Boy or Girl???

How bad do I wanna know??  Real bad:)!  How soon will I find out??  Real soon!  I'll be starting my 18th week of pregnancy tomorrow.  With my last pregnancy I knew at 17 weeks that we were expecting a baby girl...of course, we'd also had about 8 ultrasounds by now compared to my 1 so far this time.  NOT a bad thing mind you, I mean the assumption (I stress assumption because truly anything can happen at any time which has been all too real for several people in my life) is that you really don't need to look in on healthy babies as much, so I'll take that!  But we really got to watch Molly grow which was truly fascinating.  This little bundle will have changed drastically from the little blob-next-to-a-yolk-sac it was at 7 weeks.

Here's our baby at 7 weeks (the oblong shape on the left, yolk sac is round shape on right).  Amazing.

Anyway, back to when...  We find out a week from tomorrow at 19 weeks gestation on February 2nd.  The family feelings are as follows:  Ryan things boy, I think girl, Molly changes her answer daily, and none of us actually have a preference--just predictions.

We have names all picked out.  Wanna hear 'em?  The boy name was easy since it's the same as the one we didn't use from last time:  Jack Oliver. 

Jack is for my maternal grandfather (Granddaddy).  A lifelong learner and teacher--there was nothing he didn't know something about.  A gentle man who was a friend and a helper to all kinds.  He stood for truth and had an unwaivering faith in Christ. I could go on and on. He passed away just before Ryan's and my first anniversary and though I'm sad he never got to see Molly, I'm grateful that Ryan was able to see and know what a neat man he was.  My mom, Jacquelyn (Jackie), was named for him too.

Oliver is for my paternal grandfather.  I never had the privelege of meeting him, as he passed away not long after Kara was born, but he's a man I've always enjoyed hearing about. He also raised my dad--and I'm pretty crazy about him;)--so I think it's a great name!  My uncle, Oliver Jay (twin brother to my dad, Oscar Ray), was named for him too.

Now, if it's a girl her name will be...wait for it...Ruby (middle name still to be chosen from our list of about 5 possibilities).  Ruby is Ryan's paternal grandmother's name (though she actually goes by her middle name, Frances, because I don't think she likes Ruby...but we do!)  She is a strong, quiet, woman, a fighter, with a bone-dry sense of humor that never fails to make me smile every time I see her.  And though I've never had the opportunity to actually sample her infamous cooking, Ryan tells me that her dressing, chicken, butter beans (note: served in a bowl with a handle), stewed tomatoes with onion (for putting on peas), cornbread, jelly cake (plum jelly), coconut cake, and on and on and on and on, were the best he ever had;)

Ryan and I liked all of these names and we were so excited that they all linked up to loved ones in our lives with the kind of character or attributes that we would be truly grateful for our son or daughter to have.

So there you have it.  In a week we'll be back to share if it's a Jack or a Ruby!  Any guesses?  Let us know in the comments:)