Explaining Avonlea

Thank you all so much for your congratulations and well wishes. Something we've noticed in a big chunk of the e-mails we have received has been the comment: "What a beautiful name! ...how do you pronounce it?" We certainly appreciate that even not knowing how to perhaps say it, people still like her name. Avonlea Jane's name is pronounced: Aa-vohn-lee (aa as in apple, vohn as in Von Trapp, lee like the general).

We wanted her to have a name that to us said family, tradition, love, and literature. We promise we didn't make up the name Avonlea, it is the taken from the Anne of Green Gables / Anne of Avonlea series written by Lucy Maud Montgomery which have been my favorite books since childhood. Avonlea was the name of the close-knit community where the series was set, based on the real town of Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Over the course of our relationship and through visiting PEI, David has also gained a love for all things Anne and Avonlea.

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the creation of Avonlea which we thought was a wonderful sign. We also wanted a name that honored our families in some way without directly naming her after someone. We did , of course, consider the name Anne, but with David's family having an Anne, Anna, and Annabella we thought that Avonlea was a nice connection without making family functions confusing. Another important contributing reason to the name choice was my grandmother, from whom I got my middle name. She and my grandfather were who introduced me to Anne of Green Gables and gave me my first copy of the book when I was nine. Some of my fondest childhood memories are watching the Anne movies or the Canadian television series Road to Avonlea with my grandparents.

As for the name Jane, we also wanted her to have a strong and traditional name that also belonged to a saint. We both think that Jane is a beautiful and elegant name (and of course hope you do too). In line with the first part of her name, Jane of Lantern Hill is another one of my favorite books (also by L.M. Montgomery), which was introduced to me by my grandfather.

As for an update, Avonlea Jane is doing very well. We're so glad to finally be home after our unexpected day at the hospital. She is eating almost constantly which has really hindered my ability to sleep, which is particularly unfortunate after being awake and in labor for so long. (I'm running on less than 15 hours since Saturday morning--yuck.) David is currently carrying her around the house in the pouch I made, and he finds her to be a much more willing participant than the cats. Mabel has been very curious about her and likes to sit on the couch by her or watch her in the bed. Maxwell doesn't quite know what to think of her and is keeping his distance, barely setting foot into the room where she is. We are getting ready to take her to her three-day doctor appointment and are anxious to see how her first public outing goes. We will post a birth story soon, but getting the computer hasn't been a top priority.