Norah, Nursery, and Names - Oh, my!

NoRaH JuNe

Then: One year ago she was just barely moving up from newborn to size-1 diapers. And, at four months, she had finally doubled her birth weight and was 9 lbs. 8 oz. A perfectly happy and beautiful little hummingbird!

Now: Still comfortable in her size-3 diapers, Miss Eleanor (finally) had her 15 month well-check last Friday and yet again we marvel at how quickly our children grow.

Her current stats:

Height: 29 3/4" (25%)

Weight: 19 lbs (less than 5%)

Head Circ: 18 1/4" (50%) (Smallest Wilde baby head so far!)

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NuRsErY

After cleaning the walls, removing the closet doors and hardware, removing the wire shelving in the closet, filling all holes and wall dents with spackle, sanding said spackle, picking out (several hundred) paint colors, narrowing them down to just four samples, applying said samples to various areas of the wall and seeking Justin's opinion a gazillion times, finally settling on the perfect combination to paint, taping off the room, and painting for two solid days straight (primer, then two coats of each color) - I present to you just the beginning of Sprout's nursery:

Above the chair rail (which has yet to be installed, obviously) is called: Reef Green

I love it because it's just so cheery and bright! Plus - it looks beautiful with either blue or pink accents :).

Below the chair rail is called Mint Frappe. In real life it is the exact green color of mint chocolate-chip ice cream. I didn't realize this until, after having a bout of insomnia, I started painting the first coat. It was midnight and immediately after opening the new can of paint I thought, "That looks exactly like mint ice cream!" Needless to say, had Justin been awake you'd better believe I would have been guilting him into running to the 24-hour wal.mart to satisfy my sudden craving. :)

The 'old' closet. I'm planning on adding some sort of IKEA storage solution in there and will then hang a curtain (in lieu of the double closet doors - which is an idea I saw on another blog and thought was SO cute!) in the same fabric that I end up using for the window treatments.

Justin's big project will be adding the chair-rail and crown moulding. I have the utmost confidence in his abilities...(But am wondering if it will take the next 20 weeks to finish??? :)

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NaMeS:

Since we've embarked on this journey of waiting until the delivery to discover the sex of our little Sprout, we have had even more difficulty with deciding on names. At least with the other kids the Big Ultrasound instantly narrowed down our name options by 50%. Now - it's just twice the work! (Though we KNOW it will be worth it...right? :)

As of now our lists include:

For a Boy:

Beckett (Michael or Lee) Wilde: This one happens to be my personal favorite! Beckett is a last name that I pulled from my genealogy on my maternal side. I think it works perfectly as a first name and goes great with Jackson and Eddison. Justin thinks it's 'okay'. (Michael is my dad's name and Lee is my middle name.)

Shepherd (Michael or Lee) Wilde: Honestly, I a few years ago I overhead a lady in Target calling to her son 'Shepherd' and immediately thought that it was such a cute and unexpected name! It's been on my 'potential names for boys' list ever since. Again, Justin likes it okay, but he's fairly ambivalent when it comes to names (other than to tell me when he hates one... Which is quite often, lol).

Henry (Michael or Lee) Wilde: I've always loved the name Henry, but it is one that Justin has just never come around to. I hold on to the hope that one day I'll convince him (or just wear him down). :)

Weston (Michael or Lee) Wilde: This is Justin's favorite - and I suspect it's because shortened there is an obvious reference to the 'Wild West', lol (okay, I agree with him that it's pretty stinkin' cute). But - (of course there's a 'but'!) we already know a little man here named Weston - and more recently our friend's had a baby they named Wesley. And while we would use the nickname 'West' as opposed to 'Wes', that's still a lot of kids we know in this immediate area with the same/similar name. However, it does sound really cute with the other boys' names since they all end with the 'on' sound: Jackson, Eddison, Weston.

For a Girl:

Evangeline (Eva) Bonnie Wilde: In my search to find a longer and more 'formal' name for 'Eva', I happened upon this name and fell in love. And the best part? It means 'Good news'! It made me imagine (if the baby is a girl) her being born and Justin announcing the 'good news' that, "It's a girl!" How much more appropriate could it be, right?! :) Also, Norah and Eva sound so cute together! Justin is SO not sold on this name, but I keep reminding myself that he didn't like the name Eleanor for a very long time, either. (As for the middle name - 'Bonnie' is my Grandma Ross's name and it means 'beautiful'. Love it. :)

Evalyn Bonnie Wilde: Same story - I wanted to find a longer version of 'Eva' and Evelyn was the first one I thought of. (I tweaked the spelling a bit because I much prefer the nickname 'Eva' to 'Eve'.) In addition, my Grandpa Ross's (who passed away while I was pregnant with Eddison) name is Alyn - and I thought it was sweet that his name would then be a part of the first name while my Grandma's name would be the middle name.

Isabelle Bonnie Wilde: Justin's time-tested favorite name. I still love it, too - I just don't love that it's still such a popular name. *sigh* It does sound great with Eleanor, though - both classic and feminine names.

Charlotte Bonnie Wilde: Okay, so Justin and I both really love this name... BUT - duh - we live in Charlotte. Would that be weird? Also - I love nicknames (clearly), but I'm so not fond of the nickname 'Charlie' for a girl (though I think it's really cute for a boy) and I don't want to have to worry about correcting people all of the time if they try to shorten her name. Maybe it wouldn't be that hard, though??

(Editing to add another favorite: Eloise Bonnie Wilde - Isn't it cute?! I'm thinking it's going to bump Charlotte from the list for sure...)

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ShOpPiNg!

So - thus far attempting to shop for Sprout has been pretty fruitless and that's okay - I expected as much. I was, however, inspired to get the baby's 'Homecoming Outfit' while Carter's was having a great sale a couple of weeks ago. :) Don't know if it's a boy or a girl? Get one of each! :) I know PLENTY of friend's/family who are pregnant or will be soon (most likely :) so whichever outfit I end up not using will most certainly find a home rather quickly. :)

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20 WeEkS!

Halfway there with a belly to prove it!

So far the stretch in my lovely AE jeans has allowed me to avoid maternity bottoms altogether. I have a feeling I'll be putting them away in the next couple of weeks or so, though - especially if the little Sprout continues to grow as quickly as he/she has in the past two weeks!