what's in a name

Before we ever thought about having children, I knew that when faced with the decision of what to name our child, I wanted to keep it all in the family.  I think there's something pretty special about having meaning behind a name, and I also happen to love names that are unique.  As a matter of fact, my friend, Emily, led me to the Social Security website that lets you see just how popular (or unpopular) a name is.  Check out Hammond's...

guess that makes his name pretty original!

After Jamie and I were married, we had the conversation about using all family names, and I told him how much I loved his mom's maiden name, Hammond.  Turns out, he loved it too.  We'd even occasionally talk to our pretend child "Hammond" when we were just goofing off (or being weirdos, as that kind of makes it sound!).  Once we were actually faced with the decision of what to name our child, we knew what the boy option would be.  

The really crazy thing....turns out, Hammond was actually born on the same day that Jamie's grandparents were married years ago.  That's right.  Hammond was born on the Hammond's anniversary.  How crazy is that?  Especially consider two factors...we had no idea if our baby would be a boy or a girl, and he came 1 1/2 weeks late!  Turns out to be a pretty neat story.  

And, of course, you can imagine where we got James from.  While we knew there wouldn't be a James David Hargather, Jr., there is something special about having a son named after his daddy.  

So, Hammond James it was!

parents aren't only exhausted ones around here 

first bath at home...he loves it!  his dad is really hoping he'll be a water baby. 

pretty big night out for us...watching jamie's soccer game 

finally, i'll leave you with this adorable gummy smile!