The Name Game

     I've been meaning to blog about it, and just haven't gotten around to it, but Kat's comment the other day has motivated me to get on it.
     When I was pregnant with Amelia, Ken and I called her Wazel (rhymes with Hazel).  We had picked out a name, but didn't want to share it with anyone until she was born, so we called her Wazel (hopefully you faithful readers remember why . . . I have no energy for repeating our reasoning).
     So what are we calling this baby?  Just about anything.  But mostly it's a repeat of Wazel, or Squeaker #2, or "the baby".  Boring, huh?
     But the real problem comes with the baby's real name.  Ken and I can't agree on the ones we like (although we're pretty unanimous about the ones we don't like).  And the names we do agree on, don't go well with Schnell . . . like Sophie or Isabella . . . can't start with "s" or have too many "l's".  Or maybe they sound too much like Amelia . . . and I wouldn't want people thinking they were twins or that we were really stuck on names that ended with "ia".
     Ken likes original names while I'm partial to something more old-fashioned.  For those of you done naming your children, or perhaps like a name you couldn't use, does anyone have any suggestions? 

Things I've learned lately

* Even though I love roses, I know absolutely nothing about how to take care of them.

* Ken and I are no good with scissors.  We trimmed Amelia's bangs this weekend . . . poor Amelia . . . it looks like she cut her own hair.

* Amelia loves radishes.  I thought they'd be too spicy for her, but she couldn't get enough of them the other day.
* I thought I had a great collection of fabric to make a scrappy quilt for baby #2.  Turns out I have a great collection, just not anything feminine or non-flannel.
* Amelia's favorite position of late.

Amelia's Update

At 15-months, Amelia:
* finally weighs over 20 lbs - a hefty 20.8 lbs.  She'll stay rear-facing in her car seat until we need that one for the baby.  She's so petite, she still fits backwards and doesn't seem to mind it.
* has 4 teeth.  Yep, another bottom tooth appeared this week.
* does sign language for 40+ words and seems to understand more signs that I do.
* loves, loves, loves being outside.
* makes an "o" shape with her mouth when she thinks some food is hot, even if it's barely warm.
* is even more clingy than she was a few months ago, but her Dr. tells me that that is normal for her age.  Hopefully that will change some by the time the baby comes.
* dislikes road trips as much as her mother.  Falling asleep in the car is rare and I'm sure she'd ask "are we there yet?" if she could talk.
* does well eating with her hands, but doesn't seem to like it when her hands get dirty and will hold them up for me to clean them so she can go back to eating.
* waves at almost everyone when we go to the store and loves it when people wave or smile back to her . . . as long as they don't try to talk to her.

Random stuff in my head

* We've been watching for Amelia's 2nd bottom tooth to break through, but in the meantime, 2 top teeth appeared.  Yeah!  It's so cute to hear her crunching on things.
* With Ken riding his bike to work every day, his metabolism has increased.  Now it's like feeding a man with 2 hollow legs.  I can't keep up!  And with Amelia finally eating regular food (instead of baby food), we're running out of leftovers.  Guess it's time to start making more for dinner.
* We found out today that Baby #2 is a girl.  I'm a little disappointed it's not a boy, but I'm relieved that I don't have to go shopping for boy clothes - we have everything we need :)
* Our weekly produce baskets have started and we love the fresh produce.  My challenge is planning our meals around what we get, rather than planning my meals first, and then going shopping, but it's totally worth it.  And we've even found a local supplier of fresh eggs, so I don't have to raise our own chickens ;)
* I started working on Amelia's Christmas cross-stitch stocking.  I hope I can get it done before the baby comes, but maybe that is being too optimistic.  I should probably just hope I get it done before Christmas.
* Now that I know we're having a girl, I want to start working on a baby quilt for her.  Thanks to my friend, Brenda, I already have a pattern - I just need to go fabric shopping.

On the road again . . .

On Saturday we headed northeast to the Olympic National Forest, just outside of the Olympic National Park for a quick overnighter.  (We thought our hotel was inside the park, but it turns out, it wasn't - but that's okay, because there was plenty to see where we were, and we didn't have to pay a park entrance fee.)

This was our hotel - a lodge built in 1926.  It was like going back in time:  the rooms didn't have TV, telephones, or internet.  I wish I had taken a picture of the bathroom - the claw-foot bathtub, with a hand shower, but no shower curtain.  It was very relaxing.

We got there too early to check in, but we enjoyed a picnic lunch out on the back porch.

 And this was our view while we ate . . .

After lunch we headed out onto the trails.  Amelia was geared up and ready to go.

 The forest that we were hiking through is actually a temperate rain forest, and it was beautiful.

Amelia had as much fun as she could . . . . before falling asleep.

Unfortunately she missed the section of trail with the beautiful waterfalls.

After our hike, we stopped to dip our feet in the glacier-fed lake.    With her pants rolled up, Amelia was ready to dive right in.

But her tender little feet just didn't like the gravel and rocks.  Thank goodness for Daddy who was willing to help her enjoy the water.

And at the end of the day, Amelia still had energy to run around the back lawn . . . while Mommy and Daddy sat and watched.

We headed back home on Sunday morning after a quick hike.  It was a short trip, but well worth our time.