Coming Clean

So when I started this blog way back when I wasn't really sure what it would be used for. I initially intended to just have it be an area to vent. A place to come when I wanted to whine and get it all out. I thought I might want it to be a little private too. I didn't know that I would really want to share it with family and friends. Because of this I was also unsure how much of my real life I wanted to share here. Did I want to share the kids names and let everyone know who I really was? I really wasn't sure...and so the children all received pseudo names.

Things have changed now. I've been using my blog to share the life and times of my family with friends and other family members. Now it seems a little silly to be using these fake names.

So here I am coming clean. Please allow me to introduce to you my amazing kiddos...


Madilee Elizabeth
She was going to be named Parrie Elizabeth. Parrie for my mother-in-laws maiden name and Elizabeth is the middle name that my mother and I both share. My mom passed away beefore Hubby and I were married but she did now him and I think she knew that he was the one for me. She suggested one day that if we got married and had a daughter we could name her Parrie Elizabeth after her Grandmother's. I think knowing that my mom approved of the name is the reason that Parrie always made it to the top of our list. We never did use it though, which I regret. Perhaps I can talk Hubby into more children at some point and we can finally use it. So Madilee was a name that came about from a co-worker of Hubby's. We liked the nickname Madi but there were so many Madeline's and Madison's at the time we wanted something a little different. So Hubby came home one day and said that a co-worker suggested Madilee. I wasn't crazy about it at first. Then I spent a good portion of that evening writing a list of the many ways I could spell her name. I think I came up with 93 spelling variations. I still have that list around here somewhere, I think in her baby book.


Elijah Bradley
I remember the day that we found out we were having a boy. We went to Wendy's after the ultrasound and Hubby announced that he wanted to shout from the mountaintops that he was having a son. We talked about names that day and Heston was high on the list. We also really like Avery and I'm so glad we didn't go with that because I think it's more of a feminine name. Driving to Tulsa one day we thought of the name Elijah and that was that. Eli. We loved it. Elijah was shortened to Eli which ended up with all sorts of variations. Eli-Shmeli gets shortened to Shmeli...Shmee-Shmo...and finally just Shmee.



Sheradyn Elayne
This was a hard one. she actually left the hospital wihtout a name. She was to be our last child and we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. We had decided if she was a boy she would be named William Foster after my father and step-father and then she'd have my father-in-laws last name. If she was a girl she would be either Parrie, Lydia, or Georgia. Then she arrived and I decided that she just must have a nickname and none of the names on our list could be shortened to a nickname that I liked. That night as I lay in my hospital bed Hubby called to say that he really liked the name Sheridan. I wasn't crazy about it but I did like Sadie. So we talked about naming her Sheridan and calling her Sadie. Afterall, Margaret's become Peggy and Richard's become Dick. Surely I could pass Sadie off as a proper nickname for Sheridan. Although, as you see I got creative with the spelling. Elayne was chosen because we decided to use a middle name with an "E" as the first letter so all the children would have one. She's our little Sadie-bug.




Teagan Elise
This was our wonderful little surprise baby. I remember the look on Hubby's face when I told him I was once again expecting. Poor guy. Then he decided maybe this was God's way of giving him another son. He didn't talk for almost three full days after we found out I would be giving birth to another girl. Of course now she's wrapped as tight as can be around his little finger. Before we found out that she was in fact a she, I liked the name Teague for a boy. I still loved the name when I had my ultrasound and discussed with Hubby using Teagan for a girl. We also discussed Emersyn (again with the wacky spelling!), Parrie, and a number of other names but finally decided on using Teagan. Now remember my whole has-to-have-a-nickname issue with Sadie? This time I decided to use her initials as her nickname and I wanted to call her Tess. That never stuck though and although she's usually just Teagan she still has a handful of names...Tea, Teague, Teagalyn, Teagers, and her teacher's choice of Teaganator.

So there you have it. I've come clean and now I won't get questions from people saying, "Why do your kids have different names on your blog?". Ahhh, what a relief!