Name that baby!

Choosing a name for our baby has always been one of my favorite parts of being pregnant. I have always loved trying out names, playing with combinations of first and middle, and then seeing how each one sounds with our last name. I even like to look at the potential initials to see if they go together well. In the past, Tim and I have had a lot of fun discussing possible options and all of our children have had a name well before their arrival. We are now eagerly anticipating the birth of our fifth child. With each baby, the name game has gotten a little harder. This time around it seems next to impossible....
I started the conversation about names within days of finding out baby was on the way. I was so excited to start the process of choosing the perfect name and I looked forward to the fun of the discussions. Tim apparently did too, because all of our discussions have been nothing but fun. Almost as soon as I start to mention a possibility Tim (who incidentally likes rock music, not classical) gets silly and starts suggesting ridiculous names such as Ludwig Von Burke. Now, clearly, this was a fine suggestion when Beethoven's mother and father were expecting a baby over two hundred years ago, and living in Germany (or was it Austria?)! But for an American baby in Clearwater, FL in the year 2009, it is not truly a viable option! Tim is not the only one having a good time with silly, impractical names. Our youngest daughter has really been fighting to call the baby Daisy Doodle Burke if it is a girl. Lucy Doodle Burke, is her second choice. She thinks no matter the first name, Doodle would be a perfect middle name. Other suggestions have included Evan Longoria (if I am not mistaken this name is already taken by our favorite baseball player!), Iris (Tim knows I have a distaste for all things relating to eyes), Rock (I'm not sure where or how this one came up, maybe because of Tim’s favorite kind of music, but really--Rock Burke?!?!?), Van Von Burke (in case there was no way I was going for Ludwig), and Loggafleur (our 4 year old son’s contribution, I have no idea where it came from) just to name a few.... With the way things have been going, I am not having quite as much fun as I had hoped!
We still have months to go until baby will be here and need to be called something. I am really starting to wonder if there is enough time to come up with a real name that Tim and I can agree upon. Somehow, the other children have gotten the idea that they also have a say in baby's name. So when (and IF) Tim and I ever come up with a name it is sure to get voted down by the majority party in our house (the children who outnumber us two to one)! I fear for our poor innocent baby who, at least for now, has no idea that the fate of his or her future name is in the hands of a bunch of goofballs who can not take this responsibility seriously enough to even consider a feasible selection.
For now we have taken to calling baby “small fry“. While this little nickname was never intended to be the baby’s given name it just may end up that way, because as frightening as it sounds, it is the only thing we’ve been able to agree on so far.....