The Name Game

Oh, the name game. How crazy it's been. Especially when it comes to girl names and especially when it came to naming our 3rd baby. It was just a crazy, interesting dilemma for us for sure. There was actually a little stress involved. And possibly a teensy bit of arguing. Sad but true. My husband made me CRAZY with his lack of name "input". Then, he didn't like any of my name suggestions. Which I thought was sort of ridiculous considering he was contributing nothing. Ahem. Just had to get that out.

Moving on...

Garrison's name was really easy. We knew if we had a boy first we would name him Garrison. There was a chance he might be our one and only boy and we really wanted to use my maiden name. There had been other girls in the family interested in using Garrison so we snatched it up first. For a while there we considered Tyler as his middle name. We really liked the name plus he'd have the same first 2 initials as my dad which would be cool. But.... we had always, always loved Cade as a middle name... going way back to when I was 16 and saw and heard the name for the very first time. And, again, since there was a chance back then that Garrison could be our only boy we wanted to use Cade. So we did and it fits perfect. We call him Garrison Cade a lot.

When it came to a girl name for Garrison (obviously before we knew he was a boy) our favorites were Reagan and Ansley. We really liked them both but never really loved them both. The middle names were always Elizabeth or Grace... typical, popular girl middle names. I think we were leaning more towards Reagan as the time got closer to knowing if Garrison was a girl or boy, but again it wasn't our first true love or anything. We liked it a lot but never could decide if it was right for our daughter. It was a boy so that settled that.

Then came our pregnancy with Ausitn. We both sort of had a girl feeling with him so the girl name dilemma about drove us both crazy. We even had our parents and sisters vote on 3 different names we were considering. At one time we both loved the name Kaelyn... or Kaylen... or Kailyn...there's tons of ways to spell it. We thought it was sweet and a little unique and we both really liked it. Until it hit me that this particular name would constantly be misspelled and mispronounced. Constantly. Forever. And that made me start to doubt it until eventually I didn't really like it so much anymore.

We also liked the name Karianna after our sisters. Terrell's sister is named Kara and my sister is named Anna so it seemed pretty perfect. Except that it was sort of a mouthful and we never could decide if that name was "the one" or if it should maybe be a middle name... except our girl middle name all along for the second baby was going to be Carsyn after my father-in-law Carson... until we started to consider Austin for a girl which meant we'd need a really sweet, girly middle name. Ahhhhhhh. It was madness. The boy name all along by the way for a second baby boy was Austin Carson (after Terrell and his dad). But of course we needed a girl name ready to go because he was possibly a girl! Just craziness. But he was boy so case closed.

Okay, that brings me to our 3rd pregnancy. We really wanted a boy and girl name decided and determined so that when we did the gender reveal we could also officially announce the name. Cue the name game drama. Terrell still loved Kaelyn. I still didn't. I loved a few boy names. Terrell never would "commit". I wanted the name to end in N. (Both boys' names end in N and all the cousins on the Selph side have names that end in N). Terrell thought that was no big deal. I liked several girl names. Terrell shot them down. Blah, blah, blah. We made no progress for weeks.

Finally we narrowed our boy names down to Layton, Logan, and Landon. (I have no idea why they all start with L.) The middle name for a boy no matter what was Thomas. Thomas is my dad's middle name and both boys have family names so the 3rd baby would be no different. A family name had to be in there somewhere. We found out later that Terrell's great-granddad also had Thomas as a middle name and Thomas was my great-granddad's first name... which is who my dad is named after. So Thomas was perfect.

When it came to girl names we could not figure it out. We considered Camryn, Payton, Kilyn, and a few others but felt like they were all a little too masculine for a baby girl with 2 older brothers. It would (possibly) sound like we had 3 boys when we recited their names. I loved Emerson but Terrell thought that was too masculine as well. Finally we considered Lillian. Super girly, shouldn't be misspelled or mispronounced, not too common. Yep, it met our criteria. However, we weren't in love and confident about it. Sigh.

Then, there was the issue of the middle name. We wanted to use a family name for a girl too so we thought about Karianna but decided it didn't go as well as Grace. So we started wavering. Should it be Lillian Karianna or Lillian Grace? Should it be Lillian?? Gracious. We never made a final decision before finding out we're having a boy. So funny how all of our obsessing over girl names was never even necessary. Three times we obsessed. Three times for nothing. Ha! Which sort of makes perfect sense. We were just meant to have boys. =) God definitely has a sense of humor.

Okay, so back to the boy names. We finally ruled out Landon because a close family friend (Anna's best friend) has a nephew named Landon. So in the end, as much as we liked it, it felt taken already. Then we ruled out Logan because of not being totally confident about it, and the fact that I had a Logan in my class last year (adorable little boy) who I always pictured when we brought up Logan. So it didn't feel like our baby boy's name. Layton was one of those that just fit. It's sort of unique but not so much that it will constantly be misspelled or mispronoucned. It might occassionally, but not constantly-every-single-time. (Can you tell that's an issue for me? Terrell and I both have names that are butchered quite regularly.) And it just sounds great with Garrison and Austin. Garrison, Austin, and Layton. My boys. Layton Thomas Selph. Yes! It has a ring to it and sounds like us. It's official, it's settled, done-deal. Yay!

Finally! That took forever.

So there you have it. The long, boring yet drama-filled journey of the naming of our children. =)

I'm glad I recorded all this jumble of names and how and why we decided what. It's so crazy I'm sure I would've forgotten eventually. Yay for blogging and our family journal!

Gender Revealed!

The verdict is in and it's a.... BOY!!! Times 3! =) We are SO excited and thrilled to welcome another baby boy. Boys are what we do, what we know, and what we have! He is precious already and we are so thankful God is allowing us to be his parents. Wow... 3 boys!!! Can you tell I'm still a little shocked??

Honestly no matter what the "verdict" was with baby #3 it was a big deal and I was going to be in shock either way. No doubt about it. Ha! I kept asking Terrell the day before and the day of if he was nervous because all I could think about was how this baby would complete our family. This baby would determine how our family would "look". It was a little overwhelming... and still is. But in a good, exciting way.

We were able to find out Monday afternoon but had to keep it a secret until last night when we could get everyone together for our tradition to reveal the gender.

(The tradition started when Terrell surprised me by inviting everyone to meet us at one of our favorite restaurants after we found out Garrison was a boy. I was bummed and disappointed that we wouldn't be able to tell anyone our news in person, so he surprised me by having everyone come to us. He's the best. When everyone walked in, my mother-in-law was carrying a pink balloon and a blue balloon and asked us pop the one it wasn't thereby leaving a blue balloon standing if It's a Boy! and a pink balloon standing if It's a Girl!... hence a tradition was born... and that blue balloon never was popped. =))

Anyway, back to Monday when we found out. The boys were with us and in order to keep it a secret for another whole day we asked her not to say it out loud but to mouth it, type it, etc. I knew as soon as she showed us the "parts" and felt such a mix of emotions. Shocked, not shocked at all, joy, apprehension, excitement, intimidation. I just had a whoa feeling. Haha! He was adorable and just completely showed off. We fell in love immediately. The boys were precious too and so excited to see the baby. I loved hearing them during the entire ultrasound. Look! I see! I see the baby! I think it's a girl. Is he going to sleep? (Garrison always said he wanted a girl but always referred to the baby as a "he") He's moving. The baby! Look!! They both had lots to say. Even Austin. Their reaction was priceless.

After having a day for it to sink in and making a final decision for the name we were ready to share our news. The only thing I was nervous about was the fact that I knew pretty much everyone wanted a girl for us. It's just the natural way to feel. Anytime someone already has 2 girls or 2 boys, if/when a third comes along you just naturally hope they have the opposite. I know I'm that way when it comes to other families. So I felt a tad anxious about the reaction of everybody... even though I knew in my heart they'd be thrilled like us I was also nervous about sensing/feeling that twinge of disappointment too. Thankfully the grown-ups were great!

Ready for the big reveal!

 

The reaction!

Everyone smiled, laughed, clapped, said Yay!, etc and all was going well until my big boy burst into tears. Sobbing, heartbroken tears. Poor baby wanted a girl and was SO disappointed.

(We had given him the option of finding out yesterday afternoon but keeping it a secret until we popped the balloon or he could wait to find out with everyone else. He chose to wait. Clearly we should've told him and given him time to accept the news, but we never could've predicted he'd be that upset.)

 Oh my, talk about pulling at my heart and making me feel so guilty. He said things like, But I want a girl. I wanted daddy to pop the blue balloon. We already have a lot of boys. We have 3 boys already and I wanted a girl. I could cry again just remembering. Bless his heart. It was pitiful. He said everything through tears... sobs really. And it took him a while to get over. It was a damper on the party for a bit for sure. Then, I felt guilty for feeling guilty about our innocent, unborn baby boy. Gracious.

The picture below is of him pointing to the blue balloon and crying his eyes out. So sad. He finally calmed down after we talked about God wanting us to have another boy. Another best friend and playmate for him and Austin. We also talked about how he has girl cousins. (Hopefully AnAn and Frankie will have a girl for us too one day!) He also finally seemed happy when he said, Mama we're going to have 4 boys (he always counts daddy) just like I'm 4. And that made it all better. We'll see how things go the next few days as reality sets in or as he just sort of forgets and moves on.

After showing off tons of pictures and getting my big boy calmed down, we revealed the name by showing off the cake we brought for dessert. Unfortunately the lady at Publix didn't understand me and put an "&" between the names... but that's okay. Layton Thomas it is. Our 3rd baby boy. I have a whole post on how the name was chosen and how our little name situation/dilemma reveals a lot about 3 boys and no girls. =) Hopefully I can share that soon.

 

Our family of 5. =)

***We are so thankful we could share our news in person with our favorite people at the same restaurant with the same tradition yet again. Our families are the best! They made our night special and fun and we are extremely grateful Layton will be welcomed into such an amazing family. We can't wait for him to meet everyone! Thanks again for making the drive over and sharing our special news and night with us. We love you!!

Austin's 2nd Birthday Party

We had Austin's 2nd birthday party on Saturday at my parents' house in Barnesville. We usually do "family" parties for the first 3 years and since the majority of our family lives in Barnesville and my parents' house has plenty of room, it works out great to do the family parties there. HUGE thanks to my parents for hosting another party for us. We wouldn't have been able to do it without them! They are amazing hosts!! We do plan to host our babies' parties one day... if we can ever move back to the hometown. I'm sure my parents will be relieved. Ha!

The invitation was designed by my sweet and talented friend Megan. I highly recommend her! We LOVED our littlest man's invite!

We went with a Mickey Mouse theme with a focus on the colors red, black, and white. It was a lot of hard work to pull off but everything turned out great and it was all definitely worth it come party time.

Of course I had to do a picture display. =) I've done one at every party so far. This display was on my parents' foyer table and held 9 pictures of big happenings or holidays from the year between Austin's 1st and 2nd birthdays. You can't really tell from the picture but I labeled each one. I was really happy with how it turned out.

The centerpiece on the dining room table was an order from Etsy (I just couldn't figure out how to make anything like it myself) and everything else was pretty simple... balloons and little Mickey's.

The only thing I didn't get a picture of was the cute black and white straws I found at Hobby Lobby. They were the perfect addition and quite popular. (And the favor bags were simple red gift bags with black tissue paper. Every bag was slightly different because our "kid" party guests ranged in age from 2 to 14.)

The birthday boy's cake! So cute and super yummy.

Austin was wide open right before his party started. I'm talking wild man. He was into everything and just wound up and excited. Then as soon as our guests started to arrive he got really shy and overwhelmed. He just didn't know what to think or how to act with so much attention. He pretty much let any and everybody hold him with his head rested against them until we ate. It was so funny. Terrell, my mom, and I were all shocked after his wild and crazy morning!

 

Terrell snapped this picture of us saying the blessing. The boys sang the "Lollipop" blessing for everyone. So sweet.

After we ate all the kiddos (and Terrell) headed out to the waterslide. This was the biggest hit. The kids LOVED it. (Especially my husband, the biggest kid of all.) Well, every kid except for Austin loved it. Austin went down once with Terrell and cried pretty much the whole time. Poor thing was content to stay dry and watch. I think my big boy slid down no less than 35 times. He had a ball.

Once we got the kids off the waterslide we came in for cake and presents. I think this was Austin's favorite part of the party. He was so shy while everyone sang to him but blew out the candle and loved every bite of his cake and ice cream. And he especially loved opening presents. =)

Once he finished opening presents almost everyone went back out to slide. Even Papa got on the slide! Austin stayed in to play with toys first. By the time he came out to watch everybody slide he was exhausted. It was naptime and he was just worn out from partying all day.

We had a really fun, successful party and loved celebrating our baby boy's 2nd birthday with family. We can't thank my parents enough for hosting and for all of their help with party planning and pulling everything off. We are also thankful for Terrell's parents picking up the cake for us. Every year we're all going in different directions on party day or the day before trying to get everything ready and we're so thankful for our parents and their help!

The boys were asleep a few minutes after we got in the car heading home. We crashed last night and everyone slept really good (including me!) after our long day of partying.

Happy Birthday again to our precious 2 year old!!!

Austin at 2

This morning we had Austin's 2 year check-up... and he didn't appreciate it one bit. In fact, he so was traumatized that our poor doctor offered both boys popsicles and a trip to the treasure chest and he didn't need a shot or anything! He just did NOT like them checking his ears or throat, did not cooperate at all, and cried his eyes out as loud as he could. It was pretty awful. On the bright side, my baby boy is healthy and doing great!

He weighed 24 pounds .05 ounces and was 32.25 inches tall. He's in the 7th percentile in both categories. He could be on the small side for the rest of his life like me or he could be more like Terrell and be small as a child but totally and completely average by the time he's an adult. The doctor isn't concerned at all about his size because he's a good eater, healthy, and 100% proportional. It sort of comes down to the fact that the Selph's and Garrison's just aren't big people.

Developmentally he's doing great. I was able to answer yes to every single question... something I wasn't able to do at Garrison's 2 year check up. Wonder if that has something to do with being the second born and picking up on things faster? They were also impressed he's potty trained. We're pretty proud of him too!

Now for a peek into Austin's life at 2...

You wake up every morning between 7:00-7:30 and are normally a happy-ready to the start the day- morning person. You take about a 2 hour nap every afternoon and go to bed around 7:45 every night. Ever since taking the paci away, you've struggled with bedtime a little. It takes you longer to go to sleep and you usually cry and need mama or daddy to come in and rub your back once or twice.

You love meal times (until you're finished and ready to get up but nobody else is so you have to sit and wait) and are typically a great eater. We never really know what you're going to like because it seems to change on a regular basis, but if we can figure out what you really want/like you eat lots and lots. Some of your favorite foods are spaghetti, green beans, chicken with ketchup, almost any kind of fruit, any kind of breakfast food, and of course any kind of cracker or snack food.

Your favorite things to do during the day are to play with Garrison... blocks, magnets, cooking, ball, animals, whatever. Y'all are best friends! You also love to play/do anything with daddy, color, play outside, watch Mickey Mouse (although you still don't watch an entire episode), put together puzzles, and have someone read to you. You love to sit in someone's lap to play. That's one of your favorite things.

We read to you before naptime and bedtime every day and we also sing songs together. Right now you love "Sunshine" (You are my Sunshine), God is Good, and Jesus Loves Me. You request me to sing Jesus Loves Me with lots of family members names subsituted for "me". Garrison and Frankie are the most popular requests I think. I love when you sing with me. It's precious. I also love to hear you say the blessing with Garrison. So sweet.

You are very smart. (Of course I've always thought so!) You know how to sing your ABC's, you can almost count to 10 by yourself, and you know most of your colors. Your vocabulary is amazing. You can point and name/identify just about anything. Reading lots of books is a huge part of that I know. You can also jump, throw, catch... if the throw is just right, and kick any ball we put in front of you. =)

You still love to be rocked, give the best hugs, like laying your head on our chest or shoulder, and are just a cuddle bug most of the time. We hope you are always loving and affectionate even as you get bigger.

You wear us out, make us laugh, have crazy meltdowns, melt our hearts, bring us joy, and give us a run for money every day. We are SO thankful God gave us you and that YOU are our precious blessing. We love you Austin and can't wait to see you grow, learn, and change this year!!

16 Weeks!

This week has been a bit of a doozie. My littlest man is trying to get over Fifth's Disease (we think) and my big boy just tested positive for strep today. It is so hard when your babies are sick. Hard on me and them. We're so grateful my sweet mother-in-law could come over today to keep the boys so we could both go to work. I don't see how full-time working moms do it. Thankfully I'm healthy and doing well and have the day off tomorrow, so if we can get the boys well we'll be good to go.

Yesterday was 16 weeks for Baby Selph so here's an update....

 

 

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: 5 inches long and weighs about 3-3.5 ounces. About the size of a turnip. =)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 pounds so far.

Maternity Clothes: More and more. I'm still doing mostly regular shorts and pants and mostly maternity tops. If the cooler weather would hurry up and get here I'd have more options... which I'm ready for. I'm getting tired of wearing the same things over and over again.

Gender: We find out next week! I think Terrell is more excited/ready/impatient to know than me. We just want to call him/her by his/her name. And figure out what new stuff we need. And start talking about him/her with the boys more. I think once you know the gender the bonding gets way stronger. I'm so excited. At my doctor's appointment on Friday morning I had a boy feeling come over me when I heard the heartbeat. Hmmm. A sign? Neither one of us have a super strong feeling/instinct either way but I think we're both leaning more towards boy.

Movement: I keep feeling little, subtle somethings but haven't had that without-a-doubt nudge, kick, or punch yet. I can't wait!

Food Cravings: This week it's been pink or raspberry lemonade.

What I Miss: Feeling normal and good in the mornings. Oh my gracious am I tired of feeling sick/queasy/icky/not right in the mornings. I told Terrell this morning that I guess I'll feel better after he/she arrives. Until then the not-so-good mornings are sticking around it looks like.

Sleep: It's going good. I never sleep the whole night without waking but when I do wake it's usually not for too long and I can go back to sleep pretty fast.

 

Symptons: Feeling weird and not right in the mornings and being hungry all the time once the strange morning sickness passes.

 

Best Moment This Week: Hearing the heartbeat!

 

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting everyone well, Austin's party this weekend, and finding out if Baby Selph is a girl or a boy so we can start to prepare for his/her arrival!

 

 

*Austin's update at 16 weeks

Austin's Day

Today is my littlest man's 2nd birthday. He made his entrance at 8:37 AM 2 years ago after many, many hours of labor and we are so thankful for the gift God blessed us with in him!

 

Tuesdays are off days for me and Austin anyway, and since Garrison wasn't quite ready to head back to school yet we all got to stay home together. Terrell had to be at work early this morning for a training but Austin woke up just in time to see him before he left... plus lots of balloons! He was pretty excited. =)

 

Once Garrison finally woke up we celebrated with doughnuts and candles and singing Happy Birthday. Austin didn't know what to think about the candles...

 

So Garrison stepped in to help out. Austin's face is too funny.

 

Because Garrison wasn't back to 100% yet and because Austin is still covered in a strange rash, we had to lay low at home again today. We had our moments but overall it was a fun day. The boys played and played with balloons, watched an episode of Mickey Mouse, went outside, ate a good lunch, had a good naptime, played with balloons some more, and then enjoyed one of Austin's favorite meals for supper.

 

He also got lots of special phone calls today. He was sooo cute walking around talking on the phone. Just adorable. (Please excuse the massive toy pile...)

We had Garrison's first football practice tonight so Austin got to tag along for that for a little bit before coming home early and enjoying a bubble bath solo. I'd say it was a great ending to a fun birthday. =)

 

We are so thankful for this sweet, loving, busy, energetic, talkative little man and can't wait to celebrate him all over again with lots of family on Saturday. Happy Birthday Austin Selph! We love you!!!

Labor Day Weekend

Well, our Labor Day weekend hasn't been anything like we planned or expected. Both boys have been sick and we had to cancel Austin's birthday outing planned for today. Boo. We're hoping to reschedule for a couple of weeks from now. Even though it's been disappointing to be stuck at home, we are still thankful for the long weekend, extra rest, and more time with family. It's definitely been a blessing to have the day off today since neither of the boys would've been able to go to school.

Austin started running a fever on Thursday so Terrell took half a day on Friday so I could go to work and he could stay with Austin and take him to the doctor before the long weekend. He sent me this picture Friday morning. Poor baby had been playing in our office with a few toys and just fell asleep in the floor. It about broke my heart. He has never done that. Turns out he had a virus and we'd just have to wait it out.
 

By the time Saturday morning rolled around, Austin was feeling lots better so we headed to Barnesville to help AnAn and Frankie paint at their new house. The boys also got haircuts while we were in town and Garrison even got to help paint. He loved it. The house is coming together and we are so excited for Anna and Frankie!

We got home Saturday in time for pizza for supper and to get the boys in bed so we could watch the Georgia game. I made it to half-time! I was SO worn out I just couldn't keep my eyes open. My sweet hubby didn't mind me going to bed early. It was a tough loss but we're handling it well. Time to move on to South Carolina.

Now for sickness updates...

Austin started with a light rash on his face Saturday and by the time we woke up Sunday morning his face was bright red and blotchy and the rash was spreading. He has absolutely no other symptons and after doing some research we think it may be Fifths Disease... which means he isn't contagious. Thank goodness. It's still there today and has faded just a little on his face but is now pretty much all over him.

Unfortunately Garrison has really sick. He started Saturday night with a touch of the stomach bug. Thankfully it hasn't been anything like what he had this past Spring but it still hasn't been fun. Poor baby still isn't back to 100% or a full appetite. Sooo, we've been hanging out at home for 2 days straight. Terrell got out yesterday during naptime to run some errands and Austin and I got out today to take care of a few things, but other than that we've just been laying around. Garrison has watched enough TV the past 2 days to last him a month. He just hasn't felt like doing anything else. Other than going a little stir crazy, we're all enjoying our day together. Tonight we're grilling steaks and hoping for everybody to get well!

As for tomorrow, the boys and I are all staying home again. Thankfully it isn't a school day for me and Austin so Garrison will just stay home with us. We are hoping every family member can fully enjoy celebrating Austin's birthday tomorrow and that Garrison will be up for his first football practice. Happy Labor Day!!