name game (take III)

Here we are again, pondering one of the little decisions that will have a long-term impact on baby 3.  I enjoy tossing around different names and trying to find the right fit.  It can certainly be a challenge, though!  I wrote about Round 1 here and Round 2 here.  My post during Round 2 has some of the factors we are taking into consideration. 

Here's where we are as of today, ask me again tomorrow.

As was in the past, we're having an easier time with girl names.  Our two finalists are Sabrina and Cecilia.  D leans a little more towards Sabrina because he likes it better.  I don't love the idea of having two "S" names, but it's more for practical reasons of being able to label things.  Just in the last week, we started thinking about middle names and so we haven't spent a lot of time on it, but we both initially like the idea of Lynn (from D's mom) or Lin (then all the kids would have a nod to my Chinese background in their middle names, while still deriving the inspiration from D's mom).

And then there's the debate over the boy names...  Which was harder for us with Rafa as well.  Our short list has three names on it: Nicolas (Nico), Oscar, and Felix.  I don't love Nicolas and really don't like Nick, but I do like the nickname Nico. (KNEE-coh)  So, we could just go with Nico, but I do like it more as a nickname than a given name.  I really like both Oscar and Felix (and have never seen the Odd Couple, so that's not where the names came from).  D is not really sold on either of those, but doesn't love Nicolas, either.  More luke-warm on all of them, as far as I can tell.  But, we haven't come up with anything we like better.  We are leaning towards John as the middle name, which is D's dad's and older brother's name. 

We're still open for suggestions and thoughts!!  Although, the longer we go without any other alternatives, the more these will likely settle in our brains and hearts.