Our Girl: {Kinney Lessie Hammond}

It has almost been 6 months since I have last blogged. Not much had been going on in our world until Monday, July 9^th. That was the day that set our lives on a different path than we had planned. That was the day that I discovered there would be a Baby Hammond on his or her way. The second (and it was a quick second) that the blue line showed up on my pregnancy test I thought, “OMG I am not ready for this. I don’t know if Adam is ready for this.” I am not embarrassed to say that our little buddle of joy was not planned. In fact we frequently talked about how we couldn’t believe that friends our age were actually PLANNING on having children. NOT that there is ANYTHING wrong with that…we just felt like we had a few more good miles left in us before we started warming bottles and changing diapers. We knew that wanted kids (eventually) but the unspoken plan was that we wanted to wait until we were closer to home. But you know the quote “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”….well, needless to say, God got the last laugh.

By the time that I had figured out what was going on with my body our baby had been hanging out for 9 weeks. Adam and I joke about it now…but I can see HOW people do not know they are pregnant. Even now at almost 5 ½ months I am not HUGE and the babys “flutters” (movements) could easily be mistaken for other bodily functions. Now, check back with me at 7-9 months and I am sure that the above statements will be null and void!

I have NOT had morning sickness one time. And I always thought of that as a MAJOR sign of pregnancy. I had no cravings. I was tired but I have a job that I work hard at every single day so I contributed that to my fatigue. And I drink A LOT of water so I associated that as to why I was constantly making the walk from my office down the hall to the restroom. The only thing I REALLY suffered from were massive headaches…I never get headaches…but again I just thought that had to do with working.

Now, on to the Daddy to be. HE IS SO EXCITED!!! At first when I broke the news to him he thought I was pulling his leg…but the minute that I burst in to tears and showed him the “evidence” he knew I was serious. And he never hesitated and he never questioned if we were ready. He knew God had a plan for us that our baby was MEANT to be! He held me in his arms and the FIRST thing he said to me was… “It’s a girl. I just know it is.” The very next day Adam came home with Baby Hammond’s fist toy, a stuffed bunny. People tell me that I glow but he beams! He beams with pride and excitement. It's crazy HOW in love with her he is already. He told me one night, "I can't believe how much I love someone that I have never met." I know he is going to be the most precious and dedicated Daddy! After all he is an amazing husband and best friend.

September 11^th is when we found out if Baby Hammond was going to be a “He or She”. And let’s be totally honest every daddy wants that boy and every mommy wants that girl. I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU SAY…you will not convince me any other way. Of course you want the baby to be healthy, but beyond that you know you want that baseball player or cheerleader. We tried all the old wives tales, Chinese gender chart, rings on a string, tracking my cravings (sweet vs salty), etc…you name it we probably tried it or looked it up. But nothing pointed one way…one thing would suggest a girl and then the next would suggest a boy. But that morning we found out that Baby Hammond would be spoiled with ruffles, bows, sparkles and pearls our baby is a girl!

 We had picked out names for both genders and no I will not tell you what we were going to name our girl if she had been a boy. Here is something I have learned about names…EVERYONE has an opinion…good or bad. And to be honest we didn’t want people’s opinions, we wanted what we wanted. As you may know (if you are mine or Adam’s facebook friend, friend or family member) her name is Kinney. I KNEW before we were having a baby that I wanted to follow the southern tradition of naming your baby a grandmother’s maiden name. I ran the idea by Adam and he was a fan of the idea from the beginning. In fact if you have ever heard the song “Where I’m From,” by Jason Michael Carroll, he says, “Where moms and dads were high school flames, Gave their children grandmothers maiden name, Yes it may not sound like much but its where I'm from”. Her full name (as I am sure you have guessed from the title of this blog) is Kinney Lessie Hammond. Kinney, is Adam’s grandmothers maiden name from his dad’s side of the family and Lessie comes from my grandmother on my mom’s side. Both of these women played significant roles in shaping our childhoods and making us the adults that we are today. She (Kinney) has quite a legacy behind her name and it makes me smile just thinking about how proud they (our grandmothers) would be. Now that she has a full name…let the monogramming begin!!!!

Kinney has no idea what she is in store for. She is already soooooooooo loved by so many! In fact it blows my mind how loved she is. My parents are so excited that they have a closet FULL of things for her at their house. Kinney receives weekly packages from friends and families (she’s one popular little lady). And that really helps with the distance…because I am not going to lie…being 8 hours away from family and friends it’s easy to feel forgotten…even though we know we never are.

I am 23 weeks and feel like time is slipping away from us ESPECIALLY since we missed the first 9 weeks. Now, we’re moving on to nursery items, daycare, diapers, and motherly worries…that I have read are normal. Before we know it February will be here!!!!