The great name debate...

Ah, to name a child. One's most difficult, or in some cases not, decision. There needs to be agreement from both parties (i.e. mom and dad). There needs to be a liking of the name. These things do not go well in the McBride home. :)

Benjamin, if you may recall, didn't have a set full name until I was eight and a half months pregnant. And then it was the only boy name we could both agree on. I love, though, that it fits our boy perfectly. I don't love that we have no other boy name to use :)

Girl names are just as tricky. My gramma's name is Ella and I've always wanted to name a little girl Ella. Rightly so, I'd day! Patrick does not like this name at all and prefers Ellie. I refuse to name a girl Ellie. I'm not a fan, in general, of naming children nicknames. I try to think of them in adult situations.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Ellie McBride"

"Judge Ellie McBride, presiding."

"Mom. Mom. Moooom. Momma. Ellie"

"I, Ellie, take you, wonderful fiance, to be my husband"

You see, no no nicknames. However, in our (ahem, my) endless search for a name we'll agree upon there has been a girl name to come up that we both really like. Maybe love. But that's on the hush until we know for sure. I stand firm in the belief that if you have a gender name picked out, you'll have the opposite gender. True story. But don't judge, I'm pregnant and slightly irrational.

Alas, I spend a lot of time over at the baby name wizard website and Swistle, the popular "help-me-name-my-baby" blog. She's super great at helping parents find names, or help them love a name they've choosen. But what would I say to Swistle?

"Hi. Here are the names I love. Owen. Ethan. Jacob. Issac. Henry. Emerson. Elias. My husband does not like a single name I say. The middle name will start with an "A", maybe. Our sons name is completely Irish and really strong. Does that matter. Here is my husbands list: Calvin. Thanks. Help."

I'm convinced that we just haven't found the "right" boy name yet. I'm also okay with the fact that this baby may not have a name for a few more months. I mean, I still have five (five!!!? really?!) more to go. Until then, I'll keep searching websites and books until I find it. Patrick, on the other hand, sits back and laughs because he doesn't think it's necessary to find a boy name (since he's convinced we're having a girl). Better to be prepared, I say! (especially since Beta is a boy)

Bring on the names, people!