Yes, It's a Family Name, But It's Also So I Can Sing This To Him...

Good night you moonlight ladies

Rockabye sweet baby James

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose

Won't you let me go down in my dreams

And rockabye sweet baby James...

If this song is really about something weird like drugs or something.... just let me be naive, okay? It's such a beautiful song...

21 Weeks and Some Change

Can I just say that maternity pants are my very best friend??  

The first time Jim saw full-panel maternity pants, we were at Goodwill.  He held them up and said, "Sweetie!!  Look at the butt on these!!"  

I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard.  :)

Monday Words

SICK:  Jim has been feeling icky yesterday and today... he went to school anyway as he felt a little better this morning.  Shoot off a prayer if you think of it.  Dear Flu, You are unwelcome in our home.

NOSE:  Mine is perpetually congested.  Since about gestational week 13, I've been breathing through my nose at about 73%.  One of my biggest pet peeves.  I've heard it's a symptom of pregnancy...

PROVIDE:  God does.  Good gravy, does He EVER!!  A group of my girlfriends and I went out for dessert last night to celebrate James being, well, a boy.  Then they whipped out surprise gift cards for me to use for all things baby and maternity!  So humbled and grateful.

BUTTONS:  Mine won't close.  None of them.  This makes me even more grateful for the above gift!   :)

CHINESE FOOD:  My current craving.  Specifically egg rolls... yes, plural.

MAMA:  I miss mine.

BIRMINGHAM:  I'm going there this weekend to see my brother and his wife!!

WORK:  Need to get back to it...  

Baby Of Mine Needs STUFF

Now that we know the gender of our little Razz, some awesome, generous people want to throw us a baby shower in the coming months.  It's time for us to start thinking about registering for soft, squishy baby things!!  This thrills me to no end as just the size of tiny baby shoes puts my brain into absolute orbit.

We have already been blessed like crazy with people giving us baby stuff, so we probably won't have to register for everything under the sun.  We have a crib, a bassinet, a Boppy pillow, and some various boy clothes.  A friend of mine is actually bringing me a carload of things tomorrow, so the list will most likely go further.

  

However, I've still been trying to compile a list of must-haves... except that I have no clue what I MUST HAVE!  I mean, I know the obvious - crib, car seat, diapers, etc. - but is there anything that you have found to be indispensable for any baby that you have or know?

Please let me know!  James appreciates it.  :)  

James Walker Thompson V!!

I dreamed last night that Raspberry turned out to be twins, that I was a lot farther along than expected, AND that they realized that my stomach wasn't going to get any bigger and they were going to have to induce extremely early labor... none of that happened today.  Here is our handsome boy!!  

My mom pointed out his foot posture.  It's a Longenecker trait to stand with our feet in a V-shape like this.  Haha!!

Poor James, being subject to such public indecency as this.  He was very modest at first and kept squirming out of the way but finally yielded to the prodding of the ultrasound wand.

  
My yearnings for an obviously pregnant belly have been suddenly replaced with yearnings to skip all of that so I can hold this angel in my arms as quickly as humanly possible.  Which apparently is another 5 months or so... sigh...  

As far as my response when we found out it was a boy:  Complete surprise!  I really hadn't thought either way.  But without realizing it, I think I was swept away with so many people being absolutely convinced it was a girl.  So when I saw that little vienna sausage, proudly waving at Mommy and Daddy, I could hardly believe it!  Jim grinned from ear to ear and said "There's our James!  There's our James!"

The doctor said everything looked good.  We watched his heart pumping blood in and out with all 4 chambers, saw his bladder, kidneys, even his eyeballs!  It really was incredible.  I also couldn't believe how much he was wiggling around and yet how little I could feel.  I had a bottle of OJ before we went in because he seems to dance more when I drink it.  The technician was so nice and let us just watch him flipping and turning and rolling... so amazing.  

It really was one of the most incredible things I ever seen.  I can't imagine what it will be like to hold him.  

I'm Usually Not This Brainy...

Couldn't help it, though.  This quote from C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man was too good.

You cannot go on "explaining away" forever:  you will find that you have explained explanation itself away.  You cannot go on "seeing through" things forever.  The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it.  It is good that the window is transparent, because the street or garden beyond is opaque.  How if you saw through the garden too?  ... a wholly transparent world is an invisible world.  To "see through" all things is the same as not to see.  

This helps me take a deep breath when I feel as if I'm slipping beneath the waters of unanswered questions.  There is substance to Truth.  Truth is opaque.  Not only is it opaque, but we can know Him and be known by Him.         

        

Curls and Twirls or Flames and Games?

The day that Jim "was allowed" to tell his students that I was pregnant, he wrote a song for our baby.  I was 8 weeks along and the little embryo was about the size of a raspberry.  Hence, the name of the song, Raspberry You.  You can go here to listen, but have some tissues handy.  It's so cute/beautiful/exciting/I-love-my-husband-so-much-I-can't-stand-it-sometimes!!  This is also how we came to call our baby Raspberry - and probably will continue until the poor kid is in college.  Don't worry, if it's a boy, we'll call him Razz :) 

There is a line in the chorus that asks, "... will it be curls and twirls..." and then later, "... will it be flames and games...?" referring to the unknown gender, obviously.  FINALLY, on Thursday, we'll know what it is!!  It will be so good to be able to say him or her at last!  

If I'm being perfectly honest, I would say that I hope it's a boy.  (I can't believe I'm putting this in writing to one day scar my child forever, if it happens to be a girl).  I hope that's not terrible of me to say.  Of course I will love this baby to death, no matter the gender... but I've been spoiled with two of the greatest Big Brothers on the planet and I would love that for our future *Lord willing* daughter.  

  

See?  Aren't they wonderful??  (Matt's on the left, Mikey on the right).

About 98% of people we ask think it's a girl.  Some more sure than others - like my Mama and my friend Beka.  Beka confidently, and with pride, uses the pronouns "she" and "her" all the time... and corrects me when I don't.  :)  I will be thrilled to have a little girl... don't get me wrong.  She will be surrounded with God-exalting "aunties" and will have the best Daddy ever.  And that is worth mountains of gold... I should know.  

I can't wait to see our little Raspberry on the screen and know that he/she is REALLY in there! Please pray that Raspberry is healthy and happy.  Jim and I haven't really been praying against certain "differences" because I don't believe that God makes mistakes.  We have been praying, however, that He will make us prepared, patient, and trusting for whatever may come.  I wonder sometimes if that is the wrong way to pray, but at the same time I see so many instances where children that are born with certain obstacles become beacons of Light to so many around them.  So, not mine, but Thy will be done.    

Look for ultrasound pictures and another big, fat post to come!!

By the way, what do you think it will be?