Sex, Names and Rocking Chairs
Since we announced our pregnancy, the most common question we get is “When do you find out if it’s a a boy or a girl?” The second most common is question is, “Do you have names picked out?”
Ladies and gentlemen, I can’t believe it, but my husband has decided that he wants the sex of Deuce to be a surprise. Never in a million years did I think that Steve would ever entertain the idea of having the sex of any child that we bare remain a mystery until he or she arrives, and I certainly wasn’t prepared for him to be all, “It’s going to be a surprise like back in the day when our grandparents had kids. We’re not going to know the sex of the baby until it arrives and goes ‘Hey-O! Here I am and check out my genitalia!’” to everyone he knows and to the strangers he meets. Up until about a week or two ago Steve needed to know the sex of Deuce a-s-a-p. He wouldn’t be able envision tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or twenty years from now without knowing if Deuce was a he or a she. Things in Steve’s world were at a near standstill with this piece of information missing from the puzzle of life, but he has done a complete 180 and shows no sign of wavering back to the other side of the compass.
So to answer your first question, we will find out if Deuce is a boy or a girl on Deuce’s birthday. I can promise you that the very first thing Steve is going to want to know when Deuce arrives is if it’s a boy or a girl, and if he still smoked, I can promise you that he would smoke a cigar afterwards because that’s what our grandparents did back in the day.
To answer your second question, we kind of have names picked out.
When we were expecting Moanna, we had names lined up. We had a boy name and a girl name on deck within weeks of finding out we were going to be parents. We deeply loved both our girl name and our boy name. When the radiologist told us that we were having a girl, we knew without a doubt that Moanna Marie Adams was her name. Our beloved boy name, we tucked away in a safe place for future use.
If we have a boy, the name is in the bag. It’s a wonderful baby boy name. Unique. Strong. Meaningful. It’s an amazing name. A few people know our boy name because we told them it long ago when we were pregnant with Moanna, and I swear if any one of you breathes a word of that name, I will hunt you down.
If we have a girl, we have no idea what to name her. No idea. We got nuttin’. We don’t even know where to begin. We talk about it sometimes and I it’s like getting a dead dial tone when you pick up the phone. Since we are struggling with this girl name, we are opening the floor to ideas and suggestions. Keep in mind we like unique names. They don’t have to be as exotic as Moanna but I don’t want my daughter going to primary with three other kids who have her exact name. Names that you don’t hear every day, names that having meaning, names that aren’t Biblical figures or famous people- those are the types of things we think about when we talk about our children’s names.
We were in love with Moanna’s name, so when we told people we were having a girl and that her name was Moanna, we were completely dumb founded when people thought we were insane and cruel for naming our child that. I was in total shock by the number of people that openly and freely shared their distaste for our baby name. We had family, friends, acquaintances and strangers telling us that it wasn’t an appropriate name and instead we should name her this or that. Some people were kidding with their banter, like my friend who said, “You can’t name her that. You’re not ethnic,” but some of them were not kidding one bit. I had no idea people were so deeply passionate about the name of someone else’s child. We didn’t get near as much crap for having a child outside of marriage as we did about our choice of baby name. Unbelievable. If we had asked for opinions and suggestions like we are now, it would have been totally different. However, that was not at all the case. I know Moanna is a unique name (at least in this part of the world), but by the reactions we got you would think that we had decided to sell her to the circus. So, because of the flack that we got over Moanna’s name, and the very slight risk of someone stealing our baby names, we are keeping our names top secret until we are done having children. I’m sure you understand.
I did digress a bit, so lets review…
* We will know the sex of Deuce when Deuce makes his or her debut. The old fashioned way.
* We have a boy name picked out, but no clue about a girl name.
* We will be keeping Deuce’s boy and girl names top secret until Deuce is here and named.
* We are in need of of girl name ideas! Anything to get us brainstorming would be deeply appreciated.
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In other news, I am in search of a comfortable chair for snuggling and nursing. Rocking chair or no rocking chair, either way. I just need something that is supportive of nursing and bedtime stories and something that will be forgiving if I fall asleep in it.
**The above picture is a flower we found in Costa Rica**
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We looked through the biggest baby name book plus thought about names in our families that have warm, loving feelings to think of them. Some of past generation names are so unique now.
I think Moanna is unique and beautiful so you did great. It will come to you. My son’s was a definite once we decided. My daughter was a flip for middle name up until inducement. The nurse said “which one will be easier and faster when she is in trouble.” that’s all it took for us to decide.
Hahaha!!! I love it. I should have thought of that when we were naming Moanna. It’s kind of hard to yell “Moanna” when she’s in trouble, but “Moanna Marie” for some reason rolls much easier off the upset tongue.
i always liked adah, but i don’t know if you consider that unique or just old.
That’s a cute name. I would have never known it was old fashioned.
We kept our daughter’s name a secret until she was born, for exactly the same reason. I didn’t want everyone in my (large) family weighing in on my kid’s name.
I think you mentioned once that Moanna’s name is Hawaiian. (That could be my imagination, but I thought you said that at some point.) So, maybe another Hawaiian name for a girl. An acquaintance of mine named her daughter Kaeona, which I love. (I think that name is Hawaiian or Japanese in origin.)
Anyway, have fun picking a name!
Moanna’s name is the Hawaiian word for ocean. We have been looking at other Hawaiian names. I love names from other cultures.
I understand how you feel about using unique names and keeping them secret. In fact, Tati’s full name is quite unique — and I’m still hesitant to tell people it for fear that soundly a flood of girls with her name with emerge. And sure enough, we had raised eyebrows from relatives who thought it was “ethnic” — I assure you that a variation on a German name and a Russian name is perfectly fine for us to be using.
Of course, the boys were named after my FIL and my husband, but I left that up to Brian — I traded him two boy names for Tati’s name because I picked out her name before I even met Brian.
I’m going to second what Robyn said. Pick another Hawaiian name, or maybe even a Japanese name. Or maybe if Costa Rica moved you, you could choose a Spanish name even. Some people end up naming all their kids names with the same first letter — perhaps another M name? Hope these suggestions help you narrow things down! (More so, I hope that this dilemma is unnecessary, much in the way worrying about Brian Jr. being a girl was — couldn’t figure out a good girl name, found out he was a boy, and relief washed over me instantly.)
Names are so hard to pick. It’s so much fun, but you know that it’s a lifelong decision that you are making for your child, so there is a lot of pressure in finding the perfect names.
Oh TELL me about it! We make it a point not to tell people, too. Some people are quick to be offended, so I admit there was a time or two when I’d say, “Nope! Still haven’t picked one!”
People are much more polite when you’ve already named the kid than they are when you’re thinking about it, and it kind of blows my brains! You can’t please everyone (not that you’d want to), so no matter what you name your kid, someone out there is going to think you’re the devil for doing it. It’s ridiculous, really.
Of course, we really don’t have any idea this time around. It was hard enough coming up with Tali’s name, now we have to come up with TWO girl names?? Eegads.
I really really wanted Chantri Caprie and/or Isa-Jade Insert-middle-name-here, but Corwin hates them both with a fiery passion. So there it is, if you’re interested.
Haha… he doesn’t dislike them he “hates them with a fiery passion” I love how passionate people get about names
For another Hawaiian name… Malia is beautiful. Lelani is another one.
Names I have picked out as potentials are: Aniston Kate, Kamden Grace and Kennedy Michaeline. Michaeline is a family name.
Happy name picking!
Ohhh I like your potentials. I’ve always liked Kennedy for a girl
When I was pregnant the first 2 times my husband and I picked out boys names instantly but were undecided on names for a girl. A friend told me both times that I was having a “mothers intuition” moment and knew that I was having boys. But with out daughter we were undecided until 8 hours after the birth, when I got tired of everyone calling her Baby Girl. I understand about the names, though…Andy and Amelia are not that common, but shortly after Liam’s birth it seemed that everyone decided they loved that name enough to use it themselves!
You’re right. I hadn’t heard Liam before in my life until a few years ago. Now they’re everywhere. Mostly at church. It’s a great name.
I know what your boy name is! And it is…..just kidding. Your secret is safe with me. As for girls names you know I hear Beth is great, it means house of God, can’t get much better than that. Just sayin’.
I know where you live…
Sariah ….forgot to mention Sariah Elizabeth! Nothing like a Book of Mormon name!