Acorns
With it being only 11 months away, I figure it is probably time to start planning the wedding we are planning to have. My eyes are on a specific venue, I know a store I want to check out first for dresses, and oh yeah-I have the fiance that I definitely want to marry.
Originally, I wanted a springtime wedding. Nice and green, lush, and lively. And now I guess I want a brown, dead one. Kidding, really. I think somehow I got sucked into the idea of a fall wedding whilst looking through wedding stuff online. Acorns, pine cones, squash and pumpkins, indian corn. Orange, yellow, brown, cranberry red. How I miss fall-I spent 18 years watching things die and come to life later, and I guess I didn't get a good appreciation for fall until I was gone. You see, when fall came, I started dying away. I spent the fall and winter of my life ages 12-17 falling to pieces physically once fall hit. Many of those years I'm not sure I got out of the bed, except to pee...and even that was a challenge.
Now, the lovely autumnal season carries a new meaning to me. I found out I was pregnant in the fall. I fell in love with Brandon in the fall. And acorns, oh how I love acorns.
When I had my first sonogram at approximately 10 weeks, I was so excited to see the little bitty in there. Validation that I was actually a mom, something I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have the chance at. From the time I was young, I knew I wanted kids, but finding a man to love me and have those kids with seemed unlikely. Suddenly, here I was. 10 weeks pregnant. Relived that those 5 pounds I'd put on and tight pants had a reason besides my affinity for food.
Brandon and I watched the sonogram in amazement, and I couldn't wait to show my mom the pictures they'd printed for us. Upon viewing the sonograms, my mom pointed out something she noticed on one of them. "It's an acorn hat," she remarked, pointing to a funny shadow or something, perched right atop of our little "sweet pea's" (as we called her) head. So, my mom started calling the baby "Acorn" since we didn't know what we were having. Heck, I didn't even think I wanted to find out. My mom hadn't found out with any of us, yet she just KNEW what gender each of us were. I didn't have that same instinct, or rather, I doubted myself too much to say what I really thought. When the time came to decide, I let Brandon's pleading eyes make that choice. He would've gone along with anything I'd wanted, but this was the one thing he truly wanted-to know if he was having the daughter he was hoping for. Not to mention the fact that I didn't want to miss seeing our precious pea on the big screen.
In the agonizing 8 weeks prior to our sonogram to reveal the gender, we talked about names. We talked about names from the day we found out I was pregnant, actually. One day, I came across the name "Ayla" and was reminded of a movie from my childhood, Clan of the Cave Bear (which is based on a highly popular series of novels). Scenes from the movie played in my head. My favorite as a child--though this was not a children's movie, I insisted on being quite grown-up from the time I was a wee one--is the part where Ayla spins in circles, saying her name over and over. The character of Ayla is quite strong and brave and determined, which are all great qualities to have. I sent Brandon a text to see what he thought. We agreed on almost every girl name the other liked, and this was no exception. "How do you say it?" he asked. "Ayla like ay as in play. Ay-la." (Kayla with no K, as I now explain it). His reply? "Ayla Marley?" And in that moment, we'd decided upon our daughter's name, though it wasn't set in stone until we found out she was indeed a girl.
The meaning of Ayla is "Oak tree," which happens to grow from the seed of, you guessed it, acorns! Brandon insisted that this meant that we would not be having a girl, since everything fit so perfect and that would be his shit luck. Ha! Turns out it was perfect because she was exactly what God planned for our little family.
Ayla was born on May 26th, which shares the same day of the month (26th) as my mom's birthday, which is February 26th. For the Christmas before Ayla was born, my mom gave us a beautiful organic, handmade knit hat that looks like an acorn top. How appropriate.
Planning my wedding will prove to be quite the adventure, but even in doing so, you will see that my little acorn is not far from my mind or heart. In fact, she already helped me start a collection of acorns for some wedding projects I have in mind.
Originally, I wanted a springtime wedding. Nice and green, lush, and lively. And now I guess I want a brown, dead one. Kidding, really. I think somehow I got sucked into the idea of a fall wedding whilst looking through wedding stuff online. Acorns, pine cones, squash and pumpkins, indian corn. Orange, yellow, brown, cranberry red. How I miss fall-I spent 18 years watching things die and come to life later, and I guess I didn't get a good appreciation for fall until I was gone. You see, when fall came, I started dying away. I spent the fall and winter of my life ages 12-17 falling to pieces physically once fall hit. Many of those years I'm not sure I got out of the bed, except to pee...and even that was a challenge.
Now, the lovely autumnal season carries a new meaning to me. I found out I was pregnant in the fall. I fell in love with Brandon in the fall. And acorns, oh how I love acorns.
When I had my first sonogram at approximately 10 weeks, I was so excited to see the little bitty in there. Validation that I was actually a mom, something I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have the chance at. From the time I was young, I knew I wanted kids, but finding a man to love me and have those kids with seemed unlikely. Suddenly, here I was. 10 weeks pregnant. Relived that those 5 pounds I'd put on and tight pants had a reason besides my affinity for food.
Brandon and I watched the sonogram in amazement, and I couldn't wait to show my mom the pictures they'd printed for us. Upon viewing the sonograms, my mom pointed out something she noticed on one of them. "It's an acorn hat," she remarked, pointing to a funny shadow or something, perched right atop of our little "sweet pea's" (as we called her) head. So, my mom started calling the baby "Acorn" since we didn't know what we were having. Heck, I didn't even think I wanted to find out. My mom hadn't found out with any of us, yet she just KNEW what gender each of us were. I didn't have that same instinct, or rather, I doubted myself too much to say what I really thought. When the time came to decide, I let Brandon's pleading eyes make that choice. He would've gone along with anything I'd wanted, but this was the one thing he truly wanted-to know if he was having the daughter he was hoping for. Not to mention the fact that I didn't want to miss seeing our precious pea on the big screen.
In the agonizing 8 weeks prior to our sonogram to reveal the gender, we talked about names. We talked about names from the day we found out I was pregnant, actually. One day, I came across the name "Ayla" and was reminded of a movie from my childhood, Clan of the Cave Bear (which is based on a highly popular series of novels). Scenes from the movie played in my head. My favorite as a child--though this was not a children's movie, I insisted on being quite grown-up from the time I was a wee one--is the part where Ayla spins in circles, saying her name over and over. The character of Ayla is quite strong and brave and determined, which are all great qualities to have. I sent Brandon a text to see what he thought. We agreed on almost every girl name the other liked, and this was no exception. "How do you say it?" he asked. "Ayla like ay as in play. Ay-la." (Kayla with no K, as I now explain it). His reply? "Ayla Marley?" And in that moment, we'd decided upon our daughter's name, though it wasn't set in stone until we found out she was indeed a girl.
The meaning of Ayla is "Oak tree," which happens to grow from the seed of, you guessed it, acorns! Brandon insisted that this meant that we would not be having a girl, since everything fit so perfect and that would be his shit luck. Ha! Turns out it was perfect because she was exactly what God planned for our little family.
Ayla was born on May 26th, which shares the same day of the month (26th) as my mom's birthday, which is February 26th. For the Christmas before Ayla was born, my mom gave us a beautiful organic, handmade knit hat that looks like an acorn top. How appropriate.
Planning my wedding will prove to be quite the adventure, but even in doing so, you will see that my little acorn is not far from my mind or heart. In fact, she already helped me start a collection of acorns for some wedding projects I have in mind.
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