The Name Game and MORE Maternity Pics

My sister, Taylor, just took another bunch of maternity pictures, along with some fun pics of our family of four. I think she did a beautiful job. My favorites are the ones with Josh in them. (Tip: Adding a hottie to a photo shoot always helps pictures to turn out well. :)





























We still haven't come up with any names for our precious girl who is due in several weeks. I'm not too worried about it. We will come up with something....eventually. I think we may have narrowed the search a little bit. I have been calling this girl a certain name in my head for months now, but am waiting on Josh to make a decision on the matter. He is still looking...

In the mean time, the kids have been enjoying playing the name game. They have PLENTY of ideas to contribute. None of their ideas thus far will be used, but I am glad to see that their little minds are thinking...and being creative.

Here are a few that Mary Alice suggested:

*Violet Jessica (She has been stuck on this one for a while...)

*Amanda

*Dinah

*Eve

*Marilla (We've been reading Anne of Green Gables.)

*Agatha (a friend of Samantha from the American Girl books...She just loves this name!)

*Jessie (from The Boxcar Children)

*Antoinette

*Laura

*Lily (from Lily's Purple Plastic Purse)

*Diana

*Maria

And a few from Major:

*Boogley Googley Woogley

*Spiderman,Superman, or Batman (He informed me later that he doesn't really like these names, but was just playing a little joke.)

*Elizabeth (very pretty, but too much of a mouthful with Smith...Also happens to be the name of the stuffed pet elephant that he sleeps with every night. :)

*Emily (pretty, but too common for use with our last name)

*Ellie (a friend from church)

The names that the kids come up with remind me of when I was little. My brother was intrigued by the name "Ralph" and wanted to use it for one of my brothers or sisters. He had been reading that Beverly Cleary book about Ralph Mouse at that time. I am quite sure that all of my siblings are grateful that mom and dad decided to disregard his suggestion.

We continue to search through piles of name books in search for that perfect name. We have narrowed our search down a little bit at least with a few rules. No names beginning with the letters D, G, K, O, Q, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z. Nothing too common, as it can be troublesome with a last name like Smith. I love lots of "common" names (John and Jane), but those can't be used. Also... no names that end with a "s" sound or a "th" sound. One final guideline... no name that sounds like some kind of joke. I can always count on Josh to come up with a tacky nickname that someone might use. I am thankful that he thinks of things like that, because sometimes that type of thing doesn't occur to me. That is as far as we've come on the name game. Any suggestions?