The Name

We chose a name long before we began our baby journey. It was on our honeymoon in Greece after returning to the same cafe daily; right after our morning sunbathing and before our afternoon siestas. Keep in mind, we had just trekked through Italy with a whirlwind of activities. By the time we reached Greece, it was time to completely veg.

view of Kai from my side of blanket (pre-earbuds)

We noticed a little cafe a short distance down the beach - IN the sand - from where we were laying out that first morning. Packing up our beach goodies & slinging our bag over our shoulder, still wet & sticky with lotion and sea water - we made our way to what would end up being our daily routine for the rest of our stay and the future name of our baby from Ethiopia.

The funny thing about this story is that we have never eaten at the same restaurant twice on ANY of our trips. This place was AMAZING. The perfect low-key-eat-in-your-bathing-suit-while-barefoot lunches were served while evening dinners offered an atmosphere of a much higher caliber, serving a variety of fresh seafood with a four star rating.

the front entrance (road side); yes, that's the Mediterranean in the back!

Niko's Place is run by an amazing woman who we quickly became friends with after our first meal. She is a single mother from the UK, who after going through a bitter divorce, packed up her little boy (Nick) and headed for the Mediterranean for as long as her savings would warrant. Once this depleted, she consulted with her son and asked "How would you like to live here?" Who is going to say 'no' to that??? So after waitressing for a few years to get back on her feet, this woman bought the restaurant and changed the name to Niko's Place Taverna, after her son.

On our last night in Greece, we of course went back for our final dinner. She had set up a beautiful candlelit table just for us out in front in the sand, with the incoming tide just brushing our table. (I'm still searching for this picture of the three of us to post) It was the sweetest and most welcoming thing to experience on the final night of our honeymoon. She was such a wonderful host! I think it was on the flight home that Kai & I decided that Niko was the perfect name. (Nico if it was a girl)

the view from our seaside table on final night

So here we are only months (many months to be exact) from putting a little face to this name. And now that a few more details are confirmed (a boy from Ethiopia), we know it will be spelled with a "k" and we also now have a middle name. His middle name will be the Amharic name his birthmother gives him. (I use future tense b/c he is not born yet)