Elodie Grace Markley

Kelly alluded briefly to the origin of her name, so I'll fill you all in on the whole story. I'm not sure if anybody knows this about us, but Kelly and I have a little hobby. That's right, we dabble a bit in the musical arts. Well, one such artist that we particularly enjoy is a bright young fellow by the name David Mead. As musicians are wont to do, Mr. Mead has written a song. In fact, he's written quite a few, but let's just focus on one song in particular.

Before we knew that Bennett was a HE, Kelly and I spent quite a few nights finding the perfect name for our child. For those of you out there without kids, let me tell you: this is no small feat. Not only do the mommy and daddy have to agree, but they are committing this child to that name for the REST OF THEIR LIFE. That's a long time!

I digress; among our girl names was Elodie. At the time I did not care for this name. Great song, cool musician, not my kid's name. As soon as we found Bennett, we fell in love with the name and stopped looking for boy names. This time around, Kelly tried to sneak Elodie back into the mix. This time, it floored me. When I heard the name again, I absolutely knew this would be our child's name. I was so sure, in fact, that I refused to consider boy's names. Even before our 20-week ultrasound, I was convinced we were having a girl and that her name was Elodie.

Follow this link for a short sample of the song (just give it a second, the song will play on it's own). Sorry I can't get you all a longer version, but if you find yourself near Long Beach, stop in and I'll play it for you.

O.k., Here's the Big News...

But first, I have to start with a story.

A couple of months ago, I brought up a name that I had fallen in love with when I was pregnant with Bennett. Rob said, "I love it, that's her name, and we are having a girl." I was shocked for two reasons: 1. Rob totally dismissed this name a couple of years ago (to that he responded, "that's because we were having a boy; this time it's a girl." That brings me to my second point. When Rob is this sure about something, I have never known him (in 9 years!) to be wrong. So since then, the two of us have been sure that we are having a girl.

The last time I saw my doctor, she reminded me that ultrasound results (boy/girl) are not 100% correct. She told me that if it is a girl, they are more easily certain than they are for boys, because with boys the technicians can mistake shadows of the ambilical cord for his little part. So today, we went in for our big ultrasound. We asked the technician to write boy or girl down on a card for us. She said that she was at least 80% sure what the baby was, because of the shadows she saw; she said she it was pretty clear what "was there." So we left the building, card in hand (still had not looked at it), and we were shocked that, after being so convinced that it was a girl, we were probably having a boy . We went out to breakfast, and pulled out the card, only to be shocked again, to see the "It's a...." followed by a:

GIRL!!!

We are so thrilled!!! So, after all the build up about her name, here it is:

Elodie Grace Markley

Every time I said her name out loud today (which was a lot) Bennett would get a big smile on his face and say "El-lo-lee" with all his might. So cute! We told him that Elodie (pronounced L-O-D) is his baby sister's name, the baby he saw a picture of (ultrasound). He then would just stare at us, and try to play along that he thoroughly understood what the heck we were talking about. Even cuter.

We are so thankful for our little baby girl, and it is exciting to be able to pray for her now, knowing who she is-thanks, God! We can't wait to meet her!

If this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

It has been recently brought to my attention that scooters may be, shall we say, less than manly. You know what, I'm okay with that. Please consider my rebuttal:

Come, Wednesday

This Wednesday we find out (hopefully!) who this baby is. We have a name if she is a she; if he is a he, we still aren't sure. We are so excited to know, though, and we are hopeful that the baby cooperates. I have felt many movements, by the way; it feels like there is a little fish in there! I am actually really close to my fifth month here (it begins next week), we can hardly believe it. Bennett is so sweet, he will spontaneously walk over to me, lift my shirt a little, and give me tiny kisses on my belly. Then he just stares at it. I ask him, "is that for the baby?" "Ya," he says, and then smiles. He will be a great big brother.

By the way, we will share the name once we are sure about the gender. Prepare to have an open mind, because we haven't had the best reception for our girl pick. It's o.k., we love the name, and when this little one comes, family and friends will find her irresistible no matter what we call her :).

Check back on Wednesday for the good news. We could really use some good news right about now, it has been a pretty rough couple of weeks.

For Grammy

Grammy (a.k.a. Bumpa) has requested some new pics. of the little guy. She misses him, and I can imagine why (I am with him 24/7, and I still miss him when he sleeps) . So, here you go Grammy: a Bennett fix.


We love the park

Daddy's (big) helper

Taking a break from all that hard work!

Oh, to be in Daddy's shoes

This seal (at the Long Beach Aquarium) and Bennett were
equally fascinated with each other

We also love foggy mornings at the beach

Drinking a smoothie in his favorite outfit (plus a diaper)