Baby Names

In case there is anyone out there who is not yet informed, the Lanier's are expecting their second child. I am sure anyone reading this knows. Beyond the people I have actually told myself, there have been a number of spoilers to this pregnancy; first a woman my sister works with told my dad about the pregnancy before I had worked up the nerve to, and then my sisters best friend told her the sex of the baby before I had talked to her. (How does my sister's BF know the sex of the baby before my sis? I sent out a mass text to most of the people in my phone, alerting them of the newest Lanier's gender, saving only a few special people, i.e. my sister, to actually call. Since my sister never answers my calls, the spoiler was actually her fault, not Paula's, who could only reasonably expect that my sister would have already known.)
Anyways...
The Lanier house is in a flurry (somewhat) as we prepare for our new arrival. Though we actually do not have a bedroom for him and got rid of Marley's crib just days before we found out about this new pregnancy, I am fairly confident that these minor wrinkles will smooth themselves out along the way. Some expectant Mom's would be getting worked up at this point, less then three months from the due date; not I. Some of my calm may be attributed to the documentary, "Babies." Following babies of different cultures in their first year of life has calmed some of my nerves about our own delivery. For instance, the mother of the African baby does not have a crib for her new one. She does not even have diapers, and is completely unruffled that her child used a bone he found half buried in the dirt as a teether. The Mongolian baby shares his quarters with the families chickens. By comparison, the parenting techniques of the parents in more "advanced" nations seem overbearing and stiffling. What four month old really needs to go to music lessons or cares if it goes to a weekly play date with other four months old who cannot yet sit up by themselves? New, clean clothes every single day seems like an extravgent measure when compared to the single loin cloth the African baby owns. By comparison,I can almost certainly say that I will never shave my babies head with a knife, or give him bathes by licking him clean. In these examples, I only speak for myself; Josh is a wild card, but I do my best to keep him under control.
One thing I am starting to think about more frequently is the name of this little guy. This is the first question that people ask when they hear about the pregnancy. Josh and I had previously worked out a system that I would get to name the girls and he would get to name the boys, with each of us having the power of veto. (As I was fairly certain we would have a long line of beautiful girls, I was great with these terms, though now that we are having a boy, it seems less novel.) The name Josh had decided for a boy from the time we found out about our first child was Harper. Now, mere weeks away from his real son's debut in the world, Josh is uncertain if he still likes the name. Now he is leaning towards much more, shall we say, contemporary names, such as Memphis or Blu. Marley, always the helper, has also been full of suggestions; some of her favorites are Skylash, Bookarea, and Foottrouble. Those or her neverfail suggestion of Ballerina. With all these great choices, I am unsure which to veto first. Though I know my husband is a free spirit, I never thought I would have to talk him out of naming his first-born son Jam.

Marley the flower girl

Marley had her flower girl debut this weekend.

Going through this experience, I realized just how crazy it is that people seem to think it is a good idea to incorporate small children into their special day. Imagine the happy couple saying to themselves, "Oh, now that we have spent a small fortune and have invested hours of planning into this one day, how can we add a completely unpredictable element into the mix? How can we give some unsuspecting mother a ridiculous amount of stress and anxiety? Oh! We will just ask her three year old to walk nicely in front of a hundred people and then stand still in front of them for twenty minutes while we perform our most solemn vows! Sounds like a great idea!"

Not to say that Marley did not perform her duties; she did a wonderful job and we could not have been more proud. But the anxiety leading up to this event was enough to turn me away from this tradition forever. I had only laughingly thought of it, not feeling the true stress of the moment untill the dress rehearsal. Instead of easing any fears, as a rehearsal should, it made me more nervous for the event. During the first run through of the ceremony, Marley literally sprinted down the aisle, leaving the two ring bearers in her dust. During the second run through, the much older and faster ring bearers were not to be outdone, and I cringed, imagining what the next day had in store, as they ran down the aisle with little Marley running after them, shouting, "Hey! Wait for me!" repeatedly in her shrill, 3-year-old voice.

But when it came to the real show, she did an amazing job. Though she forgot to scatter her petals, no one noticed. She walked nicely down the aisle and smiled at everyone. I think she actually might have been kind of nervous, which for those who know the girl know what a stretch that is. And she really did look like a little princess. Looking back, I am glad that Logan and Mackenzie thought enough of Marley to want her to be a part of their wedding. I am sure we will all remember it forever. I will just think twice if anyone else ever asks her to do this for them.

summer sports

This year we signed Marley up for a 3-5 year T-ball team. Marley turned three about a week before it started and she was a head shorter than everyone else on her team. Lets just say she might have been too young. To be fair, baseball is a much more complicated game than it seems to someone who has grown up watching it. But whatever the reason, Marley's attention span does not cover the length of a two inning t-ball game. I realized this when I looked out and saw her wearing her glove as a mask, running blindly at full speed into whoever happened to be in her way; umpire, small child, innocent bystander. At least they give every kid a fair chance with batting or she may never have done anything.( I think the same three kids fielded every ball all season, regardless of where they were standing.) The games were hot and humid, Marley fought every step of the way (she truly hates the team shirt) and there was three games a week, but it was worth it. There is nothing like watching kids pass milestones and enjoy the same activities that you did when you were their age...even if they don't quite appreciate the experience yet.