Week 19

Week 19 has been a fun and productive week! Jay and I got a LOT done around the nursery and I can't wait to show the pictures! We had a very busy weekend with the Shamrock Tournament. My girls cheered at 10 games in three days and also participated in a cheer exhibition where they did fabulously and if the exhibition would have been judged we definitely would have gotten first! 

While I was cheering, Jay took down the bed in one of our guest rooms and set up both cribs! I was a little sad I wasn't there to see them go up so I requested he set the camera on timer and take some pictures of himself setting them up. He thought I was crazy but obliged! The pictures are too funny and once I get them off my camera I will happily share. 

The nursery has really come together this since this weekend. A family whose daughter I've coached for the past three years offered to give us their Dutailier glider. Although I would prefer something upholstered and a little more modern, we just couldn't turn down a free glider. We put it in the nursery and love how it looks, so much in fact that we are getting another one. We thought one glider would do but we both enjoy being in the nursery so much already that we decided it would be best to each have a place to sit and hold the babies. 

Looking in. The wall color will be changed and the drapes, art, tv, lamp, and all furniture besides the cribs and glider will be removed.

view of both cribs

another view

the changing table will go between the cribs and this old rug has already been trashed :)

view of the closets and glider

our hospital bags (Holden's is on backorder until May)

Holden's crib

Notice the baseball glove taggie. So cute!

Emma Cate's crib

Updated sidenote: My sweet husband arranged the cribs like this. I thought he was adorable to put all her sweet little toys on the teddy bear. He's going to be a great Daddy!

sweet frames from Jay's Mom

That tan spot is the color we'll be painting the upper half of the walls.

Here are two pictures via google images that show the board and batten look we're going for!

I don't think I posted this but here is my tester (boomer) trying out the new stroller!

Our tester in the baby bjorn and my sister Bo

going home outfits!

Worried about the remainder of the nursery furniture (and trying to store all the stuff required for two babies), Jay and I decided we would get my old armoire that was in my room growing up and paint it to match the new tan-ish/grey wall color (we've only done a tester, Jay will be painting this weekend!). My mom also found a great dresser/changing table and shelf at the pottery barn outlet near her house and I'll be picking that up this weekend too. My mom and I are getting together this weekend to pick out fabrics to recover the gliders and make the bedding and window treatments out of. The only other thing we need are the mattresses and a rug.

Speaking of sitting in the nursery, I just want to share how extremely blessed I feel to be carrying these babies. On Sunday, I just sat in their nursery and cried. After all the trying times where I thought I would never be a mother, I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude that I will be able to bring home babies (God willing) to sleep in this nursery. We are in such a different place than we were a year ago. I will forever be grateful to God and the fabulous doctor's that made our dream of starting a family come true. It is the coolest thing to see everything come together. We are so thankful. 

On another note, we had our 2nd trimester ultrasound yesterday and the babies are doing amazingly well! They are both perfectly healthy, have all their body parts (kidneys, heart, hands, arms, legs, etc.), and are a little bigger than average! I'm feeling great and am so ready to feel the babies move around a little more! Emma Cate (baby A) hid a little during the ultrasound and we are scheduled to go back in a week to get a few more pictures of her. As always, I'm excited to see my babies again.

Baby B- Showing his tush and boy parts

Baby A showing her legs and girl parts

Baby B's arm on the left and A's on the right

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2012

How Far Along: 19 weeks

Size of babies: Babies are the size of mangos and are measuring 6 inches long. One baby weighed in at 9oz and the other at 10oz. I forgot to ask which was which! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am still 1 pound over my starting weight. The doctor told me that I was doing fabulous, and that the babies were weighing more than expected so that we very reassuring. He told me that they are taking everything they need from me and the only thing we need to worry about is if they are underweight. 

Maternity Clothes: For the most part, I wore a few non-maternity dresses with leggings this week. I don't fee like my bump had grown that much since my big belly explosion two weeks ago. I did have to buy some new bras this week. I hate spending so much only to know that I will never fit into them again after this pregnancy!

Gender: Girl- Emma Cate and Boy- Holden. Confirmed again by yesterday's ultrasound!

Movement: I've been feeling some weird stuff going on in there! It almost feels like I'm going down the hill of a roller coaster and my stomach is dropping. Both of the placentas are attached to the front wall of my uterus making it even tougher for me to feel little baby kicks. I'm guessing that I mostly feel them when they do flips and roll around. 

Sleep: Fabulous (can I overuse that word just a little more?). I've been going to bed around 9:30 or so and waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:30ish. I feel like a little kid that has to play silently with my toys (ipad) until its time for Jay to wake up!

What I miss: Not too much this week

Cravings: Still cake. I was telling the ladies at our neighborhood ladies' club that I have a thing for McAllister's chocolate cake. While we were at church last night, I got a text from a sweet friend Kim letting me know that she dropped a piece off at my door! I'm so thankful we live in such an awesome neighborhood with really caring neighbors. I also still had that craving for a Jimmy John's Beach club sandwich. I stopped in yesterday and was bummed that they couldn't heat up the turkey so I got turkey on the side and took it home to microwave. All those veggies hit the spot! If you are looking for a pretty healthy sandwich, try this on from Jimmy John's... sooo good! 

Symptoms: Still doing my regular Wednesday morning vomit. So strange! Everything else has been great!

Best Moment this week: Sitting in the nursery with Jay and thinking about how lucky we are :)

your baby's the size of a mango!

At about 6.0 inches long and weighing in at about 8.5 ounces, she's getting there!

One Step Forward... Two Steps Back

Yesterday after my not so lovely feelings about my body gaining weight, I decided that I really need to start eating better, not to lose weight or diet by any means, but for the health of my babies. If I am going to gain weight I really should be doing it with healthy foods and not chocolate cake. I went to the grocery store after practice and stocked up on fruits, veggies, ingredients for home cooked meals, hummus, and omelet ingredients.

I cooked a fabulous dinner last via a pinterest recipe I found for a creamy chicken marsala and served it with perfectly roasted asparagus.

Source: foodgawker.com via Anni on Pinterest

I chopped up my veggies to take to work today and gathered up all the ingredients in the fridge I needed to make my green smoothie and omelet for breakfast. I went to bed before ten and woke up at 6:20 so that I had enough time to pack my lunch, make my smoothie and breakfast. As always, I spoke to soon yesterday when I proclaimed that my morning sickness had ended. My toothpaste put me over the edge and earned me a few back rubs from the wonderful husband. I started feeling better, made my breakfast and even gulped down a glass of OJ on my way out the door.

At school I reheated and ate my omelet (great source of protein, dairy, and carotenoids (think vitamin A, C, etc.)) and immediately proceeded to feel incredibly nauseous. Like, turn my head too fast and vomit on my desk nauseous. It's amazing to me how chocolate cake never made me feel this way. Luckily I am still carrying my trust bottle of Zofran in my purse. After a quick pill, the nausea subsided and I've been able power through my morning. Hopefully my body will adjust to my new healthy eating and the twins will thank me by growing healthy and strong. Here's to tomorrow :)

Week 18

Week 18 has been pretty fun! I'm at the halfway point to 36 weeks and feel a bit of pressure to get things done! The increased energy has been a huge blessing. I took the day off on Friday to hang out with my mom and attend the Mothers of Multiples sale. We got some great deals on things we needed for the nursery. I picked up two brand new PBK mobiles for the cribs, a PUJ bathtub (easy to bring to grandparents house!), some adorable clothing, 4 baby bjorns (two for normal wear and two red ones for State games! ha!), a bottle warmer, a formula pitcher, and tons of other great little things!

Mom and I waiting in line to be let in the sale

We headed up to Raleigh immediately following the sale to get ready for my girls' cheerleading competition on Saturday morning. After a frightful warm up (an anxiety attack and loose tooth) the girls performed an almost perfect routine. We ended up taking home first place and are the middle school large division state champions! Yay! 

Video of our 1st Place Routine (you'll probably want to turn the volume down!)

Mom, Jay, Bo and I spent a huge chunk of Sunday cleaning out our basement storage room. It has been a disaster for the past year and we needed to move our clothing from the nursery closets down there to store. We put up tons of shelving, and went through lots of clothing. I think I donated 6 bags of old clothes to goodwill! My side of the nursery closet is all cleaned out and Emma Cate's clothes are neatly hung. Jay needs to work on moving his stuff down to the basement so that we can get Holden's clothes in there. I'm also super excited that my mom just told me she bought a new sewing machine that does embroidery and plans on making tons of clothes for the babes. She used to sew clothing for us all the time as kids and I really think she will enjoy getting back into it! I know we will definitely love the free monogramming!     

Progress of the pink (storage) room clean out! 

We ended week 18 last night with a fun valentine's meal and cute gifts. I'll save that for a separate post. on to the highlights!

up close Valentine's pic

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2012

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of babies: Babies are the size of sweet potatoes and are measuring 5.6 inches and each weigh 6.7oz 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am officially 1 pound over my pre-pregnancy weight. In other words I gained three pounds this week. My appetite has come back BIG time and I'm starting to feel fat. I am happy about gaining weight but don't feel like it needs to be showing up in the form of love handles! Time to get walking!

Maternity Clothes: Well... All of my jeans were dirty this weekend and I had to go out of town so I squeezed into a pair of regular jeans. They buttoned but I don't think it was a pretty sight from the back!

Gender: Girl- Emma Cate and Boy- Holden

Movement: I swear I felt one good kick this week but nothing more.

Sleep: Pretty good. I wake up a few times during the night and freak out that I'm laying on my back. My preggo pillow is a big help though!

What I miss: Definitely sandwich meat this week! I really wanted a turkey, provolone, avocado, and sprouts sandwich after seeing one on a blog!

Cravings: Chocolate anything. I've had Yummy spoon cake from McAllisters and brownies from Brueggers

Symptoms: I was vomit free this week and today was the only day I felt like it might happen but I was able to keep it down. My back has been KILLING me. I have this pain in the middle right side of my back that will not go away.

Best Moment this week: Cleaning out the nursery closets and spending time with my mom and sis!

Baby's now the size of a sweet potato!
Baby's become amazingly mobile (compared to you, at least), passing the hours yawning, hiccupping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing. And baby is finally big enough that you'll soon be able to feel her movements.

Week 17

Week 16-17 started out a little rough but quickly became awesome! I have gotten a lot of energy back and can stay up until 10 or 11! My appetite has returned in full force and I've definitely gained weight this week. 

My family arrived Friday night and we all pitched in the prepare for the gender reveal party. I want to send a tremendous THANK YOU to my sister, Bo. She got in town early Friday and helped me with all the last minute tedious decorations, went to school with me late Friday night when my printer broke at home so that we could print all the printables from my work computer, did a huge grocery trip with me at 10pm and helped prep food until the wee early hours of Saturday morning! I could not have done this without you!!!

I spent Saturday morning running errands with my mom. Such a fun way to spend time with her prepping for the party and talking about babies all morning! The party was great and I am so thankful of all of my friends that came. We had a great time announcing the genders.

Jay has been out of town again this week and will return this evening. I've been busy at school and its kept me from thinking about him being gone (although two nights ago I had a TERRIBLE time sleeping because of my watchdog Sophie and was not too happy that Jay was gone!). 

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Size of babies: Babies are the size of onions and are measuring 5.1 inches. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am still two pounds under pre-pregnancy but that means that I've gained 3 pounds this week. Holy Cow. Need to stop eating chocolate cake and switch to veggies now that my food aversions are subsiding!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, I've had several comments that I've really started showing this week.

Gender: Girl- Emma Cate and Boy- Holden

Movement:  I think I'm making it up in my head that I'm feeling flutters because I want to feel them move so badly!

Sleep: Going really great when my crazy dog doesn't wake me up!

What I miss: COKE! We had to two liter at our house this week and I wanted it so bad! I may have drank a small glass and smelled it like it was wine.

Cravings: Chocolate Cupcake, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cookies 

Symptoms: Still doing the morning throw up when I brush my teeth but feeling MUCH better after that! No round ligament pain this week and my constipation is gone!

Best Moment this week: Announcing the genders and starting to buy things for the babes!

Baby's now the size of an onion!
Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. His umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes now feature one-of-a-kind prints.

Things for Babies

Jay and I have started compiling a list of our "necessary" baby items. We were totally clueless when we started looking at things. Who knew that you needed two different types of carseats, that pack and plays had a weight limit and that strollers could come in so many different varieties! I'm not saying we've picked out the best items or even that we have any clue what we are talking about; I just found it daunting when starting to register and something like this could have helped me a bit. Here are the items that we've picked out based on consumer reports, advice of other moms, a little test driving, and our personal opinions. We're not necessarily dead set on these items and are ALWAYS open to other parent's advice!

Crib- I had the hardest time finding a crib. I want something VERY classic with turned spindles. With two babies we wanted smaller scale cribs for the nursery. I loved this crib, but after much discussion about price, needs, and necessities, Jay talked me down from the "upscale" crib market. My second favorite "classic" crib is the Jenny Lind style. This is such a timeless style. When we told Jay's mom what we were after she went down to her basement and found two Jenny Lind cribs that Jay slept in. As much as we'd love to use our baby furniture, safety regulations have changed so much and we don't want to chance it. After searching several nursery pictures I had some good ideas about incorporating this crib and not making our nursery look too cheap. I was still a bit nervous about purchasing an inexpensive crib. I did a little more searching and found these cribs on sale at Pottery Barn Kids. I loved the style and trusted the craftsmanship of Pottery Barn.

Diapers- Jay and I both try to be as "green" as possible. We are also trying to save a much money as possible. With those two in mind, we've decided to go the cloth diaper route. Based on tons of reviews, we're going to be registering for bumGenius one size cloth diapers. We're planning to use these once the babies are about 8-10 weeks old. Prior to that we'll be using prefold diapers (very similar to the kind our parents used on us) with Thirsties Diaper Covers. We'll also be registering for a diaper sprayer to help keep the stench and icky-ness to a minimum! We haven't decided if we're going to go for reusable wipes yet. We're also considering diy wipes. I'm all for using less chemicals on our babies' skin.  If you're interested in cloth diapering, we found this post to be really helpful. If you have any questions about cloth diapering, The Milky Way in Dilworth is awesome! The owner is so kind and helpful. She actually got down on the floor and showed me how to diaper stuffed animals to get the full effect. They also do free cloth diapering classes too. We were planning to use disposables until the babies were 8-10 weeks but she showed me how easy it is to cloth diaper a newborn. 

Stroller- Originally I REALLY wanted the bugaboo donkey. It is an amazing twin stroller with an outrageous price tag. My mom generously offered to purchase it for us and I though we were all set! 

After walking around the store and registering and realizing how many expensive products we needed, I rethought my stroller decision. For the price of the bugaboo, I could get a nice Baby Jogger City Select double stroller, both infant car seats, two car seat bases, and two convertible car seats for when the twins reached 6 months or so. In my opinion, the extra thousand we would spend on the bugaboo was just not worth it in comparison to everything else. The City Select stroller allows you to change the babies positions so they can face each other, face me, face out, etc. I can also take off one of the seats to make it a single stroller.

Stroller #2-We've also decided to get a jogging stroller in hopes that we will be running/jogging/walking with the twins. We heard great things about Bob strollers and are currently looking to purchase one second hand to save some money. Jay's been stalking Craigslist like a hawk! 

Infant Seat- Originally, the bugaboo stroller we chose only accommodated two different types of child seats. The first is Graco and the second is Maxi Cosi. We went with the Maxi Cosi Mico based on two important factors, weight and safety ratings. The Maxi Cosi had higher safety ratings and weighed less than the Graco. Our number one pick was the Chicco 30 Keyfit, but unfortunately it didn't fit our stroller. Now that we've decided to go with the City Select, the Chicco will be able to fit in our stroller and that's what we'll go with. The Chicco weighs one pound more than the Maxi Cosi but it much easier to work with. The Chicco also accomodates infants starting at 4 pounds so just in case we have preemies, we've got a way to get them home! We did a lot research on consumer reports and read tons of reviews

Maxi Cosi

Chicco Keyfit 30 in Romantic (this color name makes me laugh. We are talking about an infant here)

Convertible Car Seat- The babies will hopefully be little enough that they won't need a new carseat for at least 8 months but we went ahead and picked out convertible carseats for them to use once they hit 20 pounds. I took a friend of mine and her daughter to the airport over Christmas and watched her try to put two different carseats in my car. The first was her "back up". It didn't fit well in my Tahoe (the Mommy Car) and she ended up taking it out and putting the "good" seat in. It was such a better fitter and seemed so much safer! That helped us make up our mind to go with a Britax car seat. There are SEVERAL "levels" of Britax Car Seats. We went with the third "best" level based on consumer reports and reviews. We chose the Marathon 70. 

Pack & Play/Travel- We've decide that PeaPods will be our go to when traveling with the babes. With both sets of Grandparents living out of town, we knew we needed a travel solution and did not want to lug around bulky pack and plays. We liked that the PeaPods were so small and light that once the twins reach toddler age they could carry them. The PeaPods are also great for the beach and will last from birth until 5 years. We decided that the pack and play would come in handy for a family that has a two story home with the nursery on a different floor than the living area. For us, the nursery will be the down the hall and we won't need to use the pack and play as a changing station. The pack and play also only holds 30lbs total, meaning our babes would have to stop climbing in there together when they each reached 15lbs. 

High Chairs- Bases on the wonderful advice of a twin mom, we've decided to go with the Fisher Price Space Saver High Chairs. While I'm not a huge fan of the print on these chairs, I am excited about the functionality. The twin mom told me these are the best for feeding two babies at once as they recline in 3 positions, are 100% washable, and babies will be at my height when sitting down to feed them. I also like that they take up less space as I know our house will be covered in baby paraphernalia. This chair converts into a booster seat making it multi-functional, affordable, and hopefully will work in the long run. We also registered for the Phil and Ted's (which always reminds me of Bill and Ted) Lobster seats. These will be great to take to restaurants and to Grandparents' houses. We have a small island in our kitchen and we may set them up there once the babies are little older so that we can all eat together. 

Fisher Price

Phil and Ted 

Bouncy Seats- The MamaRoo. I've heard that these are a Godsend from many mothers. There are lots on Craigslist and at consignment stores for half the retail price. We'll probably only use them for for the first 8 months or so and I don't see the point of spending $240 each for 8-12 months. They do "everything a mom would do" including rocking, car ride motion, bouncing, etc. 

Bottles, Breastpump, Sanitizer- We've registered for three different kinds, Dr. Brown's, Avent, and Born Free. We're going to see what the babies take the best and then purchase more. We are skipping the 2oz because I've heard that it is pointless. We registered for a set of 4oz and a set of 8 or 9oz in each brand. The smaller 4oz come with smaller nipples for newborns and the 8oz come with larger. I'm planning to rent a hospital grade breastpump from Milky Way if I am able to breast feed. We decided to skip the sanitizers, bottle drying rack and bottle brush. We need a LOT of stuff and we decided to skip anything we didn't see as a necessity. Now, we may definitely buy those things in the future but for right now we are going to put bottles in the dishwasher and try to go without the extras. 

Monitor- At the recommendation of our registry "helper" and two other moms that past by us in the store, we registered for the Motorola Digital Video Monitor. I was a little weary of the video monitor and other people being able to watch my kids but they assured me with the newer technology, this wouldn't happen. This monitor also pans around the entire room so we'll be able to see both babies without buying two monitors. A few other things we found cool; it plays lullabies and you can do it from the unit in the parent's room and you can also talk to the babies so when they are older and climbing out of their cribs we can fuss at them over the monitor. haha. 

Diaper Bag- I registered for the Storksak Olivia because I like how it looks. It is probably too small and not super functional for twins but I think it's cute! I also looked at the Skip Hop Versa diaper bag. I don't love this one as much but it is bigger and has two insulated pockets for bottles so I may go with this one. We'll see!

Storksak Olivia

Skip Hop Versa

Baby Food Maker- We've registered for the BEABA babycook babyfood maker. Seems like it will do the trick. It got pretty good reviews and seems easy to use! 

Hospital Picture/Newborn Outfits- I found these adorable convertible gowns at the Milky Way and just LOVE them. Kissy Kissy brand makes the softest cotton and their gowns all have matching hats. I'm excited to dress my babies in pink and blue!

I got this in the color pictured above, white with blue trim, all pink, and all blue

Nursing PJs- Call me vein but I do not want to be all sloppy looking during my stay in the hospital. New jammies are definitely in order. I found some really cute sets online and found them at the Milky Way. I really like the sets from Olian. The price is steep but I figure if I get a pair or so every month until June I'll be all set :) I like to sleep in tank tops but don't want too much showing at the hospital so I like the matching robes that come with these sets. 

Back and Belly Support- I've always had back pain brought on from years to cheering and gymnastics. I've been in physical therapy and my therapist said that once I got pregnant it would be even worse. I finally got to the point where it was bad enough I needed to do something. At the recommendation of a friend and my nurse, I bought a lovely pregnancy girdle back supporter by Mom EZ. This things is ugly amazing. I feel like I'm working at Lowe's hardware when I wear it but my back is thanking me! 

Can we talk about this picture for a minute? Do you think they could have updated it since 1984? I'm especially loving the gold chain. Ha

Registering- Just a quick blurb about registering. It was overwhelming at Buy Buy Baby until I went back and got a helper. The woman that helped me where SO knowledgeable! They could answer all of my questions with facts about a product as well as their personal opinions. We debated between Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us, but heard really good things about Buy Buy Babies' return policy. They also accept all of Babies R Us's coupons as well as coupons from Bed Bath & Beyond. The second place we're going to register is The Milky Way. After shopping several times at Shower Me With Love and once at The Milky Way, I noticed a HUGE difference in customer service and personal attention. I felt like no one approached me at Shower Me With Love unless I was dressed up and looked like I was there to spend! The owner of Milky Way is so down to earth! Milky Way has more of the cutesy things that we don't really NEED but definitely want as compared to our registry at Buy Buy Baby, which is why we are registering at both!

Other items we've yet to figure out:

1. Glider vs. Sofa- Not sure if we can make it without rocking the babies, and not sure how we'll both be able to rock them without two gliders.

2. Exersauces & Playmats- How many, what kind, when do we need these, Help?!

3. Baby Carriers- Ergo Baby or Bjorn?

4. Bathtub

5. Cart Cover

One Boy, One Girl

We had our gender reveal party this weekend and it was so much fun surprising our family with the babies' genders! We are THRILLED to announce that a little boy and little girl will be joining our family! I'm going to do an entire post about the party as soon as I get all the pictures from my mom. I was a little busy getting everything ready and forgot to take some of my own!

Jay and I have been asked several times about names. At first, I didn't really feel comfortable sharing the names. I didn't even feel right calling the babies by their names. Jay told a few people at the gender party what we were planning to name them. It was so weird for me to hear them calling our babies by the names. They are still just "the twins" or "the babies" to me. We had talked about names forever and our minds were pretty much set on what we wanted to name them. When we found out their genders I immediately started having second thoughts about names. I mean, these are theirs for the rest of their lives! Admittedly, I have terrible anxiety about actually making a decision when the time comes. I seem to know everything I want until the moment gets here and then I freak out a bit. I'm working on it though.

With that said, today I got the urge to order bags for us to take to the hospital (I know it is WAY early and I know I'm weird). I love the land's end boat totes and thought they would be a perfect way for us to keep up with all of our stuff. I like to be over-prepared and this solution made a lot of sense to me :) Anyway, if I'm going to order boat totes, they of course, must be monogrammed, and the babies need names in order to monogram things! So I pulled the trigger and ordered bags with their precious names embroidered. Now I know this is not the same as registering with social security and that I can still always change my mind (one of my friends decorated her entire nursery with her little boy's name only to change it as soon as he was born!) but I am so confident and excited with our choices! Without further chatter, the names we have chosen are Emerson Catherine (Emma Cate) for our baby girl and Caviness Holden (Holden) for our baby boy.

I knew that if we had a girl I wanted to use a double name. My best friend Mary Clare has a double name and I have always loved it! We knew that Catherine would be the middle name. It is a family name from my side and all the first born girls have Katherine or Catherine somewhere in their name. My Great Grandma's name was Katherine, my Grandma's name was Katherine Elizabeth, my Mom's Diane Catherine, mine Andrea Katherine, and my daughter will be Emerson Catherine. We also liked the name Emma but it is so common. I like formal names with nicknames and we both loved the name Emerson so there we go! Choosing  our son's name was a bit trickier. Jay is a second and for a while we discussed having a third; however, he really wanted to honor his maternal grandparents, who he is very close with, in the naming of our baby. We wanted to incorporate their last name, Caviness, into the baby's name but we couldn't think of any really good boyish nicknames so we decided he would go by something else. I've loved the name Holden since I read Catcher in the Rye in high school. Jay's dad's side of the family has a place at Holden beach and he absolutely loves it there! We easily agreed that our son would go by Holden.  

So there you have it! Welcome to our family Emma Cate and Holden!