Man, it's been awhile. Sorry about that!

Hi, all of y'all!  I know it's been awhile since I've been on here.  Sorry! 

Here is the latest picture.  It was taken last night out in our lovely garden.  Minnesota gardens are plush right now, because all it's done is rain for the last several months.  Note the cloudy appearance in this photo!

Well, as you probably know from a previous post, it's a girl!!!!!!  I am excited about this.  I would have been happy either way, but I think that knowing that it's a girl makes me think that that was what I was secretly hoping for all along.  I'm sure I'd feel that way if it was a boy, too, but I'm super psyched that she's a girl!!!  I'm thinking about all the fun stuff we'll get to do with her, and how much fun we're all going to have together!  Her parents are a couple of super goofs, so hopefully we'll all be on the same page with our stupid humor.  I want her to be herself, but I hope she's funny.  I was way too serious and shy as a child, so her being a little more fun and outgoing than I was would be okay with me!  Of course, I'll take whatever I get.  This is going to be an adventure, for sure.

We've chosen our name for her.  Some people, actually most people, have not heard of her first name, and when I tell people her middle name, there's a puzzled look on most people's faces (or a puzzled sound in their voices if I'm on the phone) until I explain why that will be her middle name.  Her first name will be Freya, pronounced Fraya (the first "a" is hard, and the second "a" is soft).  It's a Scandinavian name, and while it isn't common, it's certainly a name I've heard before, and I'm not a native Minnesotan or Scandinavian, so I have been surprised how few people I've told actually know the name.  Freya was also a Norse goddess - one of the big ones.  She's supposed to be the equivalent of Venus in Norse mythology, but that's not why we chose the name.  We just like it.  Her middle name will be Valentina.  According to the charts (and I know that it's just conjecture as to the actual date), her heart started beating on Valentine's Day.  So, we think this will be fun for her when she's growing up, and Valentine's Day will be special for her.  My favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo, and at first we were going to make her middle name Valentine, after one of the characters in the book, but then we decided Valentina sounded and flowed better with Freya.  So, unless something earthshattering happens, and we change our minds, this will be her name.

I feel her move all the time.  She is really active, and it makes me wonder if she'll actually sleep at all when she comes out.  I joked with Chris once that shortly after she's born, we should have a "Coming Out" party for her.  Maybe our New Year's Day black-eyed pea party can double as a Coming Out party.  Anyway, she moves a lot.  Sometimes you can even see her moving in my belly.  Chris felt her move with his hand for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I felt her move for the first time on Mother's Day.  How about that?!  Heart beats on Valentine's Day, first movement felt on Mother's Day.  Chris jokes that maybe she'll be born on Labor Day!  Of course, we don't want that, because then she'd be a month early, but it's a funny joke.

I feel pretty good.  I still don't sleep the best, but other than that, there are really not any problems.  I feel pretty lucky that this pregnancy has been so easy, compared to stories I've heard from other people, so that's good!

Well, this is all for now.  Sorry it took me so long to post this.  I'm going to try to be better next time!
-Erin