The Name - Xavi Matteo

After we are asked "what?".."how do you say that?"  We usually are asked where we got Xavi's name. 

Well, it's pronounced "Cha-vee".  Sometimes we hear "Ha-vee" or "Sha-vee"..neither of which are necessarily wrong.  Xavi is usually the diminuative for Xavier..but our son's name is Xavi and named after the Spanish star mid-fielder.  According to wikipedia...Xavier Hernández i Creus, commonly known as Xavi (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈʃaβi]) (born 25 January 1980 in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish football midfielder who currently plays for FC Barcelona.  Xavi was integral in the Spanish victory at the 2010 World Cup and is this season's world soccer player of the year.  He is from the Catalan region of Spain and their pronounciation ends up like sh- or ch-avi.

Matteo is for one of Mario's teammates, Matt Axelson, who was killed in action in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.  Matt was, in Mario's words, an uncommon warrior.  One of the best operators, he was gentle and quiet, letting his actions speak for themselves.  "The Lone Survivor" tells the story of Navy SEALs Matt, Danny, Michael, and Marcus', their fated mission plus the 16 others who died attempting to help them.  Marcus was the only one to live.  If you haven't yet read it, I highly recommend it.  Their story and sacrifice is a large piece of the puzzle that fate created for Mario and I to end up together.  It went without saying that our son would be named for one of those humble and great warriors. 

We wanted his name to have great meaning and significance...while allowing him to stand out from the crowd AND give him something to live up to.  Big shoes to fill? Certainly and it'll be some time before we know who he will be, but for starters read my previous blog about the size of  his hands and feet.

I can't wait to be a soccer mom.