Gender Reveal & a Name

"If you knew hope and despair were paths to the same destination,

which would you choose?"

-Robert Brandt

In late July, we had five of our closest friends and their families over to share the reveal of our new baby along with our own families. Because of the baby's condition (if you are not aware of our baby's condition, please read this post) we had to put the party together quickly and we knew our own families would not be able to make it.

Dave and I have family spread between San Diego, Colorado, and the South but we knew we wanted them involved so thankfully technology helped us do that. All members of our families were with us via Skype, Face Time or phone and it made the event all the more memorable. To look out in the crowd during the reveal and see our friends holding up cell phones and toying with the computer will be something I'll never forget: (please press play to watch a brief slideshow)
I've never taken the selection of names for my kids lightly. I put a lot of time and effort into it and, thankfully, so does Dave. I take on the role of researching meanings, verses, quotes and definitions for many weeks and then Dave is the one who will be able to nail down the perfect selection and I've never had a single regret.

For this baby, we both talked and wanted it to have special meaning because its an unusually special circumstance and we wanted to honor that. 

Oddly enough, we took much less time solidifying the name because we just knew what felt right. We told our kids first and the older ones said they really liked it and Cash loudly cooed (we took that as a positive) so that made it all the more sweet.

We are pleased to share our sweet baby girl's name:

Every morning and many times throughout the day Hunter and Emerson say hello to Baby Everly, hug and kiss my belly and talk to her. It usually brings tears to my eyes knowing that I cannot protect them forever from what's to come but it fills me with joy to see and hear the excitement in their faces and little voices. I continue to have faith that God has a bigger plan and He knew just what He was doing when he knit every fiber of her body together. And, amid all of this fear and pain I know there will be life and goodness on the other side. Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.

"Though you lose all hope, there is still hope,

and it loves to surprise."

-Robert Brandt