Meet Tucker…

There’s so much to say, but really it all boils down to he’s the sweetest most precious way to complete our family.

August 1st – 8:56 a.m.

8 lbs. 2 oz - 21 inches

First, his name…

TUCKER

We’ve had the name Tucker picked for a second boy since we were expecting Annabelle. Before we knew she was a girl, the name was already settled on.

I’ll never forget finding out we were expecting again after we lost Cooper. I was certain it was another boy and when the Pottery Barn Kids catalog arrived later that Spring, I took this as a sign…

In one of their staged rooms, PBK had put a brother’s room together and the brothers’ names were Cooper & Tucker. (Back then you never heard either of the names, so it was crazy that they were TOGETHER in the catalog!)

I tore the page out of the magazine and just cried- I really felt like I was going to have a Cooper and Tucker, and the fact that Pottery Barn put them together solidified it in my heart even more. :) (ha)  We all know how the story turned out… we got our Annabelle… and then our Maybree… :)

Naming a boy in our family, and having the name be “after” someone is HARD to do. BOTH mine and DW’s Dad’s are named after our grandfathers and we both have older brothers who are named after them, and we both have nephews who are named after them… So in finding a name with some meaning we had to branch out a little.

I’d always liked the name Tucker, ever since I’d heard it in high school. Then, when DW and I got together, I started hearing stories about his Granddaddy and his good friend, Mr. Tucker. (Tucker was his last name). I didn’t get the privilege to meet Mr. Tucker until January of 2008, but when I met him I fell in love with him. He was an exceptional man and a dear, dear friend of DW’s grandfather. They met in college and then served in WWII together. Their friendship spanned their entire adult lives. DW also has fond memories of the Tucker’s and visiting their hunting camp for annual hunting trips with his Daddy, brothers, Granddaddy, uncles and cousins. When DW and I got married, Mr. Tucker sent us the sweetest letter. I always made sure to include him on our Christmas card list and when we lost Cooper he penned us another letter that will forever be precious to me. Along with the letter, he sent us a copy of his memoir, “Before the Timber Was Cut” – and it was probably reading his book that made me really love him. There’s just something about a man who loves his wife and cherishes his family and Mr. Tucker adored his. (Of course a man who knows how to ride a horse gets extra points, too) ;)

We took a trip down to Cocoa to see him in January of 2008 – this was the first time I’d met him – and after leaving, I knew if we ever had more children and ever had another son, his name would be Tucker. When we left that day, Mr. Tucker hugged us hard and told DW that his Granddaddy wasn’t his best friend, he was dearest. Mr. Tucker has since passed away and DW & I had the honor to attend his funeral back in 2012. We’d just had Maybree and I wasn’t sure if we’d get a Tucker one day or not, but I sure prayed hard we would.

In 2008, I tucked that page ripped from the Pottery Barn catalog in the back of Mr. Tucker’s book and it’s remained on our bookshelf ever since. Just recently, I took the book down to flip through it and the page fell out. I couldn’t help but cry again. I had my Cooper and now, I was finally going to get my Tucker, too.

When we found out in March that we were having a boy, my Dr. asked if we had a name picked out yet -  when we told her, the first thing she said, with tears in her eyes, was; “it sounds so good with Cooper. They just sound like they go together.” I couldn’t agree more.

Now, his middle name…

DEVIN

This one’s obvious, but it wasn’t settled until the week before Tucker was born. When we found out we were having another boy, and started talking middle names, I immediately suggested we name him after DW. Devin was reluctant, and said, that Cooper had been named after him (they share the middle name ‘Clynt’) and that we didn’t have to name our second son after him, too. We tossed around ideas and everyone made suggestions. One solid name in the running was “Samuel” – my great grandfather’s name was Samuel, so there was a family connection- not to mention the biblical connection – “For this child I prayed and the Lord granted my request” 1 Samuel 1:27.  While that scripture resonates so deeply in my heart, my version would be more like, “For this child I laid on my face and begged God for!” – and the biggest reason was because I wanted DW to get to have another son.

Don’t get me wrong, I so badly wanted to be a boy-momma again, too. But I REALLY wanted him to have the chance to have another son. He has a very close relationship with his own Dad (if you ask him who his best friend his, his answer would be his Daddy) (his brothers come next) – and I want him to have the chance to have that kind of relationship with his son. DW & Cooper were well on their way to having that. They were inseparable and had such a strong bond. I also knew if the girls and I were ever going to get to have big over night shopping trips, we better have a boy to leave home with Daddy! :)

Since DW is hands down the best man I know, it seemed only fitting to name Tucker after HIM. It was finally my mom who suggested it again, and when DW thought about it and how the baby’s initials would be T.D. (Touchdown), he decided it had a nice ring to it. Ha. And so it was decided on.

We are ALL crazy about our Tucker and our hearts are so grateful for him.

Maybe I’ll get to write down his birth story next, and hopefully it will be before his first birthday! Ha…

~amw~