A formal introduction

I don't know if I've mentioned it here, because I have pregnancy brain and can't remember anything, but Tim and I picked a boy name for this pregnancy just days after we found out we were expecting again. I mention it now because we haven't been keeping the name a secret from friends and family, and I think I have actually dropped the name in to a few posts (most of them currently in draft status) so I figured I'd just officially announce it so there is not confusion later :)

The middle name for a boy has always been easy for us: Robert is Tim's middle name, his dad's first name, his maternal grandfather's first name. We're big on classic names and family names, so Robert was a given. Tim didn't want a Timothy Robert Junior, so the first name is where we've always had issues.

If Elle had been a boy, her name would have been Alexander Robert. We joked that we liked regal names, names of leaders, like Queen Elizabeth and Alexander the Great. I liked the shortened name Alex, Tim was insistent that he would be called Xander.

But when I got pregnant again, we talked about names more seriously and weren't as sold on Alexander. Our other girl names were still strong contenders, but the boy name? We were kind of ho-hum about it.

So as we were keeping the pregnancy a secret from everyone during those first few weeks and still cautious because it was so early when we found out, we talked about names. I think one of the surveys with "Most Popular Baby Names of 2012" came out right around then, and I ended up surfing the web for baby names as I lay on the couch in early pregnancy exhaustion.

I read them to Tim, and he vetoed every one. (Keep in mind I didn't share the ones that I was opposed to or knew he would automatically veto.) I had pretty much given up on us coming across anything that we were interested in when I rattled off the last few on that particular web page. After I said "Wesley," Tim said, "Wait. I like that. Wesley. Wes. Wesley Robert. We could call him Dubs." (Our last name begins with a 'W,' too.)

Tim pointed out that there was a religious nod in the name, too, as he was raised in the Methodist faith and appreciates the Wesleyan connection. I thought about all of the people named Wesley or Wes that I knew and realized that I like them all. Tim started naming famous Wesleys (Wes Welker, Wesley Snipes, Wes Craven), and again, I wasn't opposed to my kid sharing a name with any of them.

Tim has been calling the baby "Wesley" since we first came across "THE name" - and long before we knew the gender - so Elle has called him Wesley, too. For several months, she was convinced she was having a little sister named Wesley, but she's come to terms with the fact that he's a baby brother now. She has a cute little chant for him, too, saying "Wes, Wes, Wes ... Wesley!" We bought a toy last week and I told her she was going to have to share it with her brother (it's really for younger kids, anyway, but she liked it and it was $7). Now whenever she plays with it, she refers to it as "Wesley's toy." I love that she knows that "Wesley is in Mommy's belly" and asks when Wesley is going to come out. I think it's going to help prepare her for his arrival and allows her to connect to him on some level during my pregnancy to know his name.

The more we've said the name, the more we like it. Tim is convinced that most of our family and friends hate it, but I maintain that it is our kid and their opinions ultimately don't matter. (Plus I don't think it's fair that he delivers the name news with "We're going to name him Wesley. No one likes it. What do you think?")

So in July, we'll be welcoming Wesley Robert to our family, and we couldn't be more excited.