Week 20

This picture was taken at Reddish Knob shortly before we left. As Jeff took it, he said, "You won't like this picture because your hair is blowing all over the place." Oh, well, I gave up trying to look picture-perfect to impress the world long ago, and now I just try to be real. :)

A few nights ago, I was writing in my pregnancy journal, trying (in vain) to get caught up completely in it. As I flipped through the pages and saw the pictures from each week, I was so glad that I had decided to take these weekly pics. I'm not even close to being done with this pregnancy yet, but already I love to look back and see how my body has changed...and also remember the different events and places that are reflected in the pictures. Sweet memories!

So...besides getting used to the fact that we're having a boy, this week has been filled with lots of discussion about names. At this stage of the game, our discussions usually end in riotous laughter as we try to out-do each other with absurd names. My latest thrill is reading through an ancient "Bible Names and Their Meanings" book which sat on my parents' bookshelf for many years before they bequeathed it to us. So far, I've gone through A-F, and have found such gems as...
~ Ezion-gaber - which means "backbone of a giant" - from Numbers 33:35
~ Eliel - which means "God is God," a very good meaning - from I Chronicles 5:24 (can you imagine telling someone, "my name is Eliel," and in their head they think, "oh, L-E-L, that's...different")
~ Dodo - which means "loving," another very good meaning - from Judges 10:1
~ Crispus - which means "curly, curled" - from Acts 18:8 - not to be confused with...
~ Blastus - which means "sprout" - from Acts. 12:20 (perfect for boy twins, Blastus & Crispus!)
~ Ahisamach - which means "brother of support, brother has supported," a very nice thought for our third son - from Exodus 31:6

Obviously, I'm not having much success with this book!

Jeff looked a little further to the "H" section and found some...oh, yeah!...real gems. I can't even duplicate the names or his pronunciation, but he had us all in stitches today as we set out on our road trip.

I did see one name in the "A" section that I really like: Asher (which means "happy"). But with our last name, it just doesn't work. Asher Fisher. Nope, not gonna cut it.

One of my latest obsessions is asking everyone who has girls what boy name they would have used if they had had a son. Yesterday, Michelle, a fairly new friend to me, said, "You'll laugh, but we would have called our son "Hunter'." I assured her that I wasn't laughing, that I thought that was a great name, and that we had friends from California who had named their son that. Today as I was remembering that conversation, I thought how funny it would be if we named our son "Hunter." Hunter Fisher. He would be the envy of countless men, I'm sure; but really, we're not that crazy. But if it were a certain friend named Chris whose-last-name-starts-with-M in our shoes, he'd probably go ahead and name his son that. :)

And so, the search continues...