The Great Baby Name Debate

So I promised to update my last blog earlier this week, but given that I have not done so yet, I think we can probably draw a line under the sand on my trip to San Diego. Long story short, it's still a very nice city, though it was chillier than I'd anticipated (insert comment about my lack of common sense when it comes to dressing for the weather). I talked to some recruiters, did NOT get fish tacos, unfortunately, discovered Balboa Park, which is beautiful!, tripped on apparently nothing on a downtown sidewalk and completely, 100% ate shit, and ended up being far more tired when I got back to DC than I'd thought I would be.

I was supposed to go to Chicago this week for another conference, but we'll have to survive without those interesting trip stories, as I opted to send the assistant in my place. Sometimes it's good to be in a management role.

Anyway. I'm now 28 and change weeks along, and I'm feelin' it. From what I hear from mothers, there are some fun times ahead in the next 3 months. Talking to mothers as an expectant first time mom is strange. Some moms just gush and tell you how wonderful it will be, some are a mixed bag - some positive experiences with pregnancy and the first year and some sharing of the negative aspects - and still others seem to take an almost sadistic pleasure in warning you about how much hair you're DEFINITELY going to be losing and how bad my heartburn will no doubt be. With these mothers, if I point out that I haven't really had heartburn issues yet, the response is inevitably "OH YOU WILL" (picture the witch from "Snow White" pointing her finger at me). And, by god, I WILL swell up like a balloon. No question. Just you wait, Kate, just you wait.

But I shouldn't complain, as overall, people are very nice and helpful, and I've not yet had to deal with too many people touching my belly without asking.


So now we come to the great baby name debate. There have been a few names thrown around that haven't caused one of us to burst into flames, so I'm 72% positive this child will have a name within the first 8 months of his life. We're looking at Scottish names, of course, though I welcome other names (I'm not generally overly fond of the Swedish names - sorry, Mom). And, sorry again, Mom, but Benjamin is out. For my own curiosity, I looked up the most popular Scottish names this year:
Calum     
Stuart
Kerr
Mac
Frasier
Gillespie
Ewan
Baird
Tyree
Macrae
Glen
Fergus
Ken
Ean
Macaulay
Manus
Roy
Blaire
Bruis

I gotta say, those aren't really catching my eye (at least not in the good way), so I went online to a baby name calculator (yes, they exist). Here's what came back: Broehain, Bhradain, Hamilton, Goraidh, Chisholm, Keith, Mitch, Bhaltair, Luthais, Daimh, Camhlaidh, Bhaic, MackIntosh, Mitchel (all based on our first names). Er, yeah, I may have to keep looking, though Bhaltair DOES have a certain ring to it :).

Let the suggestions pile in! 

San Diego and Back (Again)

Shopping/dining "village" behind my hotel in San Diego.

Village complete with man-made pond, ducks, and artificially-imposed "lost in nature" moments.

The "hipster" bookstore by my hotel. Dedicated to you, Matthew.

Another view from the walkway behind the hotel.

This pretty much sums me up. That's excitement for you! And don't worry, that coffee is decaf. WOOO!!!

Walkway behind the hotels. The hotel in the distance is where the conference was held; my hotel was immediately to my left as I was taking this picture.  

Backyard taking shape slowly but surely. Projects TBD, but first up will be painting that wall.

Just trying to capture how big Maya's tail is now. It's not just hair, either - that thing has a life of its own.

Yes, I fell in San Diego. I tripped over, well, nothing, and ate concrete. Though my walk back to the hotel was a decent distance and I passed quite a few people - an obviously pregnant woman bleeding fairly profusely - the only person to ask if I was alright was a non-American cab driver. White guys did NOT represent, that's for sure.

Maya exploring the backyard, again.

It is 10:30 at night and I'm pathetically exhausted, but I DID want to get these pictures up. So I'll add my delightful narration tomorrow.

So...we apparently live in the Wild West?

If I had more than 4 people reading this blog, I would hesitate to post anything remotely related to political opinions, and I promise not to make this a bitch-fest forum (though I suspect Dad would simply ask for access to the blog so he could contribute, too), but there are two big things that scare me BIG time about this country. Well, there are a lot of things that worry me, but the two big ticket items for me are women's health and gun control.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/03/17575708-insane-crowds-as-customers-flood-connecticut-gun-stores-before-vote?lite

For real? I mean, seriously, people, you're FLOODING the fun stores like crazed Bieber fans at a free concert because you may not be able to buy military-style assault weapons soon? Is a dearth of assault weapons really that harmful to your quality of life? What, exactly, do you need said weapons for???

Little man/Spartacus, you'll learn a lot about the heritage of both of your parents once you're old enough, and I'll be the first to line up to make fun of the British aversion to dental care, the frequent (and, in my opinion, overuse) employment of the term "fanny about", and the general lack of fashion sense most British (albeit, I will grant that it's more an English thing than a Scottish thing) men. However, one thing they do right, without question in my opinion, is gun control. People simply don't own guns. COPS simply don't carry guns unless they are members of a special force. And how many Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT-type mass shootings have happened in the UK this year? I think we all know the answer to that.

Anyway, I'm not just here today to bitch. I'm also happy to report that, after a second visit with the heart specialist yesterday, Spartacus (I will hereby refer to him as 'Sparky') got a clean bill of health. She'd had some concerns about one muscle in his heart before, but he seems to have outgrown it, so no more heart specialist appointments to worry about :).

And now, I wrap up with a picture, as always, of Maya. Just because a blog post feels naked without at least one picture and, since Sparky has a few months before he makes an official appearance, Maya's the best substitute for 'what in god's name is he/she doing??' type pictures in the meantime.