Naming a baby is HARD work!

I had GREAT intentions on providing photos to go along with the baby name part of this post, but my scanner wasn't working...so this will do!

A name is a hard, hard thing to choose for a baby. Will it fit him/her? What will other people think? and it goes on and on and on...

Well not only did I have all these questions running in my mind, but then I actually included my husband in the discussion and OH MY WORD! We have such VERY different taste in names and this became a VERY HARD discussion.

DISCLAIMER: I'm going to stop right now and say EVERYONE is entitled to their opinion and choice on names. I might LOVE a name and you may hate it, I may not care for your name choices, etc. SO don't judge :)

So girls names, I obviously love traditional names with a Southern flair, such as Anna Claire, so I thought of several that I liked...Audrey...Savannah...Charlotte...Amelia, etc. Every single one I said...Brad said "No." Okay let's try this again...I liked Cameron "Cami"...Ashlyn...Victoria "Tori"...etc. And again the answer "No." Okay, so Brad what do you like? Oh names (circa 1989) like Jennifer, Ashley, etc. Now I love those names, some of my dearest friends have those names, but really? So do like 1 million other people...so...we let the brainstorming begin...I literally named every name that I liked and just waited for a "yes" or a "maybe". And out of the blue one night I was looking at celebrity baby names and saw Kelsey Grammar's daughter's name and Jaclyn Smith's daughter's name and just said it aloud to see what he'd say...

SPENCER?

Now at first this was a bit odd for me because I grew up with a Spencer (boy) and babysat for a family that the dad's name was Spencer, but actually I love it! Taylor, Riley, Reagan, Parker, etc. all acceptable boy/girl names...so yes! I really do like it! Now to decide on a middle name...

I liked several names with Spencer: Ashley, Amelia, Olivia, Kate, but the "A" names and the "O" names make the initials SAD and SOD, I just couldn't do it. So my Mom said, "How about Elise?" YES! I love it! And when I looked up it's origin it is from Elizabeth, which struck a chord in my heart because my Mammaw (Thelma Elizabeth), my sister (Lindsey Beth) and my dearest life long friend (Rebecca Elizabeth) all have that name in some way! So there you have it...

SPENCER ELISE DUFF

Okay, the boy name, this was even harder! I loved SO many boy names, again, Brad did not. But he did like GEORGE. Now listen, I know it's not a bad name, but heavens I just couldn't do it! Everytime I said it, I pictured my poor son being picked on! I just couldn't agree! He so wanted a president's name or a name that makes a strong statement. I understood, but our idea of a "strong statement" name was very different!!! So I suggested Barrett. Brad liked it...whew! But he kept wanting in with George...So I started trying different things with it...Joel Barrett, John Barrett, etc. but he and I found various reasons for not liking them. So I said...what about William Barrett? William was part of my Papaw Van Loh's name, my Mom's dad is named Billy (coming from William) and it is a family name on Brad's side as well. And the BEST part for Brad (a HUGE Texas history fan) is that William B. Travis was commander of the Alamo and his "B" is Barrett. Oh my! LOL! So there you have it...

WILLIAM BARRETT DUFF
- We will call him Barrett :)

Hopefully we'll find out what our baby is in about a month and a half! We can't wait!

Our First - RETRO WEDNESDAY

Get COZY! This is a LONG ONE!

I'm going to start with Christmas celebrations in this post and work backwards in the
"Retro Wednesdays" to come... (it shouldn't take too long because my lack of pictures this Christmas is disturbing!)

1.) Our first Christmas celebration started with an early "gift" for our girls...

(No there are NOT two babies in there! HA! Apparently one is the placenta!)

THEY'RE GOING TO BE BIG SISTERS!!!

They were so confused because we gave them t-shirts that said I'M THE BIG SISTER on them but technically Shelby is the big sister and Anna Claire has a baby brother at her Dad's house, so needless to say we had to provide a lot of prompting! HA!

Here is the video of them opening and their reaction... PRICELESS...

We found out we were expecting on the day before Thanksgiving! Our little miracle will join us on/or before August 2nd and we couldn't be more delighted!

Now the question is will Baby Duff be a:

Spencer Elise

or

William Barrett

We're not sure yet, but should know by March! We had an appointment today and heard a fast, strong heartbeat. I'll do a whole other post on reason for our name choices, etc. But be prepared to see many many posts from us this year!

2.) The next day we packed up and headed out to Fairlie, TX to celebrate with our Julian side of the family (my Mom's side). We had a great day of eating, chatting and playing some good ole' fashioned BINGO! (no pictures...seriously baby brain already setting in!)

THEN...We were so excited to be able to have Shelby stay with us through the 23rd. We made some really fun memories!

3.) On Monday, the girls and I kicked off our break with a PAJAMA DAY! We even rode to the post office, bank and Chic.fil.a in our PJ's!

4.) On Tuesday, we had such a fun day with Nana! We met at Grapevine Mills Mall, had AC's picture made with Santa, ate lunch, and the girls got a surprise of BUILD.A.BEAR. from Nana & Pop as part of their Christmas presents. Then we went to Nana's house and opened the rest of their gifts. Boy are they ROTTEN!

Meet KEROPI and CLARICE

5.) That night we ordered i.fratelli's. pizza and I made a salad and peppermint ice cream sundae's and we had Grandma & Grandad over! They gave the girls a SUPER surprise! A wii!!! They were so excited and enjoyed playing it right away thanks to Brad & Grandad!

6.) On Wednesday we met my cousin and her fam for a great time at the Gaylord! We started by decorating gingerbread and then onto ICE! It was so COLD but super fun!

7.) We had our "Christmas" a little early because both of our love bugs were with their other parents on Christmas Eve/Christmas day...

8.) Christmas Eve I sang with the choir at First Baptist Church Euless' service and my parents and Brad's Mom & Step-dad joined us for the service and dinner afterward! It was a lot of fun! A different kind of kidless fun, but still a really good time. Anna Claire came home on Christmas Day around noon and she walked in to see what Santa had left her! She was THRILLED! After a quick look we loaded up and headed over to The Duff family Christmas at Brad's Dad's! It is always such a fun, relaxing fun with a TON of food! I felt so blessed this Christmas and have so much to look forward to in 2011. (again...where was my camera?! I must add picture taking to my list of plans for 2011!)

I'll be back next week with more December fun! Our visit from The Burton's, Northpark trains, etc. Happy Retro Wednesday if you're still reading!

I know this was SO SO long!

In 2011...

Well it's 2011 and I'm officially the WORST BLOGGER on the face of the planet. I have TONS and TONS of pictures from Spring/Summer/Fall that I've yet to share and stories and memories that I haven't written down, but I'm overwhelmed. We have a lot going on right now, I will share more on that later, but for now I've decided to share my goals for 2011. My friend Sarah has inspired me!
So here it goes...

1.) I plan to be wiser with my money. (no I'm not sucking up to my husband) We have several goals as a family this year and one is to be in a new house, and soon. We are renting right now, and its quaint, but it's kind of cramped and has NO STORAGE. By being wise with my money I can help save, save, save and more quickly accomplish our goal.

2.) I plan to get involved in a life group. We've joined our church and LOVE IT, I've really enjoyed singing in a choir again, and we've visited some life groups, but we just haven't found our "right fit".

3.) I plan to be a better blogger. Not just for YOU, but to better document our life! I'm just missing so much! I have it all in my head, but I need to get it down before I forget it all! I plan to do RETRO WEDNESDAY starting TOMORROW and go back and document some of the fun things we've been up to!

4.) I plan to read more. Not just books for enjoyment, but my Bible. I've been a bit of a slacker and have relied TOO much on my NIV iphone app to replace my time in God's word. I've been SO ANXIOUS lately and I know it's because I'm forgetting to ask God to go before me in my daily routine.

5.) I plan to be a better friend. I've been a little egocentric this year and have neglected to invest in some of my friendships. I want to keep those friendships and let them know how much I really do care! I know we're all so busy, but I believe it is very important.

I have several more "goals" but these are my top five. I always want to be a better wife and mother, eat healthier, work out more (at all), etc. What are your goals/plans for 2011? Isn't it fun to start fresh...plan to see much more of The Duff family!