What's in a name?

This little lady's name is Hadley Ruth.

She went by the nickname "Baby Ruth" the entire time I was pregnant. Me and my husband kept her name TOP SECRET the entire time! Well, we tried to, at least. One of my sister-in-laws found out by accident when she found the onesie shown above.

We originally wanted to announce her name to everyone by putting her in the onesie then showing her to everyone for the first time. Then we realized we couldn't do that because they don't wash the babies immediately after being born. It is relatively quick afterwards, but the family and friends saw her before the bath. So then we came up with another idea. We would announce her name with a hat.

This isn't a great picture of the hat and you can't see the name, but you get the idea.

A lot of people didn't understand why we kept her name a secret. They didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Then they really didn't understand why we would tell her middle name, but not her first name. People would ask if we wanted to keep it a secret so no one would steal it? Nope, that wasn't it. But to be honest, there was no real great reason.

Early in my pregnancy I had a dream we had a boy and we named him something. We had many personalized items with his name. Then I had him and I realized that that name didn't fit him at all. So from that moment on I was freaked out that the dream would come true. Well obviously I didn't have a boy. But the name thing totally could have happened. This is when we decided to just keep it a secret so we weren't tied down or obligated.

I never imagine I would be one to keep the name a secret. And really, after so long I wanted to tell everyone once we officially settled on a name. But Lee really didn't want to tell. He thought it would be more exciting if we waiting. It was "one last surprise" we could hold onto until the day she was born. He was right and it was a secret well worth keeping.

Once we announced the name then of course everyone wanted to know how we came up with it.

Well, WE STOLE IT! 

I stole it from my our favorite t.v. show, HOUSE!

My favorite character on the show is Dr. Hadley. She is funny, whitty, smart. Ya know everything you base your child's name. Ha! She also goes by "13" on the show.

I had asked Lee several times, "What about the name Hadley?" He always said no. But I was persistant and kept asking him. Eventually one day he broke and said "Well you can name her Hadley if I can call her '13'." Maybe he was joking? Maybe not? But from that day on Baby G was now Hadley Ruth. Oh and it just so happened that little Hadley was born on the 13th of June. It was fate I tell you!!! :)

After agreeing on Hadley I immediately looked up the meaning of the name. My name, Heather, means a purple flower. Hadley means "a meadow of Heather." I was sold after I read this. How perfect and precious is that? Love.

Her middle name, Ruth, was chosen after my Mom.

Now that Hadley is Hadley and her name is no longer a secret, I can't imagine having to do that all over again. Picking a name is too exciting to not share it with everyone! :)

Oh and just in case you were wondering: Yes, Lee has actually called her "13" a time or two.