Hey baby! What's your name??

With the official baby countdown at 6 days, I'm really getting concerned that we don't have names picked out yet. Some people don't believe me when I say we haven't come up with anything yet but it's the honest truth. Choosing just the right name is something I take very seriously and coming up with just THE right name is difficult. It has to be the perfect combination of cool, unique--but not so unique that the kid is labeled a freak, and ageless/timeless meaning that the kid could carry that name for his/her entire life and it still work.

Vincent and I have finally whittled down my long list of names to a short, workable list. But we still can't seem to agree on anything. Anyone that knows me well knows that I am a HUGE movie buff. And anything I have ever named in my adult life--pets and child included--have somehow been associated with my favorite movies:

*my dog Roxie--named after Roxie Hart from "Chicago"
*my dog Red--named after Red from "The Shawshank Redemption"
*most importantly, my beautiful daughter Olivia Carol--named after Celie's daughter, Olivia, from "The Color Purple" and Carol comes from the name of my precious Godmother, Carol Dyess (Aunt Puddie), that we lost 6 years ago.

I could go on but you get the idea. I'm sure this naming trend will continue with the twins, too, as a majority of the names on our list have special movie ties. And I want them to be names that are special to me in some way. My name--Allison Lynn--holds no special meaning and I don't like that. In fact, my middle name was basically an afterthought--one that was chosen b/c my mom had to come up with something before she left the hospital with me. Not cool and not going to be that way for my kids. I want them to know their names were specifically chosen for them for a special reason.

I'm also against choosing names that are really popular or trendy right now. I was one of 7 Allison's that I knew growing up. So I want our kids' names to be unique. Of course I say that and I think Olivia is the #4 most popular girls' name right now. Ugh! I really struggled with that when naming her b/c I had always wanted to use that name for a girl but by the time she came along, it had really increased in popularity. But I went with it anyway b/c she just was an Olivia and it's a beautiful name and it just fits her. And I have to admit that some of the names on our list are pretty popular right now which is why I can't commit to them 100%.

As hard as this process is, Vincent has not made it any easier. For months he'd shoot down all of my suggestions without coming up with any good ones of his own. GRRR! But now all of the sudden, like within the last two weeks, he'll tell me he likes a name that just a few months ago he vetoed. So I don't know what that's all about. But I guess I shouldn't question it and just take him at his word. Maybe he's just getting desperate b/c I threatened him that if I had these babies and no names had been chosen, he was to lose all naming privileges and I would get to name them all by myself! Mean, I know, but whatever works, right?

So we have 6 days to come up with something. And when we do, we will not be telling anyone what the names are until they are born. Nor are we telling anyone the names that are currently on our list. Early on in the pregnancy, I got tired of hearing everyone's HSO's (hot sports opinions) on names I like so I just quit telling people. So everyone will just have to be surprised....perhaps including the twins' parents! Ha!