"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet."

Okay, so in the context, I get what Juliet was saying. She had her point. But I'm about to make mine. Would she really have been interested in Romeo so much in the beginning if his name were Cletus? (Please no offense if your grandpa's name is Cletus, I'm sure he was a wonderful guy in spite of his mother's bad choice.)
Giving a name to a human being that has to work from his infancy to his shuffleboard team days is not a task to take lightly! Honestly, you can't even think about what all it entails without wondering if there is any way you're going to be able to live with your decision.
Here are some of the things you have to think about before sticking a moniker on your kid. (Or at least some of the things I think about.)
1. Do you like it
2. Does the baby daddy like it
3. Will your offspring (current and upcoming) like it
4. Can all of your family and their endearing accents pronounce it
5. Do the initials spell anything weird or make an acronym like LSD or something
6. What possible nicknames and taunts could come from it (Now this one is a toughy, because of mean kids, most names could have something bad happen to them, but you can't make it easy on them)
7. Are there any major crime cases involving the name--criminal OR victim (for example, I doubt many people named their kid Lacy in 2002 because of that horrid case)
8. Does it sound right when you imagine it being said in full at your child's graduation
9. Does it look right
10. Does it feel right

And these are just my top ten.

It's three years later and I still feel good about my name choice of my first born. I'm just still working on meeting all the criteria for this one!

This blog entry is not airbrushed

I went shopping again today. I didn't think I could do it so soon, but I made it back this time without tears (at least mine, Brynn cried a couple of times). I knew better than to go alone though, I took my mom with me in case I broke down again. :)
However, since apparently maternity clothes are an endangered species in Spartanburg, I came home and got to looking online. (It's pretty bad when a Dillard's employee refers you to Target!)
I will start by saying I have found some cute things that actually look like maternity clothes online, not just clothes you wear when you're trying to hide that you're pregnant. (I want people to be so sure that my belly has a baby in it that they aaaaaaalmost ask me. We all know you never under and circumstances actually ask someone.) However, I am quite intrigued by the fact that even plus sized maternity clothes are airbrushed! I am not experienced in graphic design, but I know for a fact there is no way a woman wearing these clothes could have arms as skinny as these. And trying to add an hourglass figure to a 8 month pregnant woman is just silly. It's not going to look natural no matter how you try.
Who do they think is looking at these clothes? I suppose they think I'll look at this and say, "Wow, if they can look this skinny in these I must by them!" While in actuality I'm thinking, "Can I please just see what they really look like in these clothes?" Sigh.
The journey continues.