Our Little Girl!

After long, sleepless hours of thought, and an extensive name search, we are proud to introduce the newest addition to our family....

Mia Jean Chin
Born: April 16, 2008 @ 12:21pm ET
Weighing: 7lbs, 13 oz
Height: 19 1/2 inches

Everything went exactly to plan, no surprises and no issues. Irene did great and is doing well recovering. Brady, in case anyone thought we've forgotten him, is safe at home with Irene's parents. He came to visit yesterday and met Mia for the first time. A good meeting overall, especially when we gave him the presents that Mia got for him (books and a puzzle).

If you are wondering what other names were being considered, the runner-up names included:

- Gisele -- how could you not consider creating another Brady/Gisele combination? It fell short though because you can't guarantee who Tom Terrific is going to end up with (see Bridget Moynihan as Exhibit A).

- Randy -- An obvious celebration of the greatest single season Quarterback/Receiver touchdown combination in NFL history. Unfortunately, this combination needs more than one year and at least two superbowl championships to get such an honor. Plus, Randy Moss is still relatively suspect mentally.

- Peyton -- Wouldn't it be cool to have the biggest quarterback rivalry of our generation represented in our household, especially when Peyton is a girl? Regardless of the coolness of the not-so-subtle jab on Mr. Manning, I still can't stomache my girl having the same name as him.

- Katherine -- A classic name fitting of almost every situation, except when everywhere you go you'll hear "it's Katie and Brady!" Although this is in line with the Chin single generation naming tradition (also known as the Harry, Gary, and Larry Tradition), we decided that this tradition is only fitting if the siblings are boys. :)

- Charlotte -- (nice suggestion Jamie) Another great name, but I personally could not endorse another city that is home of another NFL team (Carolina Panthers). If I have to name her after a city, I would rather choose Worcester or Waukesha. Also, her nickname would likely end up being Charlie - see prior blog entry for why this is bad.

Well, I'm off to go play with my little girl now. Thank you for all your name suggestions and please come back for more pictures in the coming days!

The art of naming a child

Once again, Irene and I find ourselves with a newborn and no name. With Brady, we took the whole four day stay at the hospital before making the final decision. And what was interesting was how often names moved up and down in the list of top choices, not to mention how many 'flyers' (names that were not on the list going into the hospital) rose up to get consideration on the list. Some spent time in the top 3 spots.

It's all very similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, with the big name schools getting all the attention going in, but several unknown Cinderella's stepping up and getting noticed by hopping over one of those big names.

Then once you think you have a name, you have to run through all the nicknames that the child could be called - especially when their last name is a noun, like Chin. For instance, if you name him Charlie, then he'll be called Charlie-Chin his whole life, as if that is his full first name with no second name. Or Chuckie-Chin, which quickly turns into Chunky Chin with just a bit of bad luck. Or if we name our little girl Violet, then her name would be Violet Chin. I can just see kids on the bus saying "Are you sure you have a Violet Chin? Or do you have a Blue Chin?" Then some kid will pick up on that and take it one step further and start calling her Blue's Clues. And once your into the ether-space with a nickname for a person, God only knows what nicknames arise from there.

Anyway, some people may have a knack for this, but we clearly don't, so we want to get your opinion (and you only get one day to respond!). Any ideas?????? If it helps, we had a baby girl....

My legs are too short, so push me, as I am the king!

And now introducing....

Okay, just kidding, that's actually a picture of Brady when he was one day old. The past week has been filled with activity. Our nanny started with us and we've been trying to get the spring yard work done. Brady is loving the warmer weather and running around in the yard.

Keep checking back for pictures of our new family addition. In the meantime, enjoy wathching Brady pick up leaves and water our new plants on Sunday.