Drum roll, please!

Okay, our HHBH has a name and while it isn't a secret (if you ask I will tell you), I need to let it loose on the blog/facebook/general public world. BUT first, some of the names we didn't go with or that my husband vetoed immediately. I love names that are old, masculine names on girls, nouns, southern, and most importantly-I have never met a child in the flesh or heard of with the name. Here some of them are:

Graye-I latched on to this name because I have a habit of leaning toward names that are nouns, and spelled with unnecessary letters. Our winner name mainly beat out this gem because of the pornographic "Fifty Shades of Grey" book series. I know it won't be a big deal when our baby is older, but for now it is associated with smutty books.

Poet-Poet, Poet, Poet. Oh I could say it all day! It is SO whimsical (and a noun). It fell by the wayside as we leaned more and more to the name we ended up choosing. But I won't forget about you precious Poet! Maybe for baby #2, or for a middle name for HHBH.

Harlowe-this name morphed from the name Marlowe, which I though would be a perfect name for a twin-Marlowe & Maven. But then I realized there is a Real Housewife of Atlanta named Marlow, or some variation on the spelling and I can't even stand to watch those girls-and that's pretty bad for a reality TV whore. But anyway, I also love names that begin with H. Like our last name and Harlowe Hollowell sounded cute to me since I love alliteration. Harlowe didn't quite capture the heart of HHBH's daddy, he hated it.

Juniper-Another noun! I love the uncommon-ness of this name. But when I would say it to other people, next to no one else liked it. I didn't want HHBH to hate her name. But oh I could just look past all the comments about that name being a Bath & Body Works scent and just hear myself nicknaming her "June Bug" or "Junie". Josh also despised this name, so it was sadly discarded.

Jasper Memphis-this first name is automatically attached to a middle name. They are just destined to belong to each other. Once again both names are...nouns. I found this name in a peculiar way. I have liked the old fashioned sound of the name Jasper since I read the "Twilight" series. But my husband claimed he knew a dog once named Jasper, and I once had a teacher in the 8th grade who had a nephew named Jasper. However, I was riding home from a hunting trip with Josh and passed a road sign. OH MY WORD! Slow down Josh, I need to take a picture! He has been dealing with my weirdness for years now and didn't even question me. He just slowed down, let me take my picture, and then listened to me go on about the name epiphany I had just had. Jasper for a girl! How masculine, I LOVE it! Memphis-how uncommon and a nod to the man himself, Elvis Presley. I wasn't pregnant at the time, but have always loved to name hunt. Josh agreed it could be suitable for our daughter someday, and I can say with certainty that if we hadn't chosen the name we did that this would have been the winner.

Hattie-This one just wasn't in the stars for us. Although it is an older name and it starts with an H, it had been taken. I got unusually attached to it. Hattie Hollowell just has a ring to it. And the lady who played Mammy in "Gone With the Wind" was named Hattie McDaniel. And I DO love all things southern and that movie! But a family that lives just up the highway from us had a baby girl before we did and named her Haddie. I know, not the same thing BUT I'm no name-napper! And her name just happens to be Haddie Hudson. So Haddie Hudson and Hattie Hollowell could be in the same class, on the same cheerleading squad, opponents in the chess tournament, or an array of other things. That pair of H names was just too close for me. Kudos to the Hudson's for grabbing such a lovely name! If we move to another country someday, I will very likely have a Hattie Hollowell. But not for now.

And the winner is...

Georgia- here is the saga of the name that stole our hearts: I have some cousins on my mother's side who had a grandmother on there father's side (not confusing at all) and her name was Georgie. I just always assumed her name was really Georgia and that Georgie was a shortened part of that, turns out her name was just Georgie but oh well she inspired me anyway. I was a very, very young name ponder-er when I thought "I like that grandma's name, and I don't know why" Little did I know that I would grow up with a fondness for old and southern names, and heck it's even a noun. Once I had matured and realized that I really loved this name I shared it with Josh, before we were even married. He didn't like it but I eventually won him over. I swore him to secrecy and only told people I REALLY trusted that I loved this name in fear that it would be stolen. Now, I realize that there ARE children named Georgia. However, I have ever met one and I have had to overcome my irrational fear that it will be the top name of 2013 and just embrace that fact that it is perfect for us. Brett Michaels has a daughter named Jorja, and when he still had a reality show that kid was hilarious. My husband killed the first buck that he ever had mounted in the state of Georgia last year and that is how I reeled him in on my dream name...sucker.

This deer has since been decapitated and it's head is hanging on the wall in our den. I named him Georgie, how fitting.  Josh not only agreed to the name Georgia after murdering Georgie, he campaigned for it. It was his favorite, and he beat out Jasper Memphis.  So I can't have Hattie, but Georgia is the state where Scarlett O'Hara was bred and that is something that makes me love the name too.

And there you have it, how Hunka Hunka Baby Hollowell became Georgia.

There she is! Miss Georgia Hollowell at 15 weeks gestation. Middle name to be determined.. I am still wrestling with that decision and am open to suggestions!

Well thanks for reading all this, I know I have a tendency to talk to much.
Peace, Love, & GEORGIA.

Breathe easier...maybe

We made it to our 12 week milestone! It was such an exciting day for me. In a normal pregnancy, you are in somewhat of a safe zone and the risk of miscarriage drops dramatically. Didn't shake my nerves though. I'm not dumb, my blood still clots too much and I still don't metabolize folic acid...among other worries. But we praised God on our baby's 12 week gestational birthday!

Proud daddy! I thank God everyday for this guy. He is my steadiness, so perfect for me.

Happy Momma!

As our luck would go, that day of supposed to be relief I started spotting. I have told hundreds of pregnant girls that some spotting in pregnancy is normal, but whole different ballgame when you are the patient. I worried as I continued to spot for the next few days. But luckily I'm and psycho and I had purchased a fetal heart monitor online and I was able to listen to HHBH's heartbeat everyday and give myself some peace of mind.  I had some weird irrational fear that since I had facebook announced my pregnancy, that it was doomed. The night we put our announcement photo on facebook, I was so nervous I couldn't eat supper. Ever need anybody to worry about something, call me.

We're expecting a blessing!

At my next doctor's appointment my ultrasound showed that the bottom portion of my placenta is a little low, close to my cervix. This would account for my spotting. But for now nothing to worry about! (Yeah right, I will find something to fret over.)  What my ultrasound ALSO showed was the gender of our baby. We had the doctor write the gender in an card that we sealed in an envelope. I gave the card to my best friend and HHBH's godmother, Caleigh, on her birthday for safekeeping. The next day we had a gender reveal party for our families. Caleigh was the only person who knew the gender, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. She is an extension of me, this was so special to both of us.

Another answered prayer!

Okay I can't lie, I prayed for my baby to be a girl. And I felt selfish every time I did. I know I would have loved a momma's boy too, but my heart was longing for a little girl. It is no secret I didn't have a typical household growing up and I wanted more than anything to have a daughter/mother relationship. I am so over the moon that I will get to experience that, more than I could ever even try to put into words.

My, I mean OUR, little girl!

In my next post, which will HOPEFULLY be in the next few days, I'm gonna turn HHBH's name loose on the technological world. Stay tuned, it's perfect.

Peace, Love, & Sugar and spice and everything nice.