Pregnancy Update

So, I am about 6 months at this point, and I am remembering how much I like this stage. I am not feeling super exhausted any more during the day, just tired at night earlier than usual, but that's kind of okay because I am nearing the end of the school year and have been able to go to bed earlier. Overall, this is a relatively symptom free point, and even my asthma is not getting to me too badly anymore like it was at the beginning, so that is nice. I think the baby turned or something too, because I have my normal appetite back finally too. I still can't eat a whole lot in one sitting, but more than I was able to before, which is definitely more fulfilling than the "5 bites= heartburn" that I was experiencing a couple of weeks ago. The only thing I wish is for a bit more endurance with things like exercise. Although I did manage to walk around Universal Studios all day on Tuesday without feeling too beat that day, Wednesday I felt like I was going to fall over and Thursday I was not ready to do it again at a convention with the kids, but I got through it, and I actually wasn't sore yesterday, just sort of wiped out.

I am starting to get big, which is not totally great, but it is better than the prior point, which was too big for all of my regular clothes but swimming in most of my maternity clothes. Now I actually fit quite well in my maternity clothes (oddly, there is still a box of my favorite items lost in the garage somewhere, but I did break down and buy some more). A stranger even offered me a seat when we were waiting in a restaurant the other day (which really, I was fine standing, but still). I would think that perhaps this was a coincidence, but then she even went ahead and asked, "How far along are you?" A bold move, considering that she could be wrong- I would never ask, just in case- but in this case she was right, and I guess that means I am really showing now, because people don't usually ask if it is that risky.

We have also really officially decided on a name- Tiana Lisette. This is really it, for real. We were leaning towards Gianna prior to this, but I really, really, really hate the nicknames associated with Gianna, particularly Gigi. Plus, the name is rising in popularity. Gianna is in the top 100 right now, and it is a personal goal of mine not to name my children anything in the top 100, because I don't want them to endure being one of three kids with the same name in their class (story of my life). So, I need a common enough name that it is not like, "How do you say that?" but not so common that everyone has the same name. So, as a result, I have been hunting for a new name lately. The other day, someone overheard me and thought I said, "Tiana" and I was reminded that when we first mentioned Gianna to Vinny, he thought we said "Tiana" and wanted to name her Princess Tiana, after the heroine of the new Disney movie. I don't know why I didn't take him more seriously in the first place. Realistically, it was a GREAT movie, probably going to go down as one of my favorite Disney movies of all time, and for a Disney princess, Tiana definitely racks way up there among my favorites, especially since she is not all frilly and perfect. She's got an attitude and well, spunk. If she is going to be named after a Disney princess, that is definitely a good one to be named after. (It is also nice that the movie is set in Louisiana and she is basically a Cajun Queen, which pays homage to Marc's Cajun heritage). Let's face it, she will probably grow up obsessed with Disney princesses.

Tiana means "follower of Christ" which seems like an appropriate name for a pastor's daughter, and it doesn't have any annoying nicknames. The worst it could get is maybe "T," which really isn't that bad. The most common nickname is probably "Tia," which I actually kind of like. I know that the name is rather ethnically ambiguous and diverse... it is a common African American name and the princess is black, plus "Tia" means aunt in Spanish and has a Spanish feel to it, but that sort of represents my mom's family well. On my mom's side of the family, I have cousins who are half Black and I have cousins who are half Mexican, and I truly like that my family is ethnically diverse, so this represents that well. We are going with Lisette in honor of my mom, whose middle name is Elizabeth, since Vinny got Marc's family middle name. We were going to just go with Elizabeth, but since Tiana ends on a vowel, I feel like the middle name shouldn't start with the same sort of vowel sound, and I really like Lisette, so the sound Tiana Lisette just has a good feel to it.

Well, there it is. I am sure that most of this was terribly boring to most of you, but I felt like writing it, so there ya have it.