Baby Names

It seems as if our family has positively exploded with new life in the past month. Possibly it seems that way because the Burnett clan has, in fact, produced two new adorable children for me to brag about. In honor of these two tiny tots, I wish to impart some of my "wisdom" on the subject of babies, specifically my knowledge of how to name the little suckers.

I have long since explored the world of baby names that can be found in a medical dictionary, in what I affectionately call "The Diabetes List," I now choose to explore some of the other great resources at our disposal.

The Bible:

This has been the Christian go-to book on many topics, including baby names, for a millennia. John, David, Ruth, Isaac, Potiphar, and other classic names have their roots in a Biblical tradition. May I suggest searching the Bible Dictionary where one can find such gems as Achan, Eleazer, and Nimrod. They're creative AND traditional!!

Geology and Geography:

Our family has briefly touched on this approach (Rivers: plural for river OR a really cute/sneaky little boy!) But I feel there are more...unique ways to use geography and geology in baby naming.

A. Rock names: Ruby, Crystal, Cole (coal), Opal, Granite, Igneous...

B. Place Names: Paris, Georgia, Euphrates, Nile, Munich, Amazon...

C. Geologic/Geographic features: Cliff, Rocky, Fjord, Forest...

Namesakes:

Whether ancestor, friend, or historic figure, naming your child after someone is a beautiful gesture! Here are some namesake recommendations (I will insert my own last name so you can get the feel for it): Ronald McDonald...Phillips, Glen Yarborough Phillips, George Washington Carver Phillips, Whitney Houston Phillips, Ringo Starr Phillips, Audrey Hepburn Phillips, Wolfgang Amadeus Phillips, Johannes Sebastian Phillips, etc..

Harry Potter:

Reading novels gives one exposure to a huge variety of names. I am going to recommend, however, that you use only names of the peripheral characters in the Harry Potter series: Xenophelious, Cornelius, Piers Polkiss, Griphook, Ludo, Elphias, Aberforth, Gellert, Hokey, Travers, Griselda, Seamus, Salazaar, Terry...

Happy baby naming one and all! If you've already named all your kids, no worries. It can't be that hard to change their name legally to Fjord!

Without a Phone

While we were eating tacos and fixing up the truck--again--I accidentally left my phone in the Phillips' family car. Then the Phillips' family car went back to Ogden (with members of the Phillips' family in it of course) and it wasn't until about twenty minutes later that I asked, "Lee, where is my phone? Will you call it for me?"
The good news: Yes, they found my phone. It will be returned to me on Friday.
The bad news: I have spent my whole week very disconnected, unable to communicate, and I've had to plan much more carefully.

Here are some of the perks of being phone-less:
1. No one can bother you.
2. You can honestly say you weren't ignoring people on purpose.

Here are some of the problems I ran into:
1. I had no idea what time it was 70% of this week.
2. I couldn't call anyone to make my walk home more enjoyable.
3. I never knew when Lee would be home from work because I couldn't ask or receive a response.
4. Furthermore, when I had something specific I needed to do, I couldn't find out whether he'd be home in time or if I should find some other ride.
5. I had no way to ask for a ride anyway.

I don't think this would have been a remotely challenging situation if we also had a landline phone, but hey, we aren't made of money!

I leave my phone home, I forget to charge it, I don't look at it for a whole day, but not even having the option of calling 911 when I am home alone is...bad.