A year late...

I heard this song a few years ago, before I even met Lori and thought it was a pretty neat song. I heard it recently on LaunchCast and it made me get all teary-eyed, even though we've had a chance to experience the miracle of Rachel first-hand for almost a year now. If this song (not the lyrics flat on a page, but the actual song) doesn't make you cry, you haven't had a child yet.

"Thing's We've Handed Down" by Marc Cohn

Don't know much about you
Don't know who you are
We've been doing fine without you
But, we could only go so far
Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love

Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can
Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down

I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down and curl
Will you be a mama's boy
Or daddy's little girl
Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say

And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
But you can thank us later
For the things we've handed down

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed
By our fathers, and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
Come the things we've handed down

From a rocker to his daughter

This is a harder type of music than I'm used to, but it's a nice song.

"Sweet Zoe Jane" by Staind

Well I want you to notice
To notice when I'm not around
And I know that your eyes see straight through me
And speak to me without a sound

[CHORUS]
I want to hold you
Protect you from all of the things I've already endured
I want to show you
Show you all of the things that this life has in store for you
I'll always love you
The way that a father should love his daughter

When I walked out this morning
I cried as I walked to the door
I cried about how long I'd be away for
I cried about leaving you all alone

[CHORUS]
I want to hold you
Protect you from all of the things I've already endured
I want to show you
Show you all of the things that this life has in store for you
I'll always love you
The way that a father should love his daughter

Sweet Zoe Jane....
Sweet Zoe Jane.....

So I wanted to say this
Cuz I wouldn't know where to begin
To explain to you what I have been through
To explain where your daddy has been

[CHORUS]
I want to hold you
Protect you from all of the things I've already endured
I want to show you
Show you all of the things that this life has in store for you
I'll always love you
The way that a father should love his daughter

Sweet Zoe Jane......
Sweet Zoe Jane.......

What's In a Name?

Baby Center released top names for about twelve countries. Pretty interesting how international most names are, with the exception of Norway (7 of their top 10 were unique to their country, among those surveyed.) The most international name was Sophie/Sofia and the only country not to have a name unique to itself among the list? Australia.

Abigail (US)
Aimee (N.Ireland)
Alba (Spain)
Amy (Ireland, N.Ireland, Scotland)
Andrea (Spain)
Anna/Anne/Ana (Austria, Germany, Spain)
Aino (Finland)
Aoife (Ireland)
Aurora (Finland)
Charlotte (Australia, NZ, UK)
Chloe/Chloë (Australia, Ireland, N.Ireland, Scotland, UK)
Ciara (Ireland)
Claudia (Spain)
Ella (Australia, NZ)
Ellie (N.Ireland, UK, Scotland)
Elina (Finland)
Emma (Australia, Ireland, N.Ireland, NZ, Norway, Scotland US)
Emilia (Finland)
Emily/Emilie (Australia, NZ, Norway, UK, US)
Erin (Scotland)
Georgia (NZ)
Grace (NZ)
Hailey (US)
Hannah (Austria, NZ, US)
Ida (Norway)
Ingrid (Norway)
Isabella (Australia, US)
Jessica (Australia, NZ, UK)
Johanna (Finland, Germany)
Julia (Austria, Finland)
Julie (Norway)
Katariina/Katharina (Austria, Finland, Germany)
Katie (Ireland, N.Ireland, Scotland, UK)
Kaitlyn (US)
Laura (Austria, Germany, Spain)
Lauren (Scotland)
Lea/Leah (Germany, Ireland)
Lena (Austria, Germany)
Leonie (Austria, Germany)
Lisa (Austria)
Lucia (Spain)
Lucy (Scotland, UK)
Madison (US)
Malin (Norway)
Maria (Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain)
Marie (Germany)
Marta (Spain)
Megan (UK)
Niamh (N.Ireland)
Nora (Norway)
Olivia (Australia, Finland, NZ, UK, US)
Paula (Spain)
Rachel (Ireland, N.Ireland, Scotland)
Sara/Sarah (Australia, Austria, Ireland, N.Ireland, Spain, US)
Sofia/Sophie (Australia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, N.Ireland, NZ, Scotland, UK)
Thea (Norway)
Tuva (Norway)
Vanessa (Austria)

Bankable

She and I went to Wells Fargo over the weekend and created a bank account for her. But, sadly, there were no little stuffed horses left.

If you're thinking "Great... put the kid on the grid," sorry, it's too late. Her father opened an account for her at his bank as soon as we had her social security number and she was included on our taxes a few months ago.