The one about the name change

I gave it six months and I still look at his face and think, you’re not a Bryce, you’re a Decker (or something) but you’re not a Bryce.  I wrote about this before he was born, about the fact that I woke up one day in a state of panic over the name we’d chosen.  I just didn’t want to call him Bryce.  The problem was, I got a lot of push-back from Mike and our families. Everyone else loved the name Bryce and had all gotten so attached to it over the previous couple of months.  I had to wonder what my deal was, why couldn’t I just love it?  I don’t have an answer.  I just know that I wasn’t feeling it and shouldn’t my opinion count just a smidge more than anyone else’s?  Carrying him inside my body for 9 months and pushing him out should give me at least 60% stake in the naming rights.  In the end, I couldn’t come up with anything better that Mike and I could agree on- so in the week or two before he was born, I announced that we would be turning back to Bryce.  

I never was in love with the name, but Mike was always 100% on it and that counted for something to me.  Plus, adding Decker as a middle name had a cooler ring to it and gave it an edge.  Here we are a full six and a half months later and I just want to do something about it before too much time passes.  I’ve actually been calling him Bryce Decker or Little Decker quite frequently because I think Decker makes a good nickname and I figured that would give me a chance to try it out.   I like it. He seems like a bit of a clown, so easily amused and quick to smile.  I think he even looks like a Decker, with his bright blue eyes and his duck fluff hair.

I was nervous to tell our families.  I had been given enough grief about it before he was even born!  What were the reactions going to be now, after it’d been six month outside the womb! I know you all might think I’m weird. However, I’m the mom.  You got to name your kids, so let me name mine.  And rename them. And rename them. *grin* Okay, I think Mike might have a limited amount of name-change-coupons made up for me to use.  I’ve had a few friends that have exclaimed how much they love the switch to Decker and I’m the kind of girl who really needs a few big noisy supporters.  While we were on vacation we stayed at the Still’s house the first couple of nights and I told Monte that I really wanted to make the switch to Decker.  He said, Okay. Let’s do it. We’ll call him Decker starting now.  I thought, yeah! Why am I so worried about what other people will say or think? I’m thankful for Monte’s bold encouragement.

Reed isn’t having any problem with it. He’s heard me calling his little brother “Bryce Decker” and “lil Decker” over the past few months, so it’s no surprise to him when we refer to him that way all the time now.  He goes back and forth between the names, but I’m sure he’ll easily learn that his brother is going by Decker.