The Cooped Up Toddler

With the new baby I have found that my energy level and desire to leave the house is very very small. Unfortunately, with Liam around this can have crazy results. Not letting him out of the house for three days (we were all sick, there was no way you were getting me past the front door) led to a major screaming freak out on the 4th day.

Leaving the house entails checking diaper supplies, making sure there is a change of clothes for the baby, a blanket to change her on, food for Liam, warm water and formula and a clean bottle for Evie, my phone, camera, keys, wallet... the debate of will I need the 2 seat stroller or should I just bring the one for Evie?

Then we have to go through the mental breakdown of my dear son as he dawns on the realization that he gets to go outside. You would think that this would be a time for him to enthusiastically put his shoes on and cheerfully run to the door to be let loose on the world. But that would be too easy! The sight of shoes and socks send Liam into a screaming fit, the only thing I can imagine is that he does not want to take the time to be shod before tearing out the door.

Once outside, we then have to wrangle him into the car if we are going somewhere. He is so excited to be in the car that he will not sit still so getting him buckled can be a real challenge. On the flip side, he wants nothing else BUT the car when we are going to go for a walk around the neighborhood.

But in the end we get outside, Evie sleeps a lot outside so its a good thing to do when she is having a cranky time, and Liam gets to go crazy outside and wear himself out.

Don't even get me started on what happens when we have to go inside and he isn't done outside yet.... I've started bribing him with mini sized chocolates when those moments arrive.

How The Baby Got Her Name

Oh wow, so much has happened since I last updated over here.

Liam is growing and learning in leaps and bounds. He imitates almost every word we speak and knows what most of them mean as well. He is learning how to count to 5, he knows the letter "A" and how to say pistachio and that pistachios are yummy to eat. And this is just the tiniest portion of how brilliant this boy is!

And of course, Evelyn was born.

I just sent out her birth announcements today. And on there, some people may be surprised to see, Evie has two middle names.

It was something Dan and I had talked about for a couple months before she was born and then on the next day after she was born I was filling out birth certificate information and the line was there for a second middle name....

Why My Daughter Has Two Middle Names

I left the line blank and waited for Dan to come back to the hospital. He had spent the night at home so that Liam had his Daddy there with him. When I saw him, after he got the chance to snuggle his daughter and relax a little and everyone had left to give us a few moments alone I looked at him and said, "So, about that middle name... What do you want to do?"

He gave it some thought. For a good 5 minutes he sat there, then he asked me "What do you think we should do?" to which I said "This one is your choice".

Finally, he just nodded at me, "do it" he said.

So I wrote in that second line "Julie".

Evelyn May Julie Hegwood.

I have known since I was 12 that I would name my daughter Evelyn May when I had a little girl. There was no if about it. Evelyn for my Great Grandma, Evelyn for my Aunt Evelyn Jean who is probably one of the kindest and most loving people you could hope to meet, though you might not know her by any name other than Jean. May for many names in the family and just because it sounded pretty. May is part of the name of MayDell, a beloved member of our family, May because it flowed with Evelyn... then after I married Dan I found out that HIS grandma's middle name is May, so May for Glenda May became another reason for it.

But Julie snuck up on us. Julie is Dan's mom. Normally, it seems that in both of our families you sort of skip a generation for naming. Naming babies for their great grandparents or great aunts... but not for grandparents. Only, Julie is kinda special. More than just because she is awesome, she is one of the strongest people I know. She is kind and generous, she doesn't give in easily though when she knows she is right, she chooses to be open about who she is in this world and hides nothing from anyone.

She is someone who's strength I want my daughter to have, and I think that by sharing her name with my little girl I can give her that. She can have the names of some really amazing people and hopefully as she grows and I can tell her about those people she will come to appreciate the names she has. I knew that in the end it was Dan's choice to give his mom's name to Evie, and I am so glad that he wanted to do it. I don't care how many times I have to explain that yes, my child has two middle names. I will write in both of those names on every form we fill out, on every school registration and every permission slip or anything where there is a space for a middle name.

Welcome to the world Evelyn May Julie Hegwood!