10 Things I Love About Being Pregnant

Since some of my posts have reflected on lots of negatives, I thought I would share with you some things I enjoy about pregnancy.

10) Healthy, shiny hair and strong fingernails
9) Gaining 1 lb. a week without guilt
8) Not having to clean the bathtub
7) Elastic waistbands
6) Daily doses of cookies, cake, or chocolate
5) My baby bump
4) Taking naps and going to bed early
3) Hearing Baby B's heartbeat at doctor appts.
2) Feeling baby kicks
1) Daydreaming about the day we finally meet sweet little Baby B:)

"What's in a name?"

For those do not recall this most famous line from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," the entire quote is:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Here Juliet is expressing her love for Romeo despite the fact that he bears the Montague name. The meaning behind this quote is that a person's name simply does not matter, nor does it define who a person is.

You are probably wondering what Brit Lit has to do with us. Phil and I, as soon-to-be parents, are faced with the overwhelming task of choosing a name for our child. Exactly how do you select the perfect name ? As much as we would like to think a name does not matter, to parents, and later on the child, it really does.

Our first step was to buy a baby name book. Phil took on this task and came back from Barnes & Noble with a great book- 100,001 Baby Names. Oh yes, this is wonderful. There is no reason why we can't find the perfect name! I toted this book with me all over the UK, opening a page here and there to see what I could find. What I realized after reading all of the girl "A" and "B" names is that 99,800 of these names I would not even think about giving my child. So the book now sits collecting dust on the bookcase.

We have established a short list of rules:
1) No names from the top 20 names of 2007 Social Security Administration List. I like the name Jennifer, but I had 10 classmates with the same name...did you know it was the #1 girl's name for an entire decade?
2) Children's names of our friends and family are off limits.
3) Pet's names are also out- I really liked Henry until I realized our baby would share a name with our dog Hank. Weird! Katie, Maggie, and Nick are also off the list.

And suggestions from others- we've had a few of those also. My personal favorite has been Rasputin. No doubt this one was meant as a joke, but it's still funny.

We have a short list and will most likely continue to change our minds over the next few months, although we probably won't tell, not matter how often we are asked, what our faves are:)

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome 2008! We are looking forward to the arrival of the two new members of the Ekern family! Good luck to Chris and Angie as they are due a few short weeks before us.

Phil and I just returned from our trip to the UK on Sunday. What a great time we had with Mom and Dad Berndt, and the Hay and Clements clans!! We spent a couple of days each in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Troon, Scotland. Our last leg of the trip was spent in London. I really wish that we could have had a few more days, or weeks even to explore the city. It is absolutely fabulous!!!

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. I dropped my camera on our second day there, which is no surprise since I have become very clumsy. As I was reading one of my REALLY outdated pregnancy books, there was actually a small section relating to what they call sausage fingers. No joke!! This is caused by swelling from water weight and looser joints. One more fun symptom. I probably should not be allowed to handle dishes or sharp knives either:)

Of course I can't complain too much about these small little inconveniences. I had another appointment yesterday, and everything is looking good, especially considering my age, which is pretty much mentioned at every one of my appointments. Do they not know that 35 is the new 25? Biologically I guess it isn't!

Baby B. is moving around A LOT. Perhaps we have a little soccer player on our hands? Phil definitely hopes that is the case. It's a really cool feeling and I find it very comforting.

Have a great day!