Her name

Well after much time and consideration we have decided on a name for our little girl. 

Emery Claire

With Lincoln's name we thought of it a few weeks before we found out what we were having and felt certain it would be the name we would chose if it was a boy.  If Lincoln would have been a girl then he would have either been Amelia or Lucy.  However, since that time we have had a niece named Lucy and a few friend name their daughter Amelia so we opted to start over in our girl name search. 

We had a list of about 5-8 names that we compiled pretty quickly and narrowed it to a few.  We debated for while between Emerson and Emery.  I secretly wanted her name to be Emery but I wanted Cory to come to his own conclusion so I didn't say much.  One night Cory went to Barnes and Noble and stayed there for several hours looking through all the baby name books.  I had not heard from him for an hour or two so I called to check in.  He whispered "I think I have decided, call you back when I leave the store."  Once he called me back he said, "I have looked through every baby name book out there and I think we should name her Emery!"  Wahoo!  I was glad he saw things my way :)

The name Claire was chosen after my Grandma O'Dell whose name was actually Clarice.  Claire is the only name that I thought of several years ago and have never changed my mind about it.  I, however, did not foresee marrying a man whose first and last name would both start with a "C."  So, I had to change my thinking for it to be used one day as a middle name for a little girl. Lincoln's middle name (Miles) is after my Grandpa O'Dell and I shared in THIS post about my relationship with my grandparents.  We lived with my grandparents on two separate occasions growing up while we built new homes.  It was at their house that I accepted the Lord as my Savior.  I firmly believe that living in their home and seeing their dedication and devotion to the Lord on a daily basis is what God used to impress upon my heart that I am a sinner in desperate need of his saving grace.  Grandma O'Dell always use to ask us grandkids when we were going to have her some great-grandbabies!  I know she would be so proud to have one of the named after her!

Meaning:

Emery literally means "Industrious Leader."  The biblical meaning is "Protected Under God's Authority."   "He is my goodness, my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me."  Psalms 144:2

Claire literally means "Brilliant."  The biblical meaning is "Shining Light." Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."  John 8:12


Our wonderful friend and photographer, Lindsey, took these awesome maternity pics for us.  Click here to visit her website. 

Sweet Emery Claire, we can barely wait to meet you and begin to learn about you.  We are honored to be your parents and look forward to the opportunity to raise you to be an impact on His kingdom.  When I told your Uncle David about the meaning of your name {protected under God's authority} he said you would need it with such an active big brother. :)  Lincoln is going to be such a sweet big brother to you.  He loves babies and cannot stand to see them cry so I'm sure he will do whatever it takes to keep you happy!  I have a feeling that it will not take long for you daddy to find himself wrapped around your tiny finger too!  And I look forward to you being here so that I can kiss the morning sickness goodbye and kiss you instead!

We love you tons, sweet girl!

Lincoln's 2 year checkup.

This morning was Lincoln's 2 year check up!  He passed with flying colors and is extremely healthy.  Maybe even too healthy.  His weight was 31 pounds, 8 ounces and landed in the 90th percentile.  And his height was 35 inches and is in the 70th percentile.  We reviewed his eating habits and decided that it was not the culprit for the weight.  Then we chatted about his drink habits and definitely put our thumb on the slight problem.  Lincoln LOVES to drink milk, whole milk and I just let him.  She recommended reducing to 2% and even 1% if we prefered and limiting him to three glasses of milk a day.  Instead of the probably 5 a day I let him drink :)  Ooops!  Guilty.  I mean, it's milk.  It can't be that bad for ya, but I guess it is.  So, we will see if he slims up a little with the new plan.  I, of course, think he is perfect and those few extra ounces just give me more to love and kiss on!   

And for kicks and giggles, I did the height predictor calculator since 2 is the earliest you can do it.  It predicts Lincoln will be between 6'1" and 6'2".  And no post is fun without a picture.  Here is Lincoln on the eve of his 2nd birthday.  Went to bed a one year old and woke up a two year old!



A few more birthday posts to come as well as the name we have chose for his our new little girl. 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln!  

We love you to pieces and enjoy your personality more and more every day.  You are talking mostly in sentences, you are a true helper at heart, you love people and their attention and you are super curious about life.  

 

 

 

 

Here are your two year stats:

• You weigh about 31 pounds and somewhere around 35 inches tall.
• You wear mainly 24 month/2T clothes but you can still fit into some 18 month pants.  You wear a size 6-7 shoe. 
• You are still a great eater.  Some of your favorite foods are HOT DOGS (you ask for one at every meal and every drive through we go to), green beans, grapes, pears, pretzel sticks, and bananas. 
• You are a BIG drinker.  You can easily drink 7-8 sippy cups a day of milk and water.  
• You are still a great sleeper.  You go to bed like a champ and sleep a pretty solid 11-12 hours each night.  You love our bedtime routine.  We tell you to go find your lovie and your drink so we can go read a book and you run fast trying to find them both wherever you left them last.  You love to pick out the book we read and usually end up picking about 3 more for us to read.  You then like to go put up your own drink in the fridge and then run to your bed and say "up" for us to put you in.  You love to sleep with Elmo, actually 2 of them.  We use to leave a lamp on for you while you fell asleep but now you want the lamp turned off. 
• You still take one nap a day from about 1:00-3:00.  Sometimes longer and sometimes a little shorter.  You love to sleep with your pillow over your head.

• You just started getting in your 2 year molars on top. 
• You are "tube-less"  We took you to the ENT last week and both of the tubes in your ears had fallen out of the ear drum but not all the way out of your ear.  So the doctor had to remove them.  You laid on the table wrapped up in a sheet like a mummy while the nurse held your head and daddy held your arms down.  You just laid there with your eyes closed and never cried for about 10 minutes while she removed the tubes.  No drugs were involved.  You were so brave. 
• You are continuing to talk more and more.  Your language is a real mixed variety of basic words you still cannot say, single words, 2-3 word phrases and even sentences.  Mainly you speak half in phrases and half in sentences.  Your sentences started happening consistently around 23 months.  You say things like "Where did daddy go?, I need more snack, I need a hot dog, I play ball with daddy, I see Barney/Elmo or whoever."  But there are still basic words you won't say like DRINK!!  You still use your homemade sign your made up for drink and will NOT say the word. 
• You have transitioned to call Dada "Daddy" and calling me "Mommy" about half the time but you still call me Momma on occasion.
• You call yourself "Nee-nan"  And you refer to yourself in third person often.  You will say "Mommy, daddy, Nee-nan."  "Yeah, Nee-nan"

• You are territorial and love to identify what items belongs to who.  For example, while I fold clothes you sit there and list off what items belongs to each person.  If I correct you then you adamantly repeat your answer as if it is correct.
• Your #1 favorite toy is a ball.  You also love to use a kitchen spatula to hit the ball either baseball style or golf style.  You also love airplanes, blocks, singing animals, blankets, books, and puzzles.
• You love to point out other "mommies" and "daddies" when we are in a store
• You are starting to make choices.  When we give you the option of one item over the other you tilt your head to the side and say "Ummm...that one" and point to the one your want.  You think everytime you get in a shopping cart you need a "snack"

• Your strength are your gross motor skills.  You can run and have been able to for months.  You can kick a ball, throw a ball far and fast, hit a baseball off a tee and catch a ball.  You run more than you walk and you love to run and dive on top of your bean bag.
• You love to help out.  If something of mine or your dad's is out of place then you run to get it and go put it up in it's place.  You love to help put away the groceries when we get home from the store, find and throw away any trash and "clean up" your toys. 
• You continue to have a true love for music. Watching live music videos is your favorite, especially ones where they show all the members of the band and each instrument they are playing. You imitate whatever musical instrument you see - piano, guitar and drums are your favorite. In order to request us to play your music on my phone, the car or the computer you say "Momma" and then dance your body back and forth. You cannot say the word music yet but we know what you are wanting. 

• You love to sing songs as well.  Your favorites are "Zaccheaus, was a wee little man", "Wheels on the bus", "This little light of mine", "Clean up song"
• You often randomly give me hugs and kisses without me asking
• You continue to have a strong love for your lovie and sleep with lots of blankets

• When all three of us are playing together you make sure that everyone has a toy in the hand.  For example, if you want to play with the ball and spatula then you go and find a ball for each me and daddy as well as a spatula/baseball bat/golf club or something equivalent.  You want us both to be holding and playing with the same thing you are playing with.
• Your favorite "characters" are Elmo and Barney. 
• You love it when daddy comes home from work.
• Your favorite friend is at the babysitters and her name is Addison but you call her "Add-a" and you talk about her all the time.
• You somewhat understand that you will soon be a big brother.  When we ask you where your baby sister is your pull up your shirt and point to your stomach. 

Happy birthday sweet boy!  We can hardly believe your second year has already come and gone.  We have had a blast learning about you and teaching you new things.  We look forward to another year of fun memories with you!

Daddy and Mommy.

Lincoln's Birthday Week Festivities

We have had lots of fun celebrating the days leading up to Lincoln's 2nd birthday.  First, we stopped in and met "Bob and Larry" and the Chick-fil-a Cow.  Lincoln was not scared of them at all.  I think it helped that they were handing out balloons.  His love for balloons continues to live strong!

 Then I took Lincoln to the library.  I am sad to admit that this was his first trip to the library.  Up until this point I thought he would just run around and pull books off the shelf and it was not my idea of good time to run around picking them up.  He has always liked books but lately he has been LOVING reading books.  We had a good time.

And then on Thursday we bought these ELMO cupcakes for Lincoln to take with him to the sitters to celebrate with his friends there.  The babysitter text me the two pictures of him enjoying his cupcakes with his friends at lunch.  Sweet boy.

And we ended the week just cuddling and hanging out! 

Tomorrow is the BIG day!!

28 weeks {baby #2}

The last month has been one of my best yet.  I am starting to feel better most of the time and I was only sick 2 times the whole month!  Wahoo!  I have traded off the sickness for the uncomfortableness.  This baby continues to grow up into my lungs and ribs instead of wider like Lincoln did.  It has made taking deep breaths extremely difficult. In fact, three times in the last week I felt as though I was going to pass out.  Thankfully there is a wonderful school nurse at my building who took all my vitals and assured me it was just how the baby was laying in my stomach.  It definitely scared me because I have never passed out nor do I care to start now!  I had my doctor's appointment later that day and my doctor assured me that it too was just the way she was growing and in the coming weeks she should drop and I will feel some relieve.  {I just love my doctor!} 


We listened to the heartbeat this week and it sounded great.  I forgot to ask her the beats per minute but I'm sure it was around 130-140 b/c that is where it has been most of the time.  The baby continues to be a big mover.  I will be interested to see what position she ends up in b/c I feel like she turns somersaults in there several times a day. We got her crib in this week and ordered the fabric to have her bedding made. We have pretty much decided on her name, too.  After we celebrate Lincoln's birthday festivities the next two weekends then we will be switching their rooms around and getting the nursery in order.  I am ready to get moving on the switch.  I am getting a little anxious on the lack of organization around here! :)

I kept with the black shirt/jeans pic this week and put it in black and white b/c that is what I did with Lincoln.

Lincoln on the left and baby girl on the right!  I think I look different but maybe just 2 years older and worn down by a toddler.  Ha!

We are getting so anxious to meet you sweet baby girl!!