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My dog Ranger is a rescue, so we don't really need a registered name. But I may register him for performance competitions in the future. While I know we don't need a "registered" name and could just use a "call" name, sometimes it's fun to come up with a registered name. So, just for funsies, I was wondering if anyone had any brilliant ideas for a registered name that would logically have a call name of "Ranger."

Fear of snakes or spiders, and even rats, I can understand, even if I don't share that fear. Being startled and jumping or letting out a little scream because you weren't expecting the mouse to be there I understand completely. But the full on hysterical, jump-on-a-chair and shriek response to a mouse I don't understand at all. Mice aren't big enough to do any real physical damage to a human being even if they do bite. And the screaming in a full on hysterical reaction is far more frightening to the mouse than the rodent should be to any person. Mice are shy and will run away as soon as they are seen.

Ryan Bernard (last name). I really like the name Ryan, and Bernard is my brother's name (he's still around, but dead set against ever having children of his own).

Also, Brennan Bernard. My husband really likes Brennan, and I like it too but am not sure how it sounds with Bernard.

Not expecting, just wondering since my youngest decided to get up before dawn today. We're not sure if we'll have any more kids or not, but since it was such a battle to find a boy's name my husband didn't hate with this last one I figured it might be wise to collect a few name ideas just in case we ever have another.

Like? Dislike? Why?

We're not expecting, but we are seriously considering having another child in the future and we had such a hard time agreeing on a second boy name with our last that I figured it doesn't hurt to throw some name ideas around now. Our first son is Liam Croughan (Croughan is a family name, not my first choice either but it was important to my husband and I don't hate it) and our second is Aidan Christopher. When we were deciding on the second one there were only about 3 names that my husband and I could agree that we both didn't dislike.

One name my husband really likes a lot is Brennan. At the time I didn't care for it, it seemed too much like a boy's name that is relegated to only being used on girls these days (like Ashley or Aubry) to me. But I have to admit that it has grown on me. An alternative that I believe he suggested was Brendan. I don't dislike it, but it kind of reminds me of a dog I once knew. Again, in the time since we discussed baby names I've softened to the idea of Brendan too (although my husband still prefers Brennan). So here are some names I've been tossing around for a few days now:

Brennan Edward. Edward is my father's name and I think it flows quite nicely with Brennan. I really like using family names as middle names.

Brendan Robert. Robert was my grandfather's name. It was also my husband's maternal grandfather's nickname (his mother was sick when it was time to register him for school and his sisters disliked his name Oscar so they registered him as Robert...it stuck and he graduated high school as "Robert" instead of Oscar)

Brennan/Brendan Gale. Gale was my husband's late father's name. Originally we were going to use Gail for a girl, but we've since found a girl's name we like better. Gale is far too feminine to be suitable as a first name (my FIL was always getting invitations from the women's bar association to speak at their annual meetings!).

We aren't pregnant, I'm just daydreaming. We've chosen Zella for a girl name. With the last pregnancy, we were going to go with Zella Irene. Irene is my MIL's middle name which is part of why we chose it. Thanksgiving, a month and a half after our son was born, my husband's niece announced that her baby due in April is a girl and the name she's chosen is Abagail Irene as her name. I realize that my initial "hey, you stole our name!" feelings are irrational and hormone-fueled. After all, we only told my mom that we were going to use Irene as a middle name so there's no way my husband's niece could have "stolen" it and besides, it's not like we own the name anyway.

So, while I still like Zella Irene, and we haven't ruled out using it as I am not totally set against a daughter having the same middle name as someone else in the family, it has made me consider possibly using a different middle name. Some other thoughts I've had:

Zella Marie. Marie is my middle name and we have considered using it as a middle name for a daughter in the past.

Zella Frances. My brother, father, and grandfather's middle name is Francis and when I was younger I had thought I might use it as a middle name for a son. But none of the boy's names my husband likes go well with this name. It might be a nice twist to tradition to use it for a first-born daughter's middle name instead of a firstborn son.

Or stick with the original Zella Irene. Which do you prefer.

Before anyone gets upset, no I do not think Percy is appropriate as a girl's name nor would I ever seriously consider naming a human girl Percy (maybe a dog or a horse, but that's about it). But my three year old is into Thomas and Friends and every time we read a Thomas story he insists that Percy's a "her" and not a "him!" It's rather amusing, but it did get me to wondering why he seems to think Percy is a girl's name. He is old enough to understand basic gender differences (watching TV commercials he's told me that certain toys were "for girls" and insisted that boys can't play with them, although he'll also willingly play with pink toys too) and clearly knows which gender the appropriate pronoun goes with so I don't think it's just a matter of him being too young to know that there are boys' names and girls' names.

Big brothers' names are Liam and Aidan. What boy names could you picture for a little brother?

Which spelling do you prefer and why?

Please note, I'm not asking for an opinion on the name itself. I'm aware that it's super popular and it's generally one of those names that you either hate or love. All I want to know is which spelling you would prefer and why you prefer that spelling over the other. If you prefer a different spelling variant, that's ok and I'd love to hear a reason for that too.

For a girl. Do you like it or dislike it and why?

Kylie, Kinlee, and....? What name would go with the first two?

I'm looking for suggestions on girl's names that you would picture on a sweet, mellow, laid back girl. Any genre (trendy, classic, foreign, just plain weird, whatever) and unisex names are ok.

Just wondering what people's opinions, good and bad, were on the girl's name Esphyr.

So I have some of this tea left from when I was trying to breastfeed my son and I know it also has benefits other than when nursing or during the end of pregnancy. My question is whether or not anyone knows anything about using it to help "regulate" periods? My period is perfectly regular, as I am on the pill. The cramps aren't too bad, but they are still not great.

How much tea should I be drinking to help ease period symptoms? One cup a day enough, two cups, three cups? I remember when I was trying to lactate it was a LOT of tea that was recommended and I felt like every time I turned around I was making/drinking another cup of tea.

Also, do you get the benefits if you drink the tea only during your period? Or is it like cranberry juice where it takes time to build up to have the beneficial effect and you really should be drinking a glass a day even between periods to get the best effect?

I have 3 zebra danios, one of them has always been kinda skinny and racey (and semi-long finned too) and the other two have always been more round. But lately one of them is VERY round. So round that she looks like she's swallowed a balloon and is going to pop. I've had several tanks over the past years and most of them have included danios but I have never seen anything like this before. Any ideas? Could it be a problem with the swim bladder? Eggs that haven't been released? Something else?

Shannon, for a boy. I'm currently obsessing over the name Shannon as a boy's name. Yes, I know it is considered "girly," but I *really* love it for a boy. That's why I'm thinking of maybe using it as a middle name with a less "girly" first name. The surname is one syllable, so a one or two syllable first name would probably be best.

So my goal is to loose 20lbs before we try for #2. My son is only 4 months old, so I figure I've got about a year and a half to two and a half years to accomplish this (although loosing 10lbs over the next 6-12 months would be great). Any moms out there have any home exercise plans that worked especially well for them? Any books or videos that you found helpful would be great.

Shannon Christopher. Since I'm not pregnant my husband doesn't see the point of discussing baby names right now, but my brain wants to think about them anyway.

I hear a lot of people boo-hooing names because they make them think of a certain celebrity, or because it's the name of a character in a popular book. In the not so recent past no one thought it weird for a baby's name to be inspired by a favorite literary character or famous person. My best friend was named after an actress on one of her parents' favorite tv shows. No one associates her with that actress and no one has ever made fun of her for her name. If a person likes a name, does it really matter why they like it or where they found it? Is it really that much worse to name a baby after a favorite actor, character, or celebrity than to name a baby after a family member?

My MIL asked us about what we wanted for our son for Christmas. It's a hard question right now because he's only 3 months old and not quite ready to play with toys yet. His wants and needs are still pretty simple right now, although he is enjoying his time in the swing more and spending more time looking at his mobile. He already has some rattles, teething rings, a few bath toys, and stuffed animals but not much else. Any parents have suggestions for good toys for a 3-12 month old? I figure we might as well ask for some slightly older toys as well, we can always store them in the closet until he's old enough to play with them.