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Name That Baby!

8:35 pm

I’m starting to itch a little bit about baby number four’s name. I don’t know how those Duggars do it, but Hubby and I are having a real hard time picking names for this one. Not only do we have to pick a name we both like, but we also have to pick a name that sounds nice with the three other names we’ve chosen.

We’re having a particularly hard time with boy names. My husband has declared his affinity for only one name: Claude. Now, I think Claude is a perfectly nice name and all, but I do not think it goes with the others: Charles, August, Louis, Claude.  It just kind of lays there–not nearly as melodic as the rest.

So like any good wife, I’ve been busy creating a list of names that I like more. Here are my front runners:

Edward. We like family names at my house. Not only is Edward my Dad’s middle name, but it’s also my Uncle’s name. Apparently my grandmother reaaaallly liked the name. It’s not as melodic as the other three, but it is Kingly, and I like that. The only drawback I can see is that my Uncle Eddie has pretty much got that nickname occupied. I’d have to use something else. I love Ted or Teddy, so we’d probably go with that.

Rex. I KNOW a lot of people think this a dog’s name, but I’ve never known a dog named Rex, so I don’t have that connotation. I like it because it reminds me a of Max, which is a name that I love, but that I already gave to my cat. Also, Rex means King, which is good and it’s also a name of a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade, so it’s a nice nod to our hometown. Hubby likes this name, but he’s worried that it’s “too much.”

Atticus. Not a family name, but my family is FULL of lawyers, and Atticus seems like the epitome of a perfect legal name. Also, my mom’s brother swears that the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird were based on their family–he and my mom lived with my grandfather, a lawyer. Not so sure about that, but cool to think about!

Dashiell. I just like it. It’s the name of a mystery writer and I love mysteries, but more than that, I just think it’s cool. Plus, it sounds good with the other names.

Girls are easier as we still have our choices from when I was sure the twins were girls. My front-runners at this point are:

Elodie

Edia

I also love Etta, but I’m not sure Hubby will go for it. I’m leaning towards Edia. I really like Elodie, but Ella is by far the most popular name among people I know, and I also know two other people with Ellies. I feel like Elodie might get lost in the sea of similar names. I also think I could call Edia Edie, which is super-cute. (Because someone asked: Edia is pronounced Eh-dee-uh).

So there it is, me, over-thinking baby names. Feel free to weigh in, but if you tell me you hate it, I’m totally putting it at the top of my list. I love the idea of an unpopular baby name because then I know no one else will pick it!

Filed Underdecisions, pregnancy 84 Comments

Oh, Christmas Tree

9:27 pm

I love holidays. I really do. I like celebrating even the smallest ones–Valentine’s Day, the beginning of school, etc.

I am not a huge fan of Christmas, however. It just feels forced. The overlapping schedule, running my kids from one end of creation to the other. And the expense. Good gracious! All for things that I usually feel only moderately certain the receiver even likes.

So, I’m a little bah humbug about the whole thing and my husband? He could not care less if tried. He’s not interested in presents, or gift-giving, or decorations, or anything, basically. I’ve had years where I’ve put up MULTIPLE TREES and his sole contribution is getting them out of the attic. We never have outdoor lights because I have a fear of heights and like I said: he doesn’t care.

I figured this year, I’d just skip the tree. The last couple of years I’ve put them up and taken them down, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that’s noticed.

But the other day I took the kids to see Santa Claus and this happened:

twins with Santa one looking at camera, one not

I have like a zillion pictures like this one because Louie would not takes his eyes off the Christmas tree next to Santa.

And then this:

Boy with Santa looking away

Yep, that’s Charlie also unable to stop looking at the Christmas tree.

You can guess what we’re doing tomorrow, right?

Filed Underdecisions, good things 17 Comments

Notes From the Field

11:24 pm

Several people asked me to report back on the vitamin situation, so here we are with over a week of  daily vitamin doses.  I am happy to report that Charlie’s behavior is much improved. It is not perfect. He still bites his arm to let me know that he is displeased with something, but it does appear to be a form of communication and not just random frustration. He still tries to get out of doing his work by biting as well, but again, it’s not random. In general, there has been a LOT less crying and hysteria. He goes to school happy and comes home happy. He’s had no temper tantrums on the bus when he has to wait for the other kids to arrive. He’s had mostly good days at school. Just a few days after we started giving him the vitamins, he had one of the first giggling fits he’d had in ages–a lovely sound.

It could be a coincidence, but I’m going to go ahead and put a hatch mark in the win column. A happy boy is a happy boy.

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I started blogging in November of 2005–not here, but a blog on MSN’s blog platform, Spaces. Spaces was this itty-bitty blogging community and we all read each other’s blogs–they’re weren’t that many of us.

Jenn wrote a blog back then called, “Dating at Twenty-something” that chronicled her adventures in online dating. I wrote about teaching kids in an inner-city school. We’ve been reading each other’s blogs for almost six years now–that’s longer than I’ve had Charlie.

Jenn grabbed an opportunity recently and came down to New Orleans for a visit. I was thrilled and got to see her on three different occasions. For the record, Jenn is a lot like her blog–except I think she’s calmer in person than online. I guess she lets her sass hang out online. It’s always a treat when I get to meet one of my blogging buddies. Getting to meet one I’ve known this long is doubly special.

two girls smiling at the camera

Jenn and I in the Quarter

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You may have noticed that this post is full of Instagram photos. I have pretty much fallen in love with Instagram as I find it a fun way to pass the time when I’m sitting in a waiting room or sitting through a therapy session. One thing I didn’t like, however, is that I was unable to share my photos with people who weren’t on Instagram. I’ve solved that problem as I’m now sending my photos over to a tumblr page. If you’ve never heard of Tumblr, it’s basically a place to stick quick, random things that don’t go in a full-length blog. I’ll be sending my Instagram over there and probably be adding recipes and other random things over there. So feel tree to check it out. It will get updated WAY more than this blog, which I try to only update when I have a coherent thought. I’ll eventually get a button on my sidebar, but for now you can just click on the link at the top of the page labelled “Bird Bits.”

 

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