Baby Girl's Name!

I have not shared online yet what name we have chosen for Baby Girl, even though we've known it since sometime in October. Let's back up a bit.

Jonathan and I have always had names we liked. We've agreed on a few in fact, before we ever were married! But somehow when we found out we were really pregnant with a little girl, all the "pretty" names we'd thought we'd use didn't seem to fit. Jonathan was deployed and we'd talk and look up names online based on their meaning, but never really come to an agreement where we felt "this is it." He finally told me one day, "We just need to pray for her name. God knows it already, He just has to reveal it to us." So, that's what we did. We prayed. For about 2 months.

One day, over chat, Jonathan told me a name had come to his mind on the flight he'd had the previous night. He said it was "Eliana". He didn't know what it meant or how to spell it. So he looked it up right then. It means, "The Lord has answered." (I knew that, as I'd had an online friend use it over a year ago.) Isn't that amazing? We just knew, this was her name! We're going to spell it Elyana. It will be Elyana Ruth. Ruth means "companion, friend". We've always loved the name Ruth, and the book. But long ago, before we were even trying for a baby, I told Jonathan (seriously joking) that I'd prefer a girl first, to have a "little buddy" to go places with, talk to all day, and have tea/coffee with. I, of course, changed my mind quickly and just prayed so long for a healthy live baby, no matter anything else. But the fact that God's given us a girl is a sweet reminder of what friendship I plan to have with my daughter (as I have with my mom!).

So that's it! Elyana Ruth. We can't wait.