Naming A Kid Is Hard

I've been thinking of baby names I liked since I was about nine. I can pinpoint it to my 9-year-old self because one of the names I distinctly remember liking was Arthur; because I thought (and still think) Arthur is the greatest show ever. Except my 25-year-old self does not want to name my child after a talking aardvark in a yellow sweater.

I've mentioned before I had a feeling from very early on that we were having a girl, so I only came up with girl names. Once I got Erik on the "it's a girl!!" wagon, I would bounce names off him. All of which he hated. Except one. On our way to San Diego back in April, we were discussing baby names and came up with the name I was certain we would name our daughter. And once we found out it was definitely a girl, I thought, "and she already has a name!" My plan was to not tell anyone the name until she was born, but Erik and I are the absolute WORST at surprises, so we told most people we knew. Although I discussed her name with family and friends, I hardly ever referred to her by name. I was afraid, "what if we change our minds?! and she's heard us calling her this name the whole time and she comes out utterly confused about life??!" Blame the crazy on the pregnancy hormones.

Last night, Erik and I were standing in her nursery when he asked me what I thought of a new name. Except he didn't say "new name," he actually said the name (which I'm not going to disclose right now because it's a lot easier to keep a secret when you have to type it out). I was actually quite shocked he liked the name, and before I let myself get too excited about it, I asked if he was for realz. And he was indeed for cereal. He then played me a song that has the name in it and we danced in the living room and I felt so happy in that moment, I thought this is the one. But who knows really. My mom has told me 29382910 times you have to wait to SEE the baby first. I really commend people who pick their kid's name early in their pregnancy and stick to it. This whole naming business is a lot harder than I expected. But whatever her name may end up being, she'll be our sweet babe.