Ramblings of a Rockstar....: Henry viii I am I am....Henry viii I am-not!

When I was a little girl I used to line my dolls up and name them. There was Christina Victoria. And Elizabeth Margaret. There was Veronica Patricia and my Cabbage Patch doll that came with the name Rudy Haley. I'm not sure why or how I chose these names, but I liked the longer, flowing more regal sounding names. I would make lists of how many children I was going to have and I would choose names for all these future children. I remember when my friends and I would go swimming we would choose make believe names and call each other by our fake name at the pool. I always wanted to be Madonna. My parents...for reasons unknown...named me Marie Rachelle. I went by my second name Rachelle. I HATED that they did this. Whenever we had a substitute teacher, they would do roll call and scream out Marie DeCoste. When I went to the doctor or the dentist office...it was always Marie DeCoste. I didn't know anybody else that went by their middle name. Why did I have to be so odd? Then I met Shaw and guess what folks.....it's his middle name! He's actually Alan Shaw Webb. My soul mate? Perhaps! When we eloped (another blog post...I promise!) we were standing in the tackiest of tiny rooms at the St. Pete courthouse and the Justice of the Peace was reading her marriage blurb to us. When she came to the part for us to say I do...she read off the paper...."Do you Alan take Marie to be your wife?" We took one look at each other and burst out laughing. I'm sure she thought we were the most immature people she had ever married! There are times though now that I am glad that I go by Rachelle and not Marie. When the phone rings and someone asks to speak with Marie or Alan...we know they are a telemarketer and I say, "no sorry Marie is not home!" or Shaws favorite..."I'm sorry, Alan has passed away" Really? He says that!!! So when I found out I was pregnant the baby name books came out. Lists of names were made and then crossed off. I didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, so I had to have 2 lists. I knew I did not want to name my child after dead relatives or even after Shaw himself. Shaw Jr. Nope, not here in this house. There were so many other names to choose from to give our child their own identity, was how I looked at it. Finally we settled on Cade for a boy and Olivia for a girl. Then just a few weeks before I was due I heard the name Brooklyn and fell in love. After many horrendous hours of laboring, we had a baby girl. Brooklyn. Now to choose a middle name. I had heard Channing and loved that. Only problem, Shaw loved it so much he wanted is as her first name. So for the first 3 days in the hospital I would call our baby girl Brooklyn and Shaw would call her Channing. Then he suggested naming her Brooklyn Channing and calling her Channing. Are you CRAZY? No way was I going to put her through that torture! So Brooklyn Channing it was to be. 2 years later I find out I'm expecting again. This time I am going to find out what I'm having to make it easier to have a name chosen before the big day! For those of you that don't know this little fact...Shaw is the worlds biggest Dallas Cowboy football fan. So we agreed that boy or girl we would name 'it' Dallas. I really liked Jayden for a girl but alas...we found out we were having a boy so Dallas it was to be. I heard the name Breton when I was home visiting and it had some significance...since I grew up close to the Island of Cape Breton. So Dallas Breton was born and named. One last time I get knocked up. We again find out that we are going to have a boy so I throw my chosen girl name away...Salem. I decide that I love Sawyer and Sawyer it is going to be. Shaw decides that he hates Sawyer. So we are in battle. One night we are watching TV and John Madden comes on to speak and I say without thinking..."Madden is a nice name" Oops, wrong thing to say. Shaw has now decided thats our unborn sons name. So unfair that I have to do all the work for 9 months and don't even have a say. About 6-7 months into my pregnancy we go out to eat at our favorite restaurant and Shaw has one too many to drink. When that happens he turns into Chatty Cathy. So he has decided to take a poll and ask the waitresses what they think. Unanimously they all like Madden over Sawyer. So I tell Shaw that he's going to have to pay me in order to sway me. Money talks! So he forks over $300 and I give him rights to Madden!!! This is NOT a joke! Now comes a middle name. Geesh. This is getting old. I'm glad I stopped at 3 kids. I don't like anything and can't think of anything that goes well with Madden. Shaw suggests Cooper. The lady at the hospital filling in the paperwork has already come into my room 4 times wanting to know if I've made a final decision.....so WHATEVER. I say...go ahead, put down Cooper. So there you have it folks. Brooklyn Channing. Dallas Breton. Madden Cooper. Many people have asked me why city names for the first two and not the third. One day I got curious and googled it and yup...up came a city in Wisconsin named Madden. So there...all 3 named after cities. Others have asked if they were named after the place they were conceived in. Really? You are going to ask me where Shaw and I had sex? How does one know the exact nano-second of conception? So I tell them, "Yeah...thats EXACTLY why they are named after a city." The next question...."So why Madden? That's not a place." To which I reply....."Well I very well couldn't name him Ford F-150 now could I?" WHAT? You wanted to know!

Brooklyn Channing...10 years old