Half Way there- and still nameless!

We're 20 weeks pregnant today, which means we've hit the half way point of the pregnancy. It also means that I could be holding our "Little Miss" in 20 weeks from now. (Wow! Time flies when you're not puking every day - all day!) lol

Thanks to all of you who have voted in our name poll. Unfortunately, we're no closer to having this little one named than we were before. Dad looked at the list and gave me "the look". (If you're married, you know the one I mean. lol)

The kids all have their opinions, too, of which name it should be. But still, nothing has just jumped out and said, "Yep, that's it!" Like it has for all the other kids (except Jeffrey who was named the night he was born about 3 am!)

Isn't it funny how much our impression of a name is based solely on others we know with that name? Someone suggested the name Charlotte with the nickname "Lotty". Well, I know a Lotty. She is the ex-wife of a friend and not someone I would want to name a child after. lol Name after name, my mind goes back to my school days and I associate the name with kids I knew. (sigh)

Jeffrey wants to name her Daisy (after a character in his Mario Bros. game). Abby wants to name her "Dora the Exploder" (which is what she thinks they are saying on Dora). lol Neither of those names are on the family list. ;)

My sister, Diana Lynne - thinks we should name her "Lynnie". (Ack!) Reminds me of Lennie and Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley! Several friends have suggested "Sophia" - and in my mind's eye, I see a short little outspoken, opinionated Italian lady on Golden Girls (which I love - but THAT's Sophia. lol)

My Mother likes Sarah, but prefers Kaitlin (which is also not on our list). And as my mother in law is named Margaret, and none of our girls are named after MY Mom, Margaret is not high on HER list. lol

I just love, love, love Arabella, because that was my great, great Aunt's name. She was the godliest woman who ever lived. She lived and died praising the Lord. I am so blessed to have recently gotten a copy of her diary from two years of her life. How incredible to get inside her thoughts and really get to know her (because she died when I was too little to know her). Those who did know her all have nothing but respect and love for her. AND, ironically, Arabella means "Prayerful" which is so fitting. And the nickname, "Bella" means "Beautiful". (Though we DO have a cow named Bella, so that's not going over so well - it's also the name my niece has given her Mini Cooper. lol)

I guess Arabella is one of those names that just has to grow on you. It has certainly grown on me, but not many people who hear it the first time go, "Ooh, that's pretty!" Most give me "that look". lol

I think Evangeline is pretty, and while the kids initially didn't like it, after we watched Nanny McPhee Saturday, they do like it better - but still don't want to name their sister that. lol

SO, for now, I'll just continue to give DH little talks about Arabella and see if it doesn't begin to grow on him, too. ;) And if not, maybe I'll be driving down the road one day and see a name on a sign that clicks... I'll keep ya posted.

But for now, this child shall remain "nameless". ;D

And the Girls have it!

The score is now 5-3, in favor of the girls.

Yes, this little one is a girl (considering that the sonogram pics of the "nether regions" showed nothing protruding lol). She had her little hand between her legs in this shot. See her little fingers? The large black circle is her bladder.

Praise God for a very active little wiggling healthy baby. What a joy to see that little heart beating at 152 beats per minute. She waved her little hand at us as if to say, "HI Mom and Dad! - Here I am!"

Of course, we had chosen 1 name for the baby - Andrew Steven. Obviously, that will no longer be appropriate.

So the Name Game continues. And the challenge as well.

We have given all of our daughters old fashioned, elegant names. They all have 3 or 4 syllables, but they have shortened forms of their names as nicknames. And the nicknames all end with a "long e" sound.

So the name at the top of my list is Sarah. Sarah is a nice, old fashioned, elegant name. There are several Sarahs in my family tree. In fact, it is the name of two of my great grandmothers.

BUT, as my other daughters pointed out - it's only 2 syllables and can not be shortened to anything that ends with a long e - Sar-E? Nope.

This leaves us with the dilemma - do we just go with Sarah and let her be different? Or do we keep looking?

I've asked friends and family, the girls in my Life Book Challenge at Heritage Scrap, and even my friends on Facebook. I've gotten suggestions for everything from Evangeline (which my niece continues to call my belly) to Esmerelda. Alexandra to Vivian. But NOTHING clicks. With my others, as soon as I heard the name, I knew that was "it". That hasn't happened. Yet.

I think I'll spend the day watching Jane Austin movies for inspiration. Or Lord of the Rings. Yes, Arwen Galadriel Pasterik. That sounds just about right.

NOT :D

The Saga continues until...Next Week

We used to be able to walk into out patient and have a sonogram, but apparently that's not the case anymore. Sooooo, I have an appointment for a sonogram next Wednesday. I'll be 18 weeks, so we should be able to tell quite a lot at that time (like whether the boy/girl score in our family will be evened or not. The score now stands at 4 girls and 3 boys).

Sometimes I wonder what God is thinking when he hears our family prayers. He has 3 girls and 1 little boy (who is in danger of losing his "baby son" status) praying fervently for the baby to be a girl. And there are two boys, praying equally as hard for a brother. He also has a little 2 year old princess praying for "both". lol

Of course we know that God knew this little one before it was even formed in the womb, so the gender question was determined long ago before the foundations of the world, but it is funny to hear them "letting their requests be made known".

I'm sure we'll be having the discussion about why God chose to answer the prayers of one group over the other in the coming days. Until then, we will just praise God for a healthy baby - whatever it may be...