And the name (really) is...

For those of you who read yesterday's blog post and wondered if we had lost our minds, we wanted to let you know that the post was an April Fool's Day joke. We are not naming our son Ernie. For those of you who really liked the name Ernie and thought it would be perfect for our son, we apologize. I'm sure it would be a great name, but I prefer it for a muppet more then I prefer it for my child. For those of you who were scared that we were naming our son after a Sesame Street character and were considering having us committed, no need to fear because we really haven't lost our minds. At least, not yet...wait until baby #2 is born and then get back to us.

Pictured: Two people who have lost their minds.

In all seriousness, we have decided on the name. It was a more difficult this time around and it took us longer to come to a mutual agreement. And we're reserving the right to call an audible once he is born in case we decide he doesn't look like the name we chose*. But for now, the name of baby #2 will be Lucas William Chapin.

* Seriously, what does that even mean? How can a baby look like a certain name? After Levi was born, many people said "He looks like a Levi". Huh? So a Levi looks like a 7 pound baby with tons of black hair? What if we had named him Albert, or Magglio, or even Bosephus? Would he still have looked like a Levi? Or is is just our brains subconsciously telling us he looks like whatever the chosen name was?

I've always liked the name Lucas. It's a bit more popular than we were hoping, as it seems to be trending upwards on the list of most popular boys names (going from 71st to 9th over the last 5 years). So he might end up like me and have 30 other classmates with the same name. He also might end up going by Luke which would be ok with us also. Between me (my middle name is John) and him we'd have 3/4 of the gospels covered. That can't be such a bad thing, right?

On second thought...

The middle name William is the name of Courtney's grandfather who passed away in 2005. For those who don't know, Levi's middle name is Joseph and that was my grandfather's name (he passed away in 1983). We have decided to honor our grandfathers in this manner because of the profound impact they had on us and our families. Of course, if we have any more boys the next two grandfathers were/are named Donald and Overton, so we're hoping if we have any more kids that they're girls.

Anyway, sorry for the joke, and we hope all 4 people who read it had a good laugh.

And the name is...

As many of you know, we kept Levi's name a closely guarded secret until he was born. After putting our families through that torture, we promised them that this time around we would tell them when we decided on a name. We had a small list of names that we had been whittling down, and we finally reached an agreement a couple of weeks ago. We even told a few family members and close friends the name. Well, as it turns out, some very close friends of ours already had a son by the same name and we didn't think it would be a big deal to use the name. It was a big deal. In fact, those friends asked us to please consider other names. We decided to respect their wishes and went back to the drawing board. Courtney and I could not come to an agreement on a name we both liked, so we decided to let Levi assist us. We asked him multiple times what he wanted his brother's name to be and he kept saying the same name. Those of you who know Levi know that he can say a ton of words, so the fact he kept saying the same name meant a lot to us. So we have decided to go with what Levi wants, and Chapin baby #2 will be named Ernie William Chapin.

Although we hope our Ernie doesn't come out looking so orange.

We love the name because it works on many different levels. I loved Sesame Street as a kid, and Bert and Ernie were my favorite characters. Levi loves Sesame Street as well. We know Levi can say the name so it will be easy for him. Heck, when he was born, I told Courtney he looked like a purple Ernie. So if little Ernie looks anything like Levi did, the name will be very fitting.

Only 6 more weeks until little Ernie is due! We are eagerly anticipating his arrival.



Thanks for reading our blog post. Hope you had a great day!

Visiting the great-grandparents

Great Grandpa Lucky, Great Grandma Hazel, Maya, Levi, and Cook.

This past Saturday we met Ryan, Marnie, and Maya at the home of Courtney and Marnie's grandparents in Detroit. Grandpa Lucky had been in the hospital recently and we were reminded again how we need to take advantage of the time we have with all our family members. We were a little worried at first that Levi would freak out, but he ended up having a great time playing with Maya, watching the neighbor dogs out the window, and running through the house. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Is is spring yet?

Apparently not.

Last Sunday it was pretty nice out and almost all of the snow had melted so I decided to go for a run outdoors. Courtney was excited and said something about winter being almost over. I reminded her that we live in Michigan and there was probably some more snow in store for us. Little did I know all that snow would arrive this week. I'm tired of shoveling...maybe I'll finally stop being cheap and buy that snowblower. Levi and Prince have been enjoying the snow quite a bit though, so I guess that is one positive.

Enjoying a sled ride.

Taking his turn with shoveling.

The Tigers are already scouting him

Special director's commentary:

• The only number Levi says is "two". So when he imitates us counting "1, 2, 3" he says "2, 2, 2".
  
• Earlier in the day he was throwing his animals in his crib and Courtney said "close" when he missed. He picked up on that and started saying it every time he missed.
• His stuffed animal friends are Cookie Monster (aka "Cook"), Hoppy the Frog (I came up with that name myself), Bert and Ernie (sewn by my grandma and given to me as Christmas presents when I was very little), and Pooh.
  

Fun with Cousin Maya

I know what you're thinking...a post on two consecutive days? That's right. These pictures were just too darn cute. On Valentine's Day Levi got to spend most of the day at my parent's house, and then came home in the evening to find Uncle Ryan, Aunt Marnie, and his favorite (and only) cousin Maya. They had a lot of fun playing. Enjoy the pictures!

Giving Maya a little push on his truck.

Maya returning the favor.

"Levi, get OUT of my chair!"

"No Maya, you get out!"

Insert Clever Title Here

It's been a little while. We've been pretty busy as I've been working more due to an increase in job responsibilities at work, and Courtney has been pretty busy with school. So here are some pictures from the first month and a half of 2010.

Two good lookin' guys.

Levi smiling for both the cameras.

Being silly with papa.

Levi trying to imitate mommy's pregnant belly.

Playing with his cars is one of Levi's favorite activities.

Coloring with mama.

Is that Prince or a catfish?

Only 5 days until pitchers and catchers report for spring training! Go Tigers!!!