Rylan's Name and Birthdate

For posterity's sake, I wanted to write a quick note about how we decided upon Rylan's name as well as why his birthdate has a special meaning. 

Name

Before Josh and I were even married, we decided that we loved the name Rylan for a little boy. This revelation occurred after watching a movie with a character whose name we thought was Rylan. Turns out, it was actually Riley (as we discovered when watching the credits), but the other actor pronounced it like Rylan. We both agreed that it would be a cool name and thought we had pretty much made it up :). 

But that is not the case. It is in fact a name of Old English origin that means "dweller of the rye lands."

While the name is still fairly unique, it is becoming more and more common. Check out #rylan on Instagram and you will see a plethora of pictures of cute little boys. I also came across this picture while perusing Pinterest the other day…

But I doubt Rylan will ever be able to find random things with his name on it for sale in amusement park gift shops. Sorry little dude. 

His middle name, however, is a bit more traditional...but equally as special. As with Ava, we wanted to use a family name as Rylan's middle name. My Dad's name is Louis, and Josh and I agreed that it would be perfect. Additionally, his full name is Robert Louis, named after both his grandfathers, so he and Rylan share the RL initials. I think this is the perfect tribute to a wonderful Dad who doesn't have any sons to carry on his last name...not to mention the fact that he has had to deal with five daughters :). 

Birthdate

Rylan's birthdate also has special meaning. Josh was born on November 5, I was born on June 4, and Ava was born on February 3, so I thought it would be so cool if our next child was born on the second of the month…but then of course we would have to have a third child born on the first of the month. 

When I found out that Rylan's due date was July 3, I was so excited because having him on July 2 was a distinct possibility. However, I then realized that repeat C-sections are generally scheduled a week before your due date. Womp, womp, womp.  

But Rylan evidently got the memo because he decided to arrive on June 21…thus finishing the birthdate countdown. Evidently he doesn't want us to have a third child :).