Baby Names are DIFFICULT!

Early on in this pregnancy, people were asking me if we had any names picked out. And by early, I mean--5 weeks into it!! LOL So of course, being a true southern girl, I already had a list of names I loved that I had accumulated over the years. I probably had 15 girl first-middle name combos; those came a lot easier for me. Boy names were harder because I had always sort of said I'd let the dad name his son. I mean, of course I had a few favorites, but nothing that was a Die-Hard-have-to-push-this-one kind of name.

So surprise-surprise when we were sitting there watching the Giants play on November 4th and someone suggested Eli. My first response was: "Umm... No. I'm not naming my baby after the Giant's quarterback." My boyfriend was opposed to the name at first because of it's affiliation with the name "Payton." He didn't want people to think he was TRYING to name both of his son's after the Manning brothers. Later on that night we were joking around and of course we fell in love with it! LOL We fought it for a while, but both of us can't think of anything else we love more. We just "know," you know? If we have a boy, his name will have been chosen at 5w0d!!

Girl names have been a lot harder to pick. One reason: My boyfriend REALLY believes we are having a son and doesn't think about girl names.

Another reason is because he wants a girl name which can also be a boy name. I know that works for some people, but I just can't wrap my mind around it. See, I have a SUPER girly name: Rosie. Every girl in my family has a traditionally girly name (Sue, Shelly, Katie, Polly, Missy, Tina, Kim, Krystle, etc). It's what I know. I also have a best friend who's first name is "Billie." She told me a story once about how she went to her first day of kindergarten and was mistaken for a boy almost the entire day. It breaks my heart to think of my baby girl going through that too.Then I think about the possibility of a Chris dating a Chris, or that whole awkward "Taylor Swift/Talyor Lautner" situation. It makes me cringe a little! Lol

And a third reason: I want my daughter to have a "literary" name: either from a classic book or a famous female author. I've been skimming my library at home (because it already contains my favorite books anyways) trying to find names I like. Nothing is fitting!! Those are the main reasons I have been having trouble with picking a girl name.

Family members have been throwing out suggestions. Some we considered; some we tossed IMMEDIATELY! LOL My boyfriend's stepdad suggested Brandy. I immediately thought of E&J which my stepdad drinks, so that was out. There was Starr (and it had to be with 2 r's), but that just conjured up images of cheesy dive places, that I don't want to say. Breanna made me think of that singer "Rihanna"... things like that.
Emily was recommended, which I liked, but I would want to spell it "Emmaleigh" so that it's classy and elegant, but not overly simple. Kiley was the first name we thought about. It was one on my list and I loved it. Until one day I didn't. I evaluated the names of characters from my favorite books.

• Little Women: Josephine, Meg, Beth, Amy...
• Hunger Games: Rue
• Harry Potter: I love this book and wish I could pull off the British names... :(
• Jude Deveraux books: Bronwyn, Darci, Whitney
• Jane Austen: Emma, Anne, Elizabeth--even Austen, Bennett, or Elliott themselves as names
• Belle from Beauty and the Beast--but with Twilight I know there will be a ton of Bella's.

It was so stressful with everyone throwing girl names and wanting us to choose right away. I mean, we picked the boy name *so fast* I was really getting worried: Would we ever find a name we loved? My boyfriend finally sat me down and said we should just wait until we hear the words "You're having a girl" before we try to pick out a girl name. (Of course, like I said, he honestly believes it's a boy so that's easy for him to say! lol) I agreed and it really took the pressure off. I didn't think about girl names for the next two months or so.

Now we are tip-toeing into our second trimester (tomorrow-1/6/2013- will be exactly 14w and the official start of "Stage 2"!), I am finding myself thinking about it again. I know I still want a literary name if I can find one. I still want a GIRLY name. I'd rather not have a "flower name" since my middle name is Rose and my mom's first name is Lily. Those are some guidelines I set up, but obviously there were some exceptions. Right now I like:

• Madeline Rose
• Sophia Annabelle
• Andrea Jean
• Lucianna Marie   -or-
• Rue or Matilda for a middle name (no idea what would go with them, I just love them!)

Matilda and Madeline seem to have been nixed because my guy says he HATES them. I would try and name my girl after some of my best friends since they live far away, but their names are also family names and I wanted to try and avoid that if possible. Don't want to show favoritism.

Like I said, I grew up in the south almost my whole life. We start planning our weddings and naming our babies when we are like FOUR! LOL And considering the list of names I loved just a few short months, it's so strange to me how much trouble I seem to be having with this.

I know it's just going to keep me stressed until I actually do hear "Girl" so I should stop worrying about it. But this is the name they are going to live with forever. I know what it's like to not love your first name and to have to correct EVERYONE! I just don't want that for my baby.