What's In a Name?

Oh Juliet, there is so much to a name. Let me tell you. We had the hardest time coming up with a name for our precious little boy. We went through so many. First of all, I did not want something popular which I determined would be anything in the top 100 names on the Social Security website for 2008. Other things that were important to us were having a short name and something that was most definitely a boy's name. I get things addressed to "Mr. Shelby" and it drives me nuts. One name we really liked was Dean but it is the name of Rob's boss so it was out. Next was Clark but we could both think of Clarks we don't like so that was out. We liked Harrison for a while but got over it. I liked Wade, Grant, Finn and Sawyer but Rob said no. Rob liked Buck and Huck (seriously) and I said no. Some others we considered were Henry and Theodore which were both in the top 100 so they were out. I liked Reid but it sounds funny with our last name, Let's take a quick break in our story now for a cute baby photo.



Finally, I realized I was stuck on names that sounded like they were out of the wild west- Cole, Cooper, Bennett, Jasper among others we had already discussed. Wyatt was one that had already been on my mind but I was afraid it was too popular, thus violating my one main rule. With Rex, I was stuck on names that sounded like old-time movie stars- Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, Clark Gable and the like. But this time it was outlaws and cowboys of the wild west for some reason. So one night Rob was looking on the computer and he came up with Zane. Zane was the leading contender for quite a while but we couldn't find a middle name (which had to be a family name) that we liked with it and I still preferred Wyatt. About 2 weeks before baby was going to be born, I asked myself, "Would you rather have a name you really, really liked or one you didn't like as much but chose just because it was less popular?" Hmm. So I finally, with maybe one week to go, decided that it was more important to have a name I really liked and we chose Wyatt which was absolutely the right choice. Here's Wyatt again.

There's a New Sheriff in Town

Our beautiful and perfect (just like his big brother) new son, Wyatt.



Wyatt was born on Wednesday, May 19th at 4:52 pm. He weighs 8 pounds, 13 ounces and is 21 inches long. He is almost the same size as Rex was when he was born- just a little smaller. It was a really smooth and easy labor and delivery. Well, as easy as it can be, I suppose. Here we are.



We are both doing great now and happy to be home. I can't wait to get back to my boys already so I'll just let the last two pictures speak for themselves. I have more to share later (especially the whole name selection story) and will probably have plenty of time in the middle of the night to do just that this week.

14 Hours To Go

I have about 5 minutes to write this post today and really, I don't even know that I have that much time but I'm taking it. Being scheduled to give birth (barring any surprises) is both good and bad. It's nice to know when it will happen but it makes you kind of lazy. We didn't get any furniture moved until Sunday and I've been trying to cram 3 months of preparation (at least, that's how much time I spent prepping for Rex's arrival) into 3 days. The baby's room is kind of a crazy hodge-podge right now anyhow since he will be sleeping in the bassinet in our room while Rex continues to sleep in the crib for the next 2-3 months. The closet also needs to be cleaned out and I can probably think of many other things to do but they'll just all have to wait. I managed to get a lot of laundry done and my house fairly clean before Rob's parents arrive in the next hour which was my biggest goal for today. Now I just have to get the laundry put away and get my suitcase packed. That would be the suitcase that I just had Rob get for me last night out of the basement. The bassinet and car seat are still down there. Like I said, being scheduled for your delivery can make you pretty lazy. Here is one final picture of pregnant Shelby- and I mean final for, like, the rest of time.



I do have to share one more thing and that is a list of things I am looking forward to:

- Meeting my new son and sharing photos and info with everyone.
- Eating a Jimmy Johns turkey sandwich for lunch on Thursday, if not dinner tomorrow.
- Sleeping on my tummy and back. Sleeping on my side is awful though the use of a Snoogle has made it slightly better. Slightly.
- Turning around easily in car to look out rear window while backing up. So, so hard to do while pregnant.
- No more swollen hands and feet, numb fingers, heartburn, shortness of breath and sore, painful hips.
- And after some time, no more maternity clothes and having an adult beverage.

I'm sure there are plenty more things to look forward to but now Rex is awake and I have spent 20 minutes instead on this instead of the 5 I said I was going to. Time to get Rex, clean the bathroom, put laundry away and get ready to go out to dinner! Then back home to watch Lost, pack and try to get some sleep tonight. Somehow, after all of today's activities/chores, I don't think it will be a problem.

V- The Visitors

We had some visitors this past weekend. None of the crazy lizard visitors like on tv though- we had this adorable one and her mommy.



Nanette came to visit us for a long weekend and brought her daughter along with her. The weather this weekend was rotten (cold and rainy) so we were confined to the house most of the time. The kids played great together and had a lot of fun. The biggest problem was that Rex turned into the Kissing Bandit and I could not get him to stop kissing the two of them! Not such a bad problem to have though, I suppose. Certainly better than having a kid who hits or bites! Nanette and I were able to catch up and we both enjoyed spending time with each other's kids. Rob took good care of us on Mother's Day and fixed a really nice dinner. He also put our new double stroller together so we could take the kids on a walk and go to the park. That's where I snapped the photo above and also these.




It was such a great visit and an added bonus was that it kept my mind busy and not so focused on the baby. I had another appointment with my doctor yesterday and everything is still going wonderfully. Well, I have some numb and tingly fingers because my hand is so swollen but that's temporary. Next time I see her will be Wednesday morning at the hospital- yay!! Only 6 days to go. We still have to move some furniture around to get ready for baby but Rex has been sick and I've had to put off doing that because I don't want our friend to come over while Rex is sick. Oh yes, Rex is sick now. I noticed Tuesday afternoon he had a fever and he didn't want to eat. Yesterday he still had the fever and would not eat or drink anything. I know something is up when the kid won't drink apple juice. I was starting to get nervous about him getting dehydrated so I took him to the doctor this morning. Of course, he drank a ton of juice this morning but we still went anyhow. I wasn't sure what was bothering him- he was crying off and on and seemed to be in pain. I thought maybe he had teeth coming in but it didn't explain why he wouldn't drink anything. Finally, I realized his throat was probably sore which the doctor confirmed. He has a virus that is causing the fever and sore throat but does not have strep throat, thankfully. The doctor said it may last through the weekend but he already seems to be doing much better today. I told a friend it was good to have a distraction right now but I would have liked another type of distraction, preferably something like winning the Powerball jackpot. I am just hoping he feels better soon, that it's totally gone by the time the baby comes home and that I don't catch it. I also hate that I can't really hold and cuddle him like he wants because I don't have much of a lap right now. Poor baby.

Hello? I'd Like to Order a Baby Delivery Please.

I had another check-up yesterday with my doctor and everything is still going really good. He's a big dude with a strong heartbeat and I am worn out. We talked again about inducing me and even picked the date. It will be May 19th- only 13 days to go unless he decides to make a break for it before that! My doctor does not think he will though based on my previous experience. It is kind of strange to schedule your delivery and get a little appointment card for when to show up to the hospital. But this seems to be the way my body works so that is the way it has to be. I do like it though and like I said in my last post, randomly going into labor seems really weird to me. I have been surprised how similar this pregnancy, especially these last few weeks, has been to my first one. They both had big growth spurts at the same time then kind of stopped growing and my body has progressed the same (already dilated 2 cm). Only one more appointment with the doctor and then the next time I see her will be at the hospital. Wow!

So we've been working in the yard a lot because, well, two things really. The first is that there is a lot to do when you go from winter to summer here. Lots and lots of de-winterizing, pruning and just getting things ready to grow again. Second reason is because I don't foresee a lot of extra time for gardening this summer. Just keeping up with mowing and some weeding will be all we can handle. We have been trying to get a few plants in the ground and yesterday we had a big pile of dirt delivered so we can fill up the planting bed Rob built for me last summer. My plan for that is to plant dahlias, snapdragons, zinnias and maybe sweet peas in it. I would like to get some vegetables in there too but I just think that is too much for this year. I don't have to time to be tending a vegetable garden. But next near I would like to!

They dropped it off in the driveway so Rob had to cart it all to the back yard where the bed is.



As you can see, Rex wanted to be right in the middle of it. So we let him. It's pretty fun to see your boy playing in a big dirt pile and just having the time of his life.



I still have to get the seeds planted in all our new dirt and get a few plants in the ground but I think we'll make it by the 19th. And if we don't, oh well!