By any other name…

so now that we know we’re having a girl, we’ve come up with a few names. i’ve associated a picture with each name so you can know what we’re thinking. let us know what you think, or if you have any ideas of your own!

tipper cowan?

tipper cowan

that’s so irish, though, and we’re not very irish.

madison “maddie” cowan

maddie cowan

but madison is insanely popular right now.

holly cowan?

holly cowan

pretty, but one of our closest friends up here is named holly.

frida cowan?

frida cowan

my mom and sister suggested that one, my guess is they thought it sounded like frida “kahlo”.

sacred cowan?

sacred cowan

ok, sacred’s not even a name, but if it was sacred cowan would be awesome.

March 13, 2008. Tags: , , , . baby stuff. 7 comments.

Half-Baked

Well, a little more than half, if you can believe it! We’ll be at five months next week, wow! You know what that means, yes, four months to go! I think when I first found out I was pregnant, I thought, well, it’s such a long ways away, nine months. I can think about it later…. Then all of a sudden, I’m looking at the 3/x/xx in the date and thinking that 3 is actually not too far from 7. The good news is, she still needs all the time to grow, and, we need the time to finish the house! Peter has been moving along at an amazing pace, and, we’ll have the satisfaction of having a completed basement (missing only new windows) in the next few days. Also, we should have the bathroom done by about Easter. Then– it’s on the baby room- finally! And for those of you who don’t know, I start my new job Tuesday, teaching 3rd grade. I’m looking forward to it and I’m going to take all the stress in stride. Just breathe… exercise, breathe. I will add I’m pretty proud of myself lately. I’ve been walking, doing yoga, and swimming on a very regular basis. If I can keep it up, I’ll have no regrets!Belly pic

March 8, 2008. Tags: , , , , , , . baby stuff. 2 comments.

A Womb with a View

Last Sunday as many of you know, Peter and I headed up Mt. Tabor with a little envelope containing genitalia photos (which felt rather scandalous). We found a nice spot to sit overlooking the reservoirs and city, and opened the envelope… “I M A GIRL!” – it said. We were ecstatic. In fact, we’ve been in a state of bliss ever since, as we realized after reading the note; we had been unconsciously hoping for a girl, but not wanting to put our hopes either way, since we knew we’d be ecstatic in both cases. Early on, (i.e. the first week we knew) in the pregnancy, we noticed we’d been referring to her as “she.” We both were convinced she was a girl. Then, once we told our families, and input began to seep in, we were given a majority of boy feedback. We began to doubt. I also began to feel that I needed to entertain the possibility of our baby being a boy, as until then that reality had really never entered my mind. But…. here we are, with our baby girl growing strong. I immediately found I was in love with pink. I had visions of dressing her like Strawberry Shortcake until she’s old enough to protest. We gave her a name. Suddenly, she has an identity, a personality. It was strange to realize that I couldn’t really envision my baby until I knew which gender to expect, but, such are the realities of socialization. Since last week, I have also been feeling so many of her movements inside me. She is very active when I first wake up, during a bath (heat and light?) and at around 8pm in the evenings. I am thinking she may be a bit of a night owl like her papa. Peter has felt her twice now, the first time while we watched, “The Other Boleyn Girl” (good movie), and again during last night’s movie. I think she also likes movies. Anyways, belly photo up next, as we are now officially at the halfway point!

note from peter: when we got our ultrasound last week the technician kindly recorded a 9 second clip and put it on loop for me to film. if you watch the whole thing, there is a belly shot and other fun stuff further in. last year i sat down at the piano and just sort of played a song that came out of nowhere. it kind of sounded like a lullaby and seemed to fit with the ultrasound video, so i just hit record on my laptop and played along while i watched it. if you look closely you you can see shorty’s heart beating pretty much at the tempo of the song!

(watch the full size video here)

March 2, 2008. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . baby stuff. 12 comments.

Here I am… Who am I????

We had our ultrasound yesterday. Little baby was movin’ and shakin’. It enjoys kicking its legs up above it’s head. Flexible little peanut. Peter says it’s looks like me, although, it’s long fingers and extremities are definitely that of its father. I think he sees a resemblance to me because of the round head, and, I told him, every baby has a round head, even he did when he was little. So….. after much anticipation, we are about to take our “top secret” envelope on a walk up Mt. Tabor. The anticipation is too much at this point. Last chance to put your boy/girl vote in, we’re finally gonna know!

February 24, 2008. Tags: , , , , , . baby stuff. Leave a comment.