Life on the Concrete Prairie: The Name Game

I'm addicted to BabyCenter. There's no denying it. I get on the website multiple times a day. I used it a little when I was pregnant with Mia, but I've been on there pretty much every day since I found out I was pregnant with Quinn. I really LOVE the birth boards. I joined Q's immediately and became connected with thousands of other women who were also due in September 2012. It gave me a great sense of support to be able to communicate on a daily basis with women who were in my exact same situation. You can ask questions, give advice to other moms based on your experience, or just have a laugh at some of the hilarious stories that other ladies post. I was reading a thread on my fellow Sept '12 moms board about their birth stories, and I nearly peed my pants I was laughing so hard. Just before Q was born, I found that BabyCenter also had boards for Breastfeeding Moms and Pumping Moms. Since I knew I'd be doing both, I started following those as well. Now, I get on those more than Q's birth board. I've gotten so much good information from there. I like to get on BabyCenter on the iPad in the middle of the night when Quinn is nursing. What better time to read about it than while actually doing it? Haha!

Today, I saw that BabyCenter has released its "100 Most Popular Names of 2012". Each year I cringe a little when these lists come out. I love my name, but it became extremely popular right around the time I was born. Everywhere I go there's always at least one other Jessica. All of the time I have patients tell me when I introduce myself that they have a daughter, granddaughter, niece, etc named Jessica. My mom promised me that it wasn't common when she named me. (Love ya Mom!) I knew when I had kids that I would like them to have names that were beautiful without being popular and rare but not to the point of being weird. When we chose Mia's name, I had NEVER in my life met anyone other than sweet little old ladies with the name Amelia. I thought it was a lovely name- classic and strong. Wes suggested Mia as a nickname, and we loved it as well. I felt like Mia was still fairly uncommon, too. Fast forward almost four years, and it is as you would expect. The name Amelia is #20 on BBC's list, and Mia is #9! What?! At least I can tell her one day what my mom told me, "Sorry sis, it wasn't common when we named you." We went through the same thing when choosing Quinn's name. Boy's names are harder (I think) if you want something a little more rare. Quinn is nowhere on the list. Woohoo! So to "future Quinn" I will say this now: I have heard of exactly one other boy with your name. There, now we'll see if his name gets popular too!

I need to do a catch up of Quinn's weekly pictures. I take them, but it's been crazy busy around here lately. Here are the last few weeks.

Quinn at 12 weeks old