What’s in a name?

 

Everett \e-vere-tt, ev(e)-rett\ as a boy's name is pronounced EV-er-et. It is of Old English origin, and the meaning of Everett is "brave, strong boar". Surname derived from Everard, used as a given name in the 19th century. Senator Everett Dirksen; actor Rupert Everett.

Everett has 13 variant forms: Averett, Averitt, Eberhard, Eberhardt, Everard, Evered, Everet, Everette, Everitt, Evert, Evrard, Eward and Ewart.

 

When I received this Parenting magazine in the mail this month (a gift from one of my students) I was so surprised to see this article entitled “Name that Baby”.  It was all about the hottest naming trends of the moment…check out what name is front and center – crazy!

 

When I first found out we were expecting a baby over the summer I was so excited to think about baby names.  I started making a list right away and couldn’t wait to talk about it.  Mike, however, was more reluctant to discuss names and didn’t want to talk about it until much later (only about a month ago), which was for the best in the long run.

He wanted to keep it a secret until the birth and he knew that

1. I am very indecisive and would probably change my mind a few times if we decided early.

2.  I can’t keep a secret very well.

So, he asked that we wait to discuss it until closer to our actual due date. 

I had started making my list of favorites along the way and had all kinds of boy/girl/gender neutral names picked out.  Some, now looking back, were a bit ridiculous, but most of them were family names. 

I love the idea of using last names and first names, old names as new names, boy names as girl names, etc.  I think it comes from having a unique name all my life and now wanting our son to have a name that was unique, strong and uncommon without being outrageously ridiculous.

 

So, with all of that being said, everybody has been asking:

Where did you get the name Everett?

Well, in a nutshell it’s a family name.  Our Everett is the 5th person on my side of the family with that special name.  His predecessors are as follows:

 

• Great-great uncle:  Everett Jay Hilty
• Great uncle: John Everett Hilty
• 1st Cousin:  Jason Everett Hafner
• 2nd Cousin:  Jaken Everett Hafner

 

Everett Jack Alexander

 

I fell in love with the name Everett from the start while Mike, after a few days of thinking, began liking it too.  As for the middle name, that decision actually took a bit longer. 

We had three that we liked:  Darden, Jack and Michael; with Jack (my maternal grandfather’s nickname) being the front runner. Mike ended up making the final decision and Jack won out – and we couldn’t be more proud for him to follow in some great footsteps.

 

This letter came in the mail from my Nana with this written on the back – it melted my heart!

Everett Jack

 

Super Bowl Sunday will never be the same.  As we were sitting at our friends Rick and Chrissey’s house watching the big game…a big thing happened.  My water broke!

Luckily we had our hospital bag packed and after a few “Are you sure?” questions, we headed to Winnie Palmer!  Talk about a roller coaster of emotions!

 

The last belly pic – 38 weeks

 

After being admitted around 10 pm, it was a long night of waiting to see if I could progress on my own.  After a sleepless night, the docs decided to start Pitocin around 6:30 am to “officially” start labor.  I was scared, nervous and excited all at the same time…oh, and did I mention hungry???

 

Ice chips, IVs, handholding.  This was much of our day!

 

 

Around 5ish (I don’t really remember when) I got the nod that it was getting close to “go time”.  I was dilated and ready to start pushing – the only problem was so was another mom in a different room.  We were both ready to have a baby with only 1 doctor!

I did some practice pushing and then we were in a holding pattern, while Dr. Merritt delivered baby #1 in a different room.  Once she made it into our room, it took only about 10 more minutes and we had a son!

Everett Jack Alexander was born at 6:47pm on February 4, 2013 and weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long.  He took our breath away – love at first sight.

 

First family picture.

 

My two boys – love.

Mike documenting all of the events.

 

Sweet boy!

 

 

My mom was there for the whole thing and even cut the cord – she was a proud Gransy!

 

After delivery I was SOOO hungry!  The first meal although decent – tasted like gold.  It was amazing!

 

 

 

Wavy hair – I wonder where he got that .

 

Mr. Alert.

 

Teamwork.

 

 

We had an excellent stay at Winnie Palmer, but I must say, I was so excited to go home.  Although scared to death at what being a parent on your own means, we were ready.

 

Waiting for transport.

 

After 2 days in the hospital we were cleared to go and home we went.

 

This little guy means the world to us and we’re so happy to share him with all of you.  Thanks for all of the well wishes.  We are slowly getting the hang of things but know that together anything is possible. 

More updates to come!