Top Ten Tuesday: Baby Names

With less then 2 months to go for this pregnancy the most common question we get is have you decided on names? The answer is yes! We have a boy name complete with first and middle and a girl name with a middle that is less certain but we have ideas.

There are so many resources out there if you are looking for baby names or names for your dog or goldfish cause they gotta have names too right?

1. The Baby Name Wizard is my favourite baby name book of all time. It was given to me when I was pregnant with Isabel and it makes name searching fun. Names are organized into categories like Guys & Dolls and Why not? Sibling name suggestions are also given. Love it.

2. Baby Names World is a great site. It gives the meaning and has surveys from people with the name so you can read responses from people with first-hand experience.

3. Nymbler allows you to type in names that you like and get suggestions based on those names. I spent the better part of an evening sitting on the couch reading Nymbler's suggestions and vetoing them with my husband.

4.  Name Berry is another one of my most frequented baby names site. Shows current name searches and trending names.

5. The Bump has some great resources. I particularly like the baby names community forum board that allows you to post your own polls and have people vote.

6. The Baby Name Wizard site has name maps and popularity over time.

7. SSA name lists by year and state.

8.  Baby Names gives meanings and has trending names of the day on the front page. This is great of you are like me and want to avoid popular names.

9.  Your family tree. Middle names for me are a way to honor a family member so I have been using Geni to double check my grandmother and great grandmother's full names.

10. Behind the name gives meanings and popularity by country.

Go visit Angie for more top ten fun.

Top Ten Tuesday: New Baby Tips

Good morning! I'm recovering from my very first run yesterday...ugh legs are a little sore

but nothing a snuggle with my baby girl and some yummy breakfast won't fix. Did I mention that she is 3 months old...already?!?! It seems like yesterday when I wasn't sure I w

ould make it through those long nights in the first week.

Over the past 3 months I have gathered a few tips from other moms and my own experience on easy things to do to get ready for and/or to make everyday life with a new baby easy and economical.

1. Bounty - Peanut Butter Jar Wipes I need to buy some more paper towel to make more wipes so I will post a picture when I have some made but the link will take you to another mom who has discovered their wonder. I you are going to go the route of disposable wipes you might as well give homemade ones a try.

2. Hand-Me-Downs I will accept any and all donations of clothing from moms because they just make my day. Chances are my kid(s) won't wear them out either and they can go to their next happy home when I am done with them. Not to mention that most of the gross manufacturing chemicals have been washed out of them by the time I get them.

3. Baking Ahead It seems no matter what time I get up I am not on time since having this baby. She is always hungry or needs a diaper change as I am about to go out the door. I don't deal well without breakfast in my tummy so by making a batch of muffins I have insta-portable breakfast-to-go ready and waiting. Also saves money on drive-thrus.

4. Coffee Timers Caffeine makes me jittery if I have too much of it but since I have entered the realm of new parent sleep deprivation 3 months ago I have become a one cup of coffee in the morning type of gal. Our coffee pot has a timer and due to reasons stated in #3 if it is all set and brewing I can pour myself a travel mug and be on my way.

Just in case you are looking for some delicious coffee, visit my favourite coffee shop from home Java Moose...Maple Cinnamon Coffee??? drool. And like #3, saves money on drive-thrus.

5. Dishwasher I always felt kind of guilty using the dishwasher for just my husband and I but unless I want dirty dishes stacked until each evening when I have a moment without incidences that I mentioned in #3 we load our dishwasher and it at least gives me the feeling that my kitchen is clean.

6. Meal Planning I have been doing this for a while but it seems to make all the more sense now that my schedule is much more dictated by a 14.5 lb person. Laura hosts Menu Plan Mondays, an awesome place to start.

7. House Cleaning Schedule I'm still working on this one but it just seems like laundry piles up in a matter of minutes...

8. Cloth Diapers Not that these make my life a whole lot easier but they don't make it any more difficult. We do have to empty the garbage less and they are just so darn cute! My current fave are Fuzzi Bunz and I'm looking to buy some more, they really are great, and they do work out to be cheaper in the long run.

9. Baby Wrap I love this thing see my other post

10. Loving Husband He is seriously the best dad I could ever have hoped for and I wouldn't want to do this without him.

For more Top Ten Tuesday Fun go see Amanda.

Top Ten: Getting to know ME!

This is in response to Candace's post...

1) What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?
Naomi, I like it and can't imagine another name except maybe Tinkerbell :)

2) What was your worst date (as in going out on a date, not an actual calendar date…unless you have a really bad one to share)?
Umm haven't been on many dates...maybe the one where the guy just wanted to sit and talk about "us" when there was no "us" to be talked about...

3) If you had to teach one subject in high school or college, what would it be?
Science for sure, such fun experiments to be done!

4) When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
last night, I just get goofy when it's late and by late I mean 10pm :)

5) What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
many things but most recently meals made for our family when we had our baby

6) If money or skill-set was no issue, what would you love to do for a living?
Diabetes nutrition counselling or dermatology or maybe to be more whimsical wedding planning and owning a cupcake/cake shop

7) What is one thing as an adult/parent/spouse you do that you swore you would never do?
not having the dishes done before I go to bed, nothing worse than waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes

8) If you could go back to one particular time in your life (not to live, not to change anything, just to visit) when would it be?
sometime before I was 11 to spend more time with my dad

9) If your walls could talk, what would they say about you (good & bad)?
I talk to the dogs constantly

10) If you could fix or put an end to one problem in the world what would it be?
Not treating others as ourselves