Explanation

I know.  I know.  We shared the baby's name.  We said we weren't going to.

So why did we?

Well, when I was pregnant with Spencer it was very important to us that we keep his name a surprise.  We told no one his name until after he was born.  No one.

Maybe you have noticed (maybe you have not) that I am very much a fan of familiarity and tradition.  I don't know why I take a picture of Spencer in a flag suit every summer other than I did it last summer and the summer before. 

I like the status quo.

We planned on keeping Elliott's name a secret too.  But a little doubt had crept in even before the ultrasound.  Should we do things the same just because of how we did it before?

I hate to admit that things will be different with the second child, but really, things will be different.  That's just the nature of the second child.

The ultrasound technician placed the transducer on my belly. Elliott was right there- legs up, kicking.  It was plainly obvious who he was.  The tech said, "it's a boy".  Spencer waited 4.3 seconds to ask what his name was.  Then he asked again.  Then he asked again.  Then he started offering suggestions for names.  They included Spencer, Nicholas and Ice Cream.

But still we didn't say anything.  Because we like to do things the same.

  Then we came home and told our parents the news.  Then my mom said it was silly to not share if Elliott was the only name we had.

I also felt like it would help with the brotherly bonding. So, we shared. 

This was Spencer's reaction: "Oh.  Elliott.  That's a good name.  I don't have any Elliotts at school."

 We picked the name Elliott a year ago.  It's not in honor of anyone. We just really, really like it.  We think it sounds good with Spencer.  They are both English names that are real names but not popular names.  I dare say they are kind of classy sounding. 

Also, in addition to being psychotic about sameness I have OCD about the fact that Michael, Natalie and Spencer all have 7 letters.  That was not intentional when we named Spencer, but once I realized it (when he was about 2 weeks old) it became an obsession. 

I'll share our girl name too.  We're like 99.7% certain that there will be no more children, but there could be a miracle situation.  You never know.

Jillian Michaela

I picked this name when Spencer was 4 months old.  Jillian was a contestant on Project Runway. I just thought it was a great name.  I would hold Spencer and nurse him and lament that I would never be able to use the name because I was NEVER GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY AS LONG AS I LIVED.

I'll share our twin names too.

Twin Boys:

Cooper Stephen

Oliver James

Twin Boy and Girl:

Cooper Stephen

Harper Annemarie

Twin Girls:

Jillian Michaela

Madison Annemarie

I nearly had to take prozac and breathe in a paper bag to come to terms with the 6 letter names for fictional twins that never existed.  I figured at least there would be two of them so they could stick together when they were depressed that the number of letters in their names didn't match the rest of the family.

I'll tell you this though.  If I could figure out how to get an extra letter in to Cooper, Elliott would be Cooper.

And there you have it. 

An in-depth look at the neuroses of my brain.