the short list

well, a baby name blog has been requested by a couple of you over the past weeks, and let's be honest: i like to give the people what they want :) and WHO doesn't like to talk about baby names?! (answer: no one)

this go 'round, baby naming is much harder. i guess because our first name picks, elias and piper, were such clear cut front runners. we had both their names picked out before i even knew i was having a boy. truth is, we didn't have many favorites to begin with, so we're now left with a much shorter list. and we've not added many names to it since we made it 5 years ago (yes. i'm picky. i'm opinionated. what of it?)

after two kids, finding another name that fits the group is kind of tricky. i feel like eli and piper's names are both a little unique and somehow similar in feel, so i'm not about to name baby 3 something that doesn't, well, fit. so that's one more thing to complicate what is becoming one very tough job. who ever though finding a name could prove so difficult?

i like sharing baby names. some people keep it a secret, which i think is cool (but i never could), and some people don't like sharing because they don't like people's reactions. but me? i don't give a hoot what someone else thinks. it's my kid, and i can name it whatever the heck i want. so i really don't care if everyone (or anyone) likes it. you should have heard my dad react to the name piper. maybe that's why he still calls her penelope (hilarious, and yet unfortunate, because i like the name penelope, too. and i love the nickname penny...)

i'm very particular about names, and i have way too many parameters. here's where i get a little crazy. are you worried? or curious?

1) the name we choose most likely cannot end in "-on", "-en", "-in" or "-an" because none of those sound very good with stratton. there may be exceptions to this rule. maybe.

2) nicknames are important. if there is no nickname, it's probably not going to work.

3) i'd prefer that it not end in "-as" or "-er" (like elias and piper). i'd like them to all sound different.

4) i don't like names that i hear all the time, but i don't do wacky, invented, or bizarre names. like "faranfalli" or "wardionne". (c'mon, are they for REAL?!)

5) middle names are just as important as first names. i already have a unisex middle name with great significance, but i cannot divulge just yet. you'll have to wait for it. dave and i agree that one of the names ought to have some significance or meaning, eg, no naming my kids after soap opera stars or anything ;)

that said, i'll share some of our short list. ready?!

GIRLS

elouise- and i'd call her "lou". LOVE.

lula- not sure if i love it, but it would be cute with a middle name like "jane" or something.

ophelia- elya suggested this one (in jest, i think), but i love "opie". it's on the list.

BOYS

malcolm or maxwell- we love "max", but what do you call malcolm for short?!

hatcher or thatcher- "thatch" and "hatch". like.

atticus- dave and i always loved this one. but "atti" sounds too similar to "madey" and "matty". not so much...

jude or judah- still like these ones. and jude i like even without a nickname (gasp).

asher- but can you call him "ash"? is it too feminine? undecided on this one. plus it's an "-er", so...

truth is, i adore elouise, but i do no yet adore any boy names. here's where you come in. i need name help, BIG TIME. i want them all and i want you to keep your ear to the ground between now and november for anything that i can use.

the fate of my third child...rests on you.

(no pressure)

the verdict

at long last.

the wait...is over.

this ultrasound concludes that there is one, i repeat, one teeny tiny baby in utero. or maybe it's a gummy bear, like dave proposed after we did our best to make heads and tails of the little guy :)

so as much as twins would be something else, i have to admit i'm a little relieved. even in my dreams breastfeeding two kids is pretty tricky. the doctor sort of looked at me funny when i said i thought my belly was big and to be on the look out for babies floating around everywhere. she said "well, it's your third, so..."

oh.
right.
maybe she gets that a lot?

so i guess this is what my belly does at 2 months the third time around. truth is, my belly has never had much of a place to hide.

and neither do all the tacos and bacon cheeseburgers i keep eating to will away my nausea :)

100% accuracy

once upon a time i was just barely pregnant with my first child. i can remember sitting on the couch in our condo with dave, wondering what our family would one day look like. we imagined we'd have a boy and then a girl.

and then we'd have twins. a boy and a girl.

(who daydreams about having twins?!)

umm. us? there are a lot of twins in my family, so i really almost assumed i would have twins. it seemed inevitable.

it gets weirder: i had a dream the other night that i had twins. you know those dreams- the ones that you wake up from and you're not sure if it was real life or not? it was one of those. and then i was greeted at church that same morning with my sister whispering in elias' ear that she and he should be praying that mommy has twins. now, i don't know how many of you have sisters out there, but we have this creepy connection we call sister sense, and sunday, it allowed the crazy thought of twins to be both in my mind and hers.

i have to tell you, i was a little freaked out after dreaming about twins, and remembering that dave and i thought we'd have twins back in 2006, and then hearing my sister randomly out of nowhere telling my son to PRAY for twins...

and every time i look down, i'm like "whoa- my belly is, like, huge." and i feel like i want to barf everywhere all day every day, which was never the case with my first two pregnancies. so while this is my third child and my belly will get bigger sooner (and yeah, i could stand to lay off the french fries...), and while every pregnancy is different, so my nausea means, well, nothing...

i'm admittedly sort of afraid of my ultrasound on april 5th. i mean, i'm way excited to see a little baby, for sure, but now i'm a little nervous there's going to be, like, more than one.

so. i've just shared my crazy person inside thoughts with you. i'm a lit-tle scared to say them out loud because we've been right so far surmising we'd have a boy and then a girl...

but now? i'm decidedly undecided about going for 100% accuracy.

b's and g's

well, maybe that's overstating it just a tad, but seriously? i don't know what is going on, but i am SO excited about being pregnant again.
beyond ecstatic.
elated.

(and perhaps many other appropriate "e" words.)

when i was pregnant with elias, i knew i was having a boy right away. i even bought him the teeniest tiniest swim trunks you've ever seen before i knew. with piper, i was sure it was a girl, but then i was feeling like if i was wrong and it was a boy, i was going to be disappointed, which wasn't cool, so i spent a couple weeks telling myself i was having a boy so that i could come to terms with it. and i was pleasantly (not) surprised :)

i had a dream last night that i had a boy, and i tell ya, he was the most adorable thing i've ever seen, with tufts of dark hair sticking out all over the place (yeah. i have a things for babies with lots of hair. my kids, of course, are straight up bald). and in my dream, i was just enamored with him and his cute face. mostly with his hair, though. was my dream prophetic? i wonder...

(until, perhaps, i remembered that in this very same dream, i was also a double agent being chased up and down stairwells trying not to get shot. sooooo..)

my mom and friend lee are "voting" for a girl. which would be terribly convenient given the nursery walls are painted raspberry and there's a chandelier over the crib. having one of both, it's easy for me not to care. i would love a boy OR a girl. or both. (wait- what?!) but if i want a boy, apparently i can just eat lots of food, namely cereal.

(again- what?)

(i guess the high intake of pizza and mozzarella sticks i ate back in '06 explains a lot, doesn't it, kris?)

so indulge me. let's take a vote. everyone always has a "feeling" or a "thought" and, hey, you have a 50% chance of being right!

what do you think??
boy? or girl?

diversity vol 2: more babies, please!

now that i got all of the diversity ramblings out of my head, and you've glimpsed a little into my heart, i'll follow up on what i mentioned about babies.

more babies, you ask? yes please.

and not just babies of my own, although dave and i have realized over the past few months that our family is still not complete, and are excited to see if God will give us a third bubby (and fourth. dave doesn't want 3. it's 2 or 4 for him, so i'm shooting for twins. kidding. SO not wishing twins on myself, except for in the deep dark secret corners of my delusional brain.). but that's a different topic. i'm talking about diversity here, and although italian, my husband can not give me what i want.

and what i WANT is babies from different places of different races! just like piper has.

my heart, the heart God has given me, is for fostering babies. maybe adopting, too, if the opportunity presented itself, and God was leading that way. in my mind, there is no better gift to give than the gift of love and a home. and i have lots more love to give, and if need be, i can stack kids up in drawers to fit 'em! kidding. sort of ;)

seriously, though, it weighs heavy on my heart to know how many unloved and uncared for children there are. it breaks my heart a little every time i think about it. so in the years to come, as our kids get a little older, and i have more of my attention to give, i'd really love to foster children (okay, babies especially. perhaps because i'm sick and twisted? maybe i like getting up in the middle of the night? i don't know. i just love babies).

this is what Jesus calls "true religion":

"religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." james 1:27

i feel like that's a pretty direct charge for us to help the people who need it. single moms, widows, children with no family, whoever. and however. i have a home, and i have love to give. if God gave me what i have, it would be wrong NOT to use it. i'm not saying everyone should foster kids and adopt babies. i think God calls us all to different things. what i AM saying is that we are asked to USE what we HAVE for the kingdom. not being selfish with ourselves OR our things. and this is one way i'd like to give generously.

and the bonus? my kids get to grow up in a family that isn't all white, which i feel brightens the future for acceptance, justice, and equality in the generations to come. i would feel proud if my children could look at different colors of skin without batting an eye because it would feel so normal and common and quite irrelevant that their skin is different. or their hair is different. or their eyes are different. THAT'S what I'M talking about.

so yes to more stratton babies, yes to anyone else's babies, and yes especially to black babies. just saying. i have a special place in my heart for those amazing features God didn't give us white folk.

pippa along the way 2008

your first few days...

"welcome, piper. it's been a very long nine months. glad to finally have contractions with results..."

proud dadda

you were like "what in the..."

we were just in awe looking at you. after much conjecture, you did end up looking more like a stratton. we are well pleased with your genetics.

dark hair! yay! it looks wavy here, but no such luck with the waves, pip, as far as i can tell

the next day meeting the fam and friends. here your snuggled up with uncle bob...

chubby cheeks

snuggle time

auntie kris came for a visit

nice view for us girls

pippa meets elias. melt my heart.

homeward bound

don't drink the water

"don't drink the water" is phrase used frequently at new hope. you see, when one person gets pregnant, everyone gets all nervous and suspicious. because when one gets pregnant, it starts a pandemic. i can't remember a time in 20 years at new hope where someone was pregnant alone; there are always 3 or more women pregnant at the same time. it's just how we do it here. i can't explain it. luckily, the quota of 3 is already filled right now, which may mean i'm safe. because seriously, God has his own plans and sure does some miraculous wonders with our women's wombs. impossibility and pregnancy are never in the same sentence (umm, except right here). just ask leeann and elya, two of my featured mamas in this blog.

basically, i'm feeling the mama love lately, with all these babies and pregnancies and all. it's like i'm in baby lal-la land, all drippy and excited and ooey and gooey over pregnant women and/or teeny tiny babies.

and i'm not even joking about the number of babies and bellies. let's see...

my best friend leelee is unexpectedly pregnant with her third when there was a 99.9% chance that could not happen; my friend elya is miraculously pregnant with a baby girl (tentatively named "charlotte" by yours truly) when doctors pretty much told her there was no way for her to conceive; my fellow blog friend suzannah is expecting a baby boy, and my west coast girlfriend jesse just had her third, a baby boy named benjamin. not to mention my friend april who just had her third, bridget, and dave's cousin gretchen, who just had her third, emaline. fellow-MOPS attenders, shannon and christy, pregnant with their second and fifth, respectively. also pregnant, my friend nick's wife, tracy, with a boy, and my college friend sara, and high school friend jen. oh, and sarah just had a baby boy, jaxon, a couple months ago, who is really quite adorable.

EVERYONE is pregnant or snuggling babies!

this fever has led everyone and their mother to continue asking me if i'm expecting. especially because leeann and i have been pregnant together with both our babies (who are...no longer babies). it's funny, i kind of feel like i'm leaving her out on a limb or something by not being pregnant! it feels unnatural. truthfully, seeing all these babies and bellies is making me wonder if i want another. i think in theory i do, but in reality...i don't. it's like being pregnant- it's cool in theory, but when you're carrying another person around (that kicks and punches you) all day, every day for 40 weeks, it's not so cool anymore. at least i didn't think it was. so i'm not sure.

right now, i feel very content and blessed with two.

and...i feel busy.

so i give it up to the women who have three or more small people to tend to. you're more severely outnumbered than i am, so i commend you. you might be a saint. if not, you're likely quite close.

and i'm going to keep thinking on this whole baby thing. right now, i'm going to enjoy what God has given me, and see what his plan unfolds. i don't know...i may find that ribbons is the only gal around here having lots of babies :)

piper glory

i was just struck with how adorable my daughter is when i went to pick her up out of her crib and she just smiled and laughed at me. she's such a chipper little bird. as evidenced below:

my sweet boy

why being a mom is great/joyful/fun/hilarious/adorable:

- moments like the one i just had where elias (2.5) said to me "make pi-ber yaff, mummy!" (make piper laugh, mummy). we just discovered two days ago that when elias jumps up and down, piper (5 mos) practically (or literally, who knows!) wets her pants laughing and screeching in delight. and as a big brother who has realized piper is just another small person, same as himself, he just adores interacting with her. he'll lay his head next to her and talk to her (while he slyly puts her bink in his mouth, of course...), give her toys to play with, run to me if he hears her crying ("pi-ber sad, mummyyy" or he'll pat her and say "no cry baby"), and bring me blankets for her ("baby pi-ber cowd [cold], mummy"). she just thinks everything eli does is delightful and hilarious, which is so charming and heart-warming to see. it's like they already know that they're in it together. i can only imagine when the two of them are running around wild. let's just hope piper ends up being laid back and mellow...dare i say, quiet?

- those proud mom moments, like when elias simply blows my mind and name colors and shapes correctly. blows my mind! he knows at least 4 colors and at least a few shapes (that i know of)! does that mean kids actually DO listen when we talk?? what?! yesterday we were coloring with markers and he draws a circle. and it's literally a circle. and he looks at me and says "mummy, yi-yi (eli) draw a circo!" and then he told me to draw a circo, and i did, and he took his marker and made dots inside my circle and said to me "boo dots!" and they sure were. blue dots. and it's magical to see them learn. and you just smile because you are so darn proud of them. it makes you realize that they are so eager to learn and their brains are just starving for more knowledge. imagine if we had the time to sit and teach them! i feel like i'm lucky he knows anything because i can barely get piper fed, myself dressed, meals made, and my teeth brushed! if i actually leave the house?! miraculous! see, God still does miracles.

these little moments were just on my mind, and i just HAVE to remember how sweet they are, because when my son turns around and smacks me in the head and i want to throw him across the room, moments such as these help me to find patience when i have none, sanity when it's all lost, and joy when i feel seething madness.

i know i can't be the only one...