Baby Names

I knew years before I had children that I loved presidents.

It started in 5th grade when I had to write a report on each president to be able to attend an end of year field trip. I was fascinated. The summer before my freshman year at college I was at the doctors office for my college physical. It was thorough and I found out a few years later that not everyone had to have one. Hmmm...

Moving on.

As I was sitting in the waiting room I saw a newborn that was just beautiful. When I commented on her the mom told me her name was McKinley. My mind went right back to 5th grade.

I've had other ideas though, it hasn't always been presidental. My first choice was Auhnnah. I liked it so much that it's what I named my bowling ball. In case you can't tell what that is, it's like Anna but with a soft 'a' sound. I also loved Maggie and Katie. I shared Maggie with my grandma Margaret thinking she'd be honored but not knowing why I was saying it she told me how much she hated being called that. So, that was out. I also went through a 'Mc' phase. Get ready. McKenna, McKayla, McKinley, and for a boy, McGregor. Boy am I glad I didn't do that! So are my children.

When Shawn and I sat down to have our baby name conversation I asked him what his favorite girl name was. The most beautiful, sweet name he could think of. His answer? "Amy." My answer? "You don't get to play this game anymore."

No offense to any Amy's out there but I wanted something distinctive, a little unknown, new, exciting. Amy has been very well used. We tossed several back and forth and both shot down each others a lot. Since the OKC bombing had just happened Bailee, Chase, and Colton were out. For a boy I loved the name Brock. Shawn didn't like the idea of two 'k' sounds so close together. Brock Conrad. He suggested a middle name that we would use also. His idea? Lee. Say it. Out loud so you'll really enjoy it. After way too long we decided on McKinley and Brady Alan. Brady because his family had watched 'Days of Our Lives' for years, and Alan after his younger brothers' middle name. McKinley for obvious reasons.

After McKinley was introduced to our families Shawn's oldest brother asked if we were going to name all of our children after assassinated presidents. I of course said no. He then told me that our next girl could be Kennedy. Hmmm. I thought again of 5th grade. From then on Kennedy was always on my mind. Garfield and Lincoln were the other choices. Thank goodness she was a girl! When we found out we were having another girl we started thinking...there weren't anymore suitable assassinated names. I liked the name Madison but felt like it had been used to much. I also loved the names Hayes and Monroe (yes for girls) but Shawn shot those down. Going back to Amy I felt like he deserved the right to shoot some down. When someone pointed out that Reagan had been shot we knew we had a name.

How sick are we? I had a good friend from high school who told me she thought I was disgusting to do this to my children. We're not good friends anymore. She doesn't have children yet. Probably because she can't come up with any good names.

I think it's neat. Their names are mentioned on the news a lot, they have libraries, there are street signs with their names on them, there are always books about them, and people love to
hear about how we came up with it. They liked our trip to the Mount Rushmore area and the Presidential Wax Museum. Now that we've gone to Disney World our next dream vacation is Washington D.C. We can't get enough!

So there it is. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now everyone knows.

Oh, in case you were wondering, if we'd had boys I'd planned on Harrison and Jackson. Maybe I'll have grandsons named that!