Ok, she was actually born on the SUMMER solstice! However, I didn’t realize there was a birth announcement category until recently and her half-birthday, the winter solstice, seems like a good time.
We welcomed Willa Everly on Father’s Day, June 20, 2021 at 8:55 pm, nearly the exact moment of the summer solstice. Labor was fast and furious- my 9 lb, 2 oz girl arrived so fast I didn’t have time for the epidural I was begging for. 
I had wanted to name my daughter Ruby since I was in high school, and it was also my husband’s grandma’s name. So when I found out we were pregnant with a girl, I thought Ruby was a given. However, a few months before her birth, I found myself falling in love with the name Willa. My husband loved it too, and now we were torn between Ruby and Willa. I struggled with the idea of not using Ruby, but I also liked the symbolism of using the name that had come to me out of left field, rather than my lifelong favorite. I had always dreamed of having a daughter, but I didn’t want to put the weight of all those dreams on her- I wanted her to feel free to surprise me, just like her name did. This was also in early spring when the willow trees were just getting their new green leaves. Willow trees are special to my husband and I (willows are always found near water, and we live on a river) and every time I drove by one it felt like a sign.
My husband chose her middle name, Everly. He used to play the Everly Brothers song “All I have to do is Dream” for me on the guitar when we first started dating. And his mother’s name is Beverly, so it’s a subtle honor.
Willa has been a dream of a baby, so far. Smiling, laughing, cuddling, with a Mohawk AND a mullet on her little round head. She joins big brother Lincoln Israel. We
call her Willabee a lot and of course, after all that work choosing a name, we mostly call her what Lincoln calls her: Waga (he can’t say his Ls yet), Wagabee, and Tiny Tiny Baby.
Thank you for your help in choosing her name!
