Whats in a name?

Before we found out that Carson would be having a baby brother, we (or I) decided that this baby would be named BEFORE going into the hospital. If you didnt know already, we had a hard time naming Carson before he was born. Every time we talked about names, I just could not picture our son being named that. I kept thinking "what if it's the wrong name?" or "what if I pick this name then change my mind later after everyone already knows?" When I went into labor (5 days early) we still were very unsure about what we were going to name our new precious baby boy. At the time, the choices were Carson James or Hunter James. Boy am I glad we picked Carson! Hunter is a nice name and I like it, but just not sure I can picture my son being named Hunter.
That brings us to naming this baby...
There is 1 criteria that has to be met in the naming of our children... one of their names must be related to a family name somehow. My brother, sister and I all have names from family members and Greg's middle name is his dad's name. Carson's middle name is James just like Greg's. Since we already honored Greg's side of the family I really wanted to use a name from my side of the family. Do you realize how hard it is to find a name that flows with Szymanski??? And to make matters even harder, it also had to go well with Carson. Immediately we were faced with "rhyming" names. I have always liked the name Bryce, but Greg thought it sounded like a nickname so I suggested Bryson. We both really liked it, but did not like how is sounded with Carson. Ok, back to the drawing board! What about Spencer? When I was pregnant with Carson, Spencer was a name that was always on my list, but never really considered. Greg liked it so that became #1 on our list. Now we had to find a way to use a family name with it. My dad's name is Stephen and that would be quite a mouth full of S's if we did Spencer Stephen Szymanski so it was back to the drawing board. Then I had an idea... what if we used the initials of my dads name??? My dad's side of the family is Jewish and a way to honor family members is to use their initials instead of their full name. (If I have this wrong, then i'm sorry. This is what I grew up hearing, or maybe I thought I heard it) Since Spencer and Stephen both start with the same letter, it worked :) Now I wanted to see if I could find a middle name using the same initial as my dad's middle name. That part was easy for me... Noah.
Ok, so I think I have explained way too much in this blog about how we came to the conclusion of our new baby boys name. We ordered new personalized Christmas stockings (super cheap after Christmas) so I guess it is official now...



Spencer Noah Szymanski!

Before Christmas Fun

Winter Break started at 11:01am on Friday the 17th and boy was I excited. My mom and sister were flew in that morning. Greg and Carson went to pick them up since I had to work and then Greg brought them up to my school. My mom and sister have never seen any of my classrooms or schools since I started teaching. It was nice to show my mom around and introduce her to some of the awesome people I work with. My plan was to get some copies made for the week back to school, but once they got there, I was ready to pack up my things and get home.
That afternoon/evening we stayed home and relaxed since my mom and sister had gotten up at like 4:30am to make their early morning flight. The next morning we headed to my cousin's house for a "Christmas" breakfast. Carson was excited to see Jordan (my cousin's 7 year old). Jordan and Carson got to exchange presents and Carson was just in LOVE with his new remote control train. He had to have it open right then and there. He did not put it down until it was time to go home, and even then he had to hold it in the car. When we got home Carson ran in the house to show daddy (daddy had a cold and stayed home to rest) and he had to set up the track that came with the train. That train kept him busy for the next several days.
I dont really remember what days we did what, but the the days leading up to Christmas were full of fun, shopping and spending lots of money. We took Carson to the gym, went to Glendale Glitters, made gingerbread houses, outlet shopping, saw Santa, went on a train ride, date night with the hubby, baked cookies, lots of shopping, pedicures and lunch with my sister, painted ornaments, "snow" at Desert Ridge (an outdoor shopping center) and church on Christmas Eve. Here are a few pictures from all of the fun leading up to Christmas:

Breakfast and gift exchange with The Politz Family (Jordan ran off before the picture)


Carson playing with his new train


Once we got home, he set up the track


Making Gingerbread houses




Glendale Glitters




Walking around the neighborhood looking at the lights before bedtime


Train Ride with Mimi


Sitting on Santa's lap


Painting Ornaments (made from salt dough and cookie cutters)


Running in the "snow" at Desert Ridge


Shaking the keys and singing Jingle Bells at church


After Church


Reading 'The Night Before Christmas'


On Christmas Eve we went to the 5:30 church service and then came home and had a delicious dinner, lamb, roasted potatoes and asparagus and noodles. Carson got to open 1 present before bed, his new ornament. I found the perfect ornament at Hallmark, Mickey Mouse on a Choo Choo. Carson loves it. Then we got our jammies on, left cookies out for Santa and read 'The Night Before Christmas.' Carson was so excited for Santa to come.
I will update more tomorrow with all of the fun from Christmas day.