How My Boys Got Their Names.....

I have been tagged by Adrienne from Our Unexpected Journey to write how I came up with my boys names...this has been really fun reading everyone's stories as it has made its way around "blogland".


Well Luke's name was a "back up" just in case we had a boy, lol. I was so convinced we were having a girl and her name was going to be Ellie Rey (the Ellie was short for both of our maternal grandmothers who were named Eleanor(a) and the Rey was because we were living on the central coast at the time we were pregnant in one of our favorite places of all time, Monterey) But...........obviously we had a boy, so good thing we had a back up plan! I never knew how much I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a mom to boys! Honestly I think it was God's sense of humor because I can never be surprised, somehow I always figure things out...but Luke Ryan was the best surprise of my life! I have always loved the name Luke and when Toby and I were dating I threw the name out there just to see if our relationship should go any further... ;) and thankfully he loved the name too. The middle name was tough for us at first...Toby and I both share the same middle name which is Lee (mine is after my dad's first name and Toby's is after a family friend) so you would think Lee would be the obvious choice but Luke Lee sounded like he would karate chop you in half....so we went the baseball route instead. Toby played baseball for the Seattle Mariners for a few seasons as a left handed pitcher, so we decided to give Luke a name from a pitcher Toby admired, Nolan Ryan. The Ryan is also after a very good friend of Toby's who was his catcher in college...they were both drafted after college, Ryan to the Tigers. We discussed whether we should actually give Luke the name Lucas wondering if maybe that went better with Ryan...but in the end decided that Luke is the name we really liked and to stick with it rather then to call him a nickname version of Lucas. However, Luke has goofy parents and we actually find ourselves calling him Lucas, even though we decided against the name, about 50% of the time. In fact, most people think his name really is Lucas because we say it so much.
Then came Reid Maddux five and half years later....I do not know where I first heard the name Reid but loved it and brought it up to Toby on a plane ride coming back from Seattle. We had a really hard time getting pregnant after Luke and even had a miscarriage in between these two. So our discussion on the plane ride was very "hypothetical" ...." if we ever had another baby..." but we decided then and there that we loved Reid and if another baby boy was in our future he was going to be our little Reid. Again the middle name stumped us at first, but decided that if one had a baseball name the other needed one too, so Reid's middle name is Maddux after Greg Maddux, another baseball pitcher. Reid's name couldn't be more perfect for him....he loves to "read" just about as much as he loves to play baseball...he will pick up anything including a carrot and make it into a baseball bat and throw anything he thinks is a ball as evidenced in this previous post. Again, goofy parents this little one has and we find ourselves calling him, "Reider Peter Punkin Eater" all day....and I have often wondered if people think that Peter is his middle name. I am sure we confuse the heck out of people...I know I am ;).
So, that is the story behind my boys' names... you even got a little bonus with Ellie's story though she never made her way into this world of boys over here ;)...at least not yet (Oh did I really just write that?!?)
I am now going to tag;
Down with Oz
Three's a Charm
Life with Bubba, Chicky, and Nika

Baseball Season Has Officially Started...sort of

This post needs to start off with a big sigh from mom... as Reid decided he would officially start the baseball season off in our home "egg style"! The other night we all went to Sport Chalet to get Luke some new baseball pants. While we were there we bought a cute little glove for Reid (a left handed one at that...just like dad). When we got home we practiced throwing the ball with Reid who squealed with delight when the ball came his way. Well... apparently this budding baseball player must have dreamt all night of baseball for when he awoke in the morning and could not find his ball he resorted to anything looking like a ball...and unfortunately that meant the eggs. While I was out of the room this little squirt opened the fridge....found the eggs....and then flung them with all his might all over my floor...big sigh again. OH REIDer, ya lil stinker!!!! Luke even found the two eggs under the chair a few hours later. Good thing he is so darn cute!

Reid Maddux Foreman- His namesake retires from professional baseball today

Our little Reid's full name is Reid Maddux Foreman. I write about this today because today his namesake happens to be retiring from major league baseball. The Maddux comes from baseball giant and pitcher, Greg Maddux. Both of our boys' middle names are after professional baseball pitchers, Luke's being Ryan after Nolan Ryan. Hmmm...this could have a little something to do with Toby's love of baseball and maybe a little something to do with him pitching for the Seattle Mariner's Minor League, before throwing his arm out and needing the Tommy John surgery. :)

We love baseball around here. We have found 2 incredible baseball families who also have children with Down syndrome and have each respectfully started their own amazing foundations to support and educate. Pujols Family Foundation and Team Up for Down Syndrome. If you are interested click on the names and you will be taken to their sites. These sites were some of the first we found when we first began our own search for support and education after learning of Reid's diagnosis. Actually, side note here....just coincidentally my mother-in-law was one of the labor and delivery nurses in the room when Rex Hudler's (Team Up for Down syndrome) son was born with Down syndrome. Funny, how things happen.

Quick update on our littlest baseball player's progress...We saw glimpses of hope today. Our cardiologist came in this morning, he had been off yesterday and did not get to see the echo until today. He indicated that he actually thought the echo did indeed look better than the one dictating the need to look into surgery #3. What???? Wow!!!! Not what we had been told yesterday. No doubt we were thrilled to hear that! We remain cautiously optimistic as we still need to see what the new echo shows tomorrow and then what the team decides when they meet Wednesday to discuss the possibilities. We were given hope today that my original option #1 might still be a possibility after all! Thank you for your prayers.....they are felt!!