A few snow flakes make me happy!

I left work tonight to walk out and see it snowing!! Mind you... snow here is rare and a dusting is considered enough to close schools, lol. I called Mark (who is in Reno) to brag that it is snowing here!! He said there was not much left on the ground in Reno but still a lot in the mountains. I meant to send the camera with him... awww, how I miss the snow in the mountains!!!! I am still happy with the little bit of snow we have going on here now!!

Little One will have a name!!!

We have decided on the baby's name (two months to due date today, not bad, lol)!! Drum roll please....

Boy: Connor William Lovell
Girl: Hayden Stella Lovell

Connor is the name Kaya would have been had she been a boy. At that time, we were debating between William and Burton for the middle name. We both preferred the sound of William and it is a family name on both sides of Mark's family. I was really pushing for Burton, named after one of my 'other' moms Stephanie Burton who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2003. To be honest, if Kaya had been a boy we probably would have gone with Burton b/c I was adamant that we use a name in memory of Stephanie.

Fast forward a few years and to this pregnancy. This little one was conceived either the very end of July or very early August (nope, I do not know the exact date as there were a few to choose from, lol). This was just a little over one month after Jenna lost her battle with Leukemia and with her sweet baby Will (William) was lost. I had talked to Jenna about how we would be starting for #2 soon, so the timing seemed like she had a part in that. When I found out I was pregnant, I was really emotional (both still attempting to deal with Jenna's and Will's loss, and also the thought of being pregnant while she was not able to be anymore). Then I thought about our boy name that we had decided upon years prior to meeting Jenna. Right there, it was decided for both Mark and I that Connor William would be this one's name if indeed we were having a boy. While William is a family name and was Jenna's choice for her fourth child as a first name, it just seemed like it was meant to be and Jenna knew that all along.

Now for a girl's name... this has taken the entire pregnancy to decide, LOL. Way before Kaya was born, before she was conceived, Mark came up with Kaya (short for kayak as we used to do a far amount, plus it was an actual name so that helped, lol). After coming up with Kaya's name in that fashion, we felt compelled to have a similar story to go with another girl's name... talk about pressure!! Well, after nothing hitting us at all... except for a brief (and I stress brief) moment where Mark thought Ricki (pronounced Rick-a) was the perfect name (as it does have great origin and he loved the sound of it). I was not in love at all with the name. It is pretty and everything.... just didn't hit me. I have reached out to all who are willing for ideas on a girl's name... tons of great ideas came of this! Then a co-worker of mine suggested Hayden... and I immediately said 'yes'. This reminded me of a little girl (who is like 14-15 yrs old now, dang I feel old) that was in my 3 yr class at the daycare I worked at years ago.. her name is Hayden, and I loved the name then.

Mark loved Hayden as well, so that was decided! Now, the middle name. I still want to remember Stephanie. That is sort of our thing... the middle name of our kids will be a name in memory or one passed down from family/friends. Kaya's middle name is Elizabeth which is a name all over Mark's family, plus he is second generation born in USA from England, so Elizabeth seemed fitting, LOL. I have had the idea to combine Stephanie/Lynn (Steph's middle name) and Jenna/Lee (Jenna's middle name) somehow. I wrote out a lot of names and looked through the name book... and came up with Stella ('Ste' for Stephanie and 'le' written backwards for Lee). I came up with this about a week ago and asked Mark what he thought... he really liked it. We ran it by Kaya as well and she approves, LOL.

While a name or two (first and middle) might not require this much thought... for some reason we seem to do just that, lol. It feels good to have both names decided upon before I go into labor!! For awhile there, I was thinking that was what we would talk about while I was in labor, lol. Nothing wrong with that of course, many wonderful people have been born without names, like myself for example!!!

Flu & Kaya's website

Yes, this entire family had the flu vaccine (much to Mark and I's dismay, lol)... yet Kaya has the flu. The flu is all over the place, even closing schools for awhile in hopes to get everyone healthy, so it is not a huge surprise that she got it too. I do think she has a MUCH milder case than if she had not gotten the vaccine. She started acting sick on Saturday, but in all she has not been that bad at all. Her temp has not been above 103 which is great considering that is a low temp for her when she gets ear infections. Mark took her to the doctor yesterday where they confirmed the flu, and we could out our beloved Dr. Rosser will be switching to a new medical clinic. We will be following him, no question. A little bummed, b/c I love so many of the other docs at TN Peds, but ultimately I will go with Dr. Rosser.

I am home with Kaya today and enjoying the day at home!! Sad that I keep thinking how I am ready for this kid to be born, so I have maternity leave, lol. We are still working on a plan for me not to return to work full time. I might go back to work for awhile (that money thing is hard to give up), but no matter what we have a goal in mind and are focused on that goal. I am not worried about all of it, and Mark is ok with the whole thing too (which is good considering he was pretty stressed last year before I went to work).

I have been needing to update Kaya's website for months (since September), so I am doing that today!! I erased the link on this site to her site, so I will add that again. Just in case I forget, here is the site: http://lovell.aboutmybaby.com/ Email me if you need the password.

Have a great day!!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I took the day off in celebration of the day! Kaya and I went to her valentine's party at school which was a lot of fun to see her with all her school friends. She really loved handing out the valentine's that she helped making, especially the one for her boyfriend (ok, one of her boyfriend's, lol) Weston. Then I did a little shoppping, then it was time for the OB. Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a visit to the girly doc!! Another big weight gain, opps!! I gained 9 lbs in two weeks!!! WOW! Really, I have been eating better these last two weeks.... this is just part of the whole pg thing for me... this is what I did in the last few months when I was pg with Kaya. Mark and I are going to have a 'date' night tonight.. with last minute Preds tickets on the company, sweet!!! I am looking forward to the game.. we have not been this season so far.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful V Day!!! Love, Hugs and Kisses from the 3+ of us!!!

Kaya and her big girl bed

Kaya LOVES her big girl bed! It was delivered yesterday morning... and she has now taken two naps in it along with sleeping last night. She keeps saying "sleeping in my big girl bed"! It is pretty cute! I took a cute picture yesterday as she slept in it for the first time.. she was all smiles.

Super Target... Happy Birthday to ME!

The Super Target is opening on March 9th (two days before my 30th birthday), so I have decided that it is all for me, LMAO! I am pretty excited! I told Mark he could just give me an hour shopping spree at Target for my birthday, lol. OK... maybe that would be a bit much... I could do some serious damage in an hour at Target!!!

11 weeks and Perspective...

11 weeks until my EDD!!! There is one side of me that is stressing out BIG time with all the things I want/need to do before this new little one arrives into the world, but then perspective brings me back, thank God!! Yes, I do not have clothes washed and ready for the baby, no diapers purchased, the baby's room looks like the misc. catch all room, and Kaya is still in her crib.... but I really don't see what the problem with all of this, LOL. The reality is.... all will come in due time! Yes, by this time when I was pg with Kaya, her room was already to go (in yellows and greens of course, lol) including clothes, diapers and all that crap you think you need from day one. Well, I am just smarter this time around, lol, or at least that is what I am telling myself. I don't need all that crap.... again, I keep telling myself that. Bottom line, the baby will be sleeping in our room for a few months (not 5+ months like Kaya did.... as we had no choice given the situation), and my mom will be painting the room after he/she is born, so there is not a ton to be done right now. Kaya's big girl bed will be delivered on Saturday (along with our bed set and the new sectional), so the crib will be ready for the baby's room. Mark almost finished a book shelf for Kaya last weekend (which I was very happy and proud too... technically that is the first piece of furniture he has built for us), and after that is complete he will start on the headboard and footboard (which will be fairly simple). We need to get Kaya a dresser... which I am looking for on craigslist and ads... still have the idea to get an unfinished one... at any rate, we will find that soon, no worries there. At that point, all of the baby furniture will be ready for the room. All of the neutral baby clothes are in one box (which I now exactly where it is located thanks to Mark organizing the garage). My mom will be here the first week in March, and one of her tasks will be to help me go through clothes, wash and put away for little one. See, I have it all planned out! LOL

More perspective...... as my belly gets bigger, I can't help but think about Kaya as a baby and how I will miss her being my only baby! Yes, they say you grow more love for each child as they are born, and I do believe this is true as I already have great love for this new baby. I now understand what people mean when they say "there is only one first child". This is so true as well. At the same time, there is only one second child and so forth! While there will be times when I struggle as a mom with two children, I know that most of the time things will be "ALL GOOD" (as I like to say)!! I might have to re-read this post in a few months, LOL.