Hallie Caroline Wilson

She made her arrival on Sunday, Feb 22 at 11:33 a.m.  It was a whirlwind of a morning.  Sara got up at 5:30 having contractions and woke me up at 7:00 which is normal time for us to get ready for church.  She woke me up by saying "We are going to have a baby today."  I said, "OK, great, I'm going back to sleep."  Not really, I wouldn't do such a thing.  The first thing I asked was how far apart the contractions were.  She didn't know because she hadn't been timing them.  So I timed a few and they were 45 seconds long and 2 minutes 45 seconds from start to start.  We decided it wasn't time to head to the hospital just yet.  We called Sara's parents in KC and told them to come home and we called my parents and told them they would have Natalie duty. :)  About 8:30 we decided it was time to go to the hospital.  When we got there Sara was diolated to a 5 and so we were definitely staying and having a baby that day.  They about 10:15 she was a 7 and I talked with the parents again.  My parents decided to take Natalie to church because we figured it would be 2:00 or later when we had this baby.  Sara's parents would have plenty of time to get back, it would all work out great.  About 11:00 the nurse said "I am going to check you again, you're contractions make me think you are going pretty fast and you are a lot further along than a 6."  Well she checked and Sara was complete and it was time to start pushing.  They called up all the doctors and nurses that needed to be there and our room went from just Sara, me, and the nurse to 10 people in under 5 minutes.  Sara pushed three times through the first contraction and the doctor wanted her to keep pushing with no contraction so she pushed two more times.  By that point the resident had a hold of the head and they said one more ought to do it.  Sure enough on the next contraction Sara pushed and Hallie joined our world forever. :)  It was only 11:33.  At 11:35 Sara's mom called to get an update as they got in to Wichita.  I had to step outside and tell them that they baby was here and everything was okay.  I called my parents and told them to come to the hospital.  Mom answered in the middle of church (she had permission from the pastor :) ).  When they all got there, I told Natalie and she turned around to them all and said "I have a new baby sister."  It was a crazy morning and so much faster than with Natalie.  The whole experience was faster because we went home at 2:00 the next day.  With Natalie we went to the hospital on Friday night and didn't come home until Monday morning.  This time we were ready and glad it all went so fast.

2 weeks maybe less

Sara went to the doctor yesterday.  Nothing really changed from last week.  The heartbeat was 144 this time and he didn't seem to think that this baby was in any big hurry to get here so he is sticking with March 1.  Sara is trying to relax more as that seems to help her feel good.  She had conferences this week so she had to work everyday and now has a much deserved day off.  After not feeling so hot last weekend she has felt okay this week, just getting to the "tired of being pregnant" phase, as I'm sure all of you moms can appreciate.  

Natalie is still adamant that this kid is a girl.  She was singing "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" and there is a verse in her version that says "He's got you and me sister, in His hands..." and she all of a sudden stopped and goes "[gasp]Just like MY baby sister!"  Sara and I said, do you think it could be a baby brother?  "No, my baby SISTER".  Everyday since she has said a sister so we shall see about the prophetic tendencies of our two year old. :)

All of a sudden, Natalie's big word is "probably".  The last couple of days everything has been, "well, probably...".  For instance, we were talking about Madagascar because she wanted to watch it last night.  I said "What kind of animal is Alex?"  "Well, probably....a lion"  "What about Melman?"  "Well, probably, a giraffe."  You get the picture.  I asked her what she was going to do at grandma Sue's house and she said "Weeeellll, probably make Valentine's cookies.  And probably you can have one, and probably mommy can have one, and probably... "  We have no idea where she got it, but the way she says it is precious.  On a "kids say the funniest things" side note, I took off my jacket and she looked at me and said "Hey, that's a fancy shirt daddy".  Followed shortly by, "Ooooh, I like your shoes."  That kid slays me.

For those of you reading this on Facebook, be sure to go to the actual blog and vote in the poll.  Tell us what you think, boy or girl?

Room is ready!

This weekend we put the finishing touches on the nursery.  Sara had purchased a few animals and a phrase from Upper Case Living.  They are letters/animals on a transfer sheet that you put on the wall, rub down and peel the paper away.  It looks like we are very artsy and creative with a paint brush when really we have the ability to rub a piece of paper. :)  The phrase is "From small beginnings come great things" and it is surrounded with an elephant, giraffe, hippo, and a zebra.  It turned out really, really well and looks really good above the crib.  Pictures will be added of the entire nursery tonight when I have access to them.

The rest of the weekend was fun as well.  Friday night we went to the high school basketball game.  It was Homecoming and the queen ceremony was at halftime so Natalie got to watch that.  Before it started I told Natalie that girls would be coming out in Cinderella dresses.  She was fascinated by the whole process and when the first girl got to her escort at mid court, Natalie said "Are they going to dance?"  It was the sweetest thing.  On Saturday, Natalie came to visit me at Upwards while I was officiating and she even helped us clean up afterwards.  She was helping grandpa stack the chairs. :)

So one more weekend off the books brings the count down to three weeks left.  There is no way this kid is waiting that long.  I just don't see it happening.  There was a due date of Feb 22 on one of the early sonograms, but the Doctor said he wasn't going to change the date from March 1.  Now Sara and I aren't so sure the Feb 22 wasn't accurate.  Maybe that's just wishful thinking... :)

Doctor Report....and more Natalie

Sara went to the doctor today.  Everything looks good with 3 and half weeks to go.  That's hard to believe.  It seems like just yesterday that it was the end of June and Sara was telling me on our anniversary in Colorado that she thought she was pregnant.  Man the time flies!  The heartbeat was 151 so for all of you that think that means something, start guessing. :)  When the doctor first put the monitor on, he looked kind of worried/thoughtful.  Apparently he could read Sara's face and said, "Oh, I hear the heartbeat, I am just waiting on this silly machine to give me the report."  So after a slight hesitation, all was well.

Tonight, Sara wasn't feeling so hot and I needed to run to Lowe's so I took Natalie with me.  Let me say, a trip to Lowe's isn't quite as quick when you have a two year old with you.  At first she wanted to take one book, however when I came out of the bathroom she had two different books.  As we got to the door she said "Oh...I need to go potty."  So we headed back to the bathroom.  She then proceeded to open and close the bathroom door in a small game of hide-and-seek.  When I finally convinced her to sit on the potty, she said "I come to fight you in the name of God." and smacked me on the forehead.  That is a quote from her children's bible about David slaying Goliath for those of you who haven't seen her perform that yet.  Then we closed the door and Wrigley was whining outside so Natalie said "Wrigley is sad indeed."  I said, "Wrigley is sad"  and she said "NO DADDY, indeed".  After that we were allowed to leave.  At Lowe's we were strolling down the aisle and all of a sudden I hear her singing "Shall we gather at the river, the beautiful, beautiful river.  Shall we gather at the river, the beautiful, beautiful river" loud enough for the entire store to hear.  I didn't stop her. :)  She proceeded to serenade me the rest of our trip...it was a great trip. 

Names

This shouldn't be that hard, right?  I mean it's just the name that this child will have for the rest of his/her life.  The name which will be announced at sporting events, the name that will be called for awards, the name I will holler when I get upset.  So the questions start filing in.  Do we go with something biblical?  Do we take in to account what the name means?  In case your wondering Cameron means "crooked nose", obviously my parents didn't look at meanings. :)  Do we just simply go with what we think sounds good?  Do we look for popular names?  Do we avoid trends?  Sara is adamant about avoiding names that are too popular.  She had 4 Sara(h)s in one wing of her dorm and would like our child to avoid the same fate.  We fell in love with the name Natalie and only then realized that it was growing in popularity and actually hit it's peak the year she was born.  Her middle name is Sara's grandma's first name.  Which brings up another question, do we keep it in the family?  Do we do what celebrities do and go outrageous with something like Apple or Coco?  Not happening.

Last night Sara and I were looking through books and on various websites looking for inspiration.  We pretty much have a girl name picked out, but no middle name.  We found a bunch that we like and are letting the various options sink in.  We had Natalie repeat them to see how they sounded coming from her.  She was vary cute with them and I don't think she knew what she was doing. :)  The boy names are a whole other story.  We had a boy name picked out if Natalie had been a boy and so we had just each assumed we would use it if this child is a boy.  But we got to talking about it and realized that neither one of us really loved it as much as we thought and so we were back to square one.  That was 5 months ago.  We still have nothing.  We found one that we are letting marinate for awhile before making any final decisions.  The hard part is that if it is a boy the middle name is going to be a family name.  He would be the fifth generation Ward.  Obediah Ward, Robert Ward, Stephen Ward, and Cameron Ward are all the first born sons of the last four generations.  So whatever we pick has to go with Ward which makes it a little more difficult. 

So we have a girl first name and a boy middle name and the baby is due in 3 and half weeks.  I hope he/she doesn't come early, it would just be Baby W for awhile!  At least now it has somewhere to sleep. :)