Preppy Parenting Reminder

I had a great day today.  I met my nephew (who made a very dramatic entrance into the world two weeks early in his father's car...which I realize would make a more interesting blog post than the one I am writing, but it's not my story to tell).  After that, it was time to buy the newest Wirt boy gifts.  I picked up some little things for him from the Williamsburg Outlets.  After I finished walking my ginormous self (10 weeks to go!) all over that place, I went to my car to leave.

As I was pulling out of the shopping center, I spotted the Ralph Lauren Polo Outlet.  I parked and hoped that I would find some matching outfits for my little people.  I was successful, but that was not the highlight of my Polo experience.

I walked through the check-out maze and prepared myself to answer questions about my due date, the sex of my future child, and if I had chosen a name.  The check-out guy looked giddy as I walked up, which made me particularly hesitant.  As I handed him my two tiny navy blue purchases, he said, "We found out what we're having today."  He then explained that he and his wife were keeping the sex of their baby a secret from friends and family, but he thought it would be ok if he told me.  He could barely contain his excitement when he told me.  His secret is safe with me.

He may have told the next customer the same thing, but something tells me he didn't.  He even whispered the gender to me so his co-workers wouldn't hear.  It was a really touching moment.  That man is in love with his 20 week old baby-to-be and his excitement was contagious.

Being pregnant is not fun.  However, today it was.  I was reminded of how lucky I am to get the opportunity to be a parent.  So, thank you little nephew and future daddy in the Polo Outlet....you are what life is all about!

Playing the Name Game

Sophronia, Sophronia
Bo, Bophronia
Banana, Fanna Foe, Fophronia
Me, My, Moe, Mophronia
Sophronia!

Wow, that's going to go over really well in a kindergarten classroom!  Anyone who has ever attempted to name a child knows what I am currently going through.  I always thought that I would name my first girl after my mother and grandmother, who have been the biggest female influences in my life.  Since I got pregnant, I realized what a challenge I had set myself up for.

Let's start with my grandmother's name: Florence Mary.  Florence is my sister's first name, but she goes by Kelly and has told me she wouldn't mind if I used Florence.  The issue is, that even though I know "Grandma Chic" names are coming back into style, I worry that my baby girl won't be able to  rock a name like Florence.  It gets even worse when I imagine my elementary age little girl being called Flo-baby or Flossy by her fellow classmates.  All of that aside, I still don't feel quite right about using my sister's name even if she doesn't go by it.  That leaves Mary, which is the name of my parents' cat.

Let's move on to my mother: Susanne Waring.  I have the same name as my mother, but have always gone by my first and middle name when around family.  My mother is Susanne and I am Susanne May (Smay).  However, as I got older, somehow people morphed me into Susanne and I didn't correct them.  I still answer to both and don't prefer one over the other.  I like my name, but have never imaged using it for the first name of my child...not sure why.  Plus, Ethan, Ethan, Susanne, and Susanne could get a little confusing (it's slightly different from my family's Sam, Sammy, Susanne, and Susanne May).  That leaves me with Waring Wirt.  Enough said.

When I look back into the family trees of Ethan and my family, I found a lot of female name  "winners": Sophronia, Blue Bell, Slingluff, Eugenia, Agnes, Leota, Force, Mildred, Nutt, and the list goes on.  I thought I had found a good one when I saw Rosalie, but then realized (thanks to the help of my sister) that this name has recently spiked in popularity because Rosalie is a character in the Twilight series.  Yuck.

 Rosalie from Twilight

Rosalie from my family

I guess we can always go with my mom's or sister's suggestions....Slingluff Nutt or Florence the Force Wirt.  Good grief.