Names

As parents, we took a great deal of time picking out names for our children. Funny, though, because we came into this marriage with a preconceived notion of naming our future kids. I know girls do it- we imagine this little brood and name them....... and no one has filled the sperm contributor in on this. He has his own ideas. And all of yours stink.

Now, growing up, I imagined a big family. I knew Christopher would be the first. He would be followed by Paul, Elizabeth, Alexander and David. What would have happened if I had 5 girls, I don't know. Well, life evolves, the names altered and the number reduced. Finally, I was expecting a child. And the fights began. Literally everything I suggested was all wrong (and usually "gay"). Even Andrew (which is actually the sperm contributor's own MIDDLE NAME) was deemed "gay". Good thing it was a girl.

We named her Helen Jacqueline. Named after two wonderful ladies- David's grandmother and my sister. Everyone said "you're naming her an old lady name"..... well, we named her after an old lady..... Thing is, when Helen is middle aged all the old ladies will be named Brittney and Tiffany.

We easily picked out a girl name for our second child. Heidi Susan. Helen and Heidi sounded nice together. Heidi was a favorite book of mine, and Susan is not only my own name, it is my mother in law's name. Then we found out at 32 weeks, that we were (SURPRISE) actually having a boy. Back to the drawing board....... and fights.

David Andrew Jr. was not going to happen. I am 5'0". David is 6'3". He plays baseball and (even though he hates it) is known as Big Dave. I could not risk having "Little Dave" who never makes it to 5'5" and is shorter than his Amazon sister. Andrew, or Drew, was out. We agreed on the middle name (after David's father). Everything else we fought about. For days. Finally, one night, David picked up the dog eared baby name book and opened it to the back- the Z's. He said,

"Zachary". He closed the book, tossed it on the sofa and went upstairs. I mulled it over, and I liked it. Zachary Raymond......

So, now I am the mother to two, whose names I would have never imagined years before, and I cannot imagine being anything else now.