hi gals

hope everyone is well.  things have been crazy here because we found a mold infestation in our apartment three weeks ago... forgive me for being fairly absent.  after week one being a cleaning crew in the house and sleeping on the living room floor ( mold was mostly in the bedroom), week  two being painters in the house repainting the bedroom with mold resistant material, week three being removal and replacement of the bay windows in the entire front of our place (bedroom and living room) and all of the necessary moving and removing of furniture, I have been a busy lady.  thankfully it is finally wrapping itself up.

how is everybody else?  I am 23 weeks now, I have gained 13.5 pounds, and am feeling pretty well.  The baby is a little acrobat, super active.  Much moreso than Ava was at this stage I think.  Matt has been able to feel the baby moving around for almost three weeks, and now you can see it move through my clothes.  I am suddenly showing a lot too, I will try to take a picture for you all.  Don't know if I have mentioned but we have names all picked out.  This baby will have my last name, Hope, since Ava has Matt's last name, Gaughan.  That is fun.  We are looking forward to our family being complete.

Names are:

girl ~ Phoebe Brigid Hope

boy ~ Wilder Condon Hope

Now, no telling pregnant people you know.  I don't want to end up starting a nationwide baby name trend ;p  Anyways, Phoebe is a little bird and Ava means little bird so we like that.  Brigid is Matt's mothers name, and a very important Irish saint.  And I love how it looks written, with all the P's and B's and O's and E's.  Ava's name is all A's and N's and H's.  they look and sound nice together I think.  Wilder is a little nod to my favorite Author of all time, Laura Ingalls Wilder and her hunky hearthrob husband Almanzo Wilder who was always my childhood dream man.  It is uncommon yet still classic and a real name.  Definitely good for a boy and a man.  Condon means "dark haired wise man" in gaelic, it is a surname from Matt's family.  And if he is anything like his daddy he will be a dark haired wise man, and if he is like me he will be a wild child, so we love the name together.  Actually, I love them both so much I wich I could have them both.  just not enough to have three kids or go through pregnancy again.  This is definitely my last time around.

ok

love you all

MaryStarr