Who was I kidding!?!

I can't wait until Friday to share our news!

Would a gender reveal party have been so much fun?

Absolutely!

But I just can NOT wait!

I never thought I was a BAD secret keeper but as it turns out...

I CANNOT KEEP THIS SECRET!

So, let me be the first to introduce you to our sweet little PRINCESS...

Emma Makenzie Maness

Just a quick explanation on the name...We decided when we were pregnant 2 years ago that if we had a girl, she would be Samantha Abigail.  Samantha because its similar to Samuel (Allen's first name...) and Abigail because of one of his former students, Abigail Faulk that he absolutely fell in love with on her first day of Kindergarten at ZC.  AND....we have this whole initial thing that we've been shooting for.  You see my birth name is Andrea Nicole Domizio and Allen's is Samuel Allen Maness.  Now, call me weird but when we were dating I noticed that both of our initials were the first 3 letters in both our first names.  ANDrea and SAMuel.  I thought that was a sign that we were MEANT for each other!  :)  So all along the way we have toyed with using the same "pattern" for our kids.  Once we decided that our last baby was going to be "Baby Cam" we sort of "saved" Samantha Abigail for our second child.  Well 2 years later, I still really like the name but I came up with Emma too.  Why Emma???  Well, have I ever mentioned how obsessed we are with the nineties sitcom "Friends"?  You got it!  Ross and Rachel's daughter's name was Emma.  I've always loved it and at the beginning of this pregnancy we were throwing names around one night in bed while watching "Friends" and it hit me!  I'm even INSISTENT that our sweet Emma have the big E on her bedroom wall like in the show!  So, where did Makenzie come from?  Well, fortunately the third letter in EmMa is an M...for Maness of course.  Which brings us to the second M which needed to be the letter that her middle name started with.  If you know me very well you know very quickly who my MOST FAVORITE 2 people in the whole world are!  #1...my hubby...but running a close #2 is my baby sister, Kasee "Makenzie".  Isn't it nice how easily that worked out!?!  I am so excited...you might say I am tickled PINK!

So there you have it!  Allen will just have to wait on his ballplayer for now.  Did he "want" a boy?  Of course...but hey, we're 100% cool with an AU cheerleader instead of ballplayer.  That's right.  It's tutus and pompoms for us!  On the way home I asked him if he knew just how many dance recitals he would be attending in the coming years!  We are just thrilled.  We have been officially warned by a good friend though that girls are expensive.  I turned our finances over to Allen this month to relieve some unnecessary stress from myself.  WELL...I'm thinking it's already time to reverse that decision.  :)

One quick disclaimer...we are not 100% certain Emma's a girl...but it's like this...none of us could see anything that "looked" like a boy.  ;)  We go back July 27th for another ultrasound which will give us the go ahead to start painting EVERYTHING PINK!  Until then, I'll just be saving my receipts.

Happy 4th everyone!



Sugar and Spice OR Snips and Snails?

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice?

OR

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails?

What will Baby M2 be made of?

15 weeks, 4 days and counting...

We go to the doctor tomorrow and...FINGERS CROSSED...will find out if Molly and me or Lutz and Allen will take the lead in the gender wars in the Maness house.  We are still a little early to find out but my pregnancy app on my Droid told me last Wednesday if we were having an ultrasound any time soon we MIGHT be able to find out Baby M2's gender.  Allen is SURE its a boy...I was sure of a girl until the last ultrasound when I swore the tech was about to tell us it was a boy.  Call me crazy but it "looked" like a boy already.  :)  Of course in the end we will be thrilled either way.  I told another coach's wife last week that we weren't wishing for anyone in particular.  The way I see it, we will end up with a cheerleader or ballplayer...either way it will be just what we want!

The new challenge in our house (the old being actually "making" the baby) is agreeing on a name.  We have 1 full girl name that we like and a first name for a girl without a middle name.  We have 1 full boy name that we like and I, I, I have another full boy name that I, I, I like.  Did you get that I have a name that I like...Allen not so much???  Ughhh...he just irrates me sometimes. :)  I keep reminding him of all the things in our marriage that I have suggested and he didn't agree with that he later realized to be the right decision BUT he is still bucking my boy name.  He keeps reminding me that I loved the first boy name to begin with...round and round we go.  Baby names are ALWAYS the topic of conversation anytime we get in the car for a trip.  I really want Baby M2 to have a name when we find out the gender.  Any suggestions???  For a girl we want something really girlie.  And for a boy we want something really athletic.  Here's a very funny AND very TRUE story...

At basketball camp this summer we've been yelling out boy names, acting like we're pulling for someone...just to see how the name "sounds".

I know, I know....we're pathetic but dang...our kid is going to be stuck with this name for life.  I finally told Allen today that I wish babies already came with a name.  Its like you're in the delivery room, you have the baby, and the doctor says, "Congratulations...meet your son/daughter...fillintheblank."  It sure would make this a LOT easier.  LOL!  Actually, I love the whole bantering about picking out a name...if I could just get Allen to cooperate.  :)  In the end, I know I will be happy with whatever we choose.  I just have a really hard time being patient.

One last thing about Baby M2.  We're taking a poll on what our friends and family think the gender is...cast your vote on either of our Facebooks.  I'm going to keep a running tally so we can see who is right!  So exciting!!!

In unrelated baby news...

Where has the first month of summer gone???  Oh that's right, to cheerleading and basketball practices and camps!  Really though we have enjoyed our summer so far!  Allen has attended 3 basketball camps and countless practices.  We're very optimistic about Carroll High School basketball this year.  We have the potential for a really good season!  I can't wait to cheer on the Eagles!  And cheerleading has been great too!  We only had 9 practices before summer camp but believe me we packed in AS MUCH AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE to those practices!  My girls worked super hard and I'm excited about the year ahead of us.  Do the girls hate me at times?  (That's a retorical question!) :) But have they become super awesome? Oh yeah!  We attended a new camp this summer in Columbus, GA.  It was still UCA but it was a stunt/performance camp.  We learned lots of new cool stunts and transitions and brought home the 2nd place trophy for camp champs.  Of course, I felt like we were robbed but I have to remind myself that I am just a little bias.  All in all I think my squad this year is THE BOMB!  Great make up of personalities and wonderful senior leadership! Can't wait to see what the year holds for basketball and cheerleading!

In conclusion...PLEASE don't ask us Baby M2's gender after our appointment tomorrow!  We are planning a gender reveal party for our families this weekend and I just don't think I can stand to keep the secret if asked!  LOL!  Help a mama out! ;)