What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Names are interesting aren’t they? I LOVE our kids’ names (duh ;)…Justice Crutchfield and Savannah Grace. There are stories behind each, which they both know by heart since they have asked to hear them so many times.  First there was our sweet boy…we knew we wanted kids right away…so we tried right away. The week I was going to take a pregnancy test started out like any other - I was teaching, and Monday was crazy. Tuesday however, would change us all, forever…that was Tuesday, September 11, 2011.  We all know what that day was like, we will never forget. I didn’t even think about taking the test until Thursday morning, and then I remember having such mixed feelings of such joy mixed with fear…of the world we were bringing this precious life into. At the time, Jay was a Firefighter, and we were both very adamant about paying respect to the people affected on 9/11 when we named our child…so our choices were Grace and Justice. Emily Grace if our baby was a girl and Justice Crutchfield (Jay’s mom’s maiden name) if our baby was a boy.  As soon as he could ask, Justice wanted to know how he got his name…so we explained it…so he can tell you.  He has watched SEVERAL 9/11 documentaries - he ‘gets’ it…and is honored , and he‘s only 9 - I love that about him.

Now, the Peanut - she was supposed to be Emily Grace…but when she was in my belly…Emily just wasn’t working for me.  Justice and I were driving to a wedding together (Daddy was meeting us there…football, you know ;) and I asked him…Justice what do YOU think her name should be? And he said “Savannah Grace” Now…granted, Savannah was a character on one of his favorite shows (Jay Jay the Jet plane) but hey…it worked!! We double checked it with Daddy…and Savannah Grace it was!! Plus another cool thing about the names in out family…the boys are all J’s and the girls are all S’s…we like that.

Now - the ORIGINAL point of this blog was to tell about the day we explained Daddy’s name (and daddy). It was a day that he had been dreading for a LONG time…but like most things… it turned out just fine…and a little bit funny to boot. Just to give a little background, for those who don’t know…Jay’s “legal” name is John Norman Norton III and he was raised in a LARGE ’blended’ family (think Brady Bunch just with more girls than boys ;) Mama/Jane/Grand - his mom - she has 3 kids (Jay, Brad, Kelly) and Dad/Bob/Opa - his dad/step dad - he has 3 kids (Jennifer, Jill, Jodi)  We LOVE our HUGE family of aunts, uncles, etc!!

But lately the issue of ‘names’ has come up a few times…like “Why did Opa name you John Norman Norton III?” or from Savy “John Norton and Bradley Norton? They should have the same names as their parents…Jane and Bob Brocious…that doesn’t make sense!?”  and finally from Justice - which sparked the convo - “if you are John Norman Norton III, there had to be a John Norman Norton Sr and a Jr…so who was that? Grand’s dad or Opa’s dad?”

So…we sat down to eat…and started to explain. We asked if they knew some friends that had 2 sets of parents, because their parents were divorced.  They said yes…and gave us some examples. We continued on to explain that Grand and Daddy’s father got divorced…and that Opa was really his ‘step-dad’ even though he called him dad. When I said ‘step-dad’…Savy said “but he’s NOT mean!!!” Which cracked us up…thanks Cinderella ;) Then Justice wanted to know were Jay’s ‘birth dad’ was…I explained that he passed away while I was pregnant with Savy…”Grand KILLED him?!?!?” he asked BWHAHAHAHAHA oh…what a loaded question! “NO, he just died” I said. ‘OK - so Opa is STILL my grandpa right? And I don’t HAVE to name MY kid John Norman Norton IV?” He asked….“Yes he is, and No you don’t” LOL and that was it….all that worrying he did, for nothing. I guess that’s like most things…we work them up in our minds and make them bigger than they are…thanks to my precious babies for once again reminding me…it’s never as bad as I think it’s gonna be.