Aizen's name explained

In case you didn't know, naming a child is *extremely* hard! Luckily for us, Robby and I agreed on a name fairly quickly (like wayyyyy before we found out if we were having a boy or girl lol). BUT with deciding on a name came all the questions... so I'm going to answer a few now and explain all about our Aizen's name :)

The most common question we get is how do you pronounce his name and how do you spell it... -Aizen (eye-zen); normally I just tell people the "a" is silent. Yes, we realize that he will get called a million other names before people get the pronunciation right but we love his name and couldn't imagine it being spelt any other way :) 

The next question is usually where did we find his find name or how did we come up with it... Welllllll, Robby watches anime's (Japanese animated tv shows). On the anime Bleach there is a character named Aizen, the character Aizen is actually a vilian on the show but super bada** ;) The only downfall to this is that "Aizen" doesn't actually have a meaning, it is literally a made-up Japanese name to sound American so the character would appeal to the American audience of the show. I just tell people it's a Japanese name to avoid the long explanation though. ;)

Believe it or not, deciding on a first name was the easy part! For us, deciding on a middle name was the hardest part. We both knew we wanted to use a family name, that was the easy part. Neither one of us wanted to let anyone down by not using their name but in the end we picked a name that Robby liked and meant a lot to me. Aizen's middle name is Kemp; Kemp is my grandmother's maiden name. Some girls grow up being "daddy's girls" or "mommy's girls" well I grew up being a "Mawmaw's girl", quite honestly I still am and I will always be a Mawmaw's girl ;) Another huge part of my childhood was hearing stories of my grandmother's father, "Big Daddy". Unfortunately, Big Daddy passed away before he met most of his great-grandchildren. My grandmother was very close to her father and from all the stories I've heard of him, he was quite a wonderful, hard-working man who loved his family dearly. In using the name Kemp, I feel like it is a tribute to both my Mawmaw and Big Daddy. And like I said, Robby actually liked the name because it means so much to me and because it's so unique. 

So that is the story of how and why we decided to name our son Aizen Kemp Winslow! Thanks for putting up with my rambling and I hope you love his name as much as we do! 

Welcome to the family Coy!

Welcome to the family Coy Blake Denson!! Coy was born on Wednesday July 29, 2015 at 9:39 am, weighing 7.3 pounds! You can read Coy's birth story by Meredith here.

Look how precious he is!!

We could not be more thrilled to welcome this handsome little boy to our family. Coming from an aunts point of view, I'm always amazed how much my heart grows with each nephew and niece. Each one holds a special piece of my heart and Coy is no different. Being an aunt is one of the best things in the world and being able to spoil and be "KK" to Coy, is one of my greatest blessings.

34 weeks and Maternity Pictures

Since I'm a late posting this just consider the date between July 24-31 ;)

How am I already 34 weeks pregnant?!? Time has flown by in a way but then again, it hasn't lol. At 34 weeks my uterus is measuring right on track and my doctor is happy with everything so far which means I'm thrilled! Only 6 weeks to go!! And when I think of it in those terms... WOW!! We have just as long left as we were far along as we were when we got to see our sweet baby for the first time, give or take a few days!! That is truly amazing and exciting! My how things change in just a few months :)

We took our maternity pictures during week 34 with what I must say is a pretty awesome photographer and all around person, Abigail Butler who owns Kana Avenue Photography. Check her out on Facebook! 

Even though it felt like a 100 degrees and I was sweating like crazy, Abby did amazing and Robby was very patient and helpful (I'm so lucky!). 

 -This is my favorite so far!! 

-I love these two for the simplicity of them... And I'm always loving on my belly ;)

And for everyone that has asked if Meredith and I planned on taking pictures together, here ya go!

Of course Meredith and I had to take some pictures together! We are twins and this is probably the only time will ever be pregnant at the same time, much less this close together! We are both pregnant with boys and they are **DUE** 4 weeks apart. In the picture of us together Meredith is 38 weeks and I am 34 weeks! This is truly is something very special to us both! 

Enjoy! :)

Q&A

I get asked all the time how my pregnancy has been... well this is a loaded question! So let me answer a few common questions about my pregnancy with Aizen thus far...

• Have you been sick? -During the first trimester I was somewhat sick to my stomach. I wasn't sick every day but if I threw up once, guaranteed I would be sick the rest of the day. I honestly think the sickness I did have was more the progesterone I had to take rather than the actual pregnancy.   
• Do you still workout? -No :/ this is my own fault... my doctor was completely ok with my continuing to workout after we conceived but my mind would play tricks on me and if you know me, you know I worry entirely too much. I was so afraid of doing something to harm the baby, I didn't have the "want to"... Plus, its hard to workout 5 days a week when all you want to do is sleep! lol but all joking aside, I know I will regret this later because I fully intend on working out again after Aizen is born. 
• How far along are you? -35 weeks and 2 days (yes those 2 days count ;) ) I finally understand why pregnant women refer to pregnancy in weeks and not months! Because that's how it's measured. Other than the obvious months (12 weeks=3 months, 20 weeks=5 months, etc). But for anyone wondering about the months instead of weeks, Weeks 33-36 are considered 9 months!
• How much weight have you gained? - I will never answer this question! Not because I'm ashamed but because it is rude to ask. Why would anyone think this is an appropriate question anyways?! 
• Where are you having the baby? -Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham. 
• Why not RMC? -Well my ob/gyn is located at Brookwood and I wouldn't change that for anything. I have used a doctor in Anniston and I changed doctors because I didn't feel like he or his office treated certain situations with the care and concern that was deserved. I got a recommendation from a friend (you know who you are ;) ) to my current doctor and let me tell you; she is amazing!! I have never been to a more personable doctor in my life. She has explained every step of this pregnancy and put up with my endless questions. She makes every patient feel like her only patient. She jokes and laughs but is serious about the right things. I have called her my guardian angel throughout this pregnancy and I honestly could not believe it more! She's simply amazing. I feel very blessed to have heard about her and to have her as our doctor.
• When are you due? -September 4th
• Do you know what you're having? -It's a boy!! 
• Will you be induced? -Hopefully not! We haven't had any problems so far and our doctor doesn't think we will have any problems in the next few weeks so **hopefully** I'll go into labor on my own. If for some reason I go over the due date, we have decided on a day to induce. 
• Does he move a lot? -YES!! And I love it!! It's the oddest yet most amazing feeling to have something move inside of you that isn't you and you know it is this little baby that you've been "growing". I will say sometimes it can be quite painful though lol. He likes to play with my little rib every now and then; that is painful. I wouldn't trade that little pain though, I know he is worth it :) He also lets me know when he isn't happy... he kicks, punches, and rolls when I get hungry; when he gets a taste of something sour I drink or eat, he balls up really tight! Needless to say, I say away from sour stuff (cranberry juice, crabapple,etc). He also lets me know when I eat something he likes; tomatoes, watermelon, chocolate are just a few. He also loves to have his little bottom rubbed! He'll stick his bottom out and just let me rub! I so love all his kicks, punches, and rolls!  

I think I answered all the normal questions! Thanks for reading and I promise to update as we get closer!!