What's in a name?

For the first hour of John's life, we lovingly referred to him as "sweet boy" and "handsome." After months of discussion and a long list of ideas, we still had not settled on a name. We always like to see baby before proclaiming any name choices, but we were far from a deciding point this time around. With Spencer, we had a top four that we took with us to the hospital, but Spencer was the clear favorite...and he definitely looked the part. With Emma, well...it's a good thing she makes such a cute Emma because I have loved that name for a LONG time and was somewhat distraught when I found out Adam has a cousin named Emma. We used the name anyway. :0) With this little man, it was much more difficult. We went through the usual procedures of combing the baby name websites and genealogy - even asking friends for suggestions via facebook. This resulted in a respectable, even hearty list. We wrote out combinations for first and middle, but it was not until the excitement of labor was over and we got to spend a little alone time with our sweet baby that we settled on his name: John Barnard Wride.

Adam has been fairly constant in his desire to name this baby John; I was undecided, swimming in the sea of options before us. I did find several Johns in my McDonald and Bezzant family lines, so that was a genealogical win. In the hour after baby John's birth, we had our final discussions about his name and discarded all other first name options, alternating between John Porter Wride and John Barnard Wride. In the end, we selected John Barnard to help carry on the Barnard line and because that is also Adam's middle name (his mother's maiden name).

Our choice was quickly confirmed when we discovered that John Porter Barnard, one of Adam's ancestors, was one of the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here is little bit about him (from an e-mail Aunt Shauna sent shortly after we announced John's birth):

"On the 6th of April 1830 in Seneca County, New York, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized with only 6 members. It grew rapidly as missionaries were sent out to take the Gospel message to all who would listen. John Porter Barnard and his wife Eliza Ann were among the few in their neighborhood who believed the story. They received a testimony of the truthfulness of His gospel and in 1837 they became members of the church.
"Through the coming years their faith grew stronger and they were able to endure the persecutions which those faithful, strong hearted early church members were subjected to. Never once did John and Eliza faltered or have a desire to return to their former comforts. The same year that John and Eliza joined the church they left their home in New York and settled in Far West, Missouri. Then to Nauvoo, and on to Council Bluffs with the rest of the saints following the persecutions and death of Joseph Smith. John Barnard was prepared to come with the first group to the Salt Lake Valley, but was called by Brigham Young to remain in Council Bluffs to build a repair wagons as he was an expert blacksmith. They entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1848 and were immediately sent north to settle the community of Centerville, Utah, then to Idaho for some years eventually returning to Utah and settling in Harper, Utah a small settlement north of Brigham City."

Another special thank to Aunt Shauna for also sending this link to the Friend with another anecdote about John Porter Barnard.

We are so thrilled to have such an example of faith and endurance as baby John's namesake. John Barnard Wride, you have big things ahead of you.

John Barnard Wride

Introducing the newest member of our family: John Barnard Wride

It's hard to believe that today he is already a week old. In some ways, I can hardly remember what it was like without this little man as part of our family. Time with a newborn is difficult to track.

To begin the introduction, a few of his very impressive stats:
Birth Weight: 10 pounds, 2 ounces
Height: 21 inches
Birthday: May 5, 2010 (5/5/10, Cinco de Mayo!!!)
Birth time: 5:33PM

He is loved by his whole family.


And, while there has been some adjustment with a new baby in the home, it is easy to see that his big sister Emma adores him.


John also has a special bond with his big brother Spencer, who regularly requests to hold his little bro.


John, we are so happy to have you as part of our family, and we like to think that you are happy about it too. You are one of the sweetest babies I've ever seen.

Roly poly

Children never cease to amaze. When John was 4 days old, we put him on Emma's bed for a little tummy time. He promptly proceeded to roll over onto his back. He performed this feat repeatedly, and the camera was on hand to catch him in the act.



Today, I thought I'd try another round of tummy time - this time flat on the ground. You know, give him a chance to strengthen his neck muscles, etc. He had other ideas. That first round of rolling was no happenstance. Each time I put him back on his belly, he would lunge to one side and roll to his back - 4 times in quick succession.


(Is that boy not the sweetest little fella you've ever seen?)

I remember Emma did this same thing twice at her 2 week doctor's appointment. However, I cannot recall a repeat performance after that. Here she is showing John her rolling skills. She's still got it.

Feels like Christmas

We're off to have baby #3. I had the hardest time sleeping last night because I am so excited! Check here for some pictures later. Hooray for baby Snicket!

Guess what I got for my birthday?

April 3rd started off spectacularly. Any day that begins with a family breakfast in bed (I don't like to eat alone) shows some definite promise. Then, we were off to an Easter egg hunt with friends. That means happy kids. Finally, we got to spend the day listening to General Conference, which is a total bonus because it means we spend the day with family listening to uplifting messages. Then you add into the mix the fact that I have a husband who is the master of surprise.

That's right. Baby #3 is on the way and, after months of posturing to make sure I was convinced we were going to wait on making such a big purchase, Adam presented me with this on my birthday:

That's right. My dream car - complete with a big, red bow. He did tell me two days before that he had been looking for weeks and wanted me to have a chance to weigh in on such a big decision so we could pick the right minivan. We had looked at a few, and I loved this one. He did all the negotiating over the phone, got his dad to drive him down to the car lot, and managed to deliver this beauty on my actual birthday.

We loved exploring all the features and showing off the stow-n-go seats.


Is this guy the greatest, or what? Love you, babe. Eternity with you sounds like a really great idea.

Cherry Blossoms

I love cherry blossom season. When I was growing up, there was a cherry blossom tree in our front yard, and I spent endless hours sitting in that tree. It was great for climbing, and I gathered many a bouquet from its branches. The cherry blossoms always come out around my birthday, which is a bonus. Last year, Adam and I took a trip downtown to enjoy the beautiful scene around the tidal basin. This year, we brought the kids and went with our friends, the Rasmussens. We packed a picnic, took a GREAT walk from our friends' apt in Arlington (right by Arlington cemetery, across Memorial Bridge, and down to the tidal basin), and ended the evening with a quick tour of the FDR Memorial.

Here are our friends, the Rasmussens...who have trained their children well how to smile nicely for photos.


Here's our family...not a single photo from the day has both kids smiling. Emma mostly does this funny forced smile these days. Spence was a sport to pose for the picture when he wanted to be playing freeze tag with the fellas. (Love you, bud).


Em humored me for a few more shots down by the blossoms. She likes it when we do things "'cause we're the girls." I love having this little lady in our family.


And kudos to Adam for being our photographer. He loves having a camera that snaps a shot per second, though sometimes the subjects start to wonder just how many photos we really need...

April Fool's Day

Spencer has been looking forward to April Fool's Day for MONTHS. I'm not a big one for tricks, so while I helped provide some of the regulars (cup of water propped on a door, raisin in the toothpaste cap, paper in the sandwich), the task fell to Adam to pull something on Spencer that he wouldn't be expecting. He came up with a good one. The night before, Adam poured cereal and milk in the kids' bowls. Then, he put the bowls in the freezer. In the morning, he added a layer of fresh cereal on top with a little milk. Spencer was digging away trying to make sense of it. It was by far the best trick of the day...more fun still because we had our friends the Hazembullers in town to share in the fun.