Downward slope!

So here we are! 23 weeks down and 17 to go until we meet our precious baby girl. Easton has finally decided that it's his sister in my belly and not a baby giraffe like he thought for most of the pregnancy. I'm very proud of my special little guy and I have no doubt that he is going to be the best big brother. He's developed a little bit of a soft spot for the girl next door. Last week in nursery, she was upset and he tried everything he could to try to make her happy again (Later in the day he even told me that he wanted to kiss her! Uh-oh!). If he's that sweet to his friends, he'll be over the moon for his little sis. We're very happy to have a few weeks of summer still left to enjoy. I'm finally finished with summer classes and couldn't be more relieved. I even managed to get fairly good grades (2 B+'s) in my classes despite my lack of motivation to work.

In other news around the house, we've finally settled on a name for Baby Girl. And you'll probably all be surprised to hear that it's not Kadynce OR Charlotte. Her name is...*drumroll*...Olivia! We LOVE it. I hadn't ever given the name a second thought or loved it until I was reading names outloud to Kade and Olivia was one of them. He said "Livvy Lou!" and that was it. We were sold. So, Little Miss Livvy she is. The bad news for Miss Livvy is that I apparently stink at growing umbilical cords. At our 20 week ultrasound, they learned that Liv's cord only has one artery and one vein instead of the usual 2 arteries and one vein. This can lead to problems with kidneys and such for her, but she appears to have a clean bill of health and looks very good. So, worst case scenario for her, she may not grow as much as we would hope for. If that's the case, I'll be induced at 37 weeks. However, my doctor has assured me that many people with single artery cords are able to carry full term without any problems. We're hoping that's the case for us as well. As miserable as the end of pregnancy can be, I would hate for Livvy to have to come early and be at risk for any complications.
As for our sweet Easton, he's growing before my eyes. If it's possible to fall in love with him any more than I have, he makes sure I do everyday. He talks my ear off all day and is always coming up with the silliest things. I love his energy and I live to hear him tell me how much he loves me. I can't even begin to count all of the new things he learns everyday. His vocabulary blows me away sometimes. He counts to 14, knows so many songs I can't keep up, and is really starting to develop an imagination. His favorite thing to do is ride his bike outside and play Angry Birds (don't judge me). We're working really hard on learning colors. He knows all the color names, but can't quite grasp which is which yet.
That's about all that's been happening around the Gardner home lately. We'll be sure to keep you posted on Livvys' progress :)