Kickin' It

So, Megan's convinced that Stella is going to be a gymnast or a dancer based on all the movement she's been feeling.  The new sensations she's been experiencing reminds her of the song La Cucaracha.  She also seems to be a night owl based on her frequent 3AM back flip sessions.  Hopefully, her sleep patterns will change.

I didn't believe her at first, but after I got to actually feel one of her break dancing sessions, it was pretty incredible.  Definitely made things seem more real.

What's in a Name?

Naturally, naming our daughter is very important to us and we spent an awful lot of time going through quite a few names (Megan has an 1"+ thick book to prove it).  Megan is big into the more old fashion names of which I didn't care for almost all of them.  I don't really know if I have a specific genre of names that I like, but Megan didn't care for a lot of the ones that I suggested either.

I'm pleased to report that we did finally agree on a name that we both love: Stella Sorrell.  Stella is a more old fashion name from the early 1900's that is making a come back.  It's of Latin origin and means star.  A lot of people I've talked to can't put their finger on where they've heard the name, but it's most likely from A Streetcar Named Desire where Marlon Brando continuously yells the name:

Sorrell is Megan's mother's maiden name as well as Megan's middle name.

Naturally, I Googled the name Stella to see what was out there.  You'll find everything from Paul McCartney's designer daughter Stella McCartney, Stella Artois the beer, and some peculiar ferry looking creature named Stella from a 2004 Italian animated series called Winx Club that people seem to be obsessed with.

One of the neater things I found was on a t-shirt site that actually had a Hawaiian Stella t-shirt design with the following emblem:

Pretty cool because we just got back from Hawaii and that's where we talked a lot about naming her Stella.

Maui Gift

Before we went on our summer vacation to Maui, our doctor mentioned that there are popular children's books local to the island about a blue turtle.  So, for our future girl, we found Limu: The Blue Turtle and picked up a complimentary stuffed turtle we found at another shop.  It was different to look for something for a newborn instead of the typical T-Shirts, shot glasses, etc. that we normally pick up.  Also, this imaginary turtle had even more meaning for us, because we actually swam with real sea turtles during our snorkeling trip to Molikini.

It's a Girl!

Wish I had more time to elaborate, but here are the pics.  First thing the sonagrapher did was immediately indicate it was a girl.  I didn't quite follow, but apparently the arrow below is the female indicator:

Full view including spine:

You can see the head:

Another view of the head:

Arrow is pointing to the foot:

16 Week Checkup

Today, I went with Megan to her 16 week checkup.  Nothing too exciting, except for this time I did get to hear the actual heartbeat which was really cool (I previously complained that I missed this the first time).  However, the next checkup that is tentatively scheduled for June 7th, they are going to try and determine the sex of the baby.  Hopefully we will be able to find out, but Megan is convinced our child will keep it's legs closed throughout the duration of the pregnancy and we won't know until the delivery room!

Mother's Day - Unborn Edition

For Mother's Day, I got Megan a Snoogle.  It's a popular body pillow specifically for pregnant women.  Megan's been wrapping herself around multiple pillows in an effort to get comfortable while sleeping.  The Snoogle should make this much easier.  It's C shape is also specifically advantageous for circumventing a large pregnant belly when she gets to that point.

We've also been looking for an excuse to go to Kyoto, because they are supposed to have the best hibachi around these parts.  So, we went tonight since it was a special occasion.  It was really good, but I still don't think as good as Kobe Steakhouse back home which is hard to beat.

Happy Mother's (to be) Day!

Furniture Ordered

It's a little early, but we found some furniture that we really like and were able to get a decent deal that was expiring soon.  We've been keeping our eyes open at quite a few places and ended up really liking the Summer Infant Brayden Collection.  We're a big fan of dark wood and the dark cherry finish that this collection comes in is exactly what we were looking for.  We ordered the crib, combo dresser, drawer dresser, and conversion kit and should be getting it in the next couple of weeks.  The combo dresser seems like a nice multi-purpose piece of furniture when compared to a single function changing table.  The conversion kit is to eventually convert the crib into a full bed.  This is, of course, assuming the crib is still in one piece by the time the child needs a full bed.