Baby Names

My sister, Cari, niece, Emilie, and I were discussing baby names this week. As we are both pregnant.

Emilie was telling me all of the names of the kids in her class… i.e. David, Silas (Bible names have come in style!), Sarah, Emma, Ava, Tryu (I have NO idea and no idea how to spell it either), etc…

Cari suggested a baby name, asking Emilie’s opinion of the name. “What about Gertude, Emilie?”

Emilie clasped her hands together, tilted her head to the side and with a look of pure joy said, “I love that name.”

I stared at Cari thinking… well, I hope your baby enjoys being called “Gertie” because I will never have a baby named Gertrude!

Tantrums

Tantrums.

They start early. Very early. Like, before the baby is even born.

When Jeremy and I found out we were pregnant we decided to keep the news to ourselves for a bit... a bit being a month. Okay, fine. A month and a half. I officially told Jeremy I was pregnant on May 9th. Our anniversary. We decided to tell our immediate families on Father’s Day – June 19^th. We found it to be fitting. Plus, we really wanted to enjoy being pregnant as something just the two of us could share for a bit. It is the best secret a couple can share together. To truly revel in the fact that you’ve created life. That your love will bring a new person into the world. It’s amazing.

Well, Father’s Day announcement wasn’t in the works. The announcement jumped right up to Memorial Day weekend. Jeremy’s sister Jessica planned a last minute trip to MN for a visit (she’s pregnant too!). Since she was in town we decided it would be better to tell his whole family together. And, of course, I couldn’t allow his family to have the special news and not mine, so it became the big announcement weekend. His parents. My parents. His siblings. My sisters.

After we told our immediate families, we were going to wait until I was out of the first trimester to tell anyone else. Sadly, because I had felt so sick we saw very little of our friends during the month of June. But each time we saw our friends or left church on Sunday morning, a tantrum conversation ensued in the car when we left. “Why can’t we just tell them?” “Why do we have to wait.” “This is so hard.” Even though he said all this, Jeremy was really behind our decision to guard our pregnancy until the best time to share with those around us. He even supported me through a couple moments I wanted to tell some girlfriends yet knew it was premature to what we had in mind. Pregnancy. "It's like a drug you want to share."

Fortunately, Jeremy’s dad Ken humored me Jeremy. Ken asked J to spill the beans over and over again. Each time, Ken reacted with the same great enthusiasm and joy.

Grandparents really are the best.

Maybe this is God’s way of preparing a mother for tantrums that could come later on?