And he shall be called....

My Little Bear,
I wanted to tell you the special story about how we chose your name because it will be yours for the rest of your life. Some mommies might say that they had a list of names chosen long before they even knew they were pregnant, names they had always dreamed of giving to a boy or to a girl. I am not one of those mommies. It is also surprising that your daddy has such strong opinions about names, which is certainly because he has had many a student give him a bad memory to go along with their particular name. So we have had many, many, many discussions of what your name should be.

Once we found out you were a boy, we STILL weren't sure. There were two possibilities after the list was narrowed down, and neither one was particularly common. One was the name of a current professional golfer whose last name also sounds a bit Irish like ours, and the other name actually came from a Welsh spelling. I must admit that when choosing how to spell your sister's name, I was adamant that we not spell it in some crazy complicated manner because I didn't want her having to correct people her entire life. And yet, that's exactly what we did for you, my man.

We knew that your middle name would be Holbrook, after your daddy's maternal grandfather. His name was John Holbrook Chalmers, and he was a loving father, generous philanthropist and savvy businessman. And with that strong middle name in addition to your long last name, we knew that your first name had to be short and sweet. The name we chose for you supposedly means enthusiasm, fervor, passion, or ultimate strength. Apparently your spelling is common in Europe and Australia, but less so here in America. But still, your daddy says he just knew it was the name for you. And so, your name will be Rhys.

Rhys Holbrook Kilpatrick. What a guy.

Love, Mama

The Question Everyone is Asking...

This is the week when we go for our sonogram to find out if we will have a baby boy or girl! Can't wait to know. I simply cannot fathom how people hold out and wait until delivery. I have just never been the type to delay a surprise if at all possible. So far, it looks like a baby boy will have the initials RHK and a girl will have the initials HRK, but that could change before their arrival. Bo says we will tell people the baby's name in exchange for a package of diapers. :)

Lots of friends have asked us if we are guessing one gender or the other, and honestly I feel like I have terrible instincts for this. I was so sure that Cameron was going to be a boy. (Here are the posts where we had the gender debate...) Maybe it would be financially easier to just have another girl and already have all the girly stuff to use again. But if we had another girl, would I then want to have a third child to see if we could have a boy? The idea seemed to surprise Bo and he agrees that we would be broke with three children...

But if we have a boy it would be super fun to do an entirely different nursery and buy cute boy clothes. And what football coach daddy doesn't want a son? Bo's family is pretty much all boys and they would have so much fun being rowdy and dirty and all the things that are foreign to me.

So no sense in guessing I suppose. I just can't wait to know! At least either one will enjoy the one baby toy I have purchased so far. Meet Sophie the Giraffe!

It is supposedly a super durable toy that squeeks, can be hosed off, and makes a great teether. Just have to keep it away from the dog who would certainly fall in love with it and destroy it five minutes later. See, this kid is all set!

Hello Sweet Cameron

The date is set!

Checkup went well today. The baby's heartbeat, or the whooshing sound as I call it, was about 161 beats per minute. My blood pressure was good, my weight gain is... none of your business. And we made the appointment for when we will do the ultrasound.

JUNE 4TH! One day before mine and Bo's anniversary. What a nice gift that will be! Then Bo's going to a conference on Padre Island for a few days, so I will be totally free to go crazy buying things. :)

How sure is sure....

I have my next doctor's appointment coming up this Friday. I think we are just doing a checkup, but then I should be able to schedule a sonogram appointment. It's the big one! Hopefully we will know if we are having a boy or girl soon!

But I told Bo last night that I have this fear - What if they tell us one gender, but they aren't really sure? What if we go crazy with planning and buying things, only to find out a few months from now in another sonogram that they were wrong?

When we went shopping the other day, we talked all about plans for the room, what things we would need to buy. I think I was dreaming excitedly and the prices were just swimming in Bo's eyes. He kept asking, "Do we really need ALL THIS STUFF?" Diaper bags, baby clothes, toys, books, strollers, wipe warmers... Our finances will be completely taken over. In a good way.

Sidenote: To any moms out there that are looking for a good book, I just read "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner again. She also wrote "In Her Shoes" which was made into a movie with Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz. One of the top movies on my list. But this book (LE) is about four women and their stories of becoming mothers. It is funny, heartbreaking, and so true. I don't think I appreciated it as much the first time around, but I devoured it in three days this time. Two bottles up from this critic!

He Won't Wear a Tutu!

I love to have the gender debate with Bo. Yesterday we were driving to lunch after church, and he asked me what I my gut instinct was with the baby, and I said boy. He agreed. He said he just feels like he says "He" and lot more than "She." That really means nothing, but maybe my mama senses will be correct.

So the other night, Bo puts his hand on my tummy and prays for me and the baby before we go to sleep. It's very sweet and I love to think about all the things that we hope for you, Peanut. We pray that you will be smart and healthy and happy. We pray that you will grow up to love and respect God, and know Jesus as your personal savior. We pray that you will marry someone that will support you, make you laugh, and love you as a Christian spouse, to choose to love you every day, even when you aren't so loveable. (You know, in case you take after your mom's dramatic tendencies.)

I told Bo that I got all emotional when we watched the movie Juno because of the scene where her dad is sitting with her after her delivery. It is a sweet moment where he is stroking her hair, and I realized that my dad is the one person that WON'T be there when I have a baby. So I told Bo that he has some big shoes to fill. He has to teach our kids all about sports, the outdoors, fixing things and being handy, all about animals and rodeo... And I will be the one to make sure our kids have manners (I'm super anal), are cultured with museums and music and books, and will help them be eloquent speakers and dress nicely. I said I can't wait to take our kids to plays and the ballet.

So this is where the conversation gets fun. Bo says, "If we have a boy, he is NOT taking ballet." I said, "Well if he wants to, he can. What's the difference between that and gymnastics?" They both teach balance, flexibility, muscle control, and make them better prepared to play other sports in the future. All Bo pictures is a little boy in a tutu prancing around "like a girl!" I am not one of those people who wants their kids to be totally free to choose things against their gender, and later get beat up everyday. I just think it is funny to push Bo's buttons.

Then he says, "Would you let your daughter play football?" I said sure! Girls and boys play soccer together when they are litle, so why couldn't she play flag football? Tackle might be another thing, but I don't really want my son doing that either. Having a husband for a trainer made me really assess the risk of horrible injury differently.

I just laugh because we have had that conversation about ten times since we were dating. Particularly when I took a sociology class all about gender differences. Very interesting... I don't plan on traumatizing our child, but I did say that what daddy doesn't know can't hurt him.