Name that baby!

     Here at the Rumely household, we’ve been getting pretty antsy waiting for all those big milestones of pregnancy…first kicks, finding out the sex of the baby, getting a big round basketball-sized bump…so we were drawn to an idea we found in one of our many baby name books. Think of it this way, you have a group of names competing to find out which one is best…remind you of anything that perhaps takes place every March? That’s right, it was baby name bracket time!
     Our “play-off” system worked similarly to the NCAA basketball championship. We made one bracket each for boys and girls with 16 names we liked. We matched them up initially based on similarities, for instance biblical names like Caleb and Josiah were matched up and names with similar sounds like Charlotte and Juliet were pitted against each other. The best of each pair were chosen, eliminating the rest until we were down to one name for each sex.
     We passed out the brackets to family and friends so they could get an idea of the names we like and we could get an idea how our name choices might go over with others. Each of them filled out their bracket to find their favorites of our names. The results were interesting and it was great to get our family and friends involved. We can’t promise that the top names will be what we ultimately choose for our little one (in fact, I can pretty much guarantee that they won’t be—sorry!), but I can say that when Tim and I filled out our own brackets separately, we agreed on both a male and female name. And once that squirmy little cutey is in our arms, I think whatever name we chose will seem perfect to everyone. Except maybe my Uncle Joe, who insists that the baby, should it be a boy, be named after him, and if it’s a girl, be named Valerie. Again, pretty certain that’s not going to happen either.
     For those interested in how our favorite names fared with our family and friends, I will list each of the names that won the championship at least once. We had a total of 15 brackets filled out in the end.
     For boys, the name that won the championship the most (3 times), was Lucas, followed by, with two championship wins each, Caleb and Oliver. The other names that won the championship one time were Noah, Owen, Josiah, Landon, Levi, Ian, and Ezra.
     The girl name that won the championship spot most was Meredith (3 times). Amelia, Olivia, Aria, and Charlotte each earned two championship wins. The other names that won the championship once were Hannah, Violet, and Abigail.

     In other news, after my visit to the doctor on Tuesday, we now have an appointment this coming Tuesday for our anatomy scan where we will hopefully find out the sex of Baby Rumely! We are waiting until Thanksgiving to tell our families so we can do it in person, but stay tuned to the blog because I’ll announce it on here soon after we’ve announced the news to our parents and siblings. So…in case you haven’t had a chance to make your guess in our poll, you only have four more days to vote!

Menu Monday

Tuesday night: Oven-friend chicken parmesan. This is a recipe from Cooking Light magazine. We'll have it with sauteed green beans. 

Wednesday night: I'm going to Athens to visit my friend K. from Florida who is up here visiting her parents. I may come home late or stay in Athens overnight so Tim is all set to fend for himself.

Thursday night: Bratwursts with sauerkraut.

Friday night: Taco soup. This is a recipe from a blog called For the Love of Cooking. I’ve never made it before, but it looks pretty tasty.

Saturday night: Taco soup leftovers.

Sunday night: Pan seared chicken with apricot sauce. This is a recipe from the Eating Well website. We'll have it with brown rice and steamed broccoli. 

So, tomorrow is my first appointment at my new doctor since we've moved. It should be a pretty routine appointment, but I will update everyone with any new information I get. 

Our little blessing at 17 weeks

How far along? 17 weeks

Baby’s size? The baby is the size of an onion (about 5.1 inches long and 5.9 ounces). Another book compares it to a grapefruit, which sounds a lot cuter and also, coincidentally, is what I've been craving this week. The baby’s skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

Maternity clothes? Still wearing maternity jeans and stretchy shorts and yoga pants. No maternity shirts, though, because they are still too big for the most part.

Sleep? Sleep has gotten better again. I haven’t felt the restless leg feeling for a while and I sleep really deeply. 

Food cravings? Juicy fruits like oranges and grapefruits (my new favorite). And grapefruit juice. And Longhorn's chicken strips (Thanks, Aunt T. for the gift card). 

Food aversions? Nothing really. I'm not a big fan of vegetables right now, but I eat them anyway because I know they're good for me.

Symptoms? I’ve been getting pretty frequent headaches. They are not cured easily, not even with sleep. But I did read somewhere that a little bit of caffeine can help so I have a bottle of Cherry Coke Zero ready for the next one. I have to go to the bathroom about a million times a day. Also, my belly button is actually getting shallow already.

Best moment this week? I feel like I’ve “popped,” meaning I actually am starting to get a pregnant tummy and not just a chubby tummy. Also, we found out this week that some friends of ours are also expecting, which is really exciting!

Movement? Sometimes I feel a little fluttering feeling in my lower abdomen, though it is fleeting. The other morning I felt what seemed like an actual (albeit tiny) kick, but who knows?

Any ideas about the gender? I have no idea at all. We should find out in a few weeks though! Last night I had a dream that it was a little boy with curly brown hair who was watching a kid's show on TV and signing the alphabet in sign language. 

What I miss about not being pregnant? Nothing compared to being pregnant. 

What I’m looking forward to? I’m looking forward to going to the doctor next week and hopefully hearing the baby’s heartbeat again. And I can’t wait to make our appointment for the anatomy screening so we can see if we’re having a son or a daughter!

Also, have you noticed our poll to the right? Boy has pulled into the lead, but we still have a few weeks for final votes to be cast!

Menu Monday

It’s a short week of meals because we’re going home to Athens for a visit this weekend.

Monday night: Homemade chili. I use the Carroll Shelby seasoning kit and add onions to the ground beef and then a can of kidney beans and a can of diced tomatoes to the chili. I serve it over Fritos chips. We like it hot so we add the cayenne pepper.

Tuesday night: Baked tilapia with asparagus and roasted red potatoes. I will most likely cook the potatoes and fish similar to how I did it last week.

Wednesday night: Leftover chili with hot dogs. Because with just the two of us, we are sure to have leftovers tonight and I’m trying to make our grocery budget stretch.

Thursday night: Creole shrimp sauté with steamed broccoli. This is an Apron’s recipe from Publix. It’s really easy and super quick and tastes oh-so-buttery and indulgent. I make one small change to the recipe based on another time I made it and didn’t have the ingredient I needed. Instead of using bacon in it, which we found got kind-of gross and soggy (I know, who knew bacon could be gross?), I put little mini-pepperonis in it. It adds just the right amount of spice. If you want the recipe, go here.

Our little blessing at 15 weeks

How far along? 15 weeks

Baby’s size? The baby is the size of an orange (about four inches long and 2.5 ounces). Continuing the march towards normal proportions, the baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. The fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though I probably still won’t be able to feel the movements.

Maternity clothes? Pretty much only wearing maternity jeans and stretchy gym shorts or yoga pants. My regular shirts still fit fine, especially the longer ones.

Sleep? Sleep is okay most nights, but the last couple of nights I’ve had that whole restless leg syndrome feeling and it’s been almost impossible to get back to sleep.

Food cravings? Fruit and juice still. Salt and vinegar chips. (To which Tim says yuck!)

Food aversions? Nothing.

Symptoms? Restless legs. A weird sort-of sore, stretchy feeling inside my lower abdomen. Stuffy nose. Plus my hair seems to be falling out a lot more than usual. But nothing too bad. 

Best moment this week? Tim playing music against my belly for the baby.

Movement? Nope.

Any ideas about the gender? Tim had another dream about the baby this week and this time he dreamed it was a girl. Otherwise, still no idea, though we should find out in about five weeks or so.

What I miss about not being pregnant? I miss my real jeans. Especially right now when I don’t feel like I look pregnant, but I don’t fit into my regular pants.

What I’m looking forward to? Little kicks and punches.

Yum!

     What do you do when you have a bunch of freshly picked apples from the north Georgia mountains?     Scour the Internet for a yummy recipe, of course!
     I found this recipe for Whole Wheat Apple Muffins on a cooking blog called Smitten Kitchen. If you want to check out that blog, you can go here. I altered the recipe slightly and the muffins turned out great!
     Luckily, I had most of the ingredients already in my cupboards/fridge. 

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Yield: They said 12, I  got about 16

Ingredients:

1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
6 ounces yogurt plain yogurt, plus a splash or so of milk if the batter isn't moist enough
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.Mix in the yogurt and milk. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

   Here's the final result. If you have the ingredients on hand, make these muffins. Make them now.

Hump Day Bump Day

Camping last weekend in Blairsville was a lot of fun. We sat around the fire and talked, ate hobo meals and peach cobbler, roasted marshmallows, visited the Sorghum Festival, and did a small bit of hiking. And we actually ran into Tim's parents unexpectedly while they were in Young Harris. The temperature was pretty perfect and it was great getting to spend time with friends and family.
We took my 14 weeks "bump" photo while we were camping last Saturday. Forgive the camping hair and lack of make-up.

We got to use our tent for the second time together.

 Also, here is a picture of Tim and I as a bonus.