Unless it's divine inspiration...

So baby is 31 weeks along now and Tom and I both have been asked numerous times if, "we have a name picked out".  Short answer is no, but it does not imply we do not have names we both like or have strong feelings about- it just means we (maybe mostly me) is NOT about labeling (not sure I like that word choice, it's so trendy and annoying) my kid before we meet on this side of the belly fat!

And please, there are names I am super passionate about and would LOVE to name my kids but because I'm open to the idea that upon their big entrance to this side of the fat-pad world and having a moment or two with their personality my beloved name may not fit who they already are and me still pushing it seems wrong and immature. Thus, the whole concept of naming your unborn child is, in my extremely humble opinion (NOT), completely ridiculous. Yeah, I said it. I totally just called out more people I know than not.

To me there are only three circumstances where having a name ready and waiting for impending child to be given happens correctly and doesn't invoke an eye roll from me:

#1.) Through a rare and divine spiritual experience where the name is given by angels- John (as in John the Baptist), Jesus, etc.
#2.) Closely related to #1where through prayer and personal revelation a name comes to mind and is confirmed by the Holy Ghost. (I kind of joked about wanting an experience like #1 and then actually had a #2 with Ben......(BEST SENTENCE EVER!)
#3.) Tradition. "I'm Fredrick Smith VII so I want to carry on and have a Fredrick Smith the VIII". In which case feels like a result from lack of imagination with naming or continuing a rare and notable legacy.

I have observed that naming your child months before birth doesn't stop at the name. It seems it comes with terms, such as: "Oh I know her/his name is suppose to be (blank) and he/she's going to be just like 'so-and-so' and shy/wild/smart/artistic/etc., etc., etc.  Hmmmm

"BUT BUT BUT what about the connotation that a Junior or a 'Fredrick Smith VIII' would have the same expectations??!" Okay calm the heck down- a junior or whatnot doesn't mean anything more than you were named after your dad and means nothing more than what parents already put on their kids; i.e., "You WILL go to college, you WILL be successful..."

Because I'm all about analyzing the crap out of everything, I simply (or deeply) think there's more going on than having a name picked out and wonder if people are self-aware enough to be asking themselves the same thing? I guess it comes from a place of faith with me. I do not believe our existence starts at birth, I believe our spirits/intelligences have been around a very long time and this life is a short moment of our potentials so maybe whatever name we get slapped to us here doesn't matter at all!? Probably. But I think there's something to be said for those who were preordained and who's names where important enough to be called-out before hand. But most importantly, I think everyone has a pretty amazing potential and what I HOPE to teach my children are the expected and unexpected benefits to being open and humble to the will of Heavenly Father and not our own expectations. NOO I'm not saying naming your baby before hand implies you are not following God's will or that by waiting and then naming makes one MORE faithful- I'm putting it out there I think naming deserves more thought then, "I've just always loved the name and knew I would name my kid it one day!" I get it, you're stubborn- hopefully that's NOT passed along to the kid ;)

Names I Love:
Rush : (Tom doesn't like- he thinks people will think of Rush Limbaugh, whom I think is awesome anyway so I don't care what people think especially when people name their kids made up names or using 3 E's to spell Amy! Do I have more people angry at me now?!)
Henry: Super cute and traditional (Tom thinks of Henry VIII and feels it's an old man name- WRONG!)

Names Tom Loves:
James: (Nope, overly used, too boring for me unless I'm trying to press boringness into my kid...)
Christopher: (I can NOT say the name without hearing a Soprano's character say it {Qua-ist-toe-fur}plus I'm not down with asexual names (Chris).

Name baby boy will actually be:
Don't know yet. Waiting to meet him first!


Okay here are some photos that have nothing to do with my rant!

Ben loves making cookies- he has a natural talent of perfectly placing the hershey into the peanut butter drops!

Just waving as the brave men/women at work

Tom geared-up Ben and we went to the park had ran Ben until he was tired. It took a LONG time! The boy can run just like daddy. Mommy was tired just walking from the car to the field!

Ben is so happy when dad comes home and mom is ready to get out of the house for awhile too- it's a WIN-WIN!