What's in a name?

I'm sure many of you are wondering what baby names we have picked out. Yes, we do have a boy and a girl name selected. The reason we aren't telling people yet is not to control or play games. There are a couple reasons. First of all, we wanted to be free to decide without other people's opinions. For example: if our names were Myrtle and Rupert (and they are not) we didn't want other people influencing us b/c they don't like it, etc. Also, two of the names have a family connection and we didn't want to share in case we changed our minds after getting people's hopes up. Brad and I are happy with both of the names we have selected and I don't think we are going to change either. However, we will wait to share the names on Oct 13 after the ultrasound. We can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl! (Have I already mentioned that?) FYI - we are planning to post the ultrasound picture and announce the name on our baby blog! So check back on Oct 13th. Just to get you guessing though, here are some of names we have considered for either first and/or middle names. You'll notice our choices are very traditional, except for a couple. We aren't really into the trendy unisex naming, though there are many great names out there. The first and middle names we have picked out for both sexes are included in these lists below. Do you know which ones they are? We have had the boy name picked out for at least 2 years. The girl name wasn't decided on until the last few weeks.

Boy names:

Luke
Aidan
Joshua
Thomas
Jonathan
Andrew

Girl names:

Hannah
Maya
Olivia
Grace
Emma
Caroline

Feel free to make comments in the comment section just below here, if you like!

Tiffany

Baby signing

Tiffany and I were really hoping to learn more about teaching sign language to the baby to facilitate early communication and stimulate brain activity and intelligence. I really believe in this concept even without reading much about it yet, it just makes so much sense to me. Even if we only teach and use a few basic signs it should be alot of fun! I'm really looking forward to trying this. There are classes and workshops in our area that we may look into as well.

Interesting Links on Baby signing, there are many others but that's why this is a blog format, so I don't have to know everything before posting something.

http://www.signingbaby.com/
http://www.sign2me.com/
http://mybabycantalk.com/

Fox News article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170583,00.html

What Tiffany is reading...

I am reading all kinds of books and have read many informative articles at www.babycenter.com. But, here are a couple of books that stand out right now.

"What To Expect When You Are Expecting" by Murkoff, Eisenberg & Hathaway. This book is the most recommended book on pregnancy out there. When we first announced our news, everyone asked if I had this book yet. It's an informative guide which details the forthcoming changes you can expect to experience month by month. Caution: You just can't read this book and worry about everything it mentions though! They inform you of every possible complication and problem out there. It's important to be informed, but I can see how it could be easy to get worried if you focus on every possible pregnancy complicaton known to man. And, furthermore - as everyone says - every woman is different and pregnancy is different. Each experience is unique!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761121323/qid=1127246589/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9895949-9261457?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

"Prayers For The Mother To Be" by Angela Thomas. This book is a collection of prayers topically arranged according to the different phases, thoughts, feelings and concerns mothers-to-be may have regarding pregnancy. Here's a quote by the author from the introduction, "I have come to believe that "the glow" of a pregnant woman comes entirely from the presence of God. God does not begin the work of creating and then leave. I believe that he remains and dwells in the heart, soul, and body of a woman with an extra measure of His presence. Every woman is visited by the Creator God as He quietly performs the miracle of life. And like the city on a hill, the light of the Father cannot be hidden." This brings to mind the awesomeness of God's creative power as expressed in Psalm 139, particularly in verse 13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785263861/qid=1127246771/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-9895949-9261457?v=glance&s=books

Tiffany

What Brad is reading...

Here are a couple of the things in my mind as I prepare to parent...

"My Boys Can Swim - the official guy's guide to pregnancy" by Ian Davis
The first is a book for guys. It's written by a guy for guys and thus, it's short and sweet, non-technical, and pretty funny about the types of things men go through during a pregnancy. I'd love to share a story or two but it's the usual stuff. In my opinion, I'm not really the stereotypical clueless, non-involved dad-to-be. On the contrary I'm really excited about it all, have a fairly good idea (as much as anyone can without actually having done it) about what we're in store for and hope to participate as much as I can. The book is good for a few laughs but not worth holding on to. I'll pass it on as soon as I run across another dad-to-be.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761521674/002-3831885-0191240?v=glance

"The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley
The second, and more practical is a book on baby's sleep. Tiffany actually picked the book up for her, but I've taken to reading it myself lately. It's written by a mother of four and advocate AGAINST the cry-it-out method. The forward is by Dr. Sears another famous author on infant sleep and he highly recommends the book for a "how-to" guide. It's really an interesting read, I just hope it works! I am just into chapter 2 right now and haven't gotten anything past the "what" and the "why". Hopefully the "how" will suit my step-by-step linear logic. We'll see...and I hope to upload some of the thoughts I have regarding the theories presented in the book after I'm deeper in.
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/content/sleepbooksummary.htm

Brad

Take our poll!

Do you think we are having a boy or a girl?
	Girl
	Boy
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Please leave a comment in the comment section too!

First baby sounds

Tiffany had her first visit with the doctor on August 2nd, but it was still too early to hear the heartbeat. On the next visit, August 31st, we had our first chance to hear the heartbeat of our jumbo shrimp-sized baby. It was pretty cool to hear it, and it was nice to know the heart was pumping away and that everything was fine. We can't wait to get a look when it's time for the ultrasound.

Last "real" vacation for a long time!

Brad & Tiffany in Times Square!

We took a vacation in early July to New York City. Some may call this a "babymoon", your last real vacation before your first child appears on the scene and changes your life forever. We had a great time! We did everything we could fit in...Broadway shows, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Trump Tower, Tiffany's, boat tour of NY Harbor, Empire State Bldg, World Trade Center site, St. Paul's Chapel, St. Patrick's Cathedral, NBC studio tour and so much more....

It all started when...

ha ha!! Scared most of you with that title, huh? Well...not exactly going to take things back that far on this blog! But the day that we saw this "message" was definitely a monumental time for us. Maybe we're dorks for taking the picture, but most parents are a little dorky, so we just got off to an early start.

Brad

Welcome to our baby blog!

Thanks for checking out our site. We hope to share news, info and and pictures here. We are so excited about our newest family member!