Yet Another Baby Name Post

*DISCLAIMER*

Still not pregnant. Still not trying. Still not close.

But like any other normal female, I've had a list of baby names I like since circa age 10.

And since The Beard and I rarely agree on stuff and fight about pretty much everything (like music, for instance), I thought it prudent to talk about baby names early so we can work up to a good list and fight less when we actually have to name a tiny human. That's extreme, you say?

"You act like you get any say! You're gonna be KO'ed on the table and I'm gonna be the one filling out the birth certificate! And even then, I'LL be the one blessing it in sacrament. I can just change it on the spot and those are the records of THE CHURCH!" - The Beard.

Sunday School is usually the time we work on our list of potential baby names that we like. See if you can guess who chose which names.

On "Stealing" Baby Names - the only people who can truly "steal" baby names that will affect you in the long run are your siblings.  So talk with them if you're worried and GET OVER IT.

Boys

• Reepicheep
• Jacoby (Obi Wan Jacoby, to be precise)
• Jonah
• Boromir
• Dwight (80% kidding)
• Walter 
• Aslan
• Porter
• Apollo (already taken by our fake baby)
• Ender
• Samuel/Samwise

Girls

• Leila (or Layla, according to The Beard. psh. no.)
• Josie
• Arwen
• Lucy
• Leia
• Blair (headbands required)
• Alice
• Norah
• Eowyn (He insisted I add this one even though I don't have the special 'E' character)
• Amelia

Twins

• Merry & Pippin
• Fred & George
• Luke & Leia (weird, though, because they kiss...)
• Blair & Serena
• Peter & Edmund
• Stevie & Nick (get it??) 

 I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed by the number of LOTR, Star Wars and Narnia names on this list. No, I'm not. I'm pretty excited about it.

Although I don't know how we'll narrow it down or how I'll keep The Beard from naming our kids after Narnian animals.

Must Be Morning Sickness!!!! *winks*

Yesterday I wasn't feeling great. By 2nd period I could only stand for a few minutes at a time without dizziness and then I held off my nausea long enough to puke on my prep period. More than one teacher chimed in with the "Sounds like MooOoOOOOrnInG SiiiiiiiCknEsS!!!"

I wanted to answer with a long list of disgusting TMI things to shut them up:

"Oh actually, that's impossible because I'm currently menstruating more heavily than you ever have or ever will menstruate."

"Yeah, it's actually the half bowl of cookie dough and giant burrito I ate at 9 pm last night because I'm an adult."

"Wow Miller Light isn't that Light on the way back up, amirite?!" 

"Jokes on you - I have one of those science fiction birth control plastic rods IN MY ARM. Come here. Feel it. FEEL IT."

{3 out of 4 are true. I'll let you decide which.}

Instead, I responded with a demure "Oh I don't think so. Must be something I ate." I really don't mind too much, and these are my friends. I am not and do not get personally offended when people ask me, as long as you don't say it in front of my baby-hungry family members (now firing from both sides of the family). However, I was left again wondering why anyone thinks its ok to ask/hint/assume pregnancy about anyone. Especially in Utah.

I came up with a helpful reference list of reasons why you shouldn't ever ask, hint or joke about pregnancy:

1. It's none of your damn business. 
2. See #1
3. SOOOOOO many couples (including several of my close friends) struggle with infertility and when you say "So when are you gonna give us some cute little ones?!" or "Man you guys better get on that!" to them OR to anyone in their presence,  you are emotionally stabbing them in the heart. They shed countless tears in private, why would you thoughtlessly assume that it's easy for them and something they should be able to do RIGHT NOW? For the record: we are not trying. Won't be for a while. But I can tell you if infertility is something we deal with - you better shut your mouth around me because I'll give you an earful if you ask me about babies and I can't have them yet. 
4. See #1
5. It's so easy for rumors to get started. "Mrs. Holdaway was throwing up - she must be pregnant." "Did you hear Mrs. Holdaway's pregnant?" "Does that mean she's gonna leave?" "Mrs. Holdaway's gonna leave!" I certainly don't want to be treated differently, positively or negatively just because someone THINKS I'm pregnant. Ideally, yeah, employers wouldn't discriminate against pregnant workers, but I think it does happen sometimes. And when I am pregnant, I don't want my decision to be dictated by others - maybe I'll stay, maybe I'll go. But it's my decision and I want to make and announce it on my own time. 
6. Are you my doctor? No, ok. Oh then go ahead and shut up because it's NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS.

Sorry I went sailor mode. Apparently I'm passionate about this. I'm protective of my friends dealing with infertility and also a big fan of people staying out of my beeswax.

Please. PLEASE. Just assume people are struggling with fertility and keep your yapper shut. It's better than having to stick your foot in it. I know you mean well. No one thinks you're rude or a jerk - just maybe slightly thoughtless. Be careful. Tread lightly. Love everyone. The end.

My Happiness Project: Week Six

I had to be really secret this week. I had to employ like super secret agent moves.

Motherhood

For the record: NOT PREGNANT. Not even a little pregnant. Not even baby hungry yet.

But I did want to learn a little more about pregnancy and motherhood since the only things I know I learned from The Office and Baby Mama. I'm getting to the point where the baby aisles at Target don't make me physically sick, so that's good. But I still don't know anything about babies, ultrasounds, infant care, onesies, bath time, car seats... wow this list just keeps getting longer.

-Read up!
--So I sneak-attack put a bunch of books on hold and I wore my trenchcoat and sunglasses to go pick them up at off-hours at the library. I didn't really wear the trenchcoat but I was very sneaky and fast. I don't need to run into students or friends when I have an armload of maternity-info books. I also delved into a lot of the blog posts "348 Things You Need To Know As A Complete Moron Getting Pregnant For The First Time" that I've pinned over time.

-Watch up!
--I watched The Science of Babies on Netflix - fascinating. I even got The Beard to watch What to Expect When You're Expecting with me! He's probably less scared of babies than I am, actually. He's great with babies and little kids - unless they're our niece Lillie who is still terrified of his big black beard.

-Think about what type of mother I'd like to be
-- The biggest thing that I walked away with is "Take a breath, Danica. People have been doing this for thousands of years. Millions of people didn't read books, and watch documentaries, and ask every person on the street about pregnancy. Millions of people! And overall, pregnancy for them is still ok. If the idiots on 16 and Pregnant can do this, I'm pretty sure I can do this. Also multiple people told me that I'd need to drink a bathtub's worth of Diet Coke a day in order for it to hurt any baby I was carrying, so even though I drink an obscene amount, I'm not scratching that surface. That really helped my fears. I won't have to give up Diet Coke!!!

Blog

- Get a "real" blog URL
- Got it. Execpt The Beard got it for me on this weird site and we're still working on getting it linked up to host this blogspot. Get excited for that to come up.

-Make it look cuter.
-- Working on a new logo/name. Added an Instagram feed. Rearranged. I'm creating tabs and pages like a real deal blog. And I'm working on a few new buttons. There's not a lot to show for this right now. But it's still coming. Promise.

- Learn how "real" blogs operate.
-- No surprise - I checked out a bunch of books, read a bunch of posts (Especially Bon's. So helpful) and started mapping out where I want my blog to go. I really have never even TRIED with my blog. I've done a couple of things that friends have asked - giveaways, hosting, guest posts, etc. But I've never really done anything with my blog. But I'm ready to be more real. Blog more regularly, interact more in the blogging world, be a "real" blogger. Who knows. Maybe we'll even get to a sponsorhip phase. I still don't really know what that is. But it sounds cool. Dreamin big over here.

Coming Soon - my overall view of my Happiness Project. Acceptable social media posts when you're pregnant. Annoying stuff Bloggers do. More things that I realized/got bugged by when I did my Happiness Project.

My Happiness Project: Overview
My Happiness Project: Week One
My Happiness Project: Week Two
My Happiness Project: Week Three
My Happiness Project: Week Four
My Happiness Project: Week Five