Sibling Rivalry Starts Early

Munchkin and I were sitting on the couch, watching Sesame Street this morning when little Ruthe started kicking. A Lot.

Well, Naomi must have noticed because she turned around and said, "stop!"
I asked her "stop what?"
she answered, "no!" and poked my belly.

I just laughed, and was thinking 'silly munchkin!" When I noticed that Ruthe kicked again, Naomi turned and poked my belly and said, "no! no!"

My silly little girls-- fighting already and Ruthe hasn't even been born yet!  This should be interesting in the coming months...

What's in a Name?

I've been contemplating names lately.  With good reason, since we just found out Baby #2 is a GIRL!!!  Anyways, I wanted to just record my thoughts on how important a name is, and why we chose he names we have so far for our girls.

I think a person's name is more than just what they are called.  It's part of who they are, and the inspiration for a name can be just as important as the name itself.

Our first daughter is Charlotte Naomi. 
~Charlotte after my mom (Charlotte Lynn) and myself (Charlotte Marie).  I think my grandma got the name Charlotte from a friend of hers... I'm not sure. Oh, and we also learned that Charlotte was Brad's grandma's middle name, so I guess it came from both sides of the family.  :-)
-From BabyNames.com, Charlotte means: Free, also feminine form of Charles (which means: free man).
~Naomi was a name chosen by Brad.  He told me long before we were even engaged that when he was somewhere around the age of 10 or something that he was reading the Bible, read the name Naomi, and decided then that it would be his first daughter's name.  Luckily,I liked it as well. ;-)
-From BabyNames.com, Naomi means: gentle, beautiful (in hebrew), and (in Japanese) honest/correct/frank, and beauty.

Beautiful is definitely a word to describe this little one-- she is beautiful in character, spirit, and body.

Our newest little one (expected to arrive late May or early June) will be Ruthe Maedean.
~Ruthe after Brad's grandma (Ruthe Charlotte Neeley).  Funny story-- we asked Brad's grandma where she got her name, and why it was spelled with an -e at the end, since the common spelling is Ruth.  As I remember it, she snuck off to see a fortune teller when she was a little girl who told her that if she spelled her name with an -e on the end would have better fortune or luck in life, or something like that.  And from then on, Grandma spelled her name Ruthe because she liked it.  So, we're going to keep the good fortune coming and keep the spelling Ruthe.
-From BabyNames.com, Ruth(e) means: friendship (in Hebrew)
~Maedean after my great-grandma (Francis Maedean Harkins-- who went by Maedean or Mae).  Today would be her 85th birthday.  She passed away almost 8 years ago, and I love and miss her very much.  I remember her as a strong and loving woman, and am so grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know her in this life.  In fact, her last year in this life, I spent a large part of my summer with her and have very fond memories of that time.
-From BabyNames.com, Maedean means: uh, my great-grandma?  this isn't listed on any baby names site that i can find anywhere... i even googled the name, and there's maybe 5 people with that name in the US, but  think most of them are actually Mae Dean, two separate names.  Lucky girl gets a pretty unique name! :-)

Profile view of Ruthe Maedean at 22 weeks.

On another note, while we didn't plan this on purpose, our two daughters will be Naomi and Ruthe-- like in the Bible story that Brad read many years ago.  I hope that my girls will have as close and good of a relationship as sisters as did Naomi and Ruth in the Bible.  I also hope that both my girls will live up to their names-- they have some amazing examples of strong, faithful, smart, and beautiful women to look up to.  Amazing women who sacrificed much for their families and were full of so much love.  This is everything I hope for for my daughters.

Baby #2

It's a girl!

We're going to name her after Brad's grandma and my great-grandma.

15 weeks

22weeks

So excited to have another little girl join the Neeley family!

A Neeley New Year

As we welcome a new year, we are grateful for the experiences of the past year that have helped us learn and grow closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We also have high expectations and goals for ourselves in the coming year!

Memorable Stuff from 2011
1. Munchkin's 1st birthday!
2. Brad's first full-time job!
3. Leaving Utah, moving East, and being closer to family!

Goals for 2012
1. Hold FHE each week.  We really struggle with this one, especially with a toddler.  But as a family with a young child-- FHE should be even more fun!  A friend of mine put this list together with some awesome FHE ideas for toddlers and I'm excited to try some of them. 

2. Practice the piano at least 15 minutes each day.  I've always wanted to be able to play a musical instrument.  Brad and his family have been very supporative and given me self-teaching books and practice pieces.  One of my most treasured Christmas presents this year was the simplified versions of some church Hymns, from Brad.  I'm excited to practice and have music in our home more. I know 15 minutes isn't much, but an hour each day isn't realistic with a demanding toddler, and it's still practice everyday.

3. Attend the temple at least 6 times this year (or every other month).  Attending the temple has become so tough!  It's almost 3 hours away, so we either need to go separately or find another family to go with us that we can swap babysitting with during sessions.  Either way, it means double the time in Columbus for both of us to do at least 1 session.  And that time adds up: 3 hours driving, 4-5 hours at the temple, and 3 hours driving back.  I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to live within minutes of the temple while in Provo and to go more often.  It helped me strengthen my testimony of Jesus Christ and the importance of temple service.

4. Develop healthier life-habits, like being more active each day (physically and mentally) and eating healthier foods.  There's not an easy way to quantify this one and measure it, but to help us reach this goal, we are getting a family YMCA membership (and setting a goal for Brad and I to each use the membership at least 2 times per week) and trying to eat more fruits and vegetables throughout the day.  And I've been exercising with a pre-natal workout dvd or playing Just Dance while the munchkin naps 5-6 times per week.

Happy New Year! And Best wishes on meeting your goals in 2012.