QOTW: How I Chose the Twins' Names.....

Twins, Part 1!

These are 4 year-old twin girls named Caitlyn Renee and Charlotte Alayna.

Did you stick with family names?

For these 2, not really. Charlotte was named for my granddaddy, Charles, who had passed away the year before. I was an absolute Granddaddy's girl, so I felt like I needed to honor him in my life. Charlotte's middle name was for "Alan". Alan was my husband's youth bowling coach and a huge influence in our lives. Alan also had a son named John Alan who was a few years younger than my hubby. They had been friends pretty much their entire youth. He was killed in an auto accident in 2000, so we used Alayna as a way to honor the 2 Alans. Caitlyn was a "C" name we could agree on. At the time I was pregnant, we said that these 2 were going to be our last 2. Picking out a 4th C name wouldn't have been such a big deal to me if it wasn't for the fact our oldest 2 also had C names. We got to thinking, "Either this baby will thing its an odd ball and that's why we didn't give it a C name or the other kids will think this is the special kid and got a special name." So, we settled on Caitlyn and after much debate, I told hubby to just pick a darn middle name. So, we got Renee.

How do you feel about "matchy" names?

That is completely up to the parents. Who am I to judge? I had considered naming these 2 Arabella and Isabella. LOL But, I wanted to honor my granddaddy more so I went in a different direction.

Did you worry about their names "coordinating?"

Not really. As long as they sounded good as a whole, it didn't matter to me.

Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?

Baby B was the first one that we found out the gender on. She became Charlotte. Weeks later we found out girl for Baby A and she became Caitlyn. We got Charlotte's name dead on! It means "womanly" and she is pure prissy!

What were your second choices?

For boys, Charles Alan and Christopher John (or Christopher Michael, Jr). If it had been boy/girl twins we would have had Christopher (Michael Jr or John) and Charlotte Alayna.

Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

Nope. I have no idea where these names are on popularity for 2005. Ok, I went and looked it up just because I have a curious mind. And, well since you asked, I wanted to know! In 2005, Charlotte was ranked #97 according to Baby Center. Caitlyn (or Caitlin) was not on the top 100 at all. According to Nickelodeon's Parent Connect, Caitlyn was 182 and Charlotte was 134 for 2005.

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Twins, Part 2!
These are 2 year-old twin girls named Cheyenne Elyzabeth and Courtney Michelle.

Did you stick with family names?

Nope. Not really at all. Chris actually named these 2. I had chosen an A and B name for them if they were girls. He decided that no, we had begun the C tradition (our names are Chris and Crystal and our 4 oldest children are also C's) that we were going to continue the tradition. He had originally chosen Cheyenne and Courtney, but we had no middle names chosen yet. One day he came home and said Cheyenne Michelle and Courtney Elizabeth? I said to change them to Cheyenne Elyzabeth and Courtney Michelle and he said ok. My older sister's name is actually Elizabeth, although it never crossed my mind when I was thinking of names. I changed the spelling, because honestly, I like odd spellings. Michelle is a variation of Michael, which is hubby's middle name.

How do you feel about "matchy" names?

See above for Twins 1.

Did you worry about their names "coordinating?"

Again see answer for Twins 1.

Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?

They were given their names prior to birth.I can't find a meaning of Courtney that I understand. LOL For Cheyenne, all I found was "brave warrior".

What were your second choices?

For boys, Christopher John and Charles Alan. For boy/girl twins Charles Alan and Cheyenne Elyzabeth.

Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

Nope. Again I looked it up and according to Baby Center, neither name was on the Top 100 for 2007. According to Nickelodeon's Parent Connect, Cheyenne was 148 and Courtney was 233 for 2007.

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Don't forget to stop by Multiples and More and see what how other great moms of multiples chose their multiples names!

Common Twin Questions

I got this idea from Twin-Spiration, who got it from Simply Blessed with Chaos. I figured these are questions many people have for me when they find out that I am a mother to not one, but two sets of twins.

Caitlyn and Charlotte are 4- year- old twin girls (identical? we don't know and don't care about right now). Cheyenne and Courtney are 2- year- old twin girls; very obviously fraternal twins.

1. Do they have a special 'twin' language?
A: Yes. Both sets have their own language. I do not understand it, nor am I going to try. They communicate with me in English and each other in twinspeak.

2. Does one cry when the other gets hurt?
A: Nope. As a matter of fact, and this goes for both sets, the other twin tries to "mother" the one that got hurt.

3. Do the girls share a room/crib/bed?
A: Yes, they share a room. Caitlyn and Charlotte still share a bed. They prefer it that way and that is how it stays. It doesn't matter if I lay them down separately or not, they will end up together touching hands. As for Cheyenne and Courtney, they do not share a bed. Cheyenne prefers to sleep with me and Courtney prefers to be alone.

4. Can I tell them apart?
A: Yes, I can. I can tell Charlotte and Caitlyn apart by face. From the back, I haven't got a clue if they are dressed alike. As for Cheyenne and Courtney, no one believes they are twins based on how they look to begin with. They look nothing alike; there is no way to confuse them!

5. Why do you (don't you) dress them alike?
A: Caitlyn and Charlotte, I do dress alike sometimes. For special occasions or if I see an outfit I really like, I will dress them alike. Otherwise, they choose their own style. Caitlyn is a tomboy. She prefers jeans and T-shirts. Charlotte is prissy. She prefers dresses. As for Cheyenne and Courtney, it is extremely difficult to dress them alike. Its hard to find 3T and 18 months outfits that are identical.

6. Do you have a favorite?
A: No. This is a dumb question. No real mother chooses one child over another. I love them all equally.

7. Which one is older?
A. Caitlyn and Charlotte will be complicated to explain when they are a little older. They honestly have different birthdays. They are only 20 minutes apart, but it was around midnight. Caitlyn was born at 11:42 pm on 10/19 and Charlotte was born at 12:02 am on 10/20. There is only 30 seconds separating Cheyenne and Courtney (born via c-section), so it really makes no difference. However, Cheyenne did come out first so technically she is older.

If anyone has any other questions...just ask! It's actually kind of fun!

Looking Back -- October 10, 2007

Courtney and Cheyenne on October 14, 2007 when they were 4 days old.

I missed posting about the baby twins' 2nd birthday so I am sharing their birth story now. These were baby numbers 5 and 6 for us.

I had been having contractions since I was about 30 weeks. I began begging at 35 weeks to be induced and they kept refusing. I had a couple ultrasounds at maternal-fetal medicine and there was a difference in sizes, but not enough of one to warrant immediate induction. At 36.5 weeks, I finally convinced my doctor to induce me the following Wednesday. That put me at 37.5 weeks. I had made my preparations to go into the hospital that Wednesday morning -- packed my stuff, arranged for the sitter, etc. The Tuesday before, I was in the kitchen helping Tina finish up her science project when I felt a small trickle. I thought nothing of it because my water had to be broken with my last 2 pregnancies. I took a shower, got dressed and went to the bowling alley to watch Chris bowl. I had a trickle feeling all evening, but still kept quiet. As we were leaving the bowling alley, my water completely gushed out. I told Chris we needed to hurry and get my brother (the sitter) and get to the hospital. So, we picked him up, dropped him off with the other kids, and started going to the hospital. About halfway to the hospital, we got a flat tire. Luckily, we had some friends from the bowling alley that lived that way and they picked us up and carried us to the hospital. Once, upstairs they hooked me up to the machines and asked me if I wanted any pain medicine. I said no. They went and called the doctor and he said to wait and see where I progressed to alone. Prior to this, I had been dilated to 3 cm. I still was. So they monitored me overnight. On Wednesday morning, they went ahead and began inducement at my scheduled time since I had progressed no further. Later on in the morning, I asked for some pain medicine but no epidural. I slept off and on. Around 3 pm, the doctor came in and said since I had not progressed at all even with maximum inducement, that a c-section was the only option. I had been in full labor for 24 hours with no progression. Even though I didn't want a c-section, I really had no choice at this point. So, we agreed. They went ahead and prepped me and got me the epidural or whatever it is. I then went into the maternity OR for the c-section.

Cheyenne Elyzabeth was born at 4:06 pm weighing 7 lbs, 9 oz and was 20.2" long. Courtney Michelle was born at 4:07 pm weighing 5 lbs, 8 oz and was 19" long.

I had a rough time healing from the c-section. We went home when the twins were 4 days old. They had both dropped weight (Courtney even went below 5 lbs) and both were a tad jaundiced. By a week, they were back to birth weight or higher and the jaundice was gone.

Yes, Cheyenne was a chunky baby and she is still the biggest. In fact, she wears size 2T-3T while Courtney barely wears 12 months. They are still too loose on her waist, but she needs the length! LOL

The twins in 2008.


The twins in 2009.


A couple of pics that I fell in love with when they were little. They were about 4 months old in both of them.

Courtney and Cheyenne


Cheyenne and Courtney


Cheyenne with the cake:


Courtney with the cake (excuse the fact she doesn't have pants on. She won't keep them on!):

The Same? Or Different?

The first thing I hear when I introduce my 4 year olds as twins is "Are they identical?" Now, really what do you mean? Do they look alike? I guess in a way they do. They don't really look much alike to me but I guess to strangers they do. Do they act alike? NO! They are as different as night and day. Caitlyn, the older by 20 minutes, is a tomboy. She loves wrestling most of all and wants a car bed. Charlee, the younger one, is a girly-girl. She loves dresses and princesses and even claims to be a princess. Sometimes she'll do the rough and tough playing, but mainly she's the "Oh, no! My hair is messed up!" one. Do I dress them alike? Majority of the time, no. They both have their own taste and choose their own clothes.

Caitlyn and Charlotte


Now, the younger set of twins, age 2, even look as different as night and day. It's hard to see in the picture (below), but Cheyenne has dirty blonde hair and Courtney has dark brown hair. Cheyenne wears a size 2T-3T and poor little Courtney doesn't even have the waist for 12 months yet. Cheyenne is the lovey-dovey Mama's Girl and Courtney is the "Don't touch me unless I come to you" one.



So, honestly, twins does not = identical. They are each their own little person.