I wonder…

There are lots of things that I wonder, most of which I won’t bore you with today. But I will bore you with the latest baby things I have been wondering. I did warn you in my Dear Puff Pieces post that my brain is consumed with all things baby!

Ok, so here are my wonderings:

• I wonder everyday if I’m having a boy or a girl. From the day I found out I was pregnant I thought it was a boy. But every now and then for a moment I think it might be a girl!
• I wonder how the hell I’m going to get this baby out! For so long you just focus on the pregnancy and I think the words, ‘you’re now in your third trimester’ made me stop and think, oh shit we’re on the home stretch now and I actually have to give birth.
• I wonder what it’s going to be like to not be pregnant! I feel like I’ve been pregnant for so long, it’s almost as if my belly and kicking baby has always been there.
• I wonder when I’ll be ready to leave the house after the baby is born.
• I wonder how the hell you do your grocery shopping with a newborn. Two words come to mind: Coles Online!
• I wonder if my belly button will ever be the same again. Actually lets just add my whole body to that!
• I wonder what Jack our dog will be like with the baby.
• I wonder what it’s going to be like to be a mum. The words hardest but best thing ever come to mind!

What did you wonder when you were pregnant?

But that’s my name…

I recently blogged about the pressure of choosing your children’s names. It’s a great priviledge and a huge responsibility. You can read about that HERE.

So there’s the pressure of choosing the right name, picking a middle name, and checking the initials. And then there’s a new dilemma that I have discovered – what if someone you know has already used that name for their child?

So here’s my question. How far removed from someone do you have to be to use the same name? Obviously we would never name our kids the same as their first cousins or the same as our closest friend’s kids, because they would all spend lots of time together, and let’s be honest it would be pretty bloody confusing for all if there were 2 Streeter kids a couple of years apart with the same name.

But what if you don’t spend alot of time with someone whose child’s name you love? Let me explain it in the current situation that’s happening for me.

I was 85% maybe a little bit more sure that I was set on our girls name. Then hubby came home and was chatting about a work colleague who had bought their 12 month old daughter into work and how cute she was. As soon as the child’s name left his lips I was in love. I immediately thought that’s what I want to call my daughter. It’s so beautiful, and a little bit different, but still a proper name, if you know what I mean.

The problem? Well I think hubby is a little worried about using the same name as his work colleague because he sees the guy everyday and because his daughter is still very young. I, on the other hand don’t see any problems with it as our families don’t spend anytime together.

I do worry a little bit about looking like we’re ‘copying’, but ‘copying’ in a good way I think! Hubby mentioned that maybe if it had been on my list from the beginning then it might be different, but I didn’t think of it until he said this little girls name. My response was that you usually don’t think of names until you here them, or read them somewhere. Well that’s how it was for me anyway.

So, as always, what do you think? How precious are you about your kids names? And how far removed from someone do you think you have to be before it’s ok to borrow steal their baby names?!

The pressure of a name!

Choosing baby names.

Choosing a name for your baby is a huge responsibility. Ginormous in fact. This is the name that your future child will have For. The. Rest. Of. Their. Lives. Yeah, no pressure at all!

When Hubby and I were on our way to pick up our new puppy from the RSPCA, we literally decided in about 2 minutes that he was going to be called Jack. That was seriously the quickest thing we’ve ever agreed on. That, and I’m the best wife in the world. No arguments there. Smart boy. Anyway, sorry, I digress.

So Jack was Jack in a heartbeat, but when it comes to naming an actual human being it’s quite a different story. Like most girls I picked future baby names out long ago, just like we start planning our weddings when we’re about 10 years old.

In the first few weeks of being pregnant I of course instantly started running some of my baby names past Hubby to guage how many of my negotiating skills I was going to have to call on to get my own way. Let’s just say I thought I was going to have to pull out everything I’ve got, as in a heartbeat most of my girl faves were met with the reply, NO, and I don’t think so. It goes something like this:

Me: What about Audrey*?
Hubby: No.
Me: But….
Hubby: (Butting in), I said no.
Me: Well what about Ingrid*?
Hubby: Definitely No. And then some explicitives about bad that name is, and how our child will be teased in the playground.

See what I’m up against! The other problem I’m having, as if a disagreeing Husband wasn’t enough, is that I’m really really crap at making decisions. That’s right, I’m a Libra! I can’t decide what to have for breakfast on the best of days let alone name another human being! If I had to name a baby 10 years ago it would have been Lili or Olivia for a girl and probably Brandon for a boy. I still love the girls names, but not really the boy’s name. So what happens in another 10 years time. Will I still like the names I gave my children? Oh, the drama of it.

Initially it seemed that boys were easier to name than girls. We, well I, had boy’s names coming out of my ears, and for the most part we tended to agree. But coming up with girls names? Well I’d rather try and cut my dogs toenails! Having said that we’ve now probably got 3 boys names and 2 girls names which is making choosing a girls name much easier! Oh how the tables have turned!

I’m thinking though that at 24 weeks Hubby’s just getting warmed up with his opinion! I’m sure he’s got a secret list stashed somewhere.

How did you choose your child/children’s names? Did you just know, or was it a hard decision?

*Not the real names. Names for demonstration purposes only.