His name

Picking his name was not easy. After I gave birth, the nurses wanted to know his name right away. We responded with "We don't know yet." And for the next several hours, our nurse, Bridget, joked that his name was "We don't know yet Ferris." When I looked at him, he just didn't look like an Asher or a Mason. And those were my top picks! Although Cole was my last choice, it was Keith's first. What was weird was that I thought of Cole as a name for a more serious person and when I looked at Cole, that's who I saw. He had the serious look that I get when I'm thinking, or confused or frustrated. So around 3 a.m., I said to Keith, "I think we should name him Cole." And he said, "Really?" It was so sweet. Although it was not my first choice, I know now how perfectly it fits with him and with our family.

His middle name is after my father, Joe. As you know from my my post about motherhood on my pregnancy blog, my father raised me since I was three. So, I thought it would be nice to honor that and pay tribute to my father by giving his name to my son. I've always thought middle names are just as important as first names. It's funny because both Keith and I have middle names after our grandparents. His middle name is William, for his father's father (and his father) and my middle name is Jean, for my mother's mother. My mother's middle name is also Jean. And ironically enough, my mother-in-law's middle name is also Jean! Cole's middle name is not only his grandfather's but also his great-grandfather's name.

So when the nurse asked us the following morning if we had decided on a name, I said proudly, "Cole Joseph" and explained to her that his middle name was after my father, who was standing there with a huge smile on his face!