Top 20 Baby Names from 2009

Baby naming expert and co-author of Beyond Ava & Aiden, Pamela Redmond Satran, shared the Top 20 Baby Names for 2009 on her blog in the May 7th edition of The Daily Beast.

Jacob retained the top spot for boys names for the 11th year in a row.  Newcomers to the list are Mia for girls and Jayden and Noah for boys.  Not surprising - the fastest rising boy's name was Cullen, the surname of Twlight hero Edward Cullen.

Girls:   1. Isabella    2. Emma   3. Olivia   4. Sophia   5. Ava   6. Emily   7. Madison   8. Abigail   9. Chloe   10. Mia

Boys:  1. Jacob   2. Ethan   3. Michael   4. Alexander   5. William   6. Joshua        7. Daniel   8. Jayden   9. Noah   10. Anthony


Did your favorite make the list?

Brotherly Love

I'd like to introduce you to Nick and Matt.  Nick is the older brother and Matt is the youngest.  I've been photographing them since they were just tiny babies.  We've known their parents a long time.  I photographed their engagement portrait and bridal portrait.  Then, when she was pregnant with Nick, I photographed their maternity portrait.  

Boy, time flies!  I just can't believe how much the boys have grown.  Both boys have grown into fine young men.  Each has their own unique personality and love each other dearly.  We are so proud of them.  Nick and Matt both love sports. In fact, Nick is playing in the All-Stars Tournament this week.  

This year, their mom asked me to do two paintings of them in historic downtown Wilmington.  I had so much fun, not only spending time with them downtown for the photographic session, but painting the portrait as well.  Painting allows me to bring a lot more customization and creativity to a portrait.  I can bring in colors to match the decor of the home.  I can change parts of the background to include more foliage or flowers.  In the portrait painting of Nick and Matt walking down the brick sidewalk, I painted in the bricks.  The sidewalk was actually cement.

Good luck to your team at the All-Stars Tournament, Nick!