The Middle Name Decision

Quinn's middle name is now officially official, so I'm ready to share it with you! It's a little unique, but we're in love with it. Her name will be Quinn Analeigh. 

It's a very meaningful name to us. My father-in-law passed away last year, just a few months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was the most amazing man and was so close with my husband. He is greatly missed every single day. His middle name was Lee, so the "Leigh" portion of Analeigh is in honor of him. It gives us great joy to bless Quinn with part of his name. My mother-in-law and my sister both have the middle name Ann, so obviously "Ana" is in honor of them.

[Analeigh means grace and devoted to God]

We just bought Quinn Analeigh her first girly outfits. I will admit that I totally cried in the store as soon as I saw this outfit set. I can't wait to have a closet full of girly clothes and boxes full of ribbons. I love you already little girl!

Cloth Diaper Cuteness

Prepare your eyes for some serious freaking cuteness! Laura with 123 Cloth Me makes the worlds cutest cloth diapers and I just became aware of some that she makes called a rufflebutt diaper. EEEEKKKKKK! Okay, seriously prepare yourself because here it is! Have you ever seen a cuter diaper?! I can already imagine Quinn's little adorable tush adorned in this diaper and I want to squeal with excitement.

She of course makes other types and prints, but I'm in love with these! Kristin, at Our Growing Garden, is hosting a giveaway of 123 Cloth Me diapers. YAY! Head over there and check out the cuteness!

19 Weeks

 I'm feeling pretty good lately, just the usual fatigue. I often think back on my all-afternoon naps that I took when I was pregnant with C.orben. Those were amazing! Luckily though I've had a few bursts of energy and actually did a little cleaning and laundry this week. I also managed a trip to the store to get some new maternity skinny jeans. I wasn't able to find exactly what I was looking for, but I think I'll be happy with my purchase. I must say I think my butt looks amazing in them, haha. Hopefully the energy sticks around because I signed C up for a weekly story time at the library that you actually have to register for because they only have a certain amount of spots available. I also joined a mom meetup group and have committed to some activities. 

I'm only up  4 lbs so far, although my wedding ring is getting tight :(.   I'm so happy because by this point with C I was up freaking 20 lbs! Yes, you will hear a pregnancy long comparison of my weight gain because I'm determined to do better this time. It was hard getting 50 lbs off.

I have been having a lot of anxiety though. I often wake up in the morning with panic attacks. With both this pregnancy and the last I have an anterior placenta. It never impacted my pregnancy with C though and I started feeling flutters at 13 weeks and full on, all day, kicks on the outside by 18 weeks. With Quinn I started feeling flutters at 13 weeks as well, and since then I've felt a few rolls and stronger movement, but it's honestly been awhile since I've felt anything more than flutters. These days I usually only feel the flutters a few times a day. I know it's because of my anterior placenta because I only feel her on the sides and way down low... basically anywhere where my placenta is not. During every ultrasound they always comment on how active she is and I always hear a strong, fast heartbeat on my doppler at home. That doesn't stop me from worrying though. Losing my last baby really did a number on me. My mind runs with thoughts that something must be wrong with Quinn and that things aren't going to end well. I just really want to feel regular, strong movement for my own peace of mind. Deep breath. It will come, I just need to remain prayerful and patient.

In news from Battle of the Middle Name, we have picked a name! I think taking the advice to pray on it really helped us come up with it. I'll announce it after a few days when I'm sure the husband isn't going to change his mind... again.

* I know I said that I probably wasn't going to keep doing this updates every week; I don't want to bore everyone. I think I'm going to do at least a picture and a little update weekly. I really enjoyed documenting everything with Cor.ben and having the ability to go back and read details of my pregnancy with him.

Battle of the Middle Name

Even though we still have plenty of time, I really just want to settle on Quinn's middle name already. The husband is making this quite difficult as he likes to mull over things for eternity before he makes a decision and apparently he hates every name I love. I fell in love with Quinn Harper and he said it was a definite no. Quinn Hadley met the same fate. I then suggested Quinn Abigail. Abigail means "A Father's Joy", which I found to be perfection. He didn't like it, but found the similar name Avigail and it seemed like he finally agreed to a name. Then a few days later he decided he didn't like how the name sounded when he heard other people say it. AGHHH just pick a name already! 

Feel free to give us some suggestions. As you can see we like names that are a little bit unique and it's important that they don't have a horrendous meaning. I was digging Delaney until I found out it meant "child of dark defiance" or "enemy's child". NO THANK YOU!

18 Weeks & 4D Ultrasound Surprise

I can't believe I'm 18 weeks already! 

 

Yesterday was marked by a special occasion, making it even better! I called the ultrasound clinic where at 15 weeks they said I was having a boy. I let them know that at my anatomy scan we found out that we're actually having a girl. I was calling just to let them know for their own purposes, figuring that they probably like to keep record of their accuracy. Much to my surprise they booked me for a free 4D ultrasound last night AND I get to come back when I'm further along for the expensive 4D ultrasound session for FREE! I'm shocked and so appreciate their generosity. So, here's the 4D picture of Quinn (and they also verified again that she is in fact a she). 

I take it back: IT'S A GIRL!

We had our anatomy scan today and found out that (as I suspected) the 15 week gender prediction was wrong and WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!! Check out my doubts HERE. I'm absolutely over the moon! She's so pretty too and measuring at almost 1/2 lb. Most importantly she's as healthy as can be. Here is my precious Quinn!

Freezer Stash- Veggie Edition

When it comes to having a toddler I've learned that it's important to have precooked meals in the freezer for times when you need something quick because your child has become immediately starving or you're making something for dinner that he won't like... or OOPS you got so busy during the day that at dinner time you realize that you completely forgot to plan or prepare anything.

I just started making a little freezer stash of easy meals and snacks. Right now they are all veggie based because the only way I can get C.orben to eat vegetables lately is to hide them in his food. I love being sneaky, hehe! It's also great being able to just grab something nutritious that I've made and pop it in the microwave.

I have more ideas in the works, but this is what I've made this week:

Veggie Pizza: I've posted about this before HERE. It's still a favorite around my house.

Low Calorie Crustless Quiche: These are great and made in muffin tins, making them the perfect size. I omitted the mushrooms in mine and added broccoli. Really there are tons of options with this recipe (get it HERE)

I forgot to take a picture of mine, so this is from google, but it looks the same.

Veggie Muffins: These are so good and you wouldn't immediately suspect they are veggie based. The main ingredients (besides the obvious flour, etc) is bananas, broccoli, carrots, and prune juice. Yum! If you want to make it even healthier you can substitute 1 cup of the regular flour with whole wheat flour and instead of sugar you can use molasses or something similar. I just used what it called for because that's what I had at hand. I did chop the carrots up a lot finer than the recipe stated because I know C would spit them out if I didn't. HERE is the recipe.

I've had a lot of fun building my little freezer stash and I can't wait to add to it! I definitely want to add in several dinners. Do you have any yummy freezer meals?