His Name

The perfect name for our perfect little boy. Like his sister, his name carries significant family history. Names of loved ones here on earth and those looking down from heaven.

Tucker originated as my maternal great, great-grandmother's maiden name, Tuck. I am forever blessed by this side of my family. My mother and my grandmother are two of my greatest role models. They are two of the strongest and most generous people I know. Memories with my aunts, uncles, and cousins date back as far as I can remember, and no matter distance or time nothing will break our bond. I have Susie Tuck to thank for this side of my family, and I am thrilled that my son will carry a piece of them in his name.

Donald comes straight from his Daddy. Most of you know that Steven's first name is Donald. He is named after his dad, Donald, who is named after his dad and Steven's beloved late grandfather, Donald Joe. We lost Pepaw earlier this year to a long and hard fought battle with cancer, and I couldn't be more honored for my sweet baby boy to carry his name.

No one warned me how hard it would be naming a baby boy. I could name a girl all day long, but it took time and patience to find the perfect name suited for our son. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of things that I'm going to learn when it comes to little boys!

Baby Sparks #2 Bumpdate || 15 & 16 Weeks

How far along: 16 weeks, 3 days

Due Date: March 10, 2018 <---- This has already been changed once and could very well change again. Baby is still measuring almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

Baby is the size of: an Avocado (yum!) - Baby can now hear voices and sounds thanks to the tiny bones forming in his ears. He is also growing eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair (although if he is anything like his sister, that head of his won't have much hair on it for a while! haha).

Gender: a precious little BOY!!

Name: WE HAVE A NAME!!! Our sweet baby boy will be named Tucker Donald Sparks. His name carries significant family history, just like his sister's name. I have a post planned for this week that talks all about it.

Symptoms: The headaches have eased up, thank goodness! My energy is back and the nausea is gone, so mama is feeling good over here. Last week I did experience something that was basically my body telling my to stop overdoing it. I'm so used to flipping Charlie Beth around at gymnastics class and lifting and carrying her everywhere. She's every bit of 30 lbs, so I know I need to take it easy and let her coach take over all the gymnastics flipping.

Weight Gain: Up 2 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight.

Movement: Yessss!!! I've started feeling him move, and my heart melts each time I feel a little flutter. This is by far my favorite thing about pregnancy.

Cravings/Aversions: Mozzarella sticks and cold, crisp salads preferably from a salad bar. I normally hate any type of "buffet," so this is a super strange craving. Pregnancy is weird.

Missing anything: Wine and Sushi still sound delicious. A cold beer while watching football on Saturdays also sounds pretty darn good.



Sleep: Charlie Beth must be going through some kind of developmental leap because last week she started waking up once a night. Most nights I can go in and rock her back to sleep. Last Saturday night, however, we ended up bringing her into our room and having a little party at midnight. She was up for a couple of hours. Thankfully this week she seems to be back to her normal sleep patterns.

Mood: Pretty happy these days! :)

Maternity Clothes: My mom and I went shopping on Friday and I lucked out in Macy's on maternity clothes. Their maternity section is tiny, but I managed to find a ton of stuff. I should be set for a while on clothes (Thanks, mom).

Nursery: I have a theme picked out for the nursery! I'll start working on it in a few months, but the vision in my head is absolutely perfect.

Best moment this week: My mom and I took Charlie Beth to see Disney on Ice last week and she absolutely LOVED it. I loved watching the show through her eyes.

Looking forward to: Feeling these movements and kicks get stronger and stronger.

Husband Is: Excited to experience having a daughter and a son.

15 Week Bumpdate with Charlie Beth

16 Week Bumpdate with Charlie Beth

Baby Sparks #2 Bumpdate || 14 Weeks

How far along: I wrote this around 14 weeks, 3 days. So we'll go with that. I forgot to post it last week, so I'm inching somewhere between 15 and 16 weeks now.

Due Date: March 10, 2018 <---- This has already been changed once and could very well change again. Baby is still measuring almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

Baby is the size of: A Peach? And Orange? With this baby measuring so far ahead I really have no idea which week to compare him to. The important part is that baby's kidneys have begun making urine, and the liver and spleen are doing their jobs too!

Gender: a precious little BOY!!

Name: We haven't set it in stone yet, but we DO have a name front runner picked out. I told Steven I wanted to sleep on it for a few days before announcing it as officially his name.

Symptoms: Mainly just headaches. I've never really dealt with severe headaches before, so they are really knocking me down. Tylenol helps, but I hate taking any kind of medicine while pregnant.

Weight Gain: Still up 1 lb from pre-pregnancy weight.

Movement: I am feeling small little kicks/flutters here and there. Definitely nothing consistent and movement is still very light. I LOVE when I feel them though!

Cravings/Aversions: Still craving a cold, fresh salad.

Missing anything: Wine.



Sleep: Pretty good for the most part.

Mood: Happy and much less emotional and moody these days.

Maternity Clothes: Mixing and matching maternity and non-maternity. The pre-pregnancy pants have all been moved to the back of the closet for the remainder of this pregnancy. It's either dresses, maternity shorts, or leggings right now.  

Nursery: Now that we know we are having a sweet baby BOY it's time to get started planning to nursery!

Best moment this week: Definitely finding out that we are adding a baby brother to the mix! We are so excited, and it was so much fun announcing the news to our family last weekend.

Looking forward to: Cooler weather, football, and all things Fall.

Husband is: So excited to be a daddy to a daughter and a son!

14 Week Bumpdate with Charlie Beth

Baby Sparks #2 Bumpdate || 12 & 13 Weeks

How far along: 13 Weeks, 6 days

Due Date: March 10, 2018 <---- This has already been changed once and could very well change again. Baby is measuring almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Basically I'm somewhere between the beginning of 14 weeks and the middle of 15 weeks. Who knows!

Baby is the size of: a lemon! Although our big baby is measuring almost two weeks ahead of schedule and was exactly 3 inches long at my ultrasound last Monday.

Gender: Starting to feel more and more like this could be a little girl after all. We have an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow where we will hopefully find out the sex of this little one. Pray that baby cooperates and gives us a good potty shot!

Name: I'm second guessing all our name choices right now. Maybe this kid will have a name by the time I give birth, or maybe he/she will remain nameless forever. haha

Symptoms: For the most part my energy is back and the nausea has calmed down. I have been dealing with headaches almost daily and had a pretty bad day the day we came home from the beach dealing with leg cramps, headaches, and nausea.

Weight Gain: Up 1 lb from pre-pregnancy weight.

Movement: I know it's early, but I am 99.9% sure I felt baby move over the weekend. It was quick and it was light, but I know what baby movement feels like and that was definitely it. I haven't felt anything else in a couple of days though. I am anxiously waiting for those kicks to get stronger and more consistent!

Cravings/Aversions: I've been craving a really good, fresh salad. Isn't that the weirdest craving ever?

Missing anything: Definitely missed sipping on a cold beer while laying on the beach last weekend. I bought non-alcoholic beer, but it just wasn't the same.



Sleep: Better this week, thankfully.

Mood: Pretty happy overall and maybe a little moody when these headaches hit. ;)

Maternity Clothes: I ordered a few cute Fall dresses and tops from Pink Blush Maternity last week. 

Nursery: Who knows! I'll start planning once we find out if this little nugget is a boy or a girl.

Best moment this week: Seeing our little peanut on ultrasound last Monday! It's amazing the difference a few weeks make. Baby was moving and waving and covering his/her face with that sweet little hand the whole time.

We also snuck away to the beach this past weekend for a last minute vacation. It was so much fun seeing Charlie Beth on the beach. She LOVED the ocean and playing in the sand. Every morning she woke up, ran to the balcony door and screamed "WATER!" when she saw the ocean. We definitely have a little beach baby on our hands.

Looking forward to: Fall weather and football season!

Husband is: Still determined this little babe is a boy...

13 Week Bumpdate with Charlie Beth