Our Names:

I thought it would be fun to post a little note about how we got each of our kids' names and their nick-names. Everyone is unique and has a special meaning behind it.

Anessa Jehan: When thinking of names for Anessa I really liked the name Anisa pronounced: A-nee-sa. My mom, Lynn, couldn't get it right for the life of her. So one day she said Anessa and I thought that was really pretty. It wasn't very popular and the only meaning I could find on it was BUTTERFLY. How fitting. I think butterfly's are very beautiful, but I'm scared to death of them (it's a long story, you can laugh..everyone has). I still can't find a real meaning behind it, but on another website I see that they have said it means CHASTE. I gave her my middle name of Jehan meaning WORLD. Her nickname is Bugaboo. She started crawling early and looked like a little bug.

Peyton Mitchell: Of course you can figure out the Mitchell part. It's a Bennett tradition to give the first boy the name of his father as his middle name. Peyton is NOT after Peyton Manning. Ew. He's actually named after Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears; he's Mitch's all-time hero. Mitch got a book from my sister, Wendy, this Christmas, and it's the Walter Payton autobiography and he hasn't put it down. He was an awesome player and a very humble guy. Peyton's nick-name for the most part is monkey. I think that one is pretty clear.

Cohen Marco: Marco is for obvious reasons. He's named after my dad! His name means: Dedicated to the God of Mars. Hmm..Wasn't Mars the God of War? Heh. His first name Cohen means: Priest. It's the highest order of a Jewish priest. We just really liked that name (although some really didn't) and it fits him. Cohen's nickname is Bubbie. Yet another Jewish name. I don't know why the strong Jewish theme for Cohen, but it works. :)

Aja Elise: Aja is a name that I have loved for the longest time! I thought it was a beautiful name. There wasn't even a contest in the running for her first name. Although, I LOVED the name Elise, Elise Aja would have sounded weird so we switched them up. Elise. Ahhh..Elise. Somtimes I feel like Mitch is too sneaky. APPARENTLY, there is a Cure song called A Letter to Elise. It's a beautiful song. So I guess that would be why Mitch agreed to it so quickly. Also, Elise is part of Fur Elise, which is the first classical piano piece I learned to play. So her middle name is pretty symbolic of both Mitch and me. Her nickname is: Sweetness. That was Walter Payton's nickname. I'm sure you can guess who gave her that one.

So there you have it. The history of our kids' names.