24 Week Survey (a week late)

How far along? 24 weeks
Total weight gain: 13 pounds (yikes)
Maternity clothes? Are amazing
Stretch marks? No, but I figure it's only a matter or time.
Sleep: Is already becoming a little difficult. I wake up a lot throughout the night, but I can usually go back to sleep
Best moment this week: Allen felt the baby kick!
Movement: The baby has been super active and strong!
Food cravings: breakfast food, especially blueberry pancakes, and hot chocolate
Food aversions: I am past food aversions, which is apparent by my weight gain
Gender: BOY!
Labor Signs: No and I'd like to keep it that way
Belly Button: half in and half out
What I miss: Red wine
What I am looking forward to: Finishing the nursery and nesting
Weekly Wisdom: Don't pay too much attention to the numbers on the scale :)
Milestones: 24 weeks is the viability point -- basically if I were to go into labor now the baby would have a real chance of making it. However, I hope he continues to cook for anothe 16 weeks.

Where I've been

Wow, the last 5 weeks have been crazy busy. Yea, yea -- I know -- that's no excuse for not blogging. So here's an update on what we've been up to lately. Warning: It's not all that exciting, but I promise to try harder in the future :)

The nursery:
In the last five weeks we've ordered and received the bedding. Long story short, we weren't able to get the rocket bedding after all. Allen found the cutest Dr. Seuss set, though, and we love it.

We also bought the furniture, which was in stock and is just waiting to be picked up. Allen painted the room, and on Tuesday we'll have carpet installed. I'll post more pictures next week when all the furniture, drapes and some decorations are in.

More baby plans:
In addition to making space for the baby, we've been focused on finding a day care and registering. First, let me just say I can't believe how expensive day care is. It's insane. We have found a few good options, but nothing in confirmed yet. Of course, every time I think of sending our little boy to day care I tear up. I know it will be harder on me than him. I just hate thinking about someone else taking care of my sweetie.

As for registering -- OMG -- it is so overwhelming. Registering before the wedding was fun because I knew what we needed/wanted, but this is totally different. There are so many things we apparently need and, on top of that, there are SO MANY choices. I'm happy to say, though, that after hours of research, reading Baby Bargains, and shopping with my friend Heather (mother of two) we are finished.

While the last five weeks have been crazy busy and at times overwhelming, they've been great. It's so exciting planning for our little one and knowing that we're getting that much closer to having him in our arms. We feel so blessed and grateful for all the blessings in our lives.

What's in a name?

I’ve received a lot of questions about the baby’s name, so here’s a (not so) quick update.

According to my baby name book, we have at least 60,000 name options for our little one. Realistically, we probably wouldn’t pick a name that wasn’t on the top 500 names list, but that still leaves us with 500 names to choose from. Surely Allen and I could find the perfect name for Baby Savat, right?

Naming the baby is certainly the most difficult decision of the entire process because we have such different tastes. Here’s our name criteria: must be a fairly traditional/normal name; cannot be gender neutral (Allen’s rule); cannot be wimpy sounding (again, Allen’s rule and totally subjective); cannot be too popular (top 10 names were ruled out for that) but shouldn’t be a totally never-heard-of name either; and must sound good with Allen (not only is it my husband’s name, but it’s also my dad and grandpa’s name)

So far we have three potential names. They are:

Tyler or Ty for short: This is probably Allen’s favorite. It’s a strong, solid name and it sounds great with Allen, but it’s pretty popular. I also have a hard time imagining calling a baby Ty. It’s currently #27 on the Social Security Administration’s baby name list (down 6 spots from last year) and means “tile maker”.

Evan: Several years ago, Allen and I were at one of those vacation souvenir stores going through name key chains and joking about baby names when Allen saw the name Evan. It’s been on our short list ever since. Evan means “God is good/gracious.” It’s currently #38 on the SSA list (up two spots). In my opinion, Evan goes with Allen the least of the three names, but we still like it so it stays on the list.

Leo: This is definitely the most unpopular choice on the list, but I really like it. First, it has that rare combination of being a traditional yet uncommon name. Second, it’s my favorite great grandpa’s name. Leo means “lion,” which I think is pretty cool. It’s currently #227 on the SSA list (up 11 spots).

So there you have it. That’s the three names on our list. We have been calling him a different name each day in hopes that one will stick. We may very well still be deciding the day he’s born.

You’re welcome to vote on the names, but since this is not a democracy I can’t promise we’ll do anything with the results :)

Rocket baby

We bought the baby bedding!!! Yes, this sentence is worthy of three exclamation points because of what we went through to get it. The first thing I began to shop for when we found out we were expecting was bedding. Allen found this rocket collection that he just loved (rockets are way better than trains because train engineers are not real engineers, according to Allen). Overtime, the collection grew on me, too. I love the colors and I began imagining ways to decorate the nursery with this theme.

So of course, they discountinued the line. Isn't that what always happens? Well for the last week, since I found out we are expecting a boy, I have searched high and low for a set. I found ONE set on ebay and purchased it last night at a great price. We're still hoping to find the matching lamp and mobile, but if we don't that's OK. Here it is!

Bump comparison

Wow! What a difference three weeks make. Here's my bump pic from 17 weeks and then this week at 20 weeks. I can't believe how much I've grown!

For our little monkey!

Dad and MaryLynn stopped by tonight to drop off a gift for Baby Savat -- his first BOY sleeper and a rattle :)

Let the shopping begin!!!

Daydreaming

Early on in the pregnancy I read that you should spend time each day thinking about the baby – the type of person you want him or her to become, the things you want him or her to achieve, etc. I tried – I really did. But for the life of me I just didn’t feel really connected to the baby. Beyond asking him or her what we should have for lunch or if we should go to bed, I had nothing.

That all changed the moment the ultrasound tech said we were having a boy. Instantly my mind started spinning. For the first time I could really visualize the baby and all the fun adventures that lie ahead for us. Here are just a few of the things I’m looking forward to:

-Having that special mother/son relationship
-Watching him wrestle with daddy
-Playing with Tonka trucks
-T-ball games
-Seeing the world through his adventurous mind
-The mother/son dance at his wedding
-Teaching him how to treat and respect women
-Daddy teaching him how to fix things around the house
-The special relationship he’ll have with my dad
-Taking him fishing
-Jokes about farts, boogers and burping :)
-Mother/son weekends with his fraternity
-Cuddling and getting to know the sweet side of my son

If you have, are expecting or hope to have a son, what are you looking forward to?