Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters... Introducing our little one's name :)

If you didn't catch the hint from my facebook post, Violet is getting a little sister. I'm ECSTATIC! I'd have been happy to have a little boy, but I don't think there is anything wrong with having a preference one way or the other, and I really wanted another little girl.

Her name, well, it kinda requires some explanation, but to start, I SWEAR I'M NOT NAMING MY GIRLS FOR SHADES OF PURPLE. Now that I've got that out, we will call her "Lila." Her full name is Lilac Jane Joyce Jaeger.

1.I want my girls to know they are beautiful so I gave them names of flowers. Violet's flower name was a nod to my early love of reading The Boxcar Children. Lilac's name was inspired by my favorite movie of all time: The Holiday Inn (which is also the first movie Cameron and I ever watched together). One of the girls in the movie is named "Lila" and I thought it sounded pretty.

2. As well as being beautiful, we want our girls to be smart. I like giving them names with literary ties (Cameron and I both desire for our girls to love reading like we do). Jane is in fact a nod to my favorite author of all time, Jane Austen. The fact that her middle names Jane Joyce are also reminiscent of James Joyce was a happy coincidence :)

3. We also want our girls to be close to their family, so we are giving them family names. Violet was named for Cameron's maternal grandmother Grace. Lila we are naming after my maternal grandmother Joyce. Regardless of all else, my grandmother has this legacy to offer: she stayed with my grandfather for better or worse and in sickness and health. Sometimes "worse" is something we never imagined before we got married, and "sickness" can be years and years of struggle, but I believe that marriage is sacred and our vows are meant to be honored for life. That's something I want to pass on to my daughters.

 So there you have it. Her name is long, and certainly less than common, but I love it. We are identified by our names for the rest of our lives, so they might as well accompany a meaning worth identifying with. God makes us in His own image. He makes us beautiful and intelligent. He created us for relationship with Himself and others. If we fail in other ways, at the very least our girls will grow up sure of these things because even their names will testify to their identity in Christ.

A little note of joy

Being a parent is pretty awesome most days. Just sayin'. Don't get me wrong, the teething is terrible, my child's inability to tell me in words what is wrong (therefore resulting in many mini meltdowns) stinks, and about a billion other little annoyances make the job less than desirable at times, but all in all having a little girl is pretty amazing.

Tonight we were making dinner in the kitchen and had Violet sitting up on the counter with music playing and while she was bopping her head and flailing her arms in an attempt to dance, I took Cameron's hand and we started dancing. Her little eyes lit up and she busted out giggles of glee. We let her hop down and she went back and forth between the two of us taking our hands and dancing around the kitchen with us.

She has this way of stealing the show in our family. We think we are watching a movie or eating dinner or doing any normal thing and then I find that actually we are just watching Violet do those things.She is absolutely captivating. I mean it. When her little eyes light up and she smiles and starts dancing we can't help but stop and stare as if mesmerized. It's almost as if her joy fills us with joy.

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. - Psalm 126:2-3 (NIV)

That's what it is. Children are a gift, a great blessing. Just by trusting us with Violet, the Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.