Names that tell a story...

This is the topic on mine and David's minds most right now as we try to find the perfect name for our newest family member. It may seem rather early to some seeing as how I am only 10 weeks but I am sure it will take us the next 30 weeks if not longer to do so. David said we can't think of any more first names until we settle on middle names, he likes to be able to say the whole name out loud before deciding if he likes it or not. I am sure most find a middle name that goes with the first name that they like but I suppose this makes us a little different. We like our children's names to tell a story... we feel since we get to pick the first name we like and middle names for the most part are useless they should be used to honor someone or tell something beautiful about your life to be carried on in the next generation. Neither of us believe in naming children after ourselves, although I know this is a popular tradition and by only pure coincidence do David and Kain have the same middle name, only because Kain Samuel sounded better than Kain Dean.

Kain was named after David's Grandfather, Samuel, whom he has such fond childhood memories of so that was picked out from the very beginning. It just so happens David was named after him as well but that was not the reason for the name being given... I suppose the name was actually given for the same reason to each of them... for an amazing person that impacted lives greatly.

My middle name is Rose and I was named after the Dr. and dear friend's of my parents that helped them with my home birth. Rose was their last name. So considering our Dr. with both Kain and Gage was also a friend of ours and given the way childbirth most often happens in hospitals these days we were grateful to have such a natural minded Dr. in our corner. So we stayed with that tradition with Gage and gave him the middle name of Peri after her.

Aubriel's middle name is after my Grandpa. It was a struggle for my husband to get past the fact that she was being named after a man but knew how very important it was to me. My Grandpa meant the world to me and I know I did to him as well, or so my father tells me often. I have had many male cousins named after him but little girls made my Grandpa's heart melt and with only ever having one daughter of his own and living long enough to see two of his grand-daughters I desperately wanted to give my daughter the middle name of Keith after him.

When Brodric came along our dear friend and midwife, Becky had helped with both Aubriel and Brody's home births so we decided to keep it even, stay again with tradition and honor her with our deep gratitude for all she had done for us and give him the middle name of Becket. It just seemed so right.

So now that leaves us with naming this little one... and what to do... and how to do it. Do we pick a family name? If so which side of the family? Do we try to find a neutral name with deep meaning for both of us? David and I have known one another for over 15 years one would think it wouldn't be so hard! About the most neutral people in our lives we have already used.... my brother and our friend, Jason, the reason we met. Aubriel's first name is a combination of the letters from my mother and brother's names and Brodric is a combination of David's grandpa's middle name and Jason's middle name. So that kind of leaves out simply naming a child after my mother... because honestly who deserves more honor than a mother or grandmother... really? What kind of parents would any of us be without them, even if some of us even had poor experiences, we know what not to do, right? Ha, ha, ha. That of course was not the case with my mother. I was incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful mother that continues to make me crazy on a daily basis and I will do the same with my children because good or bad that is our job.

So now here we sit trying to find a middle name, that tells a story, one that our children will hopefully be proud to continue to tell, that isn't "after" us necessarily, but shares with them an important part of our lives which in turn ends up being an important part of theirs.