28 Weeks & the Big Name Reveal

So, Christmas day we were exactly 28 weeks. We spent Christmas this year with my family in the mountain in Blue Ridge, GA. Here are some photos from our trip:

Here's the 28 week belly shot:

Here's a shot of Mike & I:

Here's a shot of the whole family:

So in baby related news, Baby M's eyes are partially open now and can blink. Her eyes have color now, too. It may not be the color she ultimately ends up with, especially if they're light gray or blue. The eyes typically don't settle on a final hue until nine months after baby is born. She is getting downright chubby compared to a few weeks ago. She is about 15 inches long, about the length of an amusement park cinnamon-sugar-coated churro (yum!), and weighs 2 to 3 pounds.

In Mom's world, holy cow do we have movement. Christmas day our little one woke-up both Mike and I by kicking me so hard it was like a bolt of electricity moved through my stomach. And it continued all morning, all afternoon and all evening that day. By the end of the day, I was actually sore and a little bit concerned. I actually called my Dr. to make sure that this sudden ramp up in movement was normal. And of course it is (and I am sure that I am now known as "THAT"Mom at my OB office). She said that our little one is growing bigger and stronger, and so she is much more able to let her presence be known. This is now a daily routine that starts in the morning and continues all day and through the night. If this is any indication of her personality, we have one little active, fiesty baby on our hands. Which is fine by us.

So, over the weekend Mike's parents stopped in for a visit. For some apparent reason, Mike decided on Sunday morning that he would give his parents a few hints about Baby M's name, which up until this point has been somewhat of a secret. Then he sent his sisters a text with the same hints - or the rules to his guessing game. An hour or so later, and about a million guesses later, they nailed the baby's name. So it's official, Baby M now has a name to go by:
Madeline Emerson McCormack. Madeline was my Grandmother's name, and although I've never gone by it, it's also my first name. Emerson is a take off of Emma which is a family name on Mike's side. Mike actually suggested Emerson and I fell in love with the name. As to what she will go by, I think we really won't know until she gets here, but Mike wants her to go by Madeline. I can't believe that he caved and revealed her name but I'm glad that he did. I'm excited that we can tell everyone now. Although, I confess, I really haven't done the best job at keeping it a secret.

80 days and counting...