Emmy Update.

We're eight weeks out.

Eight. 

We've scheduled our c-section for December 5, which is exactly eight weeks from today.  And that, friends, is both unbelievably exciting and remotely terrifying all at the same time. 

We had an ultrasound and our 30-week check-up last Tuesday.  Everything looked great!  Emmy's little legs were long and stretched out, and the tech was 99% sure that the cord is no longer around the baby's thigh.  We even got a weight estimate at four pounds, so my little chunker is pretty much right on track!

The best part of the visit, though, was that because it was early release, Ben and I took Harris with us to the ultrasound.  It was soooo much fun to watch him watch the screen and try to process all that was going on.  He was full of questions for the ultrasound tech, my favorite of which was this:  "So, when she is born...will she be all white or, I mean, what will she look like?"  My sweet boy doesn't quite understand the concept of black and white pictures. :)

Harry left with his very own snapshot of Emmy's foot, and, according to his kindergarten teacher, was so, so proud of his special trip.

It's about to get real...and even though I'm not anywhere close to being ready, I can't wait!

Believe It or Not....

...we have a name!

It's taken a lot of thought, a lot of vetoes, and a little bit of consultation, but Ben and I literally shook on it a few days ago, so it's settled. 

Bless his heart...Ben prefers popular names from the 1950s.  I prefer anything not found on a top 10 list, regardless of the decade. 

But we're both pretty excited to meet our new baby girl, Avery Emmeline.  We'll call her Emmy.

Babe and Harry love it!

Baby Girl Haynes.

Here she is, in her first official blog appearance at 16 weeks and 2 days:  Baby Girl Haynes. 

Unfortunately, Ben and I have ZERO girl names we can agree on at this point, so "BGH" will have to do for now.

I have no idea why it's taken so long for me to publicly post about my pregnancy on the blog...but it has.  It could have something to do with the fact that for the first 13 weeks, being a pregnant, working, mother of two simply wore me slap out.  Or it could be that for the first 13 weeks, cakes and cookies and ice cream and cupcakes and candy bars and all that good stuff made me puke my guts out.  Or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that during those first 13 weeks, I had a "gagging" episode at least once a day, much to the delight of my husband and children.  Or it could simply be that I've been too busy enjoying myself and my family to simply take the time to write.  Sometimes, I'm learning, being in the moment is so much better than blogging about it.

But here we are.  I've been pregnant for sixteen weeks with a teeny, tiny baby girl.  Babe is estatic, and will probably stay that way until the baby is actually born and she sees me holding her, at which point I'm sure Hadley will freak out.  Harris is pumped, too, although he was really pulling for a boy.  So much so that he shed big crocodile tears when we told him that God had, in fact, made a little baby girl to join our family.

His original wish, of course, was this:  "Since we already have one boy and one girl in our family, what could we get that's not a boy or a girl?"  Seriously.  And Hadley asked for a baby elephant.

So I'd say we're doing well.  The kids are stoked and ask about the baby all the time.  I can't wait for them to feel her move!  It's summer, so things are laidback and easy and the days are full of trips to the gym and fun activities and naps and naps and naps and naps, and I'm soaking up every minute of this bliss I can.

But I'm also secretly counting down the days to December.