The Baby Train

Last weekend we had dinner with the Huffs.... their oldest two (Donnie and Nolan) are the exact same age as Porter and Hudson (being 6 and 2 weeks older than my boys, respectively).  Poor little Adrian, he's left without a partner in crime to grow up with and they (although mainly Don and Ryan) decided to gang up on me and try to convince me I needed to hop on the Baby Train and add Baby Barczak #3 to our family.

My response..... Hell. To. The. No.

Ryan has been bugging me since Hudson's 1st birthday to have another baby.  Seriously!  He was this way when Porter was about a year old and it took him 6 months to convince me to have another baby.  So far we're nearing a year and a half for Baby #3 and I promise it will be longer than that.  Sure, the idea of another baby sounds so precious and sweet, but I can easily count the number of times I've been annoyed with the multitude of responsibility having to do with the family/house etc that falls solely on my shoulders and I realize I'd be batshit crazy to add another responsibility to the plate.

Sure, I want another baby.  Maybe even two.... (most definitely not at the same time, though).  But the boys are JUST starting to get easier.... they're just starting to get to where they aren't making me feel like I could gouge my eyeballs out with a spoon 15 times a day.  I think I want to wallow in that feeling of love for my kids.  And I have.... it seems like the past week I've had so many reminders, nudges, if you will... that the boys are growing up so fast.  My babies are growing up so fast!  And I am trying to stop and really take in the little guys they have become.

One of my favorite times of the day (as it always has been) has been bedtime.  I try to have special Mommy/Hudson and Mommy/Porter time before bed.  Usually Hudson gets me first since he doesn't quite possess the patience that a 4 year old has (if that is saying anything).  We read a story and then he tells me "Lay down me, Mama"  meaning... he wants me to lay down with him and snuggle.  So I lay down with him and we talk about his day and he has such sweet little conversations.  And I do these same things with Porter, only our conversations sometimes get a little deeper.  I love these quiet times where I can really see what a sensitive kid Porter is, and really kind of pick his brain when we have nothing else we're juggling at that moment.

For now, we remain a 2 child family.  There will be more babies, yes.  But not right now... not while I'm really enjoying the two monkeys I have.

I do, however, always think of baby names.  I've done this since I was a child and I still love love love names.  I love discussing names and hearing what other people are naming their kids and contemplating what names would fit into our family for our future children.  Before we had kids, Ryan and I used to talk about baby names on our way up to Silver Lake (back when we took many trips a summer).  Of course I have a list still.... a list waiting for Baby #3.  And we can discuss it now, because that would be fun.  And it will be neat to look back on when Baby #3 does enter our family.

Let's start with Boy names.... because, well, just because. It is shorter, I'll say.
Finley..... my grandpa's name.  Its becoming a little more mainstream, which is good and bad.  It is definitely high on my list, though because uhm, Porter, Hudson and Finley sound like darling little brothers!!
Gray

Gibson- prob would never use because HudSON and GibSON.

Rowan 
Sullivan
Jude-  I also loove love love Jude.  My grandma is Judy, and I think Jude would be a perfect namesake.  


And girls names.... a much, much longer list as I haven't had the pleasure of using any of these yet.  
Cora  
Brynn- I love Brynn, but don't love Brynn Barczak
Avery 
Rowan- Love it, although its almost too unisex for my boys' names.  
Aria- I love Aria, too.  I babysat an Aria for quite a few years.  Spunky little girly.  
Mira - This has been on my list awhile.  Love that its different. 
Selah-  This has been on my list awhile, as well.  
Hazel- this is my absolute favorite.  I can see a fair skinned, little brown haired, freckle faced girl with greenish grey eyes named Hazel.  And isn't Porter, Hudson and Hazel just so sweet?
Harlow -  Isn't this Nicole Ritchie's daughter or something? Almost too unisex with the boys' names, and I'm not sure about HARlow BARczak.
Amelia- Another favorite.  
Charlotte- And another favorite, although again I'm not sure about CHARlotte BARczak
Harper- I like Harper but probably would never use because PortER and HarpER.  Yes, I'm weird like that.