What's in a Name?

Recently I was talking to a friend on the phone and she said that another friend of hers had figured out where I got the name for my children. I do know this other woman, but only as a mother of a former student that wasn't even in my class. Anyway...she said that I named Piper after a witch on some show on the WB and that the actress that plays this witch has a child named Finley and that is where I got that name. These things are all true...there is a show about some witches and one of them is named Piper. And, the actress that plays Piper has a baby and that baby's name is Finley. The part that is not true is that is where I got my children's names. Please, do you really think I would name my daughter after a witch?

The truth about my children's names:

• Piper is really just a name that I always liked and thought really had a personality. It is a unique name without being pretentious. I have made up a story after the fact that goes something like this...Jason's grandfather that lives in Washington state owns and runs an airport and flies planes that are called Pipers....people like that explanation.
• If we had a boy this second time around, his name would have been Finn, after Jason's love of surfing. I honestly think there is nothing wrong with naming a girl Finn, but we decided to make it a bit more feminine and call her Finley. How I came up with that is I was reading the liner notes of a Jack Johnson cd and there was a contributing artist named Finley Quaye. I loved the name and I didn't know that the person was actually a man. We still call her Finn, though. I would just like to add that this was before Julia Roberts had her twins and she stole the name Finn from me, but she decided that she needed to go with Phinneaus so it wouldn't seem so suspicious.

I am sure that you are waiting to hear how the move to Piper's "Big Girl" room went. It was totally awesome. She helped us get her room reading, cleaning and organizing, and we kept saying what a nice room it is and that she was going to get to sleep there that night. I was nervous, but she did great. Slept the whole night with no problems, didn't wake up once. What an amazing child she is! At her 2 year check up she measured on track to be 6 feet tall. I am 5'4" and Jason is 5'11" so go figure!

My brother Matt came by on Friday to deliver Piper's birthday present...a bubble blower...that they went out and played with in the backyard. She absolutely loves the bubble thing...thanks Uncle Matt!

Finley has now moved into Piper's old room and into the crib...it has not been an easy transition. She has not been sleeping, so I have not been sleeping. I think that over the past three nights I have gotten about 6-7 hours of sleep and not more than 1.5 hours in a row. I know it will just take time, but I am so used to Piper being such an awesome sleeper now, that I forget that she was a terrible sleeper when she was Finley's age, and every baby is different.

Finley has such a sweet spirit during the day. She just goes with the flow. She is becoming more and more expressive and she adores her sister. Every time she hears or sees Piper, she lights up and laughs and smiles. I am now seeing that it was a good thing to have them so close together because each of them will have a friend for life.

Jason leaves for California tonight for some big launch of a new search engine by his friend, Michael Yang. It is cool for him, but I kind of wish I could go. He gets to do some really cool stuff and sometimes I feel left out, but it is his passion.

I decided that we are going to start a new tradition in our family for Valentine's Day. We are only going to give gifts that we have made ourselves, so I am in the midst of projects for Jason, Piper, Finley, and my parents. I also want to do some homemade cards for my family that lives out of town, but we'll see if I can get that together.

My other project is to lose about 25 pounds by the end of April when we go to Curacao. Yes, we are going on a vacation to the Caribbean for 1 week. I can't wait. I am so excited, but I will be more excited when I feel comfortable wearing a bikini.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

L8R