Hey, hey baby!

Well, it's been a pretty ridiculously long time since I posted on here, and an update is fully in order.
Since my last post:
I went to New Orleans for a conference with my mom:

My best girl since age 5, Jessica, got married:

My dog wore this:

My cat did that:











I've been continuing to cake pop it up with Sarah, and...

Oh yeah. I got knocked up.

Doug & I are over the moon about it. We kept it a secret from everyone but closest friends & family through the first trimester, but the word is out now. As of Saturday, I'm 17 weeks along, and we scheduled the anatomy ultrasound at my doctor's appointment today, which means in 2 weeks I'll be decking this blog out in either pink or blue. My inner crazy, type-a, super control freak self has been secretly counting the seconds until we can find out if this is a little miss or a little mister. I mean, hello! We have a nursery to decorate! Bedding to consider! Clothes to buy! And probably worst of all...names to pick! D & I have been finding names to be a particular challenge. If it's a boy, we're pretty set on our name (but keeping it a sorta secret until the baby is born. I think it's creepy when people refer to a pregnant woman's stomach by name) but if it's a girl...oh dear. Lourdes Hospital may just be posting "baby girl" on their announcement page instead of an actual moniker at the rate we're going. I think it may be a teensy weensy bit because my personal criteria for our future little person's name is somewhat extreme. I'm looking for a name that:
1. Is not made up, trendy, invented, or so unique that no one has ever heard of it...
2. But not so common that a million little ones will have it--I'd like something kinda unique
3. Is classic but not common (see #1 and #2)
4. Sounds good with Laura (this is the hardest part)
5. Lends itself well to nicknames
6. Can work for a cute little baby all the way to a professional adult
7. Is easy to spell and pronounce, and not so out there that people scrunch up their noses and say "ugh" when they hear it
8. (This is where the list narrows waaaaay down) Does not remind me of one of the 500+ kids I teach daily
9. Does not already belong to a member of our family or friends or even acquaintances, really, because see #2

The problem (I mean, before you get to #8 and #9 which I can acknowledge are a little impossible) is that some of these criteria are in direct opposition to one another. Elizabeth is easy to pronounce, classic, lends itself well to nicknames...but fails #3. It's too common. Penelope meets #1, 2, 3, 4, 5...but majorly fails #7 and Doug hates it. I could go on for ages! How does anyone ever choose the name that their child will live with for the rest  of their life? This is quite possibly the hardest decision I've ever made...and don't even get me started on cribs, strollers, and baby gear. It's enough to drive you to drink (virgin, please).

Anyway, this has been the all-consuming portion of my life lately, and D & I still can't believe our house will soon be inhabited by another living, breathing (pooping, crying, puking, never-sleeping) human being. It's all a little surreal. Thank God I have other mama-friends going through it now or already having done it to be my safety net/support group, and of course, my awesome husband, although sometimes we look at each other and say, "What did we just get ourselves into?" with a combination of joy and panic in our voices.

Also, I've been taking weekly belly pictures, and can I just say, I look SO much more pregnant at night? It's really amazing. Here's the latest and greatest as of today (16 weeks, 5 days).

In other news, our basement should be (finally) getting fixed from the great September flood. I'm pumped (ha! literally! we're getting new pumps installed!) since the contents of the basement may or may not be currently residing in the soon-to-be-nursery. However, that mess is a post for another night. In the meantime, I'm off to drink my nightly banana chocolate milkshake--I might as well enjoy it while I can!