You can talk about baby names all day long when you are not pregnant and come up with what you are sure you will name your non-existent child, but when the reality of actually having to come up with a name that you will all have to say millions of times for the rest of your lives sets in, things tend to change a little. While I was still pregnant with Abram, I posted a nice musing blog about what I was sure we were going to name our next child. Needless to say, neither of those names made it to the short list for Habibi.
On our 8 hour car trip this weekend, Quinn and I talked a lot about names. We had pretty much decided that if this one was a boy, his name was going to be Simon. We were unsettled about the middle name. Quinn really wanted Simon Peter, but I mean, come on. It was just too much. So we were still in talks about that one. We had thought that we had decided on the name Selah if it was a girl. In case you don't know, "selah" is a word found throughout the book of Psalms (which are all songs written to God by various people). It is thought to mean either "pause and meditate" or "musical interlude". It's basically a break in the singing. It's a pretty word, but we are unsure about the pronunciation. Most people say "Say-lah" when they read it in the Bible. But a lot of people from the older generation grew up saying "See-lah". I, personally, like the sound of "Seh-lah" as a name. But as I had a name that could be pronounced three different ways (and regularly was), I felt bad giving my daughter the same plight. So we began talking about other options for a girl.
One that we had both always liked was Phoebe. We never talked seriously about it because we had this 5 letter thing that we were trying to stick to. But we are already trying to find a Bible name and trying to find a 5 letter Bible name for a girl is pretty hard. So it was back on the table this weekend. Phoebe means "bright one" in Greek. Her mention in the Bible is as follows: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well. " (Romans 16:1-2) Pretty cool that this woman apparently got to deliver Paul's letter to the Roman church and that she was a "helper of many" and seemingly some kind of leader in the early church. Quinn and I feel like we could be parents of a Phoebe. It's quirky and we're quirky! We've also been looking at Abram and imagining him with pigtails to see what we think he looks like. I definitely think he looks more like a Phoebe than a Selah.
All of this musing on girls names this weekend was justified this morning when we found out that we will, indeed, be having a girl!!! We are beyond excited. Of course we would have been happy with another boy, but we kinda felt like we were having a girl from the beginning. I think Abram will be a great big brother to a little girl and perhaps it will teach him to be a little less rough (we work regularly on the concept of "gentle" with him and Obie).
So no name yet. Although we know her middle name with be Christine (it is my given middle name and my mom's name is Christina). So what do you think, blogger friends? Would you know how to pronouce "Selah"? Would you know how to spell Phoebe (if it weren't written here a bunch of times)? I think we will decide soon, because I'm just not the waiting many months kind of person. Also, we called Abram "The baby" until we knew what his name was, and we ended up being able to merge "The baby" and "Abram" into "The Babram" as he was affectionately called throughout my pregnancy. Now how nicely do "Phoebe" and "Habibi" merge together. I mean "Phoebibi"?! It's just too perfect :)
Oh. And here are a few pictures of Abram's first attempt at coloring. There was not much coloring, but there was a lot of excitement about holding the crayons!
"Obie, would you like to color?"
On our 8 hour car trip this weekend, Quinn and I talked a lot about names. We had pretty much decided that if this one was a boy, his name was going to be Simon. We were unsettled about the middle name. Quinn really wanted Simon Peter, but I mean, come on. It was just too much. So we were still in talks about that one. We had thought that we had decided on the name Selah if it was a girl. In case you don't know, "selah" is a word found throughout the book of Psalms (which are all songs written to God by various people). It is thought to mean either "pause and meditate" or "musical interlude". It's basically a break in the singing. It's a pretty word, but we are unsure about the pronunciation. Most people say "Say-lah" when they read it in the Bible. But a lot of people from the older generation grew up saying "See-lah". I, personally, like the sound of "Seh-lah" as a name. But as I had a name that could be pronounced three different ways (and regularly was), I felt bad giving my daughter the same plight. So we began talking about other options for a girl.
One that we had both always liked was Phoebe. We never talked seriously about it because we had this 5 letter thing that we were trying to stick to. But we are already trying to find a Bible name and trying to find a 5 letter Bible name for a girl is pretty hard. So it was back on the table this weekend. Phoebe means "bright one" in Greek. Her mention in the Bible is as follows: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well. " (Romans 16:1-2) Pretty cool that this woman apparently got to deliver Paul's letter to the Roman church and that she was a "helper of many" and seemingly some kind of leader in the early church. Quinn and I feel like we could be parents of a Phoebe. It's quirky and we're quirky! We've also been looking at Abram and imagining him with pigtails to see what we think he looks like. I definitely think he looks more like a Phoebe than a Selah.
All of this musing on girls names this weekend was justified this morning when we found out that we will, indeed, be having a girl!!! We are beyond excited. Of course we would have been happy with another boy, but we kinda felt like we were having a girl from the beginning. I think Abram will be a great big brother to a little girl and perhaps it will teach him to be a little less rough (we work regularly on the concept of "gentle" with him and Obie).
So no name yet. Although we know her middle name with be Christine (it is my given middle name and my mom's name is Christina). So what do you think, blogger friends? Would you know how to pronouce "Selah"? Would you know how to spell Phoebe (if it weren't written here a bunch of times)? I think we will decide soon, because I'm just not the waiting many months kind of person. Also, we called Abram "The baby" until we knew what his name was, and we ended up being able to merge "The baby" and "Abram" into "The Babram" as he was affectionately called throughout my pregnancy. Now how nicely do "Phoebe" and "Habibi" merge together. I mean "Phoebibi"?! It's just too perfect :)
Oh. And here are a few pictures of Abram's first attempt at coloring. There was not much coloring, but there was a lot of excitement about holding the crayons!
"Obie, would you like to color?"
so excited for you all! she will be a cute little lady! :)
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