.Who you could have been and who you will be.

Since we didn't find out until last week what the gender of the baby is we had names picked for either outcome and not surprisingly I've been asked what those were/are.
Well, had it been a boy we would have named him Henry Reid after our fathers {William Henry & Dennis Reid}. I'm very happy that we're getting a little girl but just the slightest bit sad that we'll never get to use the name Henry as I had grown quite attached to it. C'est la vie. Here is how I envisioned dressing Henry every day....

Our girl name is just as sweetly sentimental {though it does not involve the use of our mothers names since Milinda Lynn sounds like a country music singer and I abhor all things country}. We've chosen Alice Hazel and both very much love it.
Alice is a nod to my maternal side by way of the surname Alison and is also {we think} a perfect fit with Amelia name wise. It's old fashioned but very feminine which we both appreciate. You don't hear it every day on the playground but it's still familiar, it's easy to spell, and timeless.
Hazel is a nod to the hazelnut, Oregon's state nut {I'm sure that you thought I was the "state nut"}. Cheyenne & I both thought that it would be sweet and fitting to have a reference to Oregon in her name since it's where we met, fell in love, got married, and started our family. Oregon is home. Someday should she choose to move away she'll carry her home with her. 
The obvious choice would have been Rose as a middle name since we're in the "Rose City" but it seems like every single couple in Portland with a baby girl have had the same idea - we felt that Hazel was a bit more unique and fit well with her old-fashioned first name.
So there you have it, on August 21st we'll welcome Alice Hazel Clark-Whitehead to our family!