Ashtin Justley

Yesterday I had my first day of in service at school. I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it all day without looking like a total hog constantly snacking every hour to keep from getting sick. I was even more nervous to tell my boss I'm pregnant. So later in the afternoon, I went to my Principal, Kevin's office to share the big news. Our Assistant Principal, Lakecia, was there too, so I figured we'd just get it all over with once. They were totally excited :) And brought up the second big question: (and by the way, yes, they asked #1... see previous post for clarification)

Have you decided on names?

The short answer is no. Yes, we've talked about lots of names, of course, but we haven't even come close to any one light bulb/eureka!/"fo sho" name.

So, Lakecia straightens her shoulders, grabs a pen and paper and becomes very businesslike. "What's your husband's name?"

"Justin"

She writes "Ashley + Justin" and they both lean in to the paper, thinking caps on.

Lakecia: What about Ashtin?
Kevin: Oohhh that's nice!
me: It's nice, but it might get confusing with my name, Ashley and Ashtin.
Lakecia: But it's really cute.
Kevin: Okay what about Justley?
Lakecia: Now that's a name
me: Yeah, and it could be a boy's name or a girl's name...
Kevin: How about Ashtin Justley? (Lakecia nods in approval)
Me: We could just tell everyone that's what we're naming the baby while we decide on a real name.

When they both looked up from their paper, heads cocked to the side like "huh?" the music came to a screeching halt. I realized they were being for real for real. Y'all this was not the playful silly name game brainstorm I was thinking. It was an honest attempt to find the perfect name for our child using a combination of our syllables. And I had just turned it into a joke.

ooops.

Kevin: (clears his throat) Well there's always Leytin. Leytin has a nice sound to it.
Lakecia: Now there's a name that can stand alone. I have a friend named Astarte' (pronounce: A-star-tay) and that's a solid name.

And that's when the conversation went a little too far out of my comfort zone. Little baby Skweres already has a solid "stand-alone" surname... adding some ghetto to it just wouldn't be fair.

So I changed the topic of conversation. And from now until further notice, Baby Skweres will be affectionately called Ashtin Justley... maybe it is the motivation we need to buckle down and really pick a name.