Paul and I, as I've mentioned in previous posts, were disturbed to have no names to give our babies when they were blessed by the hospital chaplain late on the night they were born. The whole experience was such a shocking nightmare that having to face decisions, such as what to do with their bodies, and whether to have them blessed, had to be made on the fly. Having them blessed seemed right, but only when Chaplain Sarah asked what their names were did we freeze with the weight of it...we had none. I've said before that we had only been starting to feel safe with the pregnancy the weekend before, having crossed into the magical zone of the second trimester. We probably would have started talking names the next week, but we didn't get there.
Or rather, we did...because in the days immediately following our return home, the gravity of having left nameless babies at the hospital really hit. I couldn't dream of living my life without naming our first children, and quickly. Paul agreed. My mom had given us the idea of naming the babies based on birth order, so that's what we did. We looked for a first name starting with "A" for our daughter, Baby A, and with a "B" for our Baby B, our son.
It took us four days to come up with our son's name, and the second we saw it, we knew it was perfect. It took us an additional three days to name our daughter. We have a book of 100,000 baby names, which we bought to aid in naming calves born on our farm (yes, we know that's odd), and as I flipped through the pages of "Z" names in despair, I felt there would be no name good enough for our little girl...the one we worried over for the duration of the pregnancy, the one we knew we were losing first, our firstborn, the one with my long legs. We did an online search, and Paul saw her name, and we liked it. Turns out, it was in the book but it didn't call to us at the moment our eyes skimmed that page...it took seeing it and the meaning of it electronically for it to strike a chord.
Now that we've received confirmation that the announcement has been received both near and far, we are pleased to finally share with everyone else the names of our children:
On the back, the meanings:
Aliya and Bennett, we will love and cherish you forever and ever.
Amy and Paul, I love their names. Absolutely perfect and we will hold them in our prayers. I also love that there is the connection with the multiple generations a connection between earth and heaven. Thank you for sharing them with us. Much love, Jo
ReplyDeleteWow! Those turned out so beautiful. I hope it brings you even a moment of peace having them sent out. From time to time we visit friends and I will see one of Addison's announcements on a cork board, fridge etc. and it always makes me smile that something of hers in hanging in someone's house :)
ReplyDeleteJust so you know...Aliya means to ascend but in a greater sense...an aliya (in Hebrew) is the BLESSING of being asked to ascend (during a prayer service, you are given the honor of giving a blessing over the Torah...as in, "I have an aliya today at synagogue". Or ascend as in to move to Israel, the holyland...so it is really the most perfect name for such an angel. Peace and love to you both!
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