The Planning Stages

Ever since we found out we are having a baby girl we have been more excited than ever. We always talk about how we can't wait to meet Chloe! We are obviously not quite ready for her to arrive yet, but we have been channeling our excitement by planning. Immediately after we found out the sex of the baby we went to Babies R Us to pick out a pink outfit. While we were there we decided to start our registry. My mom helped us by finding most of the things Drew and Shantel put on their registry. We went back the next day to add a few things we forgot. When we were done the lady at the counter told us that we only had 85 items and most people have over 150. I thought we already picked out too much stuff for one little baby. Here is a link to our registry. Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

The next thing we picked out was the crib bedding. We couldn't find anything we liked at Babies R Us, so we picked up a JCPenney Catalog. I am obsessed with elephants and I really wanted elephant bedding. Paul was set on having a pink and green nursery. As luck would have it we found pink and green elephant bedding!


We ordered a four piece bedding set, a diaper changer, mobile, and two window valances. It turns out that Chloe has the luck of the Reiber's and we received a six piece bedding set that included a diaper changer and valance. So we got to take the window valance and diaper changer back!

We are going to paint the walls a sage green color since I refuse to have a pink wall in the house. Paul had the idea to paint a light pink border. He has this whole vision and I'm going to let him run with it (if only because it can be painted over in case it looks bad). We are picking out the paint this week and he is going to paint the room while I am in Indianapolis next week.

We also ordered a crib, which should be here any day now. It is a cherry colored convertible crib. Once we get the crib then we can pick out stain to match our dresser and diaper changing table to the crib. Paul is in the process of sanding down my mom's old dresser. It is a nice solid wood dresser with cute little wavy handles, and I thought it would be perfect for the nursery.

We are very blessed to know some of the kindest people in the world. We were having some trouble finding a diaper changing table. Most people use their dresser as a two-in-one, but our dresser is too tall for me at 5'2'', and we didn't want to buy a dresser/diaper changer when we already had a nice dresser. We were almost able to borrow Kendra's old diaper changer, but it has since been passed down. When Kendra's mother-in-law, Marie, found out that we were looking for a diaper changing table she offered to find one at a consignment shop, strip it, and refinish it to match the crib as a shower gift. I think you would have to be crazy to turn down a kind offer like that. She has already found a nice hardwood diaper changer and probably had it stripped down the day she found it. We will just need a nice soft rug and a glider to finish off the furniture in the room.

We are also very blessed to have three baby showers being thrown for us! My friends Kelly and Julie are planning a "friends" shower on November 14. My mom and Kendra have showers planned for me on November 21. The baby showers are going to be a million times more fun than my bridal shower. We can't wait to get all of our baby stuff!

Baby Names

To say people are "funny" about baby names is an understatement. I know people who refuse to tell you their baby name in fear that you will steal it or dislike it. There are people who honestly don't have a clue what the name will be until the baby is born, and then there are people who will tell you every name they have ever imagined. I always thought that I would be one of the secretive types, but as it turns out, I enjoy talking about anything baby, and that includes baby names.

I have always had two names I liked for a girl. In high school I loved the name Chloe and I can vividly remember telling Paul that someday we would get married and have a baby girl named Chloe (We were the only ones who thought we'd make it this far!). Then in college I fell in love with the name Eliana, or Ellie for short. When we first found out I was pregnant I looked up the meaning of both names. Eliana meant "The Lord answers our prayers." I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, and I was even more sure we were going to have a baby girl. Lately, though, I have been thinking more about both names. When it comes to Eliana I envision a really well behaved, proper, brunette. But I just see our daughter having wild, curly, blond hair with a big Kool Aid mustache, and to me Chloe just fits her better. So after we found out baby girl was a girl we started calling her Chloe.

I do realize that this is both a popular human and dog name. I do know three dogs by the name of Chloe, but they are nice dogs and so the name doesn't have a negative connotation for me :o) Chloe is also the 10th most popular baby name. I never wanted to pick a popular name because I have five close friends and relatives named Kelly. I don't want her to have to be Chloe T. or Chloe #5 or anything like that when she goes to school. So do me a favor when the next person tells you they are thinking of the name Chloe and do that weird, slow head nod thing with a really slow, high pitched "ooooh, I like that" that so obviously means you hate it. Chloe will be eternally grateful!

Ultrasound

In the beginning of the ultrasound baby girl was squished by my full bladder and she wasn't moving around very much. The tech asked me to go to the bathroom to see if we could get her to move around a little more. Sure enough when I came back baby was kicking, stretching, and somersaulting. It was really cool to be able to see her movements on the screen at the same time I could feel them in my belly. She had her legs completely stretched out! Overall, the ultrasound was a success. The doctor said that baby was really photogenic. The doctor found all of the body parts she was looking for and said that hundreds of diseases and birth defects could be ruled out from the results of the ultrasound. Paul knows most of the exact measurements by heart. For example, her leg was 3.44 centimeters, which is about how long her whole body was at week 11. She was 14 ounces and was the size of a small baby doll. We were right on track at about 21 weeks and our due date is still February 10. Here is a blurry pic, but you get the idea.


My neighbor recently noticed that my belly has seemed to "pop." At first I didn't really agree, but I guess lately I have noticed a bit of a belly. I still think that you would have to be very brave stranger to inquire about my due date. I can still hide the bump pretty well if I try, but it does seem to take great effort. When Paul took this 22 week picture I had to laugh when I realized just how much of a belly I have compared to a few weeks ago.


It doesn't really surprise me that my belly is getting so big all of a sudden because it is growing in direct proportion to the strength of baby's kicks. She kicks like a madwoman and it has been really frustrating to me that Paul can't feel it. Last week I was working at my computer when all of a sudden the kicking got out of control. I looked down and my belly was visibly bouncing around. I tried to record it on my phone, but it didn't show up well enough. I wanted Paul to be able to see it! Finally, on the anniversary of week 22, as we got in bed bed baby started kicking up a storm. I told Paul to look and he was in shock. His face lit up and I knew that he could FINALLY see it! He gave her a kiss and she kicked his lips and he felt that, too. It was so much fun to finally be able to share the experience with Paul. He is such a proud daddy!

Shock Factor

Well well, like I said, we are going to have a baby girl. I have to admit right off hand that I am so excited, but at the same time I am so terrified! As I mentioned previously, I have always imagined myself having three boys. You throw them in the backyard and like a pack of wolves they practically raise themselves, right? Little girls both mesmerize me and terrify me. Paul and I have four nieces and we love, love, love them. They entertain the hell out of me. The problem is that they are so emotionally exhausting. For example, the first time that Oli came to visit our house she came up and said, "Aunt Cassie, I'm cold." I said, "Oh well we can turn the heat up," as we do keep our house at subzero temps in the winter to have more shoe money. She gave me a sad face and then Kendra said, "She isn't cold, she just wants a fire in the fireplace." Well why in the heck didn't she just say so?! I immediately began to realize why men so often buy all the wrong gifts and say all the wrong things.

I said before that I had this instinct right in the beginning that we were having a baby girl. I was telling people that I was 99% convinced that we were having a girl. I was just sure of it! I got so excited thinking about having a baby girl. Then during our first ultrasound the tech said she thought she could see something between the legs (turns out she could see a vagina) but that it was too early to tell since girl parts are very swollen that early. Regardless of her warning, I was then convinced that we were having a boy. So you can imagine my shock when the ultrasound tech said "It's a girl!" Paul and I didn't say a word for probably five minutes. We were so shocked. Paul looked to be enjoying the pictures from the ultrasound while my mind wandered off into la la land. My mind skipped past all of the cute, sweet years straight to the evil teenage years. I am so scared of a teenage girl! But then I was thinking that God gives us a good 10 to 15 years to fall in love with the soon-so-be brat before they turn sour.

By the end of the day we were giddy with excitement to know that baby is, in fact, a baby girl. It is so much fun to call her a "her" and "she." She feels so much more real now. I could cry just thinking about how much I love her already. I want to live the longest life just to be with her and watch her grow. And one day, when she grows out of the satanic teenage years, I get to look forward to having a new best friend. In the meantime, my heart swells with the kind of love that only mommies know.

It's A Girl!

While I am almost sure that anyone reading this blog has already been informed either by my mass texts, phone calls, or by word of mouth, we are going to have a baby girl! I have more to say on this matter, but will have to post when I have a little more time.