What's in A Name?

As I sit here at work typing this post, I have my shoes kicked off my feet under my desk.  My pinkie toes are nothing but a solid blister from my feet being swollen.  Yay! Before I got pregnant with Baby Powell, I was on a diuretic because due to my blood pressure stuff I retain sooo much water.  Like so much that my feet and legs sometimes LOOKED like I was pregnant even though I wasn't.  Well, that little pill I used to take helped with that a lot. It helped get rid of a lot of my swelling.  But that was the first thing to go when I saw those 2 lines on the test.  Not safe for pregnancy.  So now I have that regular swelling PLUS pregnancy swelling.  Yay again!  Anyway, hurry up spring because I desperately need to wear flip flops and it's too cold right now.

Still don't have a clue who Baby Powell is.  Have another 18 days before we get to try to peek again.  I have this sinking feeling that he/she is going to be shy again.  Although with baby being a Powell, it is very likely that is pure orneriness rather than modesty. I really want to be able to start calling Baby Powell by it's name.  I think you get to bond a little earlier when you know before the 9 months is up :)

Wes and I had NO trouble agreeing on baby names.  In fact, we already had names picked out before Baby Powell was even a glimmer in my eye.  It was weird.  We were firm on the boy name but sort of wavered on the little girl name and ended up changing our mind (all before there was even a baby to name!).

For a little boy, we LOVED the name Hudson James.  We thought Hudson was somewhat unique and cute and just sounded masculine to me :)  We picked James because Wes really wanted to name his son after his dad, James.  So we thought it just sounded perfect together.  Plus, if it's a boy, he and big bro Brian will share a middle initial of "J".

For a little girl, I really really loved the name Audrey Caroline because of a blog I have kept up with for years.  Many of you probably have heard of Angie Smith and the story of her little girl.  They found out their sweet baby wouldn't probably live after birth, but decided to carry her to term anyway and let God work.  She wrote a book about her story and her blog is phenomenal.  If you haven't heard of her, check out http://angiesmithonline.com/.  Wes liked that name a lot when I told him about the story and we thought it would be really cool because his mom's name is Carolyn so it would kind of have a double meaning.  Then our church opened this summer and we started serving in this little place called The Garden.  It is a little room filled with the cutest 18-24 month olds you may ever have seen.  And Wes pretty much fell hardcore for this little girl named Natalie.  She was pretty cute, I'll admit.  And her name really grew on us both.  So we just decided that we really liked the name Natalie now.  And we chose Natalie Marie because my middle name is Marie and so is my sweet mom's.   So now, if it's a girl, "Marie" will belong to grandma, mama, and new baby girl.  Another funny note is that Wes's name was going to be Natalie if he would've ended up being a girl.  I'm so glad he wasn't :)

So I have tested out both names with big bro Brian, and I must say he says them cuter than I have ever heard them said.  So regardless, my heart will be so happy to finally meet this precious baby who has been kicking and moving in my tummy for a few weeks now.   It is so hard to believe that I am 1 day away from being 20 WEEKS!  Halfway there!  Crazy!!!  Wes even got to feel some kicks himself last night.  Even though they are still pretty soft to him, doesn't feel too soft to me :)

So, come on Baby Hudson or Baby Natalie.  Reveal yourself to us because we can't wait to meet you!