Lots of Babies

This past weekend Elina and I were talking about the arrival of the new baby. Elina is SURE that it is going to be a girl. She was already telling everyone that she's getting a new baby sister and that her name is going to be Clara. The thing is, we like the name Clara, but it just doesn't go with our last name. When Clara is said with our last name, it's just too Clark-Kent-comic-book-character for us.

Our big dilemma is whether or not to give the new baby a name that begins with the letter E. I wouldn't mind not using an E, but then what if this baby ends up being the black sheep of the family? I just know that he/she would also blame us for giving him/her a name that doesn't fit the rest of the siblings. But the thing is, the letter E is pretty limiting. There are hardly any good E boy names. And to make matters worse, the kids have second cousins who all have E names...so Edward, Elaine, and Ethan are all taken.

So here is what Elina and I talked about this weekend--

Me: Elina, how do you know the new baby will be a girl?
Elina: I just know. I really really want a sister.
Me: I know you do, but it could end up being a boy.
Elina: No, it's going to be a girl and her name is going to be Clara.
Me: Elina, I like the name Clara, too, but it just doesn't go with our last name.
Elina: [thinking about our last name] I think it sounds good with our last name.
Me: Well, we're trying to give the baby a name that starts with the letter E because your name and Eli's name both start with the letter E.
Elina: Ohhhhhh.
Me: So here are some choices...and you tell me what you like the best. Eva, Edie, or Emma.
Elina: [thinking hard] Ummmmmm...I like Emma the best.
Me: Ok, then maybe Emma can be the new baby's name if it's a girl.
Elina: Ok.

After this conversation, Elina drew this picture--
It's a picture of ALL of us (she wrote "all" on the top of the page). Yaya, Mom, Dad, Eli, Emu (Emma), Elina, A-Gong, and A-ma. Then there are 7 little babies afterwards. I asked Elina what those little heads were. She said, "Those are all the babies that are going to come out of your belly after Emma. We're going to have 7 more babies." I said, "That's a lot of crying." She said, "That's ok."

We were all so in shock when we saw the picture because we didn't know she was so baby-crazy. But when B saw the drawing, he just nodded his head in approval because he's totally ok with having more babies. Elina and B are so alike it's scary.

Anyway, maybe you readers can help us out...should we stick with the letter E or not?