Week 23 - jumbo papaya!

Hazelnut is just over 11 inches and weighs a little over a pound. Apparently his face is now fully formed (FUN!), and you know what’s up next on the list? Little teeny tiny nipples! Tee hee.

There have been some MAJOR developments over the past week, folks.

1. Lowell finally FELT our baby kick (on May 15th about an HOUR after I posted about my discouragement that he had NOT yet felt the kicks… of course) and

2. We have SEEN the kicking!

YEAY!!! I’m SO thrilled about both of these developments, and I don’t think either of them will EVER get old. I just love when my stomach goes ‘ba-bump’ and does little jumpies.

Little side note. As I was posing for this week's photo, my stance somehow seemed familiar to me. And then it donned on me… I saw a very similar pose on Awkward Family Photos...

This photo always confused me, and it just occurred to me that she's probably holding a watermelon because her baby is that size (funny that it took me so long to put that together given that I’M doing that very thing). The gun still throws me off though. Perhaps she's a watermelon hunter?
If you’re looking for some serious entertainment, peruse awkwardfamilyphotos.com (in particular the ‘pregnancy’ section)…. pretty priceless stuff. Oh what the heck. While I’m at it, here’s another classic…

A HOLIDAY CARD? Really?! You can trust that Lowell and I will NOT be posing like that… EVER.

Or like this (even if we DID have a particular penchant for tires)…

Or THIS...

Words fail me.

Now let's wash our eyes out with soap and talk names again. Over the past couple of years, we have compiled a nice little mental list of names (most of which we had forgotten), but we hadn’t talked about our possibilities in a while. The other night, we simply sat down and hammered out a list- a perfectly respectable list if I do say so myself. There are three boy names, and ten girl names (and no, I’m not going to share them:). Next task is to narrow them down… or just wait until we meet Hazelnut on THIS side of my uterus and let him/her decide. And by the way, we’re still TOTALLY open to suggestions/additions.

I don't usually talk in my sleep, but Lowell said that last night I was making baby announcements between my deep breathing. I announced that we had a baby girl named Lancing. Hmmmm... interesting.... (and just so you know, Lancing is NOT one of our options!)

A little more about the name thing, have I got a (somewhat creepy) story for YOU! When Lowell and I were just getting to know each other (as friends- no other intent apparent), I randomly expressed that I wanted 4 kids: twin boys and twin girls. I continued by adding the specific names that I had selected for each child, “Landon and Lowell for the boys (because I like those names), and Janelle and Renee for the girls (because those are Carlynne and my middle names).” Lowell chuckled and promptly informed me that his brother’s name was Landon, and he had sisters named Janelle and Julie (and obviously his name was Lowell). Looking back, my boldness could have really scared him away. Here this girl that he just barely met is telling him how many children she wants to bare and what their names will be… and the names just happen to be the same as his siblings. Well, those names are all OFF THE TABLE now as there are plenty of duplicates in the ‘T’ fam already. Renee COULD still be an option, but Lowell’s family calls me Julie Renee (to distinguish from Julie Anne), so it would just be plum confusing. TRUE STORY!

That's it for week 23. Now head on over to awkwardfamilyphotos.com for a good dose of giggles!