Name Reveal

     We sent out baby shower invitations several weeks ago (if you did not receive an invitation, but would like to come, please let me or my mother know; I did not have enough invitations to send to everyone, I apologize in advance). Anywho, my friend S pointed out that it was really neat that I chose to announce baby girl's name through sending out the invitations. I had no clue, but that's what I did.

     I figured that since it was officially announced through the invitations, I should officially announce it to the online world as well...

     Baby Girl Bennett's name will be: Abigail Rose Bennett.

     Now, G and I had a few guidelines for ourselves in choosing a name.
          1. G is adamant that the name must past the Name Game test (meghan meghan bo beghan, etc)
          2. G does not want any name that crosses genders. If it's popular for both sexes, then it's out.
          3. I do not want a name that is super popular/current. While I enjoy many popular names, I hated being labeled by my middle name in school, and didn't want that for my child. And yes, I realize it could still happen, but the likelihood decreases when we choose a more rare name.
          4. I really like older names; being a history major, and reading all of these history books and stories about the past, I have come to love old fashioned names. There is something so elegant and strong about them.
          5. G and I, but mostly G, feel that the meaning of the name is super important. (Abigail means: Joy of the Father, Source of Joy, how pretty!)

     Immediately after our ultrasound appointment in which we found out the gender, we went to dinner with our parents. Of course, we were all excited to finally start talking names since we actually had a purpose this time; rather than our parents suggesting names with hope that one day one of us girls would get the hint and get knocked up already!

     One suggested name was Abigail, which I had already written down as a possible name in my journal. On the way to the car after dinner, G mentioned that he liked the name Abigail. We didn't really talk about it too much more after that, I figured that we would sit down and spend some more time looking and searching through names until we decided on the perfect name for our little bundle. However, any time I mentioned another name, G would always come back to Abigail, which I liked, I just thought we wanted to check out other names in case we found something else we also liked.

     Finally, G just suggested we go with Abigail b/c it was a name that we both liked (we have never agreed on names easily when previously discussed), and there was nothing else suggested that he liked more. Rather than continue searching and wondering what we would choose, we should just go with what we already really like; so we did. One of the things I really like about the name Abigail, is that she will have options in the future. She can go by Abby, Abigail, or Gail. I never had that option, and thought it would be neat that our baby girl would get that.

     Then it was onto the middle name. G felt that middle names were unnecessary, I passionately disagreed. I mean, what on earth would you call your child when they've done something wrong in order to alert them that they're in trouble?! No, one NEEDS a middle name!

     Now, G and I decided early on that we did not want to name our children using family names, to the disappointment of our parents. But I thought that middle names would be a great way to incorporate our families into our children's lives. Rose was one of the family names that I thought sounded wonderful with Abigail. I really liked that it was one syllable (I know, I know, the rule is: Whatever the first name, the middle name should have the opposite amount of syllables; but I broke it, b/c I'm rebellious!). I searched for many one syllable names for the middle name, but found nothing that fit as well as Rose. G, however, didn't like it much, I'm sure it had to do with his thoughts on middle names to begin with.

     RoseAnne is my mother's middle name, she was named after her grandma. And G's sister S's middle name is also Rose. Come to find out, that she was also named after a grandma somewhere down the family tree. Once I found that out, it just really began to cement itself in my mind, and I couldn't think of anything else. It was perfect to me. Now, just to convince G.

     Several weeks ago, G came up to me and relented, saying that he approved of Rose. Happy day!

     So, the hunt was over! We were able to painlessly, for the most part, pick out our little bundle's name.

     Little Abigail Rose, we can't wait to see you and say 'Hi' in person!

Week 19

As of Saturday, I am 19 weeks along.

Baby Bennett is the size of a mango, and an average of 8.5oz.

Grant and I decided many months ago to wait to choose a name for Baby Bennett until we knew for sure what the sex is. Since finding out last week that it's a girl, we haven't really had too much time to sit down and think of names, what with me in the midst of a long-term sub job, and many of our church members in the hospital. We have a name on the table that we both like, and Grant really likes it and would be fine with it; I, however, would like to explore some other names before we make a definite decision. However, I am super thrilled that this is the second name that we have been able to agree upon; the previous name being for a boy, which is now moot.

Week 1 - Week 18

To what would be the delight of our families, Grant and I decided to start trying for a family in February 2010.
It wasn't until April that I stopped taking birth control, however.
After many negative pregnancy tests, we finally got what we were looking for in September: