Baby Name Wizard

Now that we know BabyMac is indeed a boy, it is entrusted to us as parents to come up with a name for this child. A name no doubt that will be unique enough to make him stand out in a crowd and yet not so much so that he curses the day he was born and the parents that bore him.

There is this crazy phenomenon I have experienced during the past few months in regard to realizations. What I have found is that there are a couple stages that you go through. The first stage is titled, "I understand that at some point this is going to happen." It is in this stage that you work up a number of scenarios about the decision you will make, the emotions you will feel, and the words you will say at a particular time. Then there is stage two entitled, "This is for real... wait, is this really happening?" At this time, you kind of cock your head to the side like a dog when he hears you say something familiar, almost as if it just hit you that the moment you've imagined has now arrived. Then all the decisions you had made with your inexperienced brain come into question.

Such was the case with the name that we had picked out for our son, Grady. We had discussed that we both liked the name. In fact, about a year ago Jen and I were talking about what we wanted to name our kids and she mentioned Grady without even knowing that it was my Grandfather's name. From that point on, we were pretty much sold. But then, when the moment came last Thursday to pin the name our prized child, it was a little weird for me. The second realization had come. "Man, are we sure? This is a really big deal! Grady? Is there some cruel nickname that a Jr. High bully could make out of this? We are making a life-altering decision right here and now by giving this kid a name. This is for real!"

Even later on that day I wasn't sure if I was ready to broadcast it to the world, but not to worry, my good sister-in-law and Kim and her CIO Kelly did that for us :) Love you gals.

So Baby Mac's official name is Grady. As for a middle name, well we'll have to consult my new favorite page-turner, "The Baby Name Wizard".

~A

P.S. No seriously, it's my favorite! I would reccommend it to anyone, pregnant or not.