What’s in a name?

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If you remember my little poll that I had on the side of my blog, you could see that Elijah was not an option. But Eli was. And it didn’t win… but it was close.

But besides using all of you kind reader’s input on deciding our child’s name, there was a little more that went into it. And I love how we decided his name. And so I want to share it with you.

I loved the name Eli from the beginning. Adam said no. He said it reminded him of someone he knew named Eli who was annoying. So that seemed to end the argument. But I just felt like Eli was a good name for our baby.

Later on, me and Adam were talking about names {again} and he said, “I only like Eli if it’s short for Elijah.” I about gagged. I did not want to be a Bible named family. I mean I liked the names in the Bible and of course Eli is a name in there. But I felt that was more subtle than Elijah. I mean everyone knows Elijah!

Then Adam surprised me and said, “I want him to have someone to emulate. I don’t want to make up a name with no meaning and he doesn’t have anyone to look towards as a namesake.”

So we pulled out the Bible Dictionary and looked up Elijah. And it honestly took my breath away.

[Elijah means: Jehovah is my God]

His recorded words are few but forceful, and his deeds are explicit evidences of his strength of will, force of character, and personal courage. He was an example of solid faith in the Lord. His life closed dramatically; “there appeared a chariot of fire, . . . and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven,” (2 Kgs. 2: 11-12) and thus was he translated.

At that time, I felt like Adam was right. Elijah was a wonderful person to name our baby after. But it still wasn’t set in stone… yet.

Then when our Elijah was born, we had such a hard time nailing down a name. I like Eli, Adam wasn’t sure, and the book of 100,000+ baby names was only making things more complicated.

The last night in the hospital, I was up most of the night holding my baby and looking at his little face. I kept saying the names we had narrowed down over and over again. And the only one that felt at all natural was Elijah.

Adam woke up the next morning and I told him how I felt. I told him how strong my feelings were toward the name Elijah and I wanted him to feel the same. I handed our little one over to him and he held him and rocked him for a few minutes while looking down at his face. Adam then looked up at me and said, “Yeah. That’s his name.”

So Elijah it was!

It was kind of hard getting used to it at first because I was calling him “baby” for three days. I second guessed myself every time I said his name aloud and doubted all the birth certificate paperwork.

But now when I look at him and see him smiling up at me, I know it was the right name to choose. He is my baby Eli and there is no doubt in my mind anymore. And all I can hope for is that he will someday emulate the prophet he was named after and know of his great worth. He is a miraculous blessing in our lives. And through him and my experiences these 3 short months, I have found my own personal courage and solid faith in the Lord.

On Motherhood: Part 3

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Having a newborn is a lot harder than I thought. I am tired {most of the time}, I don’t always know what he wants and sometimes he refuses to be put down.

But I love it. I absolutely love it.

I love him. I love the sweet spirit he brings into our home. I love that he makes me want to be a better mother everyday. I love that he makes me want to do everything I can to draw close to my Heavenly Father and the Savior so I can teach him as he grows. I love that he makes me want to try my hardest to be worthy to be his mother {for eternity}.

At night I sing him Primary songs to try to get him to sleep. As I was singing the last line of “I Wonder When He Comes Again” the other night, I remembered my parents singing it to me when I was little. When I heard the words “I’m sure he’ll call his little ones to gather round his knee” I longed to be one of the little children he calls forward. That little child is now my own son that will be called to sit upon the Savior’s knee.

I then sang "Love Is Spoken Here" and couldn’t finish. It hit me that when my child sings that song in Primary, he would think of me. HIS MOTHER. Kneeling in family prayer and “hearing the words I whisper.” I want to be the best for him. I want him to know that I love him and I love the Lord.

I love my family. And I love being a mother. {FINALLY} being a mother! I know I can live all my family {forever}.

On Motherhood: Part 2

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I have always wanted to be a mother. Ever since I was a little girl and would read to my cabbage patch dolls and play house with my friends. I would even dress up my cat in our old baby clothes and carry her around like a baby.

I always wanted to take care of a baby and nurture a choice spirit of our Heavenly Father. I wanted my own family. I took every opportunity I could get to babysit the kids in the neighborhood or take care of my little cousins. I thought of all the fun things I would do with my own children someday and how great it would be to be a mom.

When I first found out I was pregnant I have admit those were not the first thoughts I had. I thought of my schooling and my temporal goals. I thought I was a failure because I didn’t think I would graduate anymore after all my hard work (and loans…) In short, I was selfish. And I am ashamed that it was like that.

Then pregnancy happened. And pregnancy was {so hard.} And I thought even more of how crazy this is. I thought so many times that I wouldn’t make it. And I thought a baby would just be too much right now. But I knew the Lord had a bigger plan than my own.

And then my precious baby was born. And all those thoughts completely vanished. I never thought I could love someone so much! I wanted nothing more at that moment than to just be {Elijah’s mother.}

more to come…

 

On Motherhood: Part 1

Before I continue on after my two month hiatus, please watch this and enjoy. And know that I love my Heavenly Father, my Savior, my son and my husband.

More on this to come.