Worshipper of God

For those who doubted that this baby would have a name before his birthday, we are happy to announce that, in fact we have come to a decision. After wading through hundreds of names that were thrown on the cutting room floor, we picked up again one of the originals - a first thought from the adoption days. So, 'here goes'...

Jude Chastain Pounds

The criteria? Simply this; nothing too common, nothing to crazy, something with meaning, and with limited monikers. Jude means "worshipper of God; or thanks, gratitude, praise" and we have been praying over him that he would be a worshiper of God in the sense of his name. If I could sum up my feelings about this child into one word, it would be gratitude, so the name is for me as well.

Chastain is a dear family name that has meaning to both of us. It's Kevin's mother's maiden name, who is from an historic Atlanta family. Many roads, parks and landmarks are named Chastain in the Atlanta area where we both grew up. Living in NJ now, it appealed to us to use this familiar name that was so present in our childhood, just to give him a little family perspective. We are also happy to honor Kevin's mother, Evelyn, since she passed on to him such a rich heritage of prayer and faithfulness.

One more week until my due date, the belly has grown since the last picture:

34 Week Update

I've neglected to photograph myself at each month of pregnancy as I originally intended. Partly because my camera was not working properly, and partly because, well, I just haven't felt like being in front of a camera. But now, with 6 weeks left to go, I decided a little documentation was in order. Here I am at 34 weeks in all my prenatal glory...

I am feeling really great still, I only have a few minor complaints, not the least of which are my recently ballooned feet. I'm serious, this has been quite the distraction for me over the last 2 weeks. My feet have swollen to unbelievable proportions and by the end of the day, there isn't a shoe in my closet that will contain them. I guess I'm more fascinated than really bothered by it. Having had a pregnancy nearly void of "symptoms," this has been quite an amusement for us. Kevin has been generously massaging them for me every night, I'm sure this has become his favorite nighttime ritual.

I'll leave you with a little cuteness. We put these bird & branch decals up a few weeks ago in the baby room - there's just something about little birdies that I can't resist...