rain.

The rain doesn't bother me... I find rainy weather kind of soothing, actually. But when you have a photo session scheduled, then rain is very unwelcome! Unless, of course, the point of the shoot is to be "in the rain". And that is exactly what this morning was all about! I met our maternity photographer, Will Greene (and his lovely fiancee), downtown to get a few shots in the rain. You could say the weather cooperated!



I am 34 weeks along today - my next appointment is Monday morning where I hope to skim over my birth plan and ask a few questions.

Oh, I must share this video (of Noah), too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ7J1KMxwXg

Bless his little heart...



Anyway, part 2 of the maternity sesh (to include Matt and Noah) has been postponed until next weekend. Hopefully the weather cooperates the other way around! :)

(And this could actually work out nicely because the new tops I ordered *might* be in before then! But don't tell Matt I went shopping... Old Navy was having a maternity sale and I had $20 in rewards, I couldn't help it!)

sleep.

I'm about to jinx everything. But let me just tell you... Noah slept through the night ALL week. Do you know what that means? That means a new world record has been set, my friends. Now... have I slept through the night? Umm, no. Because if I hear Noah make a sound over the monitor (even just one tiny sound), I'm up... and then instead of going right back to sleep, I realize how badly I have to pee... or how my stomach is about to eat itself. So then I have to take care of the issue at hand before resuming my peaceful slumber.

Not to mention I wake up every time I change position... so that's awesome. And every time Matt decides to grind his teeth so hard it sounds like he's chewing ice cubes. Hah! But that's okay... if Noah wants to sleep through the night, that's just one less thing for me! I better cherish it while I can because I will be back to sleep deprivation come next month! :o

well.

February is going to be a long month because I just completed Noah's second Christmas gift... so both kiddos are finished for gift #2! :( Bittersweet. At least I don't have to worry about Matt getting mad at me for spending money for the rest of this month. Well, he probably still will but... this is just one less thing.

Oh, and my boob is much better now. Phew!

round 2.

With February comes round two of Christmas gifts! So today I found a cute little gift for the newbie. It's a little Lubies cow! Basically, it's a stuffed animal in the shape of a ball. But it's cute. And I'm sure he/she will love it. So Newbie gift for February has been accomplished. Possibly only one more month of not knowing the sex when buying Christmas gifts! Unless I don't find something in March until after I have him/her.

next month.

NEXT MONTH! I can say that now. It's February! Okay, more than likely... next month. I mean, technically speaking, I could have the baby April 1st but what are the odds of that? If I was going to be overdue, that's one day out of 13... that's a 8% chance. But you never know.

Our maternity photo shoot is this Saturday. Because I'm feeling so lazy, I'm just kind of like "meh" about the whole thing but I better perk up by the time Saturday comes because what if this is my last pregnancy EVAH? I know, I said I wanted like at least four kids or something but you come to realize how expensive they are... so we'll just have to stick with two for now and re-evaluate the situation in a couple years. Anyway, my point is... I hope to look like a glowing, joyous pregnant woman in these pictures since it could be my last impression of pregnancy. Kind of like wedding pictures... you want to look your most beautiful at such a special time in your life!

Anywho, I'm 33 weeks along now... things are going along nicely. Although I did wake up with a horrible sore spot on my right breast. It hurt so much that carrying Noah on my right hip was painful when he leaned against me. I shall put a warm compress on it tonight and pray that it's not nearly as sore tomorrow because I read a horror story about mastitis and the girl ended up needing reconstructive surgery on her breast and all this crazy stuff. I didn't even realize you could get mastitis without breastfeeding but... it's definitely possible.

So now that Noah's first set of molars is all the way through, he has been doing pretty good sleeping the past week or so. But it won't be long before that next set starts acting up! And he doesn't even have his incisors yet so I'm just waiting for those, too.

I listened to Rainbow Relaxation last night (it's like a hypnosis thing) and it was pretty amazing. I think I fell asleep rather quickly... like, I only got the first color of mist and I was out, hahaha. I really tried to focus. If this hypnosis stuff really works during labor, I will be thoroughly impressed. I'm just scared about the nurses trying to meddle with my pieces and parts while I'm trying to MEDITATE! So that is where I'm really counting on Matt to monitor their interaction and act like a barrier between me and them, lol. Not that they aren't great and I know they mean well but sometimes a girl just needs to have a baby in peace. It's a really hard mental workout that requires lots of concentration. Lots.

Oh, and I added like a crazy fun little poll section on the right sidebar just because I love to make clicky polls. It's a little weird but I couldn't resist. That poll widget was just calling to me. Multiple times.

mom fashion.

I was just browsing over AE's new arrivals for no real reason because I rarely shop there but I found it interesting that I really cringe at the thought of wearing things like this and this and this (unless there is a higher-cut tank underneath). No. No. No. Not only has my body changed since having my first baby (which mainly affects the cleavage area) but it just doesn't feel right anymore, lol! Instead, I find shorts like this much more appealing and much more tasteful. And I'm grateful that places like AE have such options to cater to those of us who aren't in college anymore. :P But are not quite here yet (and I hope to God I never will be...).

baby names.

Matt and I had another conference last night and made some good progress on baby names! So here is what we have:

Emery Nolan Hales - I'm 99% sure this is the name we will stick with if it's a boy. Emery is English and means "work ruler". Nolan is Irish and means "descendant of the famous one". Nolan is a surname from Matt's Grandma Hales' family.

All of the middle names I have are somehow tied into family history. I think it's important for a middle name to reflect family history but Matt, on the other hand, thinks it's more important for a middle name to be Biblical. So I guess that's going to be our biggest hurdle. With Noah, his middle name is a family name and it's Biblical so we didn't have any issues there!

Emery William Hales - I thought I would throw this one into the mix just to have another option. For some reason, I can't just have ONE name for a boy already! William is English and means "strong-willed warrior", which I really like. William was my Grandpa Livingston's name.

I'm a pretty big "meanings person". I think it's important to consider the meaning behind a name you are choosing for your child as well as the visual/phonetic appeal of it.

Isla Catherine Hales - Isla is Scottish and means "island". Catherine is Greek and means "pure". Catherine was Matt's Great Grandma Root's name.

Isla Katharine Hales - Catherine is not my favorite spelling of the name but it's how Matt's Great Grandma spelled it. However, I thought I would have Katharine as an option because it just seems classic to me (Katharine Hepburn).

Isla Colette Hales - Colette is French and means "victory of the people". I chose it as a middle name option because Cole is my maiden name and this is just a feminine spin on that!

Isla Marie Hales - Marie is French and means "sea of bitterness". Marie was my Great Great Grandma Andersen's middle name.

Isla Corinne Hales - Corinne is a version of the name Cora, is French and means "maiden". Cora was my Great Grandma Livingston's name but it doesn't flow well as a middle name so that's why I chose to use Corinne instead.

I've covered all the same middle names that would be used for the name Lilah or Lyla instead. This gets a little interesting now because Matt prefers the spelling Lyla and I think I prefer it spelled Lilah. The interesting part is that the two different spellings are actually two different origins and, therefore, two different meanings. Lyla is Arabic and means "night". Lilah is Persian and means "lilac tree". So I definitely wouldn't shun Lyla even though I like the other spelling better. Maybe if it's a girl and she's born at night, we will go with Lyla over Lilah! lol

Lilah Catherine Hales
Lilah Katharine Hales
Lilah Colette Hales
Lilah Marie Hales
Lilah Corinne Hales

Lyla Catherine Hales
Lyla Katharine Hales
Lyla Colette Hales
Lyla Marie Hales
Lyla Corinne Hales

Chloe Marcella Hales - This might be one of my favorites just because it sounds so pretty. Chloe is Greek and means "verdant and blooming". I had originally spelled it Khloe but Matt prefers Chloe so I changed it. Marcella is Latin and means "young warrior". Marcella was Matt's Great Grandma Nolan's middle name.

And that covers it! If you want to vote on each name, click here (or on the badge to the right)! :)
OR
If you prefer it the Babynames.com way. So many options, I know.