20 Weeks & The Babies Shower

THANK YOU for the sweet comments re. the last few posts.  It's crazy (and sad) how everyone who has ever been pregnant has had to deal with hurtful remarks.  I also learned I've stepped over the line as well. I often tell someone how small she looks.  Unfortunately, I never realized this could be just as hurtful, causing the mom to panic that something might be wrong with her pregnancy, etc.  (For the record, I will never be offended/upset if you want to tell me how small I look.  Thank you.)  At the end of  the day, it sucks that it happens but being pregnant is absolutely, positively worth it.  21 weeks down, 17 (or less) to go. :)

Moving on to a more exciting topic--thank you for your kind words about our kiddos names.  Many have asked if they are family names or if there was a particular reason we chose them and our answer is simply this:  We just love the names.  No family relations, no sweet stories of a young Jude saving young Michael's life, etc.  I've been obsessed with names for over a decade.  In junior high I realized I would need to have at least 14 kids in order to use up my list of names--I don't remember all of them but if you guessed a random President's last name you're probably right.  I blame my history teacher.  Michael learned about my love of names on one of our first road trips while we were dating.  I asked him to play the name game with me.  Most boyfriends would panic and pull over immediately but he patiently listened to me list off dozens of names and would offer his own suggestions when I gave him the opportunity.  With that being said, we've known our son and daughter would be Jude and Sloane for years.  If the twins were two boys they were going to be Jude and Sullivan (Sully) so when we found out it was one boy we did the most obvious thing we could think of and combined them.  As far as girl names, I was a bit panicky at the thought of having two girls.  Sloane was always at the top of our list and nothing else (in our opinion) compared.  Since the name Sloane is a little unusual, Michael asked that we use a classic middle name.  We love the name Elizabeth but thought we'd use the European spelling (Elisabeth) since Sloane begins with an "S."  And there you have it!  Let's hope she doesn't have a lisp like her mama did.

A few weekends ago we drove to Fort Smith for a wonderful baby (babies?) shower.  The turnout was fantastic and everyone was so generous.  We are one blessed little family!  Each of the guests played a very important role in my upbringing (neighbors, Sunday School teachers, high school teachers, best friends, etc.) and it was so neat to have all of them together in one room. It was such a special day.

Another exciting thing happened while I was in Fort Smith--I felt the babies kick for the first time!  It happened a little before 20 weeks and now I feel them ALL OF THE TIME.  It's absolutely wonderful and so reassuring.  The only problem is I don't always know who the kick belongs to so it can be a bit confusing.  A few days later Michael was able to feel them as well!  They're busiest at night (around 10p) and oftentimes I just stare at my stomach and watch the craziness unfold.  If it weren't so special it would completely freak me out. 

Sorry, I'm jumping all over the place.  Instead of driving back to Dallas after the shower I stayed another day in Fort Smith and then drove to OKC to spend more time with Leslie and her adorable family.  It was so good to get to know her beautiful new baby boy, Rhett, and it is always a joy to hang out with her older son Riggins (Riggs).  He was a little unsure of me at first but by the end of the visit I felt like I had a new best friend--I absolutely adore that boy!  Leslie is a wealth of baby knowledge and I completely took advantage of this during out visit (thanks Les)! 

Ok, pictures from the shower! 

June 24, 2012 (almost 20 weeks)

 That, my friends, is A LOT of gifts.  And a very happy Merd.

So many wonderful memories with these girls!

The two lovely hostesses!