Little Lilly, where are you?

So...I will be 39 weeks tomorrow and we are not that far away from meeting our precious daughter. I can't describe the anxious feeling I have, though I'm positive most of you that are moms have felt this. All I want to do is hold her and kiss her and tell her I love her and that her Daddy and I will always be there for her. I am also going to miss being pregnant, having the baby bump, being able to experience all these news things, wondering about her, etc. I realize the next part of this journey will be amazing, but I will really miss how things are right now. I wish I could record the feeling of her moving in my belly, kicking me, pushing on my arms everytime I lay them on top of her. I won't feel this again for awhile, if ever, and it really is the best and most amazing feeling. Andy and I are just so excited and we talk about her all the time. Jack and Jonah are both really excited, too, though I think it will really hit them once she's here. Jonah absolutely loves baby clothes and he loves to go through them with me in the closet or when we are shopping at various stores. Jonah loves babies and little kids so I know he will be a great big brother to her. And so will Jack. Jack is the one that talks to her all the time and is always putting his hands on my belly. He also puts his ears up to it to see if he can hear her. This morning he did this and told me that Lilly knew his name was Jackie. Speaking of names, Jack insists on calling her "Champion". He is obsessed with the musical Annie and he loves the song where all the orphans are trying to name Annie's dog, who ends up being called Sandy. Anyway, one of the names in this song is Champion and he is very insistent on this being her name. He told me that he has a Lilly in his preschool class and that she is not his sister. So, obviously he is a bit confused and I think that's why he wants to call her Champion. I find it hilarious and it makes a great story to tell them when they are older.



Last week at my 38 week appt., my doctor sent me to the hospital for another ultrasound, bloodwork, and more urine testing. yay! Apparently, I still have protein in my urine, though my blood pressure has consistently been 110/70 for the last month. So, I got to head over to St. Francis and spend 2.5hrs there only to find out everything is perfectly fine. I did get to see an amazing ultrasound, though. The entire laptop screen was Lilly's face only and I almost couldn't speak. It was crazy to see her and actually see features and what she looks like. The Nurse Practitioner was like, oh she has such gorgeous full lips! That's right. Andy was extremely bummed out that he missed all this, but he really didn't need to leave work to watch after me. He has already stayed home with me a couple times because I haven't been sleeping and I basically become delirious and don't know what is going on sometimes. He takes such good care of me, of all of us. We are all really lucky to have him. So, anyway, Lilly passed all her tests on the ultrasound, which included things like breathing, sucking, opening her mouth and swallowing, hand and foot opening and closing, etc. She is quite the squirmer, so we were glad to know everything went well. We are also thankful for having such an attentive and precautious doctor. I recommend Dr. Salazar to anyone living on the southside - he's awesome!



In more fun news, I celebrated my 28th birthday on Friday. Babyless, but that's okay. We thought she might try and come out on my birthday. Andy bought me a gorgeoous bouquet of lillies, representing our little Lilly. He is just so thoughtful and sweet. He also took me to dinner at my fave "during pregnancy" restaurant, Lotus Garden. We also got to sit outside on our front porch all evening and talk and spend time with Roxanne. On saturday morning I woke up with a terrible sore throat and sinus issues. Blah. I am still dealing with them now and trying to rest as much as I can because I can't be going into labor without any energy! Jack had a 9am t-ball game that morning, so we went and baked in the morning sun. Jack had an awesome game. 2 hits off the pitch, a few plays at 3rd base, and he made an out. We had another game the following day where he had 3 hits off the pitch! Go Jack! Also for my birthday, Andy took me to Menards to get flowers, plants, and a rose bush for the yard. It's a work in progress, but we are hoping to do all the landscaping this summer. I specifically bought a peach rose bush in honor of my mom, since those were her favorite. Now I just need to figure out the best place to plant it!



So, we are pretty much ready for Lilly to be here. The bags are packed, the furniture is here (thanks to Ann & Ray...and the handiwork of Fain and Nat putting it together), we bought all the baby gear - swings, pack n plays, strollers, etc. We are ready to roll! I am also prepping for Tara and Knoerzer's arrival the weekend or 2nd weekend after Lilly is born. I am super excited for them to be here to meet her and hang out with us.



Andy is supposed to update the blog again later tonight, so hopefully he will get around to it. We need Dad's final thoughts documented, too. : ) Oh, and we finally found the perfect baby book for Lilly and have been working on that alot, too.



And if you'd like to catch up on some recent pictures, then just follow these links:


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116992&id=687245238&l=3175958d0d




http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113387&id=687245238&l=2b92747bea

It's Official: We Have a Name!

Our daughter's name is going to be:

Lilliana Kathleen Harrier

Andy and I were both undecided between two names, Lilly and Ana. We loved them both, but could not stick with just one. When I was working in the Pharmacy last week, I waited on a 4 year old girl and her mom coming out of our Minute Clinic. The little girl's name was Lilliana and I thought, how funny...that combines both of our top two names. I told Andy of this new finding and he liked the name alot, too. Now, we still plan on calling her Lilly or Lil, but thought it would be really neat to have her full name have a bit of a background story to it. Plus, as I researched the name, I saw that it was used in Polish speaking countries. Awesome!

Obviously, her middle name is after my mom, so everyone knows the story there. : )

Jack has been practicing saying "Lilly". It's a bit hard for him and comes out as "Willy", but we have been practicing pushing our tongue against our teeth to make the "L" sound. He can say it now for the most part, but he says it really slow and emphasizes the "L" alot. It's pretty funny.

Actually, Andy and I were both having some trouble saying "Lilly Harrier", but I think we've got it down now. It's like when I was kid (or adult...) and had (have...) trouble saying "polish sausage" together.