20 Weeks -- Halfway!!

Hooray! This pregnancy is going by so fast! I’ve been nothing but excited this time around, so I’m happy that it isn’t dragging, even though I am having fun being pregnant. :-) Baby Ridley should now be about 10 inches long from head to heel and weigh about 9 oz.!

I was feeling Ridley move a little bit starting at 12 weeks, but it wasn’t very frequent, and most of the time I wasn’t completely sure it was him! Maybe it was just stomach gurgles!

Suddenly, at 17 ½ weeks along while we were staying at my mom’s in PA, I started feeling much more obvious kicks, and lying down I could feel them with my hand! It was exactly the same with Norah...around 17 weeks I became sure it was baby movement that I was feeling.

Travis has now been able to feel Ridley moving around a number of times, although he often seems to get elusive as soon as Travis puts his hand on my belly! It’s so much fun, though. I couldn’t wait to be able to feel him.

When people ask if I’m excited, this is my response. With Norah, I was really happy to be pregnant, and looking forward to having my own little baby to hold. This time around, I know what’s coming. For one thing, I know that baby-hood doesn’t last forever. (Just today, in my overly-emotional pregnant state, I was looking at Norah as she woke up from her nap and I could hardly stop the tears as it hit me out of nowhere that she is going to grow up.) I also know what it’s like to watch the seemingly slow, but somehow also ridiculously fast transformation from babyhood through toddlerhood, and to have the privilege of getting to know the person this child is. It has been truly amazing and life changing. In the just over two years of Norah’s life, we have already learned that she is:

Very smart

Clever

Funny

Imaginative

Loving

Energetic

Happy

Musically and artistically inclined

Independent

Determined

Friendly

Confident

Nurturing

Helpful

Clean (doesn’t like to get her hands dirty!)

I’m sure I could make this list much longer if I spent a few more minutes! She is incredible. Before we had her, I could never have imagined that a two year old could have such a personality.

So, this time, I am at least as excited as I was the first time around, but not for the same reasons.

I’m excited to have a little baby again since Norah is getting so big!

I can’t wait for Norah to have a sibling. I think she’s going to be a GREAT big sister.

I’m excited that this time we’re having a boy. We feel so lucky to have one of each!

And above all, I am SO excited to get to know the person that Ridley will become. We will again have the privilege of bringing a brand new, unique human being into the world. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather be doing with my life right now! :-)

And now, Summer Fun With Norah:

Our Backyard:

Carnival!

She cried when she had to get out of the caterpillar train!

A bunch of us at my mom's in PA

Norah clinging to Jasper while he's trying to play Pokemon with Anna. She LOVES her cousins!

I had some videos too, but they wouldn't upload and we're leaving for Delaware in about 3 hours, so I'm posting this as-is. I'll try again next week!

19 Weeks -- Baby Has A Name!

I keep thinking of more things I want to talk about on my blog, but I'm saving those for later, because this post is dedicated to the announcing of our little boy's name!

Travis first mentioned this name to me while we were driving up to PA, and it stood out to me right away. But, unlike Norah's name, which seemed perfect as soon as it came to us, I still felt like I needed to see every possible choice before we could decide on one. (Why are girls' names so much easier?!)

So we pored over web pages and name books, and still hadn't found the "perfect" name. Our final effort was a LONG, comprehensive list of names I found online. There were some good names, but none of them were "it," and I found myself comparing every name to that first one I had liked. None of them could beat it, and every time I looked at the baby's face on the ultrasound photos, that name just seemed to fit. Once we got through the "R's," we finally just decided to stop looking. We already knew what his name was.

Names are such a personal choice. Everyone loved Norah's name. Norah Claire. Who wouldn't like that name?

This one is a little more off the beaten path. We hope people will like it, but more than that, we just want it to be the right name for our child. For us, it just fits. So, without further ado, I hereby proclaim throughout the land that our little boy's name shall be:

(Scroll down...)

Ridley Graham Galloway

If you like it, please tell us. We could use some positive comments. :-)

Thanks!