My Name is Humpty, pronounced with an UM-pty...

Parents put so much thought into naming a child. I know because I have several pregnant friends right now. You say the name, see how far your husband's lip scowls, then he begins throwing out every nickname that punk kids could possibly think of....he would know because not too long ago he was a punk kid too. If it passes the nickname test you throw it out to your mom who has no problem giving opinions. If it passes the mom test, the husband test and the nickname test, you're in business!

I don't think any nickname test our parents could have done would have prepared them for the days in the Pi Phi house. From 2000-2002 I think the halls sounded more like a locker room than a sorority house and I have no problem with that. Some of our nicknames were as generic as last names instituted forclarification. We had several Allison's, and when we were in need of a Chi, or something equally as critical and time sensitive, there was no time to mess around with mistaken identity. Other names, like "The Loj" came after late nights of pointing and laughing at old pictures of Liz in her 8th grade "gothic" days. She was such a baller with her flannel shirts and dark lipstick. "Loj" was given to her based on her maiden name, but her photos earned her respect...she wasn't just Loj, she was THE Loj. (Pronounced Low-zh)

Robyn's nicknames are ever evolving. She has a very sweet, more quiet and mild personality compared to the rest of us. The rest of us are type A, center of attention, story telling, joke cracking, never-met-a-stranger types. So it is funny to me that she is the nickname queen. Her maiden name of Reams earned her the first nickname "Creams" which turned too cookies and Creams, Cookies, Cooks, croomples, Reamsy....my favorites are Cookies and of course cReams.

Here is the group with names below....

From left to right:

• Robyn- Reams, Cookies, Crumps, cReams, the list goes on and on
• Allison- Lynch (old school: A G tha Lynch)
• Liz- The Loj.
• Laura- L-Merc (Pronounced L-Mer-s)
• Allison- Bradley (She is also called The Braids by some, but I always refer to her as Bradley)

These are some of my best friends. We live in the same town (except for Cookies) so we spend a lot of time together. Our husbands are buddies and that is so fun. We love spending time together, so it has been a true blessing that our husbands get along so well and we can hang out as couples. Let's be honest, I don't even know that they care if we are there or not! Give them a tee time and let 'em roll. Bradley was in LABOR on Saturday when Dave called James to wish him well and James asked if we were going to be back from the lake on Monday....because "maybe they could hit the links"....Luckily Dave had more sense than James and told him he better stay with his wife and newborn!!! Do they have any sense??

Needless to say, we are all thrilled that Miss Avery is here! I told y'all about it yesterday and that I am now "Aunt T-Rog". We decided that although we are not actual sisters, we are close enough! When Bradley told us she was pregnant, she wrote us all cards telling us we would be "An Aunt in July". And now I am.

So, hopefully that clarifies our nicknames and my "Aunt" designation to Miss Avery and in late August to Blythe (Lynch's baby). I do have a REAL sister who means the world to me, and I will flip my lid when she has a baby! You guys might have to sedate me. So you'll know when I'm a flesh and blood aunt! For now, this is as good as it gets.