Awkward

Some awkward things that people have said to me thus far in my pregnancy:

"Oh my God, you're like a ball with legs!" -Anthony A.

"I just want to make sure your eyes aren't bigger than your stomach... Although that's admittedly pretty hard right now." -Matt

"If you were to do a pencil dive into the pool right now, would it still be considered a belly flop?" -Matt

"Smile, it's not like you're carrying an extra *hesitates* 50 pounds right now or anything!" - a coworker, when I had gained not even half that at that point...

Nursery

I designed Elise's bedroom specifically with the intent that it could be changed if needed. The wall color and the trees are neutral, while just the accessories in the room would need to be changed if Elise ever has to share her room with a brother. Also, the trees are decals, so if (when) she decides that she wants to change her room to reflect whomever she turns out to be, they can be removed fairly easily.

An Explosion of Pink!

On April 17h, Matt and I received the wonderful news that we were expecting a baby girl! And thats when it happened. No matter my drive to keep the pink in check, all of a sudden everything pink just seemed irresistible to both me and everyone who wanted to shower our baby girl with gifts!

After MUCH deliberation, Matt and I decided on the name Elise Marie (in the end, I left it up to Matt.) We both liked the name Elise just from the way it sounds, but here were some other reasons we love the name Elise:

• Meaning: God is my oath
• It is a shortened version of the name Elisabeth, which was Matt's Nana's name.
• Marie is a family name on my side, my Great Aunt is Marie, my grandmother is Louise Marie, my Aunt is Lynn Marie, and my mother's confirmation name was Susan Marie
• Elise, while not an unusual name, is not overly popular (at least as of 2013!)

 Other names we considered:

• Caroline (This was the second choice, possibly Caroline Grace)
• Grace (I would have loved the name Grace, but ultimately it is a very popular name and my friend Heather's son (Born in July) is named Grayson)
• Eden (My ultimate favorite, except - Eden Stevens. Say it out loud, I dare you.)

My morning sickness finally subsided around week 16 of pregnancy, and since then this pregnancy has been pretty easy-going. I still have all the usual symptoms: heartburn, back pain, insomnia, etc. but nothing compares to the morning sickness! I actually think if I didn't have such bad nausea in the beginning, I would probably be a lot more pathetic about my current woes!

To close: A funny conversation between Matt and I regarding my stretch marks:

Me: I have more belly scars than you now.

Matt: Yeah, but mine is a cooler story.

Me: Cooler than creating a new human life?

Matt: I hate you.