chop and change

After much deliberation (why is everyone's schedule so crazy!?!? ...What? Not everyone is tied to their house by two young kids, a full-time job, and running their own business!? People are VACATIONING this summer!?!? ...jerks) we have decided to bless Carter on Sunday, August 1st in the Idaho Falls 4th Ward. I am scrambling to get some pictures taken of the bebe to send out a birth announcement. Wish me luck.

So... It's embarrassing story time. But, first, some background:
I have been getting tired of the sideways glances that I get every time I tell someone Carter's name. It goes something like this. "Aww! Cute baby! What's it's name?" (Peeve: SHE IS IN A PINK BLANKIE. I'm pretty sure that if you just went right ahead and assumed that she was a girl that you'd most-likely be right. But way to err on the side of caution.)
"Her name is Carter."
"...Oh. Wow. I love that name. (Audible Inner Monologue [okay, I can't actually hear it, but it's written all over their face]: For a boy.)

And if you think I'm being paranoid, when my own grandmother heard what we were naming Carter the phone went really quiet for a few looong seconds, then she said, "Oh. That's interesting ...I know a little boy named Carter. What about Carlie?" I am not kidding.

Anyway, here's where the embarrassing part comes in. I did not come up with trying to single-handedly change the gender orientation for this name. I promise. I actually heard it on a movie last summer before I was pregnant with Carter. Avery and I watched a lot of Disney Channel back then, and one lonely Friday night a made-for-TV movie came on called Princess Protection Program. I would like to blame the fact that we watched the whole thing on my princess-obsessed toddler, but, sadly, I had the remote. And I'm pretty sure about 5 minutes in she started playing with her toys on the floor.

So... yeah. Selena Gomez's character's name was Carter. And Selena Gomez is a girl. I thought it was so cute (Not the movie; that was pretty dumb. The name... and Selena. She's gorgeous. ...Man. Have you ever realized that you're a tad bit jealous of a twelve year old and sort of wanted to veer into oncoming traffic?... but that's beside the point) that I remember telling Klayton about it that night. And I've wanted to name this baby Carter ever since we found out "it" was a "she". Sorry if you still think I'm a lunatic. Honestly, if you didn't think that before reading this post then I don't see why further proof would tip the scale.

Still, it took us a couple of days to definitely decide on Carter. K wasn't convinced and, really, believe it or not babies have such distinct personalities when they come out. We wanted to get to know her a bit and make sure she is a Carter. I'm glad we did. The name absolutely fits her, I think. The craziest part is that after my c-section, K and I were holding our new baby and debating about names, trying to throw some other options out there. Well, we were also flipping through TV channels and guess what was playing on the Disney Channel?! No joke, not one hour after Carter was born, while we were discussing names, the same silly movie was on.

Do you believe in fate?