Speaking of names...

Choosing boys names is difficult. It was challenging the first time, tough the second time, and pretty darn brutal this time. Not that we know what we are having..not for another 4-8 weeks will we be able to find out. But I can assure you that if we don't think of a boys name, that's what we most definitely will be having. I mean, we've had a girl's name picked out, ready to go, for three years now...so I'm not sure of the likelihood that we'll ever get to actually use it. I love my boys, and would be very happy to have another one. But truly the most challenging part of the whole process is picking the name.

Our perameters are kind of tough. It must be a name that is a name that people know and could say. But it can't be common. Names like Ian, Connor, Logan, Caden, Brayden, and Max (while we really do like "Max") are completely out of the picture.

We like traditional names but we aren't quite as particular this time. Our "no" list of traditional names includes: Matthew, William, Charles, George, Albert, Alfred, Edward, Michael, and Nicholas. Some of these are merely just names that are too common and other we have associations that we don't like.

We've tossed around: Leo, Frederick, Theodore, Elijah, Henry, Isaac, Noah, Seth, Finn, Nevan, Benjamin, Oliver, Henry, Caleb, Walter, Nathanial, and more unusual ones like Armando, Ansel, Barrett, August, Seamus, Dmitri,and Benicio, Elliot, Emmett.

Obviously we've found some "no's" from that list too. Joanne doesn't like Dmitri, Benicio, Armando, or Nevan. Seamus and Ben with our last name sound ridiculous.

I don't like Elliot, Emmett, Ansel, August, or Leo as a stand alone name. I also think Barrett reminds me too much of the guy with a gun for an arm from Final Fantasy VII to want to pick it.
Caleb is the name of a friend of mine's son and it's a wee bit too common for me now. Noah and Elijah are also becoming more common (although I really like Elijah). Oliver and Gabriel are huge with two-mom families so I don't really want to perpetuate that stereotype. We like having something a little unique.

I was recently reminded of the Pharoah Seti where the name Seth really comes from who doesn't really have the most compassionate and glorius of histories.

We both like Frederick, Leo, Noah, Elijah, Henry...and really that's it right now. If I had to pick today, I'd pick Elijah. But then again, it has slowely creeped up the latter of popularity and most recently was number 26 on the social security administration's list of most popular names. 26 is pretty high for us.

We have contemplated Frederick since Arthur was born. We both think Fred is a great nickname and Frederick is a good solid name. Frederick Douglas would be an excellent association to the name too. However something keeps holding us back. We keep passing it over for other options we like more. So something might be telling us there is a reason we're not picking it.

As for "Leo". The problem we're having is that we can't agree on on a formal name. Joanne feels that "Leo" would be fine as a stand alone name. I feel that something bigger should be on the birth certificate and that "Leo" is too short for a formal name. But Leonardo...doesn't that seem so huge? Sure Da Vinci is an excellent source for a name but it really is a big name. Not a fan of Leonard and Joanne doesn't really like Leon either.

Henry is an issue too because if I named my son Henry, I'd call him Henry. Joanne would call him Harry. It's cute and all but in the midst of this Harry Potter mania the past few years, do we really want "Harry"? And I also kind of think that if we call him "Harry", we should just name him "Harry". Both of us don't like "Hank".

So there is Noah. Great name...nice legend. Number 15 on the list of popular names. Dang it.

So here we are...kind of at square one. I can't even possibly anticipate what we'll come up with at this point but if anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave some comments (click "0 comments" below the post and it will take you to the comments screen).

A name is a tough thing to choose..you're stuck with it for the rest of your life so of course, all parents want to pick something nice.

Sharing one of my mental inspirations for Robin's name

You can click HERE to view For Better or for Worse, which has been my favorite comic for the better part of about 15 years and which sadly, is coming to an end very soon. Sniff sniff.

Michael has two children, a girl and a boy, named Meredith and Robin. I've always thought Robin was such a sweet name even before we incorporated the "Robin Hood" legend to match up with our "King Arthur". Just thought I'd share a little bit of the history now that the comic is coming to an end...

Whoever said nursing burns more calories lied!

I'm stuck. I didn't gain much when I was pregnant...less than 20 pounds. But now, I'm still a good 6-7 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. Which is still about 15 pounds heavier than when Arthur was born (and I wasn't too uncomfortable with my weight at that point).

Usually, I hit a plateau of "My goodness, I can't wear my good pants anymore" and I modify my eating a bit, try to get more exercise, and drink a lot of extra water. After a few weeks of that I get a momentum and I can lose a few pounds.

But I don't know if it's the breastfeeding, or the post baby blobby-ness overall but I am having so much trouble doing that. Part of it is that I am hungry ALL-THE-TIME. It's ridiculous. I have dinner, then about three hours later my stomach is literally growling so much that a mere cracker will not do it. A sandwich and a glass of milk later and there's a whole extra meal for the day.

I know, I know...nursing requires an extra 500 calories a day (so they say). So that sandwich and milk (or pack of noodles, or can of soup, or wheat thins with cream cheese, or a bowl of cereal) really isn't such a bad thing. However, I've just got to do something about this flab. I'm in a weight range that I'm just not comfortable in at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love nursing. It's recommended for at least a year and I plan to go at least that long. But I just wasn't prepared for it making me want to eat like a sumo-wrestler (and hanging onto the body baggage like one as well).

grumble grumble...the cornflakes are calling...thanks for letting me vent!

Edited to Add:

Just read this and had to laugh...this is so going to be us!

Our stroller is here!

And it's even nicer in person. Arthur keeps begging to ride it so we'll have to venture out sometime this weekend, I think. He says "Arthur goes here" as he climbs on the back and then "Robin sit there" as he points to the front. He's cute. (reference earlier post here)

Arthur is at school. Robin just went down for a nap with (so far) no protest, and since I have to work this afternoon I'm going to try to squeeze in a little nap too.

Cat's Out of the Bag

Most Compact Double Stroller

It's double stroller time! It was getting a little tough pushing both boys in seperate strollers. And while most of the time, I don't mind wearing Robin...sometimes I want to be a little more active than baby wearing will allow. So we decided it was time for a double stroller. We wanted one really compact but the prices for the ultra-compact ones were a little bit out of our range. I'm not really looking to spend $800.00 on a stroller, no matter how nice they are or how much they are named after a cute little frog...



Joanne received a gift card from one of her customers at work (the whole office did) and we thought it would be nice to get something practical and useful for the family. We stopped at Babies R Us to look at some and Joanne discovered one right away that was excellent. Affordable and really compact. It's the Joovy Caboose Tandem Stroller. Robin can ride in the front (in his infant seat or in the regular seat) and Arthur can either stand or sit backwards in the rear part of the stroller. It has a metal frame and folds up smaller than our Graco Metrolite. It's a tad heavier but I can't really feel much of a difference.



Babies R Us was out of stock for the stroller so we put one on hold. In the meantime we found one in a better color online for the same price and ordered it. (Joanne liked the orange color and I was happy with that too).

Nothing gets between me and my Mum Mums....

Mr. Sun

Arthur had his face painted at school today. He told us he was the sun. :)

January 5th Trip to the Boston Children's Museum