Hey Anne! Name That Baby!

This list is mostly for Ms. Anne on my "People I Stalk on the Internet". I've only met her a couple times, long ago before she was married, but I found her to be lovely then and even more so now. She has five kids at home right now so I kinda caught a pattern in her naming preferences (I think!), so hopefully she’ll find a winner here!

I love names! I’ve been making name lists since I was in preschool. Writing lists of names over and over helped me stay calm and not so bored as a child and also is to be credited for my excellent penmanship.

Any name with two asterisks by it is my unsolicited advice for what to name Anne & Dominic’s son :) Feel free to offer comments with your opinions too! For the record, their other children at home are Bridget & Piper (the girls) & Regan, Ciaran, & Quinn (the boys)

IRISH NAMES THAT I COULDN’T FIND A SAINT FOR:

**Emmett
Fergal – brave & courageous
Garret – spear carrier
**Lochlan [LOCK-lun]
Riordan [REER-don] – royal poet
Seamus [SHAY-mus] – Irish form of James
Turlach – one who aids
**Dubhlainn [DUV-lin] – dark sword
Desmond
Cillian (Killian) – fierce & loyal
Carrick – rock

SAINT NAMES:


Finnén [FIN-yayn] (Finnian)
Fionnbhar (Finbarr)
Crispin
Cyprian
**Corcán (KURK-awn) – red, crimson
**Daigh [day] – fire
Faithleann [FAL-yan] (Fallon)
Farannán
**Librén [LEE-bren]
Lonán
Lucan
Marcán
Meallán [MYAL-awn] – lightning
Oliver
Rúadhán [ROO-awn] (**Rowan)
Tiarnach
Tressan
Ultán
Brogan
Beccán
Berach – pointed, sharp
Breccan – speckled
Cassán
**Abbán
Cairbre
Eoghan (Owen) – born of the yew tree
Faolan (Phelan) – wolf
Fergus – strong warrior
**Hugh – fire
**Lorcán – silent or fierce
Odhran (Oran/Orin) – dark-haired
**Ronan – little seal
**Tadhg [tyg] – poet philosopher
Simon
Simeon
Éimhín [AY-veen] – prompt, ready
**Declan
Dallán


A FEW GIRL NAMES FOR PASSERS-BY:

Aine (Anya) – splendor, radiance, brilliance
Alana/Alannah – darling child
Aislinn [AYSH-leen] – vision, dream
Caoimhe [KEE-va] – gentle, beautiful, precious
Blinne
Claire – clear, bright, famous
Graínne [GRAW-nya] (Grania)
Cadhla (Keela or Kyla) – beauty only poetry can capture
Maeve [mayv] – cause of great joy
Radha [ROW-uh] – vision; if you have a large Hindu population this name is also a diety-consort of that faith but is pronounced more like Roddah.
Saoirse [SEAR-sha] – freedom, liberty
Siobhán [shiv-AWN] – Irish form of Joan

Let's hope this never happens but...

if I were to ever have twins, I'd name them Jinx and Lucky (if it were a boy and a girl), Jinx & Jezebel (2 girls), and probably Lucky & Soren (2 boys) or maybe Brigham and Zion.

So, to answer the question - No, I'm not pregnant and if I were let's hope it wouldn't be twins!!!

However, if anyone uses those names on their twins and sends me proof, there's a cash prize in it for ya!

Not Her Smartest Idea

Today, Rejeanne thought it would be excellent to use our floor mat for a blanket. The underside of the mat is spiky so this was not a great idea. Of course, she insisted so I just got the camera out and captured it for later! Notice she is still sporting the pink boots around the house with no clothes.

Finally!!

Well, Cyrus started cruising yesterday! None of the girls ever tried to walk this early so I'm pretty excited about him being the fast walker. Today, he FINALLY did the one thing he was just a wee bit behind in: CYRUS SAT UP ON HIS OWN!!!! I can't tell you how exciting that was! I've been waiting for about 4 months for him to put himself in a sitting position and it finally happened. He's been able to sit if we place him on the floor in a sitting position, but he hasn't been able to sit up for himself. What a goof!

Watch What You Say Around Rejeanne!

Rejeanne doesn't really talk TO us. She babbles a lot and has Spongebob reinactments, but actual verbal communication is not really her thing right now. She has never been able to let us know if she doesn't feel well or if something is bothering her. At most, she'll throw a huge hissy fit, but since she does that about 20 times a day, it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak. So, before I actually turn myself into Matron Gertrude and become the night-night Nazi, I decided to take her to the doctor today to make 100% sure this insomnia was behavioral and not a physical reaction to something else. Keep in mind, she didn't sleep AT ALL last night. She sacked out for about an hour at 9:30 this morning though. Still, three days with hardly any sleep at all and none for more than about 2-3 hours at a time! So, the doctor gave her the all clear and told me it's behavioral and gave me instructions on how to break her spirit and such. Rejeanne was sitting on my lap the whole time he's saying this stuff.

So, anyone think it is coincidence that the doc says "take away the spongebob unless she sleeps at night, then use it for a morning reward with a special snack and never let her out of that room until morning" and Rejeanne only came out once tonight, I reminded her that the doc says there's nothing wrong so she has to go back to bed, and she didn't come out again? Silence even, NO after dark performances! Coincidence? I think not. Turns out she understands far, far, far more than I even knew. She just doesn't want to talk to us, but the ears are working and the wheels are turning.

Rejeanne, if you are reading this, (for all I know she can read too!), I got your number, kiddo! The jig is up.

Dumbest Idea Ever

Okay, so in case you haven't noticed, I'm rather sick of Rejeanne staying up all hours. So, in my unnatural state of sleep deprivation and my morbid curiosity, I gave up around 1:30 this morning and let her out of her room. She was really cuddly and kissy and I figured she'd fall asleep. Nope, not so much. She's running around the living room behind me, squealing with joy. Take note folks, it's 3:50am. Since we've gone this long, I really just want to see exactly how long she can go without sleep. She's already out done my highest expectations. *yawn*

Rejeanne the Insomniac

So, it's 1:00am. Rejeanne is still awake. She's not making much noise in there tonight but she's definitely awake. Lee thought he heard a choking noise so he went in there to check on her. Do you want to know what he found?

Rejeanne standing on her bed with her diaper down at her knees bending over shaking her naked butt towards the door and making choking/growling type sounds. Apparently as soon as she heard the door crack open she tried to pull up her diaper as fast as she could and flopped down to pretend she was asleep, with one cheek still hangin' out of course!

So, I guess the mystery of "what in the heck does she do in there for 5 hours with no toys" has been solved.

Cyrus = Super Big Boy

Ok, Cyrus just learned to crawl last month and last week he started trying to pull himself into a standing position (at least I think it was last week. Time is so blurry). So today, he pulled himself to standing with a diaper box and then pushed the diaper box in front of him as he WALKED holding on to it!! Holy Hannah! I'm am so proud of my little guy. I think he's going to walk earlier than the girls did. None of them walked until 13 months or later. Hopefully, he'll do the diaper box thing again tomorrow. Don't ever let anyone tell you that there is no advantage to a messy house! hahaha

Gettin' Ready

I've got the camera battery charging just in case Rejeanne decides to have Masterpiece Theatre After Dark in her room again tomorrow night. She either really enjoys her own company or she has an invisible friend in there. Either way, if she's still laughing at her own jokes tomorrow, I'll at least have some audio for you guys.

For Rejeanne

Dearest Rejeanne,

You stayed up playing for 5 hours after your bedtime last night *again*. I think I have figured out the nuances of your methods of ignoring me though (finally!). I have a feeling we're going to work this out soon. Also, you're a beautiful girl. You make me really happy and feel so loved. Thanks for grabbing my hand when you came with Dad to pick me up at the doctor's. Thanks for kissing my owie from the IV and whimpering with your mean face on at the nurse when she took the final set of vital signs. You are a kind, brave girl and I'm very lucky to be your mom.

Love, Mom-Mom

Still Here :)

Well, the doctors didn't kill me :) They said they had to keep upping the anesthesia to keep me calm though. When I get there, they tell me they're going to use sedation (Versed, etc) instead of general anesthesia. I told them I have PTSD and I get very freaked out by catheters so it probably wouldn't go well that way, but hey, I've never tried it. Judging by what I was saying and the panic attack I was having when I started to come out of it, I think I know why they had to up it. Stupid PTSD *sigh* It's better than it used to be at least :)

My bladder is hanging in there but there is definitely interstitial cystitis going on. On the upside, the procedure doesn't seem to have kicked off anything so let's hope it stays that way. I'm sooooo glad that is over with. Now I get to focus on my summer goals!!! woooohooooooooo!!!!!!! I love summer.

Blah -- Chances are you should just not read this post. Seriously, a little TMI for most of you

Rejeanne stayed up until 2am again. Cyrus is starting to wake up. I couldn't sleep because I completely freaked out that some doctor I barely know will be inching my close to death (general anesthesia) so that some other doctor can poke around my bladder. I'm freaking TERRIFIED that allowing this doctor to poke at my bladder will result in unleashing the IC beast that lurks there quietly right now. At this point, I just feel like I have a bladder infection all the time. This is NOT a big deal for me. It's annoying, but it's no biggie compared to the other pain I get and the bladder pain I had as a kid. I seriously can't bear the thought of IC coming back in full force like it did when I was little. My life used to revolve around bathrooms. My only consolation is that at least I have wireless internet. I could actually work from the bathroom nowdays. I'm sure a few of my friends remember me getting stuck in the bathroom. I tell ya, when you literally live in the bathroom, you start inviting people in! hahaha I remember laying in the bath with the curtain closed and having people hang out in the bathroom with me. If ya can't get Mohammed to the mountain, you bring the mountain to Mohammed, right? I've eaten meals in the bathroom. I've slept in the bathroom. I've stayed in the bathroom for three days straight before. I remember the very first time I had my "bladder problem" (they didn't know what in the heck was wrong with me back then). I was little, probably 3 or 4 years old. I was wearing pink overalls and I had just used the restroom and I was crying because of the pain. My mom got so mad at me because I wouldn't stop screaming and I wouldn't put my overalls back on. I just remember the pain and her buttoning up my overalls telling me to knock it off because she was going to be late to work. I don't think anyone really knew how much pain I was in. People kept thinking it felt like a bladder infection, but I hadn't had bladder infections so I didn't know what they were talking about. When I finally had a bladder infection for the first time, I almost died from it because I didn't know anything was wrong. Compared to IC, bladder infections are "slightly uncomfortable" and really barely even worth calling the doctor about pain-wise. If you take that type of pain, and MULTIPLY it by about 100 or so, you might scratch the surface of average IC pain. Interstitial cystitis is no joke. It's debilitating, unrelenting misery and I really, really don't want it back. I don't mind feeling a little uncomfortable from it, just this mild aching stuff I have now, but I would do just about anything if it would guarantee I could live out the rest of my life without that kind of pain again.

So, everyone just keep your toes crossed for me that this "hydrodistention" of my bladder doesn't make the IC harpy come shrieking back to life. I've known for about 10 years that it will eventually make a comeback. Most people don't even get a 16 year break from it like I have, so I am thankful for that. The flip side of that is that now that I've enjoyed normal life, I know what I was missing before and I don't want to go back to that.

I also hate that this doctor will see the scars of the abuse I dealt with as a child. I always hate the look on their faces. That look of veiled horror and pity. The knowing look because scars tell stories of their own. I really really hate that part especially because they are required by law to ask me about it and the bastard is dead. Maybe I should just start off with that. "Please don't ask me about my damaged urethra. I know it is damaged. I know you will know why. He's dead. Move on." I guess I don't because I always hope they won't notice or maybe just won't say anything. But since this dude is sticking a camera through there while looking around, I'm pretty dang sure if there is any damage still lurking, he'll see it. I wonder if urethras can scar. The first doctor that noticed it referred to it as being "essentially scarred" but it's a little tube so I don't know if that is what it is exactly. I guess I've never cared enough to check. Broken, scarred, damaged, who cares? It's really all the same.

It's 6am now. I'm tired but too freaked to sleep. Since I feel like brutalizing my readers, I'm just going to post this anyways. Good thing my mom can't read this at work anymore. I'm not sure she can handle all the things I keep from her.

The Sorrows of Being Nine

I thought this day would come in Kindergarten. Crimson is such a gentle, sensitive girl. I figured the kids in Kindergarten would eat her alive and change her forever. I didn't happen. Every year, I keep thinking "It'll happen this year" because I don't believe that sensitivity can make it through the torture of elementary school and I KNOW it can't survive junior high. Crimson is at the tail end of 3rd grade, I'm thinking this is another year that went surprisingly well. But no, it's finally the year that Crimson realizes that kids can be mean and that there isn't much one can do to change that. I feel so bad for her. Her feelings are really hurt. I told her to just avoid them the best she can and if they lay hands on her, beat the daylights out of them or die trying. Crimson, my obedient one, says "Mom, I'm supposed to tell the teacher if that happens. We aren't supposed to hit back." *sigh* Alrighty, I told her to do it that way the first time and if it happens again, wail on them til someone pulls you off and I'll tell the school that they didn't solve the problem the first time with their hippy nonsense so I told her to issue a beat down. She seemed satisfied with this. After talking to her step-mom, I discovered Crimson has been hiding her face and standing there when these kids are berating her, so then I had to get her back on the phone and give her The Lecture. Much like sending a soldier to war, I had to tell her to suck it up and not show weakness to the enemy.

Why is public school like this?? Is it so friggin' hard to just go to class and mind your business? Crimson pretty much does her own thing to the tune of her own drummer. I doubt Crimson even understands when this kid says "you think you're all that" and does everything possible to exclude her and demean her. This year has been so hard on Crimson. She's had to deal with discovering she is not great at everything, that people can be mean, that home life is not what it could be, etc. She all the sudden has started to catch the nuances of life and the faults of those around her, as well as her own. She has no hard exterior because she never knew she needed one. I really wish I could just take care of this stupidity for her, but I can't. I really hope she can learn how to never let them see her pain. It's really the only way to make that sort of thing stop (short of punching them in the face anyways).

I miss my Crimson. People, teach your kids manners. Seriously. Kids don't have to be mean ya know. They can learn to be civil just like anyone else. They just have to learn it AT HOME!! So, ban the snarky cartoons and speak to them kindly as much as you can. Oh, and take the teacher's side whenever there is a problem. Grrrrr!

Rambling Post About My Father's Escapades, or something like that

So for those of you who don't know, I'm an only child. Well, I was raised an only child. I have 5 step-siblings and four confirmed half siblings. My father was a fairly complicated individual. Said individual was married at least four times and none of those was to my mother. Anyways, I finally found what I like to call "The Missing Link". My mother seems to remember my father having a male child very close in age to me. My mom thought he was a year or so either younger or older and thought his name started with a P. I've gone throught the birth records of every Rivard in the state of California. Whoever Mystery Kid is, he's not named Rivard. One of my half-sibs told me that in the 70's and 80's my dad had been known to have relations with some coke head named Janice. Apparently, she would stop in occasionally at my dad's jewelry store over the course of many years. It is assumed that Madam Cokehead would be the mother of the missing kid. I truly NEVER thought I'd stumble upon the Janice person, due to her status as cokehead. They tend to fly way under the radar.

I don't know how I missed this before, but my dad was married to a gal named Janice from 1970-1972. I've found five marriages for Janice so far (I'm guessing there may be more!). I also found her mother's obituary from 2006 which says Janice is already dead and that she had two children, K. and W. I found a pic of K. on the internet. It's blurry, but she could pass for my dad's child. I can't find W. but that is not unusual with the felonious types. (I found his description on the NV DOC website) Based on the description of blonde and scrawny, I doubt he is my dad's kid, but he was born in 1979, so that would fit the gender and time frame better than the girl from the late 60's. Unfortunately, he's on probation right now and not in the lock up. If he were in the lockup, I could just write him and ask what he knows about his dad or his mom. Prisoners are fairly conversational people.

Anyways, it appears that if this is the missing kid, my assumptions from the outset are holding up. The kid never had a chance with my dad and a cokehead mom, he's probably in prison somewhere. Bah.

Since I'll probably be hunting for random half-sibs for the rest of my life, I made a small effort to contact K. I guess we'll see if she responds.

Yes, I can stalk people this good over an internet connection in a few hours time while avoiding my final paper. So, if you ever need to find someone, you know who to call...

Boots!

Rejeanne discovered her snow boots the other day. She didn't want anything to do with them when we first got them and they were a little too big. She discovered them while I was digging through the shoe box. She put them on and started modeling in them and looking down at her feet in all these different little poses saying "boot boot" the whole time. It was so freakin' cute! Anyways, she must really like how she looks in them because she wears them a lot in the house now. She also let me take her photo in them. She is usually less patient with my photography.

Rejeanne is one girly little girl.

Letter to The Toddler

Dear Rejeanne,

How is it that you can go to bed at 8:30pm yet find so many things to do in there that you stay awake until 2:00am? What is so interesting? There are no toys. There is nothing really but your bed, Crimson's bed and two dressers and a couple chairs. How is this enough to keep you awake and entertained for FIVE AND ONE HALF HOURS?????

Furthermore, how are you able to fall asleep at 2:00am and still get up at 7:00 or 8:00am, just like you used to do when you'd actually fall asleep at bedtime? How is this possible? Do you have insomnia? Are you waiting for us to go to bed so you can embark on some adventure that I have not noticed yet? Are you excited because it is springtime?

Tell me, dearest Rejeanne, how will I ever get a decent night's sleep again? You are so crafty that I am afraid to sleep until I *know* you are asleep. Especially now that you are able to scale our 6 ft tall bookshelves.

*yawn* I love you Rejie, but please, please, please, GO BACK TO SLEEPING MORE THAN 6 HOURS A NIGHT!

Time Flies When You're Havin' Fun

Another school year coming to a close, more people leaving. I used to love change, but it seems like the life of a Vermillionaire means that just as you start to feel like you have nice, supportive friendships then it is time for them to move away. Of course, there is always the upside, having friends all over the country and the new kids every August. I have to admit, I have a soft spot for the ladies of Vermillion, past and present. They have all brought something unique to the table along with their kind hearts. There is something special about this place.

Here's a photo of the current Lady Vermillionaires. It will be different soon enough :(


Here's my lovely Rejeanne, looking pensive. She played after hiding on my lap for awhile. She had a good time. I love this little girl more than I ever thought possible. It seems that love can grow infinitely. Just when I think that there is no way I could love my kids more, I find that eventually I do love them even more.

For all the moms with little kids

If you all haven't taken the time to read Ms. Anne's blog on my link list to the right, TAKE THE TIME. Anne's blog is one of the best ones out there in my opinion. I appreciate her thoughtful, authentic posts. She is always inspiring some type of introspection on my part. While Anne and I seem to have a fair amount in common, we certainly don't always agree on things, but her blog is well written, her ideas well supported, and that always gets me thinking about my perspective on similar situations in my own life or ways I'd like to grow and change.

Check it out!