Expecting the Unexpected: the name game

After hours upon hours upon HOURS of deliberation at the Valentine Nest, our baby boys have been named! The names "Charlotte" & "Eloise" came to us without any looking in baby books.  This experience has been the complete opposite! We have literally spent hours flipping through pages, have made multiple lists that end up having every named crossed off within 24 hours & have sat across from each other on the couch or at the kitchen table & tried to make a case for whatever our favorite name of the moment was.  We were all over the board on name styles, two names starting with the same letter, number of syllables etc. I think it would have been hard to name one boy so two was just crazy!  We have laughed, I have been extremely frustrated & we are delighted with our final choice.

Without further adieu, Baby A & Baby B will now be called.....

Owen was a favorite name for us in previous pregnancies. It fell by the wayside with two girls & got lost in the shuffle of the many lists this pregnancy.  We originally thought of using this name because of a man named John Owen.  John Owen was a Puritan & theologian from England that lived in the 17th century.  He was a church leader & throughout his life became engaged in writing various books which have influenced Robby in his understanding of theology & increased his love of God. 

We got excited about this name once again following another of Rob's early morning reading sessions on the back porch. It is simple, classic & has a person behind the name that a growing boy could learn about as he experiences God.  

Owen means "young warrior" & we pray that Owen who is right now the smaller of the two will fight to grow just as he needs to be born healthy & strong. 

After I share a bit about Anson, I can explain why we chose Marshall as Owen's middle name : ) 

Anson was a name I had never even heard until Rob mentioned it one evening. I shut down the idea immediately.  He reminded me that I felt similarly about the name "Eloise" when he first suggested it but it grew to be a favorite so I tried to consider the possibility  I think it only took about 24 hours before I was all in with this name especially when paired with "Owen."

Robby first heard of an actor named Anson & the part he played was a "gunslinger" type as Rob described him. We had a good laugh thinking about how we their names could possibly effect their future telling Owen that he was named after a theologian & Anson that he was named after a gunslinger ; )

Later we read that Anson means "son of the divine." We pray that Anson (and Owen) would grow to love Jesus  & would be like him.

"Ellis" was chosen because it is my maiden name.  I had always thought it would be neat to get to use that within a boys name but Rob was actually the one to suggest it, I was really excited!

The combination of Anson Ellis sounded very cowboyish to us which is right up our alley being from Texas & all. A man named Anson Jones was actually the 5th & final president of The Republic of Texas.  I think that sealed the deal for Rob ; ) We decided that Owen needed a middle name that would tie him into the Texas flair. I thought of Marshall one evening & Robby smiled that smile where I knew I had picked a winner. This rarely happens in the baby naming game.  Texas has the Texas Marshals branch of the US Marshals.  On top of those Texas History ties, both Marshall & Anson are cities in Texas! So, our little country boys will Lord willing be enjoying a Western/Texas themed nursery come next summer when it is time to move out of Mommy & Daddy's room.

Wow! I can't believe they have names! I thought they might have to be called "Baby A & Baby B" on their birth certificates.  My favorite part of having names for these boys is that we can pray for them individually by name.  We can pray that Owen will speed up on the growing taking exactly what he needs to catch up closer to his brother. We can pray that Owen will have just a bit more fluid in his amniotic sac on my next ultrasound.  We can pray that Anson who is currently "the boss" as the specialist described will sustain a good weight & amount of fluid while Owen catches up. We can pray that Owen & Anson get all their kung-fu fighting out of their system while in the womb ; ) We can pray that Owen & Anson will be protected in my womb & that we will be patient as we wait to meet them.

We are thankful today for Owen Marshall & Anson Ellis, our precious baby boys.