Kye, Zach, Brittlynn and I enjoyed a few minutes alone as a family then we had everyone from the waiting room come in. Just like with Kye, we were fighting the clock and wanted our families to hear the big news and get to enjoy her a little bit before the nurses took her back to the nursery!
The crowd wasn’t as large this time around but, if anything, we’re more appreciative of those that were there. Second babies tend not to get as much attention as first bornes (post to come…) so it was extra-special to see the people who really made an effort to welcome Brittlynn into the world! Everyone there included: Mom, Mrs. Charlotte, Mr. Rusty, Casey, Jordan, Courtney, Mema, Aunt Karen, Katie and Robyn. Robyn and Jordan were both first timers since I didn’t know Robyn when I had Kye and Casey and Jordan were newly dating at that time. It did disappoint me that my brother wasn’t there among the crowd. He lives in Gainesville which is only an hour and a half away and it stung to not see him there. Especially since him being there last time was so special to me.
I did not tell Kye in advance that he would be making the announcement as I didn’t want him to say it before everyone was in the room. Once everyone was in I whispered in his ear “girl” and he announced it then I said the name! You can view the big announcement HERE! Is Kye not precious?!?!
It was sweet how everyone gave Kye attention first and it made him super excited.
Waiting for the news…
Pure joy!
Proud grandparents
Sweet friends!
Haha you knew I’d use this one Katie 😉
I LOVE the true happiness on everyone’s faces, makes me tear up!
A little embarrassed
Right away after the announcement Mr Rusty wanted to hold her. Of course Mom protested as she wanted to be the first one but Mr. Rusty won the argument by saying “I’m the only grandfather here!” True! It’s REALLY special to me how much Mr. Rusty loves his grandchildren. We expect the grandmas to be all about them, but to see a man be so involved is something rare and special. Now, I’m not saying he changes any diapers or anything but you can see the love he has for them when he looks at them and having him want to be the first to hold her was special to me.
Checking out her hands…if you know the Parkers then you KNOW that the first thing they all kept saying was that her big hands and feet meant she’ll be an awesome basketball player. Um no. I tried to ignore the comments and once we got moved into postpartum I made it clear I really didn’t like to hear that. I get it that they all want Kye to play sports…but I am NOT allowing my daughter to be pressured b/c I didn’t play any sports and I’d rather her be more like her mommy in that way…
Seeing all her hair 😉
Gramma got Kye some little prizes so he opened them then, it was a great thing to make him feel special and keep him entertained while all the attention was on the baby.
Gramma’s turn!
I love this 😉
So precious
G-Mama’s newest grand-baby
I can’t get over the complete happiness felt in that room, can’t you feel it through these pictures? I’m SO thankful to Autumn for capturing the emotion so beautifully!
Jordan and Mom high-fiving
Uncle Jordan and Auntie Casey
I’m thankful Brittlynn is a girl…EVERYONE wanted her to be a girl so badly that I was nervous people wouldn’t be as excited if she’d been a boy 😉 To me, THIS post is the best thing about natural childbirth. Right after having a baby I was able to be 100% involved in the special moment. I wasn’t numb. I wasn’t dopey. I was Emily! I can remember every single second of everything and I was able to enjoy the wonderful time with our families and friends. I also gave birth to a very alert baby who was active and able to look at all the people who love her with bright, wide eyes. Kye was equally alert after birth and I know a lot of that has to do with natural delivery.
I love that Zach and I keep the sex and names a surprise. It makes everything SO much more fun (and special). When we announced Kye’s name, it took everyone awhile to get on board with it. However, Brittlynn’s named was loved right from the start. Since she’s been born I’ve been shocked at the response to her name. When I’ve called to make appointments and such for her they always say “omg I love that name!” I had one girl ask me if it was okay to write it down on her own baby name list 😉
Here is the story behind the name Brittlynn Avery!
Brittlynn: Waaaaay back Katie lived in Tallahassee and I’d go visit her ALL the time. We were eating at Panera and were (randomly) talking about baby names. We talked about how I liked “hot girl/boy” names and started talking about the reality show that was on at the time called 8th and Ocean (it only lasted one season on MTV…do you remember it?!?!). One of the models on it was named Brit and I LOVED it. Brit Parker just sounded like a hot girl name to me and we both really, really liked it. I ran it by Zach and somehow we decided to add the Lynn on the end. He swears he thought of it…I kinda feel like I did…but whichever. I DID come up with Britt so I’ll give him the Lynn 😉 We combined it into one name because we liked the idea that she could have options. I also like Britt with two “ts” instead of just one as just one looks incomplete to me…same with the lynn. So two “ts” and two “ns” 😉
Brit from 8th and Ocean
Avery: If Kye had been a girl our original plan was Brittlynn Emily. For awhile we liked the idea of using our first names as middle names for our kids then we decided not to do that because none of the boy names we liked really flowed well with Zachary. Towards the end of my pregnancy with Kye we didn’t have a girl middle name still and ended up just randomly picking Riley. I liked it fine, but knew if Kye was a boy that we’d want a different middle name for the girl down the road. I spent a TON of time this pregnancy trying to figure out a good middle name. I searched every reality tv show we’ve ever watched, every book we’ve read, everything. Nothing seemed to fit. We both liked Rory for a little while too but I didn’t LOVE it. Zach and I discussed letters we liked and we both liked A. We also both liked something two syllables, and that ended with an “ie” sound. I actually googled “girls names that start with A and end in -ie” and found Avery! haha. No joke! It’s on the top 25 most popular girls names list right now, but neither of us personally know anyone with the name. Her middle name wasn’t really very important since we doubt she’ll ever use it and, if she’s like me, she’ll probably move Parker to her middle name when she gets married someday anyway. I think it flows well with Brittlynn and it’s a great fit! I actually kept forgetting it after we picked it and always found myself thinking Ansley for some reason. I had to write it in my phone so I wouldn’t forget and that’s why I looked at Zach in the video to make sure I was saying the right middle name 😉
We are still undecided about calling Brittlynn by Brittlynn or Britt…I think we’ll end up doing a combo of both. Her name will be Brittlynn (like at school and on embroidered stuff etc) but she’ll probably go by Britt a lot of the time. Kinda like I’m Emily but pretty much everyone calls me Em. I never write it on anything, but I go by it. Ya know? I do think Britt is a TOTAL hot girl name though so when she’s older we may switch to that, but Brittlynn has that sweet innocent sound to it just perfect for our new little baby 😉
We both LOVE her name and hope you do too!!! It’s great to FINALLY get to use it since it’s been ages that we’ve had to keep it a secret. Now we have to keep our boys name a secret until we have another boy. We both really love that name too and will probably have a hard time coming up with another girls name if baby #3 is a girl!!!
I’m so, so thankful to everyone who came up to the hospital for the big announcement and I can’t wait to do it all again (someday…not too soon…) If you want to see the big announcement when Kye was born and the story behind his name you can go HERE.
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Well, I love the name too! It's so pretty and different. You won't see many Brittlynn's running around, that's for sure! A TOTAL hot girl name! ;)I came up with Logan's name from Wolverine on X-Men!! Total hot boy's name too! Not to mention Hugh Jackman is pretty hot too. Ha! I LOVE his middle name probably as much as you love Avery! Logan Riley it is! They just flow so well together. Good choice on the name. It's awesome!
This was, hands down, one of the neatest experiences of my life!! It was AWESOME to be a part of! I really think that you guys did a great job with her name – I love it!
You have no idea how much reading all about Brittlynn's birth makes me anxious and excited for my baby #2 (just 7 weeks!)!!! I've never heard the name Brittlynn before, I it's beautiful! I LOVE the name Brecklynn if we have another girl (we are kinda stuck on the Br names, haha), but hubby isn't sure about it because it's different. To me, it sounds similar to Brittlynn though, so it makes sense that I think her name is beautiful.I loved the video of the gender and name announcement. It made me tear up! You, Zach, and Kye look beyond happy. So wonderful! I also love how Ms. Charlotte cried! Oh, and every time I see photos or video of Zach's dad, I think that you have a perfect mirror into the future of what your husband will look like :-). Congrats, again! I can't wait to read more!