What’s in a Name?

Now that the news is out that we are having a boy, the next question on everyone’s mind is what are you going to name him. Some couples like to keep the name a secret until the baby is born so that people can’t naysay them for choosing such a name, because everyone has their opinions about names. It must be because names are so personal. We debated whether or not to share our name choices with friends and family, but we like our choices so much that it really does not matter to us whether or not people like/dislike the names we picked. I have had a girl’s name picked out since I was in college and luckily Matt like it as well, but we struggled a little more when it came to picking out a boy’s name. After tossing around a couple of different options we decided that we both really like Kyle Baxter Schardt.

So why Kyle you ask? We chose it for a couple of different reasons. We both just really like the name, and have never met a Kyle that we did not like. However, more importantly, Kyle was the name of Matt’s solider that was killed during his deployment to Iraq. When Matt suggested the name to me a few months back, it just felt right that we would name our baby Kyle if it was a boy. His middle name, Baxter, is also Matt’s middle name. Baxter was Matt’s Grandma Reba’s maiden name, and I have always liked it. We knew we wanted to have our babies middle names be family names and Baxter just seemed to flow really nicely with Kyle. I also like the option of calling him “K.B.” for short. So there you have it, the story behind our little guy’s name.

They say that finding out the sex of the baby helps the parents to start bonding while it is in the womb, and I would agree. Now I can call him Baby Kyle and not Baby Schardt, it just seems more personal. That, combined with his movements, makes it really feel like a tiny human is growing inside me. Hopefully, it will also help me appreciate the discomfort that is about to come as I enter the third trimester in a few months. Let’s just hope the ultrasound was correct :). Regardless, if out pops a healthy baby, I am happy. Luckily we have the girls name ready to go so we can make a quick adjustment if needed.