how she got her name: Harriet Joy

When we were pregnant with Ivar we landed on two boys names and two girls names that we both loved. Ivar, Elsie, Harriet and...another boys name. (And because we're all about suspense and surprises, you may just have to wait a few years to learn what the other boys name is. Which is obviously dependent on if we have another baby, and if that baby is a boy!)

Elsie's middle name was going to be Harriet, but at the eleventh hour we decided to hang on to that name for a first name if we happened to have another girl one day. And then we did. :)

The name Harriet first came from Lake Harriet, our favorite destination in Minneapolis when we lived there. It is a happy and social lake, where you always run into someone you know. The feeling of Lake Harriet is always festive. There are bands and movies and ice cream and sail boats, beaches and walkers, runners and bikers. I think I've blogged about it umpteen times. (my favorite birthday party, our 9th anniversary, daily walks, etc..)

And I loved Harriet because it felt like a nod to my maiden name, Harrington. Which felt fun and fitting because I love family names.

But I didn't know how the name Harriet fit with Ivar and Elsie until I heard my friend Amanda talking about her niece Hattie, who lives on a hobby farm too. She told a story about Hattie and their chickens and I fell in love with the thought of a little farm girl, Hattie, running around our place.

At the moment we call her both Harriet and Hattie, pretty equally. I interchange them all the time, which is probably confusing, but I'm fine with both. We'll likely land on one or the other eventually, but for now she is Harriet, Hattie or most common El Hattie, because it is hard not to call your baby by their siblings name!

We were stumped on a middle name for a long time. Rory brought up Joy, which felt fitting, but I just didn't know if it was the one. And then at some point he mentioned that Joy was also his mom's middle name, which I loved. Because I'm all about family names and love having her share her name with Mimi.

So her name is Harriet Joy, and she absolutely is a joy. Hattie gets most upset when cold or hungry or if she has a dirty diaper. And don't we all. But other than those woes, I would say we have a very content baby. She loves to be held and swaddled. And she is good about letting her siblings hold her or place stuffed animals on her or force a pacifier in her mouth. And now she's fussing, so I have to go and hold my baby. :)

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Click here to read how Elsie got her name. And here to read how Ivar got his name.