So I like to have a reason for everything. Ever since I was a small child I liked a full explanation of anything and everything I was told. I never felt like I was being difficult or argumentative (even if my parents disagree with that statement). I've just always wanted to understand a decision, a choice, an action, a consequence, etc. When my children start to get that way too, I try to remember that I am the same way.... I can't be upset that they have inherited my personality. :)
I have been labeled as an "over-communicator" many times in my personal and professional life. I am an open book and I guess I just expect others to be the same. Most people are not. I understand that. I just try to pry it out of them or ask a bunch of questions. I don't feel like I am being nosey or rude. I am just naturally curious about people, their thoughts, their feelings, their history, and their plans.
I am not embarrassed or ashamed of things that I have done or said in the past, unless it has hurt someone or made them uncomfortable and then I stew about it for the rest of my life.... I have a hard time forgetting those kinds of things. I can remember where I was when I had a conversation with someone and I can normally remember verbatim what was said by each party (or at least the gist of what was said). If you ever forget something and I was present, just ask me, I might remember! (Maybe)
All this being said, I am an over-thinking, over-communicating, sensitive person. Maybe that is why I like to blog. There is no response system here other than comments, but I don't need any comments. I don't even need someone to read this. I am glad you do and I'm happy that some of you are enjoying reading what I write, but I created this blog for me. Its so I record a history of my family's experiences, my thoughts and feelings at different times in my life. I used to filter this blog a lot more when I would think about certain people reading it. But as more time goes on, I've thought, "who cares!?!" I am not writing this for them to feel better and feel all warm and fuzzy about me. I am writing this for me to get things out of my system....
So on this 5th paragraph into my blog post, I will get to the point! (Finally, right?) ;) I wanted to talk about our children's names. When Bonham and I chose the names for each of our children, we didn't look so much at the "meanings" of their names as much as we looked at the sound of it, the initials, the family tie it has, and overall if we liked it. But... we did put a lot (I mean A LOT) of thought behind them. Most names we were able to decide on fairly quickly.
When Bonham and I were dating, we picked out 4 names for our children in one evening's conversation. 2 boy names and 2 girl names: Andrew Bonham, Robert Wesley, Rebecca Faith, and Kelly Jo. Quick explaination: I love the name Andrew, but we didn't use it because it's too common for us after all. I liked Wesley, but didn't love it... it just seemed to flow. Rebecca Faith was just a pretty name. Kelly Jo is kind of country and it was kind of to honor my Aunt Kelley and my mom (Darla Jo) who I love, love, love. And yes, Aunt Kelley is spelled correctly, but she always told me not to use that spelling... haha!
Before Jayna was born, we had her name picked out. Bonham had mispronounced the name "Jana". I told him that we had to add a "Y" so that people would pronounce it correctly. We used Ray for her middle name after my dad and I loved the flow of the name together... I love the way it looks when I write it: Jayna Ray. So cute! Anyway, as we got closer to her birth, I had a panicked moment when I questioned if that should be her name. For a few days, I decided that she would be Kaitlyn. I love that name, but I am so thankful that it was just a phase, because Kaitlyn is used a lot and there are hardly any Jaynas out there. There are some and it is a real name, but it's not very common. Side note: if she had been a boy, her name would have been George because that's what Bonham wanted and I couldn't think of any names that I just loved at that time. When she was born, I told my mom and Bonham, "She doesn't look like a "Jayna"." They asked what she looked like and I said, "Precious Little Baby", but that doesn't flow well with our last name, so she is still Jayna. ;) I can't imagine her being anything else! She has many names though: Jayna, Jayna Ray, Ray-Ray, Rayna Jay, Sister, Stinky #1, and Shanna (by George) - it was Sissy for a long time, but he is learning to speak better and better each day.
With Barrett, I believe we picked out his name before we even got pregnant and I never, ever waivered on it. We have a history of Roberts in our family, so it was kind of automatic that we would have 1 Robert. Bonham is Robert Bonham, his dad is Robert Preston, Jr., his grandfather is Robert Preston, Sr. My father-in-law is the only one who goes by Robert though. The other Roberts go by their middle names. Anyway, before we got pregnant with Barrett, Bonham had been watching a lot of Bear Grylls on t.v. and he wanted to name, seriously NAME, our child "Bear". I vetoed that ASAP and said that we could name him Barrett and call him Bear. Side note: if he would have been a girl, he would have been Ella Marie. And now, he is lovingly referred to all of the following: Barrett, Bear-Bear, The Bear, Burrito, Stinky #2, and Bearbet (by George).
It took me almost 5 years to convince Bonham that we needed, yes needed another baby! ;) We also had his name picked out before we got pregnant. Our girl name was Cecilia Marie, after my great grandmother (Cecilia) and my middle name is Marie. Our boy name was George Bonham, after Bonham's grandpa, George Bonham Wright. We had some people who loved George's name and some that were not too fond of it, but again, we never waivered. Sometimes, we joke, "Did we really name our child George?", but it fits him so well! He doesn't have as many nicknames yet, but we call him: George, Georgie, Georgie baby, and Stinky #3!
When we got pregnant with Joey, we struggled with names. We felt like we had used all of the good ones. I knew I wanted to use Joseph for a boy or Jo for a girl (both as middle names). My mother-in-law picked out Radford, which I liked, but didn't love. I honestly thought we would end up having a girl, to level out the house - 2 girls, 2 boys, done! I had planned on using Ella Marie (recycled from Barrett's pregnancy) because Bonham had gotten over using Cecilia and we couldn't think of another name that we were sold on for a girl. Choosing names is HARD! On the day we went to the hospital to induce, because we knew that he had passed, we were packing my overnight bag and discussing a name. I asked if we could use Joseph as the first name since it's the only one we were set on at that time. Of course, Bonham agreed. I wanted to use Charles as a middle name, because my sister-in-law lost a snowflake baby (frozen embryo preparing for transfer) a few years back and I had named him, even in the cryogenic state. I called him Jacob Charles. I wanted our angel baby boys to have the same initials. My sister-in-law approved and off we went to the hospital. After we delivered and they confirmed that we had a boy, Bonham suggested we use Radford as his middle name instead. When you birth a child under 20 weeks, you are not required to name them, get a death certificate, or have a burial/cremation. Unfortunately, they are considered "tissue" and they are discarded with the biohazard materials. Fortunately for us, we had an awesome nurse who suggested cremation and we chose that option, so we could bring him home. We named him Joseph Radford and refer to him as Joey.
And last, but not least.... Bowie. Man, talk about a challenge coming up with all of these boy names! By this pregnancy, we were pretty set on going back to our original girl name selection of Kelly Jo or combining two choices and going with Kella Marie. Again, didn't love either of them, just liked them and couldn't think of any other names that weren't too common and that would flow with our last name, etc. I really felt like this pregnancy would be another boy because we have had so many now, but then I would think, "surely it can't be another boy!" LOL I liked a few different names: Bowie, Davis, and Ellis. All of them were vetoed initially by Bonham. He wanted to use Opey (or Opie or OP - not sure). I agreed at first, because I figured it would change and it did... really soon as that positive test! ;) Bonham would test out the names for a few days by referring to the baby as one or the other. He knew that I liked Bowie the most, so he agreed, but he wanted to use it as a middle name. Another challenge to find a good first name.... ugh. All of our children have a family name of some sort, so of course we wanted to keep that going. We agreed on my grandfather's name, Edward as his first name. My grandfather (Papo) passed away in 2000, but I knew that my Mamo and family would like it. Edward Bowie Calk - it has a nice ring to it. :)
This blog post was a whole lot longer than I intended. I hope you're still with me! Haha! I am actually getting to the purpose of this post. What?!?! :)
I was looking up name meanings the other day and I thought that the meanings of the angel babies' names were kind of interesting..... we already knew the meaning of the older 3.
They are:
Jayna - God is gracious; Ray - Ray of sunshine
Robert - Bright with glory; Barrett - Strong as a bear
George - Farmer Bonham - One who is considered a good man
Joseph - God will increase Radford - Residence
Edward - Wealthy or prosperous guardian Bowie - Fair haired
Even though we didn't choose these names because of their meanings, they are so true an accurate of our children. I may write more about my thoughts behind this at a later time.... Exhausted yet? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment