Two Bits {Present and Future Kids}

Bit #1

Today I discovered this picture lying on a pile of papers on my counter.

I had never seen it before, but I remember well the day it was taken last fall at the home of some friends.  I don't remember who took it, however; nor do I know exactly how it got to me now, because someone handed it off to Jeff last week at church when I was here at home being nurse to a sick child.  But I am SO GLAD to have it because I don't have very many good pictures of me with all my children.  I felt like I had discovered a treasure when I saw it!!  :)


Bit #2

For the first time during this pregnancy, Jeff and I sat down together tonight and discussed a few topics related to the coming baby--things like, yes, we'll find out if it's a boy or girl when we have an ultrasound (and we'll announce the result); but even more significantly, we discussed names.  A few days ago, AFTER I heard the heartbeat and felt my own heart freed up by that beautiful sound, I had sent Jeff a list of names that I particularly liked.  It wasn't a list that I suddenly put together, but rather one that I had been compiling for several years; when I heard a name I liked, I simply jotted it down and tucked it away, for such a time as this.  :)

When Jeff and I started talking this evening, he told me a girl name he liked with both first and middle names coming from my list.  Well, that was easy.  Of course I liked it, too!

But then we discussed a boy name, which was a little more challenging because there were only three options for a first name on my list, along with one option for a middle name (which Jeff instantly approved, by the way).  Jeff, however, didn't like any of my three boy names listed (imagine that!), so he opened his computer file that includes his family tree research--a massive project that he has been working on for years.  He started looking through his ancestors and suggesting names from them.  It didn't take me long to discard quite a few of those.  ;-)  But then he suggested a name that, at first, seemed like it might be a possibility (I didn't immediately shoot it down!), but then began to grow on me so much that, before long, I was actually even a little excited about it.  ;-)

It fits our criteria:
~ a family name
~ a Biblical name
~ it sounds good with the middle name I like
~ it doesn't begin with the same letter as any of our other children's first names  ;-)
~ when I googled the full name, the results didn't reveal any famous criminals with that name  ;-)

It just kinda sorta seems right.  :)

However!!!  I'm only at week 13!  I reserve the right to ponder and second-guess and perhaps change my mind a time or two or a hundred in the next 27 weeks or so!!!  ;-)

Also, if you're expecting me to tell you what the names are, well, I'm very sorry, but you are mistaken.  Ever since our 3rd child, we have kept the names secret (except for a few exceptions) until birth.  If you think I'm cruel to even bring up the subject of names without telling you our choices now, I can only say that my primary purpose for this blog is to keep a personal journal for myself and for my children.  This is the kind of stuff I won't remember if I don't record it somehow, and this happens to be my best option for remembrance.  So please understand--and check back in six months to see what the name is!  ;-)