Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Let me sum up

Oh dear, there are so many bloggable topics in my head right now, but I don't want to turn this into a huge long random post.  Let's just sum up some of them:


Mini Blog Post #1:
We have been doing lots of fun things lately, including a fun visit with Ken and Barbara, Kyle's parents.  I now like Springville even more!   We found great restaurants and shops on Main Street, and our canyon is cute.  The Beehive Bazaar at Thanksgiving Point was awesome (we actually went twice and bought some neat stuff).  Kyle's childhood safe (with a long forgotten combination) was returned to him this weekend, and after one night with Kyle and Alan going at it with a hammer and tire iron, they managed to open it--we discovered childhood journals and a TON of comic books.


Mini Blog Post #2:
Pregnancy.  I only throw up like once a week now, which is awesome.  I could do that under normal non-pregnant circumstances and feel like I was a happy healthy person (ok maybe not, but whatev).  I am now having WICKED heartburn though.  Kyle is teaching me his dealing-with-heartburn tricks that he's learned after a lifetime of heartburn, most of which involve pacing and waving my arms around and looking silly.  But Velocity's kicks and punches are becoming stronger, which makes any pain completely worth it.  She is getting so big!  (As is my stomach.) Unfortunately our scanner issues are keeping me from putting up cute ultrasound pictures.

Mini Blog Post #3:
I am a huge grudge-holder.  If someone treats someone I love badly (or, let's be honest, treats ME badly), then I basically hate them forever.  I know that's wrong.  BUT. I am making huge strides in not doing that anymore!  I mean, I have treated people poorly in the past and I feel guilty about it, but I like to think that I've changed since then.  These folks who were jerks to me or my sisters or Kyle 2 or 3 or 7 years ago have probably changed too!  I really should let people change.  So, I've let go of a lot of my hate.  It's amazing how much better I feel.  Next I need to work on liking people who are CURRENTLY jerks.

Mini Blog Post #4
The weight of the responsibility of naming a child is coming crashing down on me.  IT IS A BIG DEAL.  We have our top 3 choices and every day I decide on a different one.  Luckily we have months to decide.  There just so many things to think about!  Some names we love but they're too trendy. Some names I love but I don't love the full proper form--and I just can't feel okay with putting a nickname on a birth certificate.  Some names we love but they offer too many teasing nicknames.  ANYWAYS.  Considering all these things PLUS deciding which name we love the most and feels the most right is taking up most of my pregnancy-limited brainpower.

Ultra Mushy Mini Blog Post #5
Our 2nd anniversary is in less than a week!  Kyle has secret plans for this weekend--I am very excited.  2 years. It is kind of crazy.  Dating and engagement seem like an eternity ago, but it seems impossible that we've been married for Two Whole Years.  It also seems impossible that I could love Kyle more than I did two years ago, but I certainly do.  I find myself saying prayers of gratitude for him every single day.  He continues to impress me with his coolness and maturity.  Being married to each other has changed and improved both of us, and I think it's more fun now than it ever has been.

Addendum:
Ok, so I couldn't leave on that mushy note that so many people find uncomfortable (I usually do too, I just think that anniversaries are special occasions).  I didn't know if I would blog this, but let's just see what happens.

Here are our top name choices (not in order):
--Ruby Caroline, Ruby Kay, etc. (the middle name isn't set yet)
--Abigail Valentine (we'd call her Abby)
--Penny Valentine (I need to decide if I am the kind of person who names a baby Penelope) (And I need to decide if it matters--technically we could just name her Penny Vaughn--this is one of my internal struggles)

Ruby has been THE name for months and months, long before I was pregnant, but suddenly it isn't set in stone and we're strongly considering other options.  We LOVE Valentine as a middle name (it's a big family name on my side) and I couldn't do a Ruby Valentine (too gimmicky), so that's one point against Ruby.    Love Penny but not wild about Penelope.  Love Abby, and Abigail is quickly growing on us (pretty strongly, too).  Isn't Abby Valentine one of the cutest   things you've heard?  But Ruby Vaughn=my heart.  And Penny is just adorable.

I think it might be awkward to blog the naming process and have people form opinions before it's a reality, but I think it's so INTERESTING.  I love hearing about what other people are thinking about naming their babies, so how could I refuse to share these tidbits with others?  And I feel fine telling anyone who asks, so why should it be weird to blog it?  Anyways, there you have it.  Hopefully we will have enough children to use up our favorite names.  If I don't get to name a boy, I will be bitter my entire life.

8 comments:

TheMoncurs said...

I love the name Ruby! But, in case this matters to you, Ruby is becoming really trendy. I know three girls born in the past 8 months that are named Ruby. And Abigail is number 11 in the popularity rankings for 2009. SO just putting it out there that in her second grade class she'd probably have to be "Ruby V." or "Abby V."

My parents were all about naming us what they wanted to call us. Nikki isn't Nicole, she's just Nikki. Before Kayla became popular people always assumed it was short for Kaitlin or something. So naming her just Penny if you don't like Penelope doesn't seem weird to me. But also, I don't LOVE Weston but just "Wes" on the birth certificate seemed weird. So he's Weston but we have never called him that. Either way works.

Just my two cents..I really love all three names!

Becca said...

I just saw the other day that Abigail is #11. It made me sad! Trendiness DOES matter to me, but I think that I love these names enough that it wouldn't change my mind, if that makes sense. AND they're not trendy in the "Only Cool Right Now" sense at least--in fifteen years they're not going to be weird or super dated, because they've always been around. That makes me feel better, at least.

I wonder how my sister has felt about being Katy A. her whole life? Katy, weigh in on this STAT.

Amanda Swafford said...

Abbie/Abigail was one of our top three choices, and her middle name was Kay until she was born and we changed it last minute.

But they're all cute names! You'll pick the right one. It took us a few hours after Olivia was born, but I think we got it right, even though it's trendy. It's her.

Kyle said...

I've got it!
Ruby Abby Penny Valentine Vaughn! Isn't that a beautiful name?!

The Christensens said...

I just wanted to chime in on the topic of heartburn since I firmly believe NO ONE should have to suffer through that!! I have had horrible heartburn with this pregnancy, from 5 weeks on its been constant. (Gross fact: I threw up more from heartburn than from regular morning sickness. Yuck!) So here's what worked for me just in case you are wanting to try something else: For a quick fix I drink milk (now that I'm not nauseous vanilla ice cream does the trick too :). It puts the fire out instantly!! For more long term relief my midwife prescribed Tagamet, which took awhile to get working but once it started it has made a WORLD of difference!! I discovered it was much cheaper for me to buy generic Tagamet at the store instead of getting the prescription filled, but the result is the same regardless. There are a couple pregnancy approved heartburn meds so talk to your dr if you want to try something different. And then on top of all that I have Tums with me at all times. And now, most of the time, I can eat like a normal human being!
Good luck!! I hope it goes away soon!

And good luck with the baby naming! I'm with you on trying to avoid the trendy names...when we still looking for names the first thing I would do with any new idea was go check where it ranked for popularity. But no matter how trendy it is, it really doesn't matter if your heart gets all warm and fuzzy when you say it :) None of those other kids with that name will be nearly as fabulous as yours! :)

Celia said...

So you know I LOVE Ruby. I have always just thought of your child as Ruby (and selfishly, I thought of it for my own child, but Ruby Robbins sounds awful). I love it. I think it is timeless and adorable.

BUT I also LOVE Abigail. I have always loved that name because it is so refined sounding and just beautiful. Abigail Grace was briefly on my list of names. However, Valentine has a middle name is LOVELY. I never would have thought to use that name, but now that I hear it with Vaughn, I love it!

As for Penelope, Nathan vote YES YES YES! He loves that name. HE thinks Penny Vaughn sounds "snazzy." I don't know if you are going for that, but I think it sounds great too! And i agree, it is this tremendous weight, naming a child. Your decision is HUGE! That being said, you have some pretty good names in mind, and I don't think you can really go wrong. I think you will still have these three name in mind up until Velocity is born. I know Nathan and I had "chosen" Eliza Eden, but once we held her, we thought: "Is she REALLY an Eliza?"

So even if THE name is chosen, you're allowed to change your mind! And like we have previously said, nothing really sounds bad with Vaughn :) I like how you decided to share you ideas, instead of hiding them away! They are great! I love liking names you like because then I don't ever have to say: eww...I hate that name.

p.s. TWO YEARS! WOOHOO!

Caitlin Carroll said...

I vote for Velocity. But seriously, I LOVE those names! I'm really surprised we have similar naming tastes (I don't know why I would be though, we both are very classy) because I absolutely love those names for girls. That being said, I don't think just naming her Penny is weird, but I love Penelope too. There was a really adorable little girl named Penelope in our ward in DC and I thought it was the cutest name! You are lucky you have such an awesome last name to work with as well. All the names I like are three-syllables usually, and my poor kids are going to have the longest names of all time.

And when it comes to originality, that was a big deal to me because I had about 6 other Caitlin/Katelyn/Kaitlyns in my grade and I hated it so much because I was always "Caitlin Carroll" not just Caitlin (part of the reason why keeping my last name mattered to me, it felt like part of who I was).

I think it's important to see her first before setting the name in stone, but that's just my opinion. My baby was Milo until his birthday, and then I saw him and knew that just wasn't right!

Lauren said...

Naming babies is so hard. Megan was named just before her birth. Gavin was a hard fight for several days (I wanted Benjamin), and Benjamin was going to be Ian until I had a dream the night before I went into labor. And I wanted to see him and hold him before I wrote anything on the birth certificate but he was sick and they whisked him away to the NICU and when the lady came in I just blurted out "Benjamin" and that was that. And it fits.

I love all the names you've chosen. Penny is a favorite, since that Hanson song, don't know whether that's a plus or minus for you. Abigail is one of my favorites, because Abigail is so elegant, and Abby is so darn cute. I see pigtails. A lot of people are naming their daughters Ruby these days, but it's still uncommon enough that there won't be a bunch of them, I think, and it's a timeless name.