The naming of names

{image by Lad and Lass, 26 weeks}

Since we are not finding out whether are babes are boys or girls or a boy and a girl, we have to come up with a plethora of names. At a minimum we need two boy names and two girl names, but I would like to have a few extras in case we meet the babes and the chosen names don't fit them.

Choosing a name is a big responsibility. Not least because I believe that one's name has an impact on who you are. A name has to sound right for an entire lifetime - it can't just be cute for a kid but strange as an adult. Added to that, I come from from a family of unusual names, my sisters and I are Hugolyne Alex, Bailey Jane and Cheska Kim. I love having a somewhat unusual name so would like our children to also have less popular names, but I don't want to fall into the trap of gimmicky names that could dictate the path that our child follows (could a Lion really grow up and be a lawyer?).

And of course, there are two of us choosing the names. I don't want one of us to have to convince the other on a name. Which means we have to find at least four names that we both love. Although, that said, I do believe names can grow on you. So although some names are outright off the list, others seem to stay on my mind and come back to me when I imagine these little babies.While we are doing well with boy names, girl names are proving to be a bit more difficult. We each seem to associate names with different people (I don't want us to choose a name that reminds the husband of some one he doesn't like), or different "vibes," more specifically into which category a name falls - classic, trendy, flighty... the list could go on.

Then there are some added things with names that you don't think about unless you are having twins. The two names have to suit each other in style but I don't want them to be similar in their sound or initial and definitely cannot rhyme. If we have two boys or two girls, how do we decide which babe to give which name when they are born? And we don't want to select our favourite combo of a boy and girl name beforehand, because if it is two of the same sex, we don't want to have chosen a favourite between two girl or two boy names.

One thing for certain is that we are keeping the names a secret until the babes are born. The last thing I want is people commenting on our choices while we are still choosing. In fact, I don't even want to hear what other people are naming their babes right now in case something gets stuck in my mind.

This all sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? I'm actually enjoying the process of deciding upon names for our babes. It makes them feel real to me, that they will actually become little babies with names and not just my cublets in my belly. 

On being eating slowly and breathing deeply

One of my yoga classes last week was about restoration. We are so busy rushing around in our lives that taking time out to breathe in everything around us is a rare luxury. I don't believe you have to achieve a meditative state of calm to fully restore ourselves, it can be in the simple act of being present in whatever it is we are doing - present to the conversations we are having without checking our phones, present to the work we are involved with without multi tasking, present to our loved ones without being distracted by work, present to the food we eat without gobbling down each bite in time for the next meeting...

 {Jacques Henri Lartigue. Jeanine Lhemann. Royan, 1926}

These words by William Saroyan express this idea beautifully - that being present to what we do is what being wholly alive is about.

"Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

happy weekend

Hello lovely readers. I took the day off work on Thursday which, believe it or not, makes it slightly harder to go to work on a Friday! This weekend I am hoping to catch up on some sleep - my giant 30 week (!) bump certainly makes for a weary body at the end of the week.

{via here}

Here some links for your Friday afternoon...

Whatever you are doing, make sure you fit in some of this this weekend

IBM’s latest campaign makes your typical billboards into useful, functional urban furnishings

People are amazing - how three musicians are changing lives

Awesome shop in the Moboneng Precinct

Cool street art

Kids on being brave

Blast from the past - a tumblr of old loves

OCD much? These sticker walls are unreal

Be good.

xoxo

Karl on high heels

In a Harper's Bazaar interview with Karl Lagerfeld:

HB: I would love to sport a pair of extra-high sandals to a party, but will I be able to walk in them after a couple of drinks? Some of the models on the runways couldn't stay on their feet!

KL: Please, your question is childish. Don't drink when you wear stilettos. I can't advise you to get drunk at home to find out if you would be able to walk in them at a party. Plus, you aren't on the runway. Life should not be a fashion show. Only the girls in the shows have to wear unfinished prototypes. What you see later in the shops are safe — or safer. Naomi Campbell became a showstopper when she fell in her Vivienne Westwood platforms during a show. You don't have to go that high. If you're short, you can look out of proportion. Very high heels actually look better on tall girls, but men hate to walk around with giants who make them feel like midgets.

 {via here}

Guest post: Shopping list for the twins

Bunny mobile | Soft Toy | Cloud Blanket | Forest masks | Bunny mary-janes (if it's a girl) | Wooden toys | Kids car  | Bug onsie

33.33% chance of being right

{via here}

When guessing the sex of a baby in your tum you usually have a fifty percent chance of being right - it is either a girl, or a boy. With fraternal twins, you suddenly have three options: two girls, two boys, or a girl and a boy.

The husband and I have not found out the sex of the twinlets. You would think it would be hard not to know, or to resist asking the doctor, but I am so excited about the two little surprises that await us I would actually be upset if I were to find out.

I have never wanted to find out the sex of my babe, so when I fell pregnant it was natural that we wouldn't. However, just after we were told we were having twins, we were driving back to work and my mind was rushing with a million thoughts and questions and fears and joys and I almost changed my mind. But the mind was not to be trusted in that state.

Call me old fashioned, but I like not knowing. I love thinking of my two babes as little beings just as they are, without assigning them a gender or an identity. I will dress my newborns in white either way and certainly wouldn't find out to help decorating decisions.

Of course I can't help but wonder if there are two girls inside me, or two boys, or one of each and I go through stages of "feelings." When I found out I was pregnant I was certain it was a boy. So initially I had very strong 2-boy feelings. Then I swung to one of each. I even had a few weeks of strong 2-girl feelings.

The husband is certain it's one of each. If I had to say I would say two boys (perhaps this is just to balance out the all-girl family I come from). My mom thought it was two girls at first, and definitely thinks they will be the same sex. So who knows!

Did you, or would you, find out the sex of your babe?

Breakfast at Wythe Hotel

The Wythe Hotel oozes cool. In typical Williamsburg waterfront character, it was originally an old factory built at the turn of the 20th century and the industrial feel has been maintained and incorporated into the decor (think exposed rick and screed floors).

While we didn't stay there (the rooms looks awesome by the way) we went to Reynard, the hotel restaurant, for breakfast. The coffee was good, the food yummy and the service top notch. In true NY style we were brought complimentary tasty things to apologise for waiting so long for our food when we hadn't even noticed we had been waiting. The clientele was fascinating and we saw one of the best beards I have ever seen (which is saying a lot in that part of town) - think thick, full, luscious colour and perfectly groomed.