It sounds really absurd when I say it out loud, but Quinn and I have had a talk or two about names we like, other than Abram. Not like we are thinking about naming this one something different, but, like, we are naming our next child before this one has even had his first gulp of oxygen.
We already know what we would name a girl. That's been decided since we started dating. Weird. But true. So here's the backstory, so you don't think we're crazy:
I have two of the most amazing grandmothers in the history of the world. They are the most incredibly Godly women I've ever met. My parents even say that they think the reason we turned out so well is by God's grace through my grandmothers' constant prayers. So, of course, I have always been sentimental about my grandmothers and wanted nothing more than to name a child after one or both of them. But therein lies the rub.
(Sorry,Grammy), but my grandmothers have the most Southern sounding, interesting names I have ever heard. My dad's mom was named Velma Ardelle (but went by Ardelle) and my mom's mom's name is Rita Wadene (but goes by Wadene). My parents always joked that they thought of naming me Velma Rita... I think both of my grandmothers would have objected. So, while I was in college, I realized that if I took the end of both of their names (ardELLE and wadENE) I could put together a pretty cool name: Ellene. It was settled in my mind... long before I met my future husband. I would have a girl named Ellene.
Then I met Quinn. I think it was on one of our first dates that we were talking about how his grandmothers were amazing women of God and one of the only reasons he turned out like he did was because of their constant prayers. And he shared that one of them had passed away fairly recently. I asked what her name was and he said: "Ellen". I couldn't have asked for a better husband (for multiple reasons), but one of them being that his granmother's name was part of the name I had already chosen for my daughter! His other grandmother's name is Virginia. She is wonderful. And if we are blessed with a girl someday, her name will be Ellene Virginia Smith.
Whew. There's the girl story. That one was easy for us. The boy names... not so much.
Long before we were actually having a baby, we would throw out boy names to each other, but we could NEVER agree. One of Quinn's most memorable suggestions was Jethro. Shot down by Anaka immediately. I was an edgier name girl, which he didn't like: Maddox, McCall, things like that. No go with Quinn. So when we started reading Genesis together after we found out we were having a baby, and we both liked Abram, we grabbed it and stuck with it.
The other day, Quinn (who had been reading one of C.H. Spurgeon's books) came out for dinner and said: "What about the name Spurgeon?" One look from me and he knew how I felt about that one. I really like names with meaning and naming kids after faithful people, but they have to be good names, ya know? But while reading the introduction to the Puritan prayer book "The Valley of Vision" (which is an amazing book, by the way), I saw that many of Spurgeon's prayers were included and they cited his whole name: "Charles Haddon Spurgeon". "Haddon!" I told Quinn. "We could name the next one Haddon!" He agreed. At least for now. We'll see what happens when the time actually comes... if it actually comes.
Anyway, I started looking up Spurgeon quotes, because his prayers were so amazing. And I found one that I ended up using for a piece that might just end up in the baby's room...
We already know what we would name a girl. That's been decided since we started dating. Weird. But true. So here's the backstory, so you don't think we're crazy:
I have two of the most amazing grandmothers in the history of the world. They are the most incredibly Godly women I've ever met. My parents even say that they think the reason we turned out so well is by God's grace through my grandmothers' constant prayers. So, of course, I have always been sentimental about my grandmothers and wanted nothing more than to name a child after one or both of them. But therein lies the rub.
(Sorry,Grammy), but my grandmothers have the most Southern sounding, interesting names I have ever heard. My dad's mom was named Velma Ardelle (but went by Ardelle) and my mom's mom's name is Rita Wadene (but goes by Wadene). My parents always joked that they thought of naming me Velma Rita... I think both of my grandmothers would have objected. So, while I was in college, I realized that if I took the end of both of their names (ardELLE and wadENE) I could put together a pretty cool name: Ellene. It was settled in my mind... long before I met my future husband. I would have a girl named Ellene.
Then I met Quinn. I think it was on one of our first dates that we were talking about how his grandmothers were amazing women of God and one of the only reasons he turned out like he did was because of their constant prayers. And he shared that one of them had passed away fairly recently. I asked what her name was and he said: "Ellen". I couldn't have asked for a better husband (for multiple reasons), but one of them being that his granmother's name was part of the name I had already chosen for my daughter! His other grandmother's name is Virginia. She is wonderful. And if we are blessed with a girl someday, her name will be Ellene Virginia Smith.
Whew. There's the girl story. That one was easy for us. The boy names... not so much.
Long before we were actually having a baby, we would throw out boy names to each other, but we could NEVER agree. One of Quinn's most memorable suggestions was Jethro. Shot down by Anaka immediately. I was an edgier name girl, which he didn't like: Maddox, McCall, things like that. No go with Quinn. So when we started reading Genesis together after we found out we were having a baby, and we both liked Abram, we grabbed it and stuck with it.
The other day, Quinn (who had been reading one of C.H. Spurgeon's books) came out for dinner and said: "What about the name Spurgeon?" One look from me and he knew how I felt about that one. I really like names with meaning and naming kids after faithful people, but they have to be good names, ya know? But while reading the introduction to the Puritan prayer book "The Valley of Vision" (which is an amazing book, by the way), I saw that many of Spurgeon's prayers were included and they cited his whole name: "Charles Haddon Spurgeon". "Haddon!" I told Quinn. "We could name the next one Haddon!" He agreed. At least for now. We'll see what happens when the time actually comes... if it actually comes.
Anyway, I started looking up Spurgeon quotes, because his prayers were so amazing. And I found one that I ended up using for a piece that might just end up in the baby's room...
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