We had fun building a rather large snowman over the long weekend.  The snow was so wet, it rolled up like insulation off the ground.  So, building the snowman took about 5 minutes.  Amazingly enough, he is still there (though quite a bit shorter) this morning!

After much debate, thought, Internet searches, books, brownies, and ice cream, we decided on a name yesterday…

Our little boy will be named Noah (rest, peace, comfort) Lewis (famed warrior).

A little family background:  Lewis is my middle name and the middle name of my dad.  In my family, the name goes back several generations to my great-great uncle on my Great Grandmother Shaffer’s side — Colonel Lewis Limbert.  He was in the US Cavalry during World War I.  My dad was named for my Grandmother (Shaffer) Sharp’s brother, Lewis Hazen Shaffer, who was also in the military and died in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II in December, 1944.  From my Aunt Bette:

Uncle Lewis “Dude” Hazen Shaffer (3/21/1920-12/12/1944) was one of Mother’s 5 brothers.  He was married to Marjorie Jean Shaw in June 1942.  He was listed as missing in action initially. He died in the Battle of the Bulge of WWII.  His body was not returned to family until 1949. His burial site is the (rt 8) Rhyn Farm Cemetery, Rouseville, PA @ Titusville, PA.

It is also a family name of one of my closest and respected friends — Wade Lewis Shaffer.  Pretty sure we’re all related somehow…  Speaking of being related, Amanda’s maiden name is Shaw.  Hmm…  😉

7.5 inches of snow by this morning!  Mandy and Tigger had a blast playing “catch”.  She’s out of school, and has had a 4-day weekend!  I get to work from home….  🙁

Holly and Cynthia, here ya go…

Here are some pics of Amanda today (29 weeks), with our nearly 7″ of snow in the background!

Earlier today, Amanda was out making pregnant snow angels!  🙂

We go Monday (the 15th) to the high-risk pregnancy doctor again, just as a routine follow-up.  They assured us last time that all should be fine, so we’re just hoping we get a 4D sonogram out of it this time.  🙂

Prayers would be appreciated, though, that all the cysts that were once visible are now gone.

Well, the baby started to really kick this week and last, to the point that Amanda can feel it now.  And, I was able to feel the kicks for the first time last night.  “Active baby boy” is what all the sonogram techs keep telling us…  Oh, boy….  😉

Also, we found another possible name — still not committed to one yet, but we’re narrowing down the possibilities.  He could be “Austen Lewis” or “Micah Lewis”, at least as of today….

So, one of the pictures below was really cool — the baby actually has one eye open, and you can see the lens of the eye.  When Amanda first showed it to me, I could swear he is the Terminator baby.  You decide…

Well, Amanda went in to see the doctor late last week, just to make sure everything was going OK.  She’d had some pain in her side, which the doctor told her was likely due to some scar tissue stretching.  Nothing to be concerned with right now.  And, hey, we got more pictures to share!  🙂

Amanda finished up the year at school, and to end the year well, she told her students she was having a baby. They were thrilled! Several of the 6th graders even gave her celebration gifts, which was sweet. What was even sweeter was the fact that these kids spent their allowances to do so; they don’t have much, and they gave what little they had. Sweet kids. 🙂

Life continues on here – no new news about Baby Sharp. We found a nice rocking sofa chair for the nursery, which I promptly fell asleep in last night (glimpses of things to come…).

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year!