Bring On The Girliness!

Since my last post about the pregnancy, a lot has happened! We made it to age of viability (23ish weeks), which means that if anything serious were to happen at this point, this little girl could survive outside the womb. Both times now, this has been a HUGE relief for me (that I'm sure not too many people think about) and something that I am sooo thankful for. I am now about 25 weeks along, but here was the tummy at 24 weeks:



It is definitely going a LOT faster this time around! Sometimes I even forget that I'm pregnant (because I have so many other things to pay attention to) ...until I get a giant jab in the ribs. As an update to some of the health concerns I previously talked about, God has totally answered every single prayer of ours so faithfully! After having some pain on the left side (which was causing some pretty consistent, painful contractions), I decided to go into the hospital at around 21.5 weeks. They did an ultrasound, some blood work and a bunch of fetal monitoring, and determined that:

1. I am completely free of infection
2. The baby is VERY healthy, with a great heart rate and measuring in at about 1-2 weeks ahead of schedule!
3. The contractions are not causing any cervical dilation (which is good)
4. My placenta is moving UP to where it's supposed to be, and is not even "low-lying" anymore!

Almost instantaneously after the ultrasound, I stopped having the pains and the contractions stopped almost completely. Now I get an occasional painless braxton hick contraction during the day (which is completely normal), but everything is back to normal! AND my midwife agreed to take me off of pelvic rest! Which means I can work out again, do yoga, stress less about lifting Eli around, and...regain intimacy with my husband (ehem!). YAY!! To top it all off, for the first time in my pregnancy, I am basically free of symptoms and have a TON of energy (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the second trimester!), so I actually WANT to work out and -of course- NEST!

Before I go into the sum of my extreme nesting instincts combined with my neurotic creative excitement about having a girl, we want to officially share some very special news! We have chosen a name, and are officially making it public! Her name will be...

Eden Elizabeth Bollinger! <3 <3 <3

"Eden" is actually Hebrew for "delight" and "paradise," and to be very honest, God made this name very VERY clear to us before we even got pregnant with Eli! Basically it comes from the concept that Eden was God's original design for His creation (which was absolutely beautiful and holy), but also, it's the imagery that represents true RESTORATION of all of creation! It's not only the beginning; but the end goal, if you will. A beautiful, holy, perfect, and complete reconciliation with God that I eagerly look forward to some day! Here is a verse which really relates to that idea of a garden (and comes from one of my favorite passages in the Bible):

The LORD will guide you always;
He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail. -Isaiah 58:11

Elizabeth is my middle name (as well as my mom's), and it means "My God is a vow." Jake and I especially love the idea of informally shortening it to "Beth" and being able to call her Eden Beth (like some people call me Sarah Beth). And, because so many people ask, we did NOT purposely try to stick to the "E" theme (in fact, Eli's full name is Robert Eli Bollinger); we just happen to like E names, I guess!

SO, along with the idea of the garden, I'm already going NUTS planning her nursery! I've compiled a bunch of color/theme pictures and made a collage to start brainstorming. I'm not a huge fan of pink, but I definitely wanted it to be delicate and kind of unique. So, I decided to go with a pale baby blue/teal as the main color, and add in accents of pale pink, cherry red, and even black for a modern contrast. I love a subtle mod garden/cherry blossom theme. I am totally having WAY too much fun with this, but I guess that's what happens when you have to ignore all the girly stuff for so long, and then get to finally indulge. Let me know what you think!! :)

My Word for 2012

A few years ago, some lovely ladies and I started an annual tradition that I love love LOVE! A lot of people make New Years resolutions for the coming year, but in 2010, a new concept was started called "My One Word". This is a chance for people to think about ONE word that really encompasses their goals/hopes/dreams/focus for the coming year. My girlfriends and I took it a step further and decided that instead of focusing on a word about US, we would choose a word that describes one of the aspects of God; a characteristic that we can focus on during the year to really dive deep into who God is and what His purposes are for us. Here is a link to the original post describing all this in more detail by my amazingly lovely and passionate sister, Miss Jennifer Beamer!

Well, every year since then we've been repeating the tradition and really praying about how God might want to reveal Himself to us in the coming year. Throughout the year, we can study that characteristic of God in more detail through scripture, and also begin to recognize how He is showing Himself in that way via little reminders in daily life. It has been an absolutely amazing process for me to begin to discover the identity of God and His passions, and is definitely a tradition worth holding on to!

THIS year, after praying about it for some time, God is showing me that He wants to be my "FIRM FOUNDATION" in 2012. I thought this was rather interesting, because it's not a typical name that you hear throughout the Bible, like "Price of Peace" or "Healer" or "Provider," but it's definitely the aspect that God wants to show me. I'm kind of excited because it can mean so many different things depending on the circumstance, and yet in EVERY circumstance it seems applicable because God is the source and the foundation of every good thing! In fact, soon after choosing this characteristic, I've had this verse going over and over in my head (I chose KJV because I like it the most, but all the versions have a slightly different way of describing the same thing):

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are ALL things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. -Romans 11:36

I'm SO excited about what God's going to do and how He is going to choose to reveal Himself in small AND big ways this year! Does anyone else want to partner with me in praying about/choosing a characteristic? Here is a list to get you thinking, but it doesn't have to come from that; God is WAY bigger than that list! I'd love to know which words you choose and the little ways that God is using them to teach you more during the year! Many blessings to you this year!!