Roses are red...

(Violet's first gift of flowers: African Violets from her Grandma Squire. Coincidentally,

the little pot was made by my great grandmother who died when I was little.)

Thankyou, thankyou for all the compliments on my awesomeness and ease of delivery. My brother-in-law likened me to a conveyor belt. I was now going to brag to you about what a good baby I have and how easy-going she is, and how she sleeps for 5 hours at a time at night (it's been a dream come true). I've been feeling a little guilty about how easy things have been.

Then last night happened.

I don't know why, but she woke up every hour or two ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

Good thing I didn't plan on going to church today. I would have fallen asleep at the organ. Hopefully she'll be better behaved tonight.

So, about her name. I'm sure some day I'll laugh about it, but I'm having a little bit of a hard time with it at the moment.

As you may recall, my name choice was "Cecily". Curtis' name choice was "Wren". I honestly felt that I would be able to persuade him into consenting to "Cecily Wren Gardner". I even put a little bird on my cards for card club in honor of his choice. It was a done deal in mind.

We sat staring at our new baby (in the triage room), Curtis making up dumb names and me rolling my eyes. All of a sudden Curtis said "She looks so blue!" She had been born so fast that her face was totally bluish-gray (see picture in previous post). "Hey let's name her 'Blue'!" he continued. "Or Thalo. Aquamarine. Cerulean. Navy..." The madness continued for a few more minutes when I sarcastically added "We might as well name her "Violet".

What had I done?

"Violet (he practically sighed) is a beautiful name."

"No way!" I said. "It's a plant name and you know how I feel about that. We are not hippies and we are NOT naming our child Violet Gardner!"

He continued on about how he loved that name, and besides, she was named after the color and not the flower.

When we were finally given the privacy of a room there was a white board on the wall. The first thing he did was write "Violet" on it. Every time a new nurse would come in we would get the same question: "Is that her name?"

"No! My husband is trying to get me to warm up to the idea." I answered every time.

During our stay Curtis would be holding her and staring at her with the googly eyes of a man smitten and would practically purr "Violet". It was pitiful. I've never seen such a display.

Then he got Hallie and Grace on his side. Hallie told him "Dad, don't let mom leave the hospital without naming her "Violet."

Everyone was against me. I was powerless, though I did hold out for a while. A full twenty four hours later the records lady came in wanting info. So much pressure!!! What was I to do?

Right before we left the hospital I finally gave in and said "Fine! You win! Her name is Violet!"

He was so happy. The compromise was that her middle name would be Cecily.

Zane still says her name is Cecily, and I have actually said it on accident several times. I can't believe that I let my child be named a botanical name. We are the weird parents that everyone wonders why they gave their child such a weird name. Bless her heart, she's gonna be teased.

Monday morning I called the pediatrician to make her appointment. Here is a snippet of the conversation:

Lady on the phone: "Baby's first name?"

Me: "Violet"

Her: "Baby's last name?"

Me: (hesitantly) "Gardner"

Her: (slight pause) "Really?"

Me: (embarrassed) "Yes. Her father chose her name."

Okay, seriously. Is this what we have to look forward to? What did you think of first: the flower or the color?

One last thing before I end this interminably long post: My horoscope from the day Violet was born (we have the same horoscope):

"Something you've been wearing, toting around or looking at everyday needs to go. Chuck it and you'll immediately feel lighter."

I'm not lying.

And the horoscope if that day was your birthday:

You shake free of the past and create a new path this year. There's remarkable increase in your energy and physical vitality. A relationship pushes you into unknown territory in August."

Freaky!