18 Weeks

Hard to believe I'm already at week 18. Holy. Cow. Where has the time gone? As you (probably) know, next week is THE week! We find out if Baby Lowery is a boy or girl! So, I thought this an appropriate time to share our name selections with all of you. *side rant note: Honestly, I don't really care whether you do or do not like the names we have chosen. I'm not trying to be mean or spiteful or rude, just honest and upfront. If you don't like them, please keep your opinions to yourself. Daniel and I absolutely LOVE the names (hence, why we have picked them) and that is truly all that matters. I am merely sharing with the world because I know everyone is curious. I'm always curious (and usually always ask) about what other people have picked to name their children--but if I think the name is weird or horrible or whatever, I NEVER voice it. It makes people self conscious and second guess themselves. Ok, rant over. :) *

Daniel and I take naming our children very seriously. We want them to have meaning and we want them to be masculine-sounding (if a boy) or feminine-sounding (if a girl). It's just very, very important to us. We have honestly been talking about names for the past couple of years. Nothing serious, just here and there conversations. We have always had our boy name, but the girl is a completely different story! First of all, our last name (Lowery) makes it somewhat difficult to find a name that flows well and isn't a jumble of "l's" or "r's". So, we FINALLY settled on one! 

Boy name: Holt Parker Lowery---Holt is Daniel's middle name. It was also his great-grandparent's last name. Everyone we come across who had a connection to the Holt's say they were the most loving, God-fearing people; always willing to help everyone and raised their children well. We want to bestow this legacy on our son. A name he will live up to. Parker is my mom's maiden name. Daniel never got to meet my grandpa because he passed away from multiple myeloma right after we got together. But he was a wonderful man. Super smart with a strong work ethic--he built a booming construction company from the ground up, adored my grandmother, loved the Lord, loved westerns and country music, always up for a good joke...I could go on and on. We just felt this was a way to honor him and my grandmother and my mom--bestowing a second legacy on our son. 

Girl name: Abigail Rose Lowery--we have both loved Abigail (but I was afraid to commit). Then we looked up the meaning: Hebrew for "Joy of the Father." As soon as I heard that, my heart skipped a beat and I just KNEW. That was my daughter's name. She is already a joy to her Heavenly Father, but also such a joy to her earthly one. Rose is my maternal grandmother's middle name. Shortly after my grandpa died, I moved in with her. I lived there for the whole year leading up to our wedding and since I was there, Daniel was too--pretty much everyday. He built a close relationship with her as well, so we wanted to honor her by giving our daughter her middle name. She is such a special lady and I can't wait for my daughter to meet her. 

So there you have it! We will find out next Friday night whether we will have a Holt or an Abigail and we absolutely cannot wait! 

Alright, on to business:

How far along: 18 weeks

Maternity clothes: Oh yeah. Divine.

Stretch Marks: None! Yay!

Sleep: Blissful. I sleep like a rock. 

Best moment this week: sitting outside in the 80 degree weather, enjoying the sunshine and getting some color on my legs! 

Miss anything: Soft cheese. You don't think about how much feta and blue cheese you eat until you can't!

Movement: Nope. Come ON baby! Let me know you're there!

Food cravings: Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with extra pickles

Food aversions: baked/grilled chicken or raw chicken. Cannot deal!

Have you started showing: Yes and people have started noticing! At Baskin Robbins tonight, the girl helping me said, "Girl, I see that bump! Feed that baby some ice cream!" Hahaha

Gender prediction: What do you think it is? 7 more days til we know!

Labor signs: none

Belly button in/out: in

Rings on/off: on--but if I ever have to take them off, I'm going to buy a cheap CZ ring!

Happy/Moody: Happy! It was a good week :)

Looking forward to: the BIG ultrasound next Thursday and our reveal party Friday!

Baby development: Baby is the size of a sweet potato! He/She is 5.5 inches long and weighs 7 ounces! Myelin is starting to form around the nerves and the blood vessels are visible through the skin.