June 28, 2009: 21 Weeks

Thanks to everyone who provided input on her name! We've pretty much settled on one (although there are still plenty of weeks left to change our minds) but we're keeping the final selection a secret. Have to have something to surprise everyone with, right?

On Friday we registered at Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg, MD. It's the greatest (and biggest) baby store. Unfortunately, they do not have a very good website (maybe Jacy will fix it?). They're also pretty low-tech. We had to walk around with a guy with a pen and paper and a clipboard. No fancy scanning gun!

http://www.greatbeginningsonline.com/

We also registered at Pottery Barn Kids -- primarily because you get 10% off after 30 days!

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/

We may register at 1 more place (Buy Buy Baby or a big online site like Baby Earth or Diapers.com) so that people who are shopping on line have it a little easier.

We also made some progress on the nursery front. After painting 8 stripes of various shades of green and blue on the wall, we decided we didn't like any of them. We're now planning to paint the room with stripes of two different shades of cream. Kind of like this picture, but probably not quite as much contrast...

http://www.poshtots.com/Designer-Rooms/Nurseries-for-Girls/Alexandrias-Lullaby/12/2367/2959/productlist.aspx

We're keeping the walls pretty basic and will carry a subtle jungle theme out in the decorations. We're trying not to go too over the top "baby." Paul is going to have a lot of fun painting the stripes! :)

She seems to be growing very quickly because every day my belly seems a little bigger and I'm getting strange and new aches. She has also decided to hang out on my bladder whenever I try to get on the treadmill.

Woooo hoooo stripes! I can't wait to start. Painting a monochromatic room with simply a brush and roller is for rookies. Try adding masking tape, a straight edge, a ruler, and an extra color of paint to create perfectly straight parallel stripes along 4 walls... AND BECOME A REAL PAINTER!!! (and if anyone wants to help CALL ME). After I'm (we are;) finished, a few cocktails will be in order.

I am starting to feel a sense of urgency to get the house babe-ified because as Shonna stated, her belly is growing daily. Only 4 months to have everything ready. At least the baby room should be finished by August, then its time for the rest of the house. It may sound simple enough to complete one room, but when you talk about switching from carpet to hardwood, paint, closet renovation, and potentially bathroom renovation and raising the ceiling, there is much to be done.

Well I've got to go and do stuff.

1/2 way point on Fathers Day

What gives? 5 more weeks and no noticeable difference? Is Shonna really pregnant or does she simply keep a whoopie cushion taped to her belly? (See picture @ week 15)

Well, as you can see by the additional pictures, Shonna really out did herself on the Fathers Day celebration... Does she realize that by rule, she has to top the previous year's celebration until the end of time? Father's Day is going to be FANTASTIC!!

June 19, 2009: Help us pick a name!

Well, we're close to square one on the name front having been trown a bit by our baby girl! We're going to keep our final selection a secret until she's born, but we'd still love to have the input of our friends and family.

Here's a tentative list of names under consideration. Please let us know what you like and don't like and if you have any suggestions you think we should add to the list (possible nicknames are in parentheses)!

First Names: Scarlett, Alexandra (Alex, Lexi, Sasha), Jacinda, Kiera, Mariella, Neve, Olive, Simone, Tarryn, Emeline (Emme), Marcheline (Charlie), Salome, Kaelyn

Middle Names: Aurora, Nicole (Nico), Arabelle, Brynn

By the way, we've gotten a couple of inquiries about our plans for the last name... We're going old school. The baby's last name will be Waltrup. No hyphenation or last name merger. I'll just be the outsider in the family with a different last name. :) I'm okay with being a rebel...