Lunchtime photo shoot with my girl!

Ryan & I are blessed to live so close to where we work.  When we were looking for our house we kept distance from the station at the top of our must-have list, mostly because Ryan has to go to and from work three times on a Sunday.  We never thought 5 minutes away was possible, but God  opened the door. Little did I know that I would benefit so much from it as well when I became a mom.  Because we live so close, I get to come home most days during my lunch break, allowing me to maximize my time with Keira during the work week.  I love it and I am thankful that God has blessed us in this way!

This past Wednesday when I got home, I found Keira to be exceptionally cute.  She also happened to be in such a good mood, smiling and laughing.  Both in combination led me to grab my camera for an impromptu lunch-time photo shoot.  

The weather this past week has been phenomenal.  It's as if fall is making up for our lack of summer.  Knowing it was going to be beautiful I had dressed her in a peach halter, my favorite top of hers, and a cute pair of soft corduroy jeans I had bought her at Wee Trade.  They were a little baggy, but I folded them.   Her Nanny Jessi had done her hair and adorned her head with a matching bow.  Perfection!

I followed her around for about 30 minutes, snapping away as she played inside and outside of the house  She started in the kitchen.  I've given her full reign of the lower right hand cabinet.  It's only filled with tupperware and she often plays in it when I'm cooking dinner,  pulling tupperware out one by one and then putting them back in again.  

We recently taught her how to flex like Super Girl. Da-dada-da!

Look at those curls!  

After she was done with the cabinet she moved onto her bench.  It also happens to be her time out bench but she forgets that when she's playing.  

We'll often catch her relaxing on it with a cup of milk or water or hanging out with Owl or one of her other friends. 

She had a little fun with Dutchie!

Suddenly she set her mind on playing on the back porch.  The day was too beautiful not to sneak outside!

She can open all the doors in our house, including the door to get out!

She hasn't mastered going down steps yet, so she still goes down backward.  

Mommy prefers this method for her as well.  It's safer for now!

She's so happy to be outside!

Daddy's been up since 3:30 in the morning so he tries to snooze on the porch bed...

but of course, Keira has different plans. And he's awake!

I love these pants, especially when their folded, giving them that 'boyfriend' look!  It's the perfect combination of both fall and summer fashion.

Pretty baby.

After some time outside, she decides it's time to go back inside again!

But you have to stay outside momma, she insists.

I'm closing the door!

Squishy nose!

Hi, mama!

Okay, you can come in now!  I'll let you.

And just in time, too.  After all that fun, the clock strikes mid-night and I have to go back to work.  I get Ryan to snap just a couple more pics to complete our session.

Including one last kiss goodbye!  

My lunch break is just an hour, but I'll take every moment I can get with her. Some days when I'm home for lunch she's taking her nap and I miss her all together or sometimes she's cranky and in desperate need of nap or I'm preoccupied with what I left behind in my office, but then there are times like these that make the perfect break from a hectic work day and I'm reminded as to why I work in the first place.  This beautiful baby girl, my muse.

What's in a name?

Keira Ainsely Felten!

I catch my self saying it all time.  It's usually followed by no mam or come here or please do not put your hands in your diaper. Still, as her name leaves my lips they begin to flash a smile, replacing some of my irritation with a little bit of pride.  Keira Ainsely Felten.  Not bad, not bad at all.  What a sweet name we came up with for such a sweet, albeit sometimes naughty, girl.  I really ought to say her full name more then when she's getting into a little bit of trouble!

So how did she go from being Baby Felten to Keira Ainsely Felten?  Well, it was a process, which required much debate and negotiation between Ryan and I.

We realized that naming our child was a big deal. When you pick out the crib, the paint color for the nursery, the car seat, all that is temporary and can be changed.  Their name on the other hand, which will be expressed verbally and/or in writing every single day of their lives is with them FOR-EV-ER!

We wanted it to be different, but not TOO different.  We wanted it to be cute, but not TOO cute.  After all, he or she, will grow up to be adult and it has to look distinguished on a resume.  We wanted to avoid teasing as much as possible, so we turned ourselves into 5 year olds and put potential names through the ringer, making sure it didn't rhyme with butt or poopy or teste.  ie, teste, Estee! Yeah, that really did happen by the way, circa 1995.  Middle school was so much fun!

Ironically, we easily agreed on a boy's name very early on in my pregnancy.  For the first few months, we were certain that Keira was, in fact, a boy and he would be named Kainoa Ephram Felten. We'd call him Kai for short and if he didn't like it as he got older than we could switch to Ephram.  I love that name just as much.  It passed all the tests and not a single argument or debate about it. This is easy... little pressure. 

That is until we went for the ultra sound and the tech informed us that we were having a girl!

A girl, really? Are you sure? 

Oh, yes I'm positive!

Wouldn't you know, we didn't have a single girl's name in mind when left the doctor's office that day.  Not a single one.  Suddenly, the pressure was on!

Different, but not to too different, cute but not to cute.

We thought about naming her after my grandma, my mom or Ryan's mom, but they all hold special places in our heart and to pick one would be too hard.  So we decided to give Baby Felten her very own name.

What do you do if you don't know where to begin? Well, you take to the internet, for it holds all the answers!  In this case it really does.  Sure, you can buy a book of names at Barnes & Noble, but honestly, you don't need too. I must have sorted through over a hundred names, starting with A going all the way to Z.  Many sites even list orgins and meanings, if that concerns you.

100's were narrowed down to about 20. A few names not on here that we also debated were: Phoebe, Yana & Carlie.  Ryan didn't like the first two, so I didn't even bother to write them down.  We both loved Carlie, but we already knew a Carlie at church.  She is an adorable little firecracker and we thought there could only be one Carlie in our lives, so we shelved the name.  We may have to bring it back if we have another girl in the future.

On this list, is a nod to the WB hit, Charmed, one of my favorite shows of all time.  All the girls names start with P... Piper, Phoebe, Paige.

The funniest names on here are Ellowyn and Eowyn.  We tapped into our geeky sides a little bit and our love for Lord of the Rings.  Surely, we weren't serious... or were we?  I really can't remember.

In the end, Ryan was serious about Keira and I was insistent upon Ainsley.  We were both stubborn.    I do remember thinking, perhaps we can save Keira for a second daughter, but what if I don't have a second daughter?!?

And then it dawned on me one day to simply give her both names.  Keira Ainsely sounds much better than Ainsely Keira.  In that way Ryan finally won the battle, but I was happy with the concession prize!  It had a nice ring to it.  It's ironic that both names were side by side on our list!

You think it would be over, but it wasn't!  Two more names needed to be added.  In Filipino culture, you also give your child your maiden name.  And and on top of that, a child needs a Hawaiian name.  For example when I was born, my name was Estee Nohelani Bautista Guillermo.  While I love my name and wouldn't change it for the world,  it does not fit on license or my Social Security Card!

Before we went to the hospital we did decide against my maiden name, but the Hawaiian name was still very much in the air.  I really didn't decide until after she was born and Ryan was filling out her form.  So in all serious, her name was almost:  Keira Ainsely Ka'iulani Felten.

In the end simplicity reigned!  It would have been beautiful, but awfully long, just like mine.  She'll have enough trouble explaining that it's spelled "e-i-r-a" rather than "i-e-r-a", and that there's no "e" after "s" in Ainsley, and it's Fel-TEN, TEN not Fel-TON.  Haha!  We've run into all these issues, almost as soon as we put pen to paper and made it official!  What can I say... we at least attempted to keep it simple.

Regardless, it's a beautiful name and I'm happy with our compromised decision.  Her name is a little bit of Ryan and a little bit of me and now when I look at her, I can't imagine her as Carlie, or a Paige, or Eowyn.   As soon as the nurse handed her to me for the very first time, I remember saying, "Hi, baby, hi Keira. Mommy loves you."  She didn't even need to grow into her name! She just looked like a Keira and we were in love.

And that, everyone, is how this baby came to be known as Keira Ainsley Felten.

By the way, let's go back to the boys name... I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to use Kainoa Ephram Felten one day.   Not anytime soon, but one day!