(hoop by my dear friend Amy)
It all started with a positive pregnancy test, a family vacation to Sedona over Thanksgiving and the cover of a magazine.
We had just digested the news of our second pregnancy when we headed to Sedona for Thanksgiving. We had told no one our news and were waiting to spill the beans to Joshua's family when we met up with them. While over a Mexican dinner on our first night there, we had a waiter video tape us pretending to take a picture, but in fact he was recording the whole time and we had him say "1, 2, 3" and instead of us saying "3" we said "We're pregnant!" and it was pretty much the most awesome reveal ever ;) Their faces!
The next couple of days we spent enjoying the gorgeousness that is Sedona and on Thanksgiving evening, while getting ready to enjoy our dinner in the hotel suite, my eyes stumbled across a magazine that was laying down on the coffee table. It had actor Channing Tatum and his wife, Jenna, in it (or on the cover? I can't remember) and they were revealing their new baby girl-- Everly. Both my sister-in-law and mother-in-law expressed they thought the name was so pretty, and to be honest, the name had already crossed our minds so it was kind of funny for us to get affirmation of one of our top name picks without even asking for it.
We stored the name away but it never really left us. There was just something special about it. And it wasn't something that we tossed around a lot-- it was just like "Ok, this is it." Her middle name was harder... we originally thought of Faith, and then Joy. Eden's middle name is Grace so we kind of thought it would be neat to go along with the Biblical aspect of meanings. But those just didn't fit to us. And I have always loved the name Kate. Kate means "purity" and I love the way it flowed with Everly. So we decided on Everly Kate.
Everly's original meaning is "grazing meadow" and has been made more popular recently by the Tatum's name choice and the Everly Brothers music duo. Merging the names together, we loved the idea/visual idea of "meadows of purity"-- wide, open spaces of pureness. We also adored its similar sound to "heavenly" and the word scramble of the letters:
"happi(LY) (EV) er aft(ER)"
We love you, Everly Kate, you are loved beyond compare. You are the perfect addition to our family. We adore you so! xo
