Friday, September 16, 2011

What's in a name?

How hard is it to pick out a name?  I mean this is the name that your child will (more than likely) have the rest of their life.  This can shape who they become in the future.  Well, not really...BUT, can you imagine if in 30 years the president's name is Pilot Inspektor (son of actor Jason Lee) or Sparrow James Midnight (son of Nicole Richie and Joel Madden)?  I mean I guess no one ever expected someone named Barak to be president, but that's a topic for another day (who am I kidding, I'll never write about that, I hate politics).  So anyway, when it came time to pick a name for Baby Girl, Nick and I started a list.  Growing up, I always said I was naming my daughter McKenzie; however, while I still don't mind the name, it just wasn't at the top of my list anymore.  I knew I wanted a name that stood by itself.  I'm a Kathryn and I can remember every first day of school having to shyly say, "call me Katie."  Nick is Nicholas, naturally, but some people actually call him that and he's fine with it.  I've never gone by Kathryn so I doubt I would even turn around if someone said Kathryn out loud.  Ava was always on our list and it seemed to be the name we kept going back to.  Names would come and go for various reasons...Hannah, Brielle, and even Stella...but we kept coming back to Ava.  Short and sweet yet sophisticated enough to age with a our little cupcake.

Coming home from the hospital
Ok, so we got Ava.  Now for a middle name.  My middle name is Elizabeth after my aunt, although we call her Betty.  Ava Elizabeth sounded very nice.  We also toyed with Ava Jean since both of our moms have the middle name Jean.  But Ava Jean sounded a little too back woods Kentucky (no offense).  Anyone watch Justified on FX because I would put money on it that Ava Crowder's middle name is Jean.  Come on, say it out loud (with a Southern twang) Ava Jean, get your butt in here for dinner!  So we vetoed that.  Another name I've always thought about is Josephine.  Josephine was my maternal grandmother's name.  We called her Grandma Josie.  Although she was sick most of my life that I can remember, she was the most selfless woman.  She always saw the best in people, even when they wronged her more than any person should have to take.  That's an admiral quality that I'd like to someday possess.  She past away 1992 but her memory and traits live on in her sister Connie (our family matriarch!), her 4 children, her 10 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.  Ava Josephine...perfection.  I think Grandma Josie and Ava would've been best friends.  One of our greatest Josie memories is how she used to say she was eating apple pie to get her fruit and ice cream to get her milk.  Ava Jo, as we affectionately call her, would be right there next to her chowing down, I'm sure of it.

You Are My Sunshine
I made the above sign for Ava's nursery as a tribute to Grandma Josie.  She used to sing this to all the babies.  Now I sing it to Ava every night before I lay her down to sleep.

1 comment:

  1. It was a privilege to have known Grandma Josie. I'm glad Ava Jo carries her name and legacy forward. I am totally in synch with her ice cream and pie philosophy!

    Keep writing Katie, this is a great blog.

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