Some Adorable Pictures, and How Oscar Got His Name

 Before Oscar was born, I was going through my options for newborn photos.

I knew I needed some right away for his birth announcement,

but I didn't want to take a newborn baby to a studio.

After weighing my options, we went with Baby Bella Photography.

I was in love with Ben's pictures, and I love Oscar's too.

 Before I was ever pregnant, Manuel and I decided on a name for our next baby.

I think we both knew that there wasn't a girl in our near future, so we just picked a boy name and called it good.

We always try to pick names that are either Spanish, or work in English and Spanish.

I have loved the name Oscar for a long time, and surprisingly, Manuel liked it as well.

 We left it at that, and didn't talk about middle names at the time.

Then we found out I was pregnant, and 20 weeks later, found out that we were having

a boy.

This launched a very lengthy, sometimes heated discussion, of what the middle name should be.

Manuel and I tend to wait until the baby is born and we're forced to fill out the birth certificate

before we ever decide on a middle name.

For some reason, that conversation just causes a lot of problems for us.

I like using family names, but for the middle name only. 

I think it gets confusing when you have a lot of people with the same name running around.

I told Manuel that this baby would get a family name from my side because

as it stood, Sam was the only one with a name from my family, although his name actually

worked for both sides.

This baby would REALLY have a name from my side.

I really wanted Miguel.

I thought that was what it should be, plus is covered 3 members of my family.

Manuel hated it.

Completely refused to agree to it.

So I was back to square one.

 I wanted to be fair, and I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

I was torn and felt like I would offend someone no matter what I did.

I started searching my family history on my mom and dad's sides,

trying to find "the name."

While I was looking at my dad's family line,

I noticed that my great-great grandfather had a son named Benjamin Oscar who died when he was about one year old. 

It broke my heart. I know it was common for that time period, but I thought about 

the pain of losing a child so soon, and knew that we HAD to keep the name Oscar no matter what. 

We would honor the sweet baby that died way too soon.

 I found my name on my maternal side.

My mom's grandfather's name was Henry, and I have always loved that name.

I decided right away that was what his name should be,

but Manuel wasn't on board, which wasn't a surprise because that's kind 

of how we roll. 

My great-grandpa was a good man, who would do anything for anyone.

Everyone loved him, and his nickname was, "Happy."

I think I need to ask my grandma to tell me the story behind that one.

  

 Up until I delivered Oscar, Manuel wouldn't agree to it.

I was filling out the birth certificate and asked Manuel what we were going to do.

He told me to put whatever I wanted because he couldn't think of anything,

and then he left to run home to shower and get the baby's car seat.

I felt like a brat because I was trying for a name that he didn't care for,

but when I got to the middle name, I wrote Henry in anyway.

I felt bad for about a second, but it quickly went away.

I guess I really am a brat!

 Even though he doesn't want to admit it, I think it's growing on Manuel.

I've been a little hurt though because it hasn't been well-received with his family.

When they asked what his name was, we got some looks of disgust, and some comments like,

"Oh, so he has a 'white' name?"

I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.

I've tried really hard to find names that fit my taste and still honor their culture.

I've done it out of respect for them, and because it was something that was important to Manuel.

The name "Oscar" is like "Samuel."

It's a name that can be English or Spanish depending on how you say it.

Those words killed me. Just thinking about it now makes me want to cry.

I know it's something I shouldn't worry about, but it hurt A LOT.

They may scoff at his name, but I love it. 

My grandma insists on calling him "Oscar Henry," and I think it's really funny.

For some reason, naming our kids is always an adventure,

but that is how Oscar got his name.