp the fact that she's really coming. I know that will all be erased as soon as she is born but, it's not 100% yet. All I know is that as each week passes, as each little flutter of movement is felt I feel love for her and the need to protect her and the excitement of meeting this fresh, new, mix of Amy and myself that will grow to be her own person.
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Ever since my parents owned a couple of these while I was growing up, I have always thought that the Toyota Previa was a cool car. Well I finally got one of my very own to cart our baby/baby stuff/and us around.
I have lots of memories of being in the Previa my folks owned, making trips to St.Louis with my whole family. I also have memories of driving around with my friends, with the giant moonroof open, acting like goof-balls. It's a great van, lots of space, the seats fold back and we should have no problems loading this puppy up with baby stuff and keeping the little one safe and snug.
It's got a good number of miles on it, but these have excellent life spans and I am sure to get my money's worth out of it. My sister said when she saw my Previa in the driveway, she had flashbacks of her and her friends driving it as well. Lots of good memories with the Previa. I feel lucky I got to buy one of my own. Beep-Beep, yeah.
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Jason and I are having the hardest time deciding on a name for the baby. Some family members of ours had equally difficult times choosing their babies' names, but my mom said she didn't really think about it that much. She had some names picked out, then others talked her out of them after my sisters and I were born. I was supposed to be named Autumn, but my grandmother didn't like it, and my older sister really liked this girl named Amy who worked at the 7-11. Therefore, I became Amy. I've never really liked the name. There were always too many Amy's in my classes.
I don't want to give the baby a totally weird name, but I don't want anything too common. We also would like to include a name from my side of the family, since she will already have Jason's last name. I was extremely close to both of my grandmothers, but I don't want to use one of their names while excluding the other. I'm afraid my Gran Gran will haunt me in some way if I give the baby one of Nanny's names (Alma Angeline) and not hers (Clara Emojean), especially since she's the one who came to me in a dream and told me I was having a girl.
For awhile, we had settled on the name Sloan Parker. Sloan is Nanny's maiden name and my dad's middle name. It was also the name of Ferris Bueller's ultra-cool girlfriend. Jason had also been liking the name Parker when I remembered that Parker was Gran Gran's maiden name. Perfect. We took care of both. Now, after talking about it for a few weeks, we're just not sure. Are we just second guessing ourselves, or is it not a good name? Jason's parents love the name Sloan, so that's nice. And, I can always call her one of my favorite nicknames "Sunny". Still, I love those old-timey names, like Edith, Cora, and even Zelda. We might just have to make a final decision after she's born. For now, look at this list of some names we like, and tell us what you think.
Family Names:
Sloan
Alma
Angeline
Clara
Emojean
Amy's favorite, after the baby's grandmothers: Jacqueline Cathleen (Little Jackie, or LJ for short)
Beatrix (sort of like Jason's grandmother Beatrice)
Parker
Amy's Favorites:
Cora
Zipporah (Zippy!)
Edith
Elspeth
May
Nadine
Esme
Astrid
Sally
Jason's favorites
Anna Lee
Anna
Gloria
Layla
Sloan
I'm sure we'll add more!
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Thanks for visiting the baby's website! Like Jason wrote, we'll have pictures, updates, and information about our registry here. Our registry might be a little complicated, since we've found things we think we need from places other than the big box stores (though they have plenty we need as well). Just click on the links, and the sites will tell you how to proceed from there.
Again, thanks for visiting and for being a part of our little girl's life. We are so thrilled about her, and can't wait to meet her!
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Here's my beautiful wife at 16 weeks, and then at 25 weeks. She is totally obsessed with her tummy and other growing parts. It's really cute. There is a cliche about pregnant women glowing. It's no cliche. She really looks beautiful and alive. She loves it too. She currently is at 25 weeks.
Ever since my parents owned a couple of these while I was growing up, I have always thought that the Toyota Previa was a cool car. Well I finally got one of my very own to cart our baby/baby stuff/and us around. 
