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!