What's in a name?

Jeff encountered his first "I don't know about your kid's name" experience. Jeff, my ever-animated husband, jubilantly almost-runs into the OBGYN's office for every one of my appointments. He pops his face in front of the secretary's (always the same one), and amuses her with his antics. This time around, he told the secretary that we're expecting a little girl.

As is common, she asked about the name. We will call her Vincenza Leigh. Vincenza (pronounced Vin-chen-zuh) is Jeff's beloved Nonna's name; she passed away when Jeff was younger, and we decided to pay her homage by naming our sweet little lady after such a prominent woman in Jeff's life. We would have named her after my Mom Mom, but Mom Mom would come out from the grave and pull me down with her if I EVER considered naming one of my children Geraldine, which sort of sounds like the name of a female gopher. Sorry, Mom Mom.

As for Leigh, it's my brother's middle name. It just so happens to be unisex, and I just so happen to love my brother a lot. He also prayed to baby Jesus for a little sister, and here I am. He also prayed for me to have a little girl so that his little girl has a best friend, and here we are having a girl. Additionally, my mom named me Danielle because Dad's name is Danny. Giving our girls names after the important men in their lives sounds like a pretty good tradition to continue.

Obviously, we love the name because it is profoundly personal and sentimental to us. The secretary argued that our little girl will hate us when she tries to spell her name, and her teachers will hate us when they try to pronounce it. Jeff, a little flustered, sputtered out some responses. Very calmly, I responded, "Her momma's an English teacher; she's got this in the bag." The name is extremely easy to pronounce once you learn that the c sounds like a ch. Any adult who cannot master that pronunciation probably should not be instructing the youth of our nation. At least we didn't put an r you have to roll in there. (If we had, I would not be able to pronounce my own child's name.)

Finally, she suggested we call her "Vina," and Jeff argued that the name sounds "like the name of a lotion." HAHA. He does not want to call her anything other than Vincenza because "why give her a pretty name if you don't call her by it." People are natural nickname givers, so I am sure she'll go by Vinnie or Enza or something other than Vina. 

He better get used to hearing people's unsolicited opinions because everyone else wants to tell you how to carry your child in the womb (gain more weight! gain less weight! eat more fish! eat NO fish!), how to name your child (too long! too hard to spell! too common! too unique!), and how to raise your child. Want to know the theme that exists in all of those phrases? YOUR CHILD. Listen to sage advice, forget all the rest, and simply do your best. (I have learned this same strategy as a teacher, and it has served me well.)

Here is one of my favorite, most recent outfits. The last picture shows the truest color of my pants, which are olive. I found olive-colored maternity pants on the sale rack. I call that superb luck, my friends.

The Look:

Cardigan: Gift from Target

Necklace: Francesca's

Striped Shirt (my top ten item): Gap Maternity

Pants: Motherhood Maternity

Flats: Audrey Brooke via DSW

 Headband: Target (I want more of them, so I might have to make them since I cannot find anymore as soft and stretchy. Headbands always choke my cranium and fly off the back of it, but this one has proven to be quite perfect for my noggin.)

 

(Forgive the mess here, but I wanted a clearer shot of the pant color.)