Livi-Lou

Jay and I have been throwing around names for a long time. In fact, we've had our boy name picked out since before we got pregnant. If we have a boy, we want to name him McKinley Jeremiah. McKinley was my great grandfather's name on my mother's side and Jeremiah as a salute to Jay (who's real name is Jeremy). We'll probably call him Mac, but I like that he could go by Ken when he gets older if he chose to. Case closed! Yay! I love having big decisions behind me!

The girl's name has been harder. The middle name is pretty much set. My middle name is Louise as is my mom's and her mom's. Sharing it with the women in my lineage has always meant a lot to me. Well... except when I was really little and didn't like my name at all. I thought the whole thing was just too old fashioned and not at all like anyone else I knew. I wanted to change my name to something... food-like. Yes, you read that right! I desperately wanted to be Muffin, or Cookie, or Candy! Thank goodness I wasn't allowed to change it! I'd have ended up a stripper fo' sho'!!! Jay doesn't have any problems with with my middle name, Louise it is.

If I wasn't worried about elementary school yard teasing ,although we plan to homeschool our kids, I'd go with Parasadie (pronounced Pear (like the fruit)-zadie) as a first name. It's a family name on my mom's side and I've always thought it was so cool and unique. And we could call her Sadie. And of course I would call her Sadie Lou. But I'm just not sure if that would be cruel and unusual punishment for a child.

So the other day, out of no where I thought of the perfect name! Olivia! Ok, I'll fess up, we were watching Law and Order: SVU and I love detective Olivia Bensen. Jay liked it right off the bat, and the more I think about it the more I like it. I know it's in the Top 10 baby names for 2010 and my child might end up in classrooms down the line with 4 other Olivias, but hopefully not. I think it's the perfect balance of old fashioned but doesn't feel dusty or old.

But the absolute best part of it is... I can call her Livi-Lou!!! She'll hate it! It'll make it even more fun! ;-)

We won't know if we're having a boy or a girl for about 5 more weeks. And I'm pretty positive we are having a boy, but at least I'm confident now that we have both a girl's name and a boy's name that we both love and feel connected to.

Happy Friday everyone! Wishing everyone a safe and happy Holiday Weekend!