Banana Fanana Fo Fanana

A baby's name is probably one of the biggest decisions you make before they arrive. It's probably also one of the first things you start thinking about even before you make that first doctor's appointment. You think about how it'll sound when you're singing lullabies to him or when you're yelling at him to stop getting into things. 

I think Dillon and I had probably talked about names that we liked for our children before we  even thought about having children. When we found out we were pregnant though, it became pretty serious. The going back and forth to determine the name was a constant discussion, and we each came up with names that made the other person go "Really? You want to name them THAT?!" 

In November, I felt that we needed to decide on a name. That was the time when we found out if the baby was a boy or girl and I was getting tired of referring to him as "It" or as Dillon had lovingly started calling it "Cleatus" - a story in and of itself. (Dillon came home one day when I was first pregnant, proudly exclaiming he'd decided what we should call the baby. "Cleatus - you know, like Cleatus the Fetus." And somehow, that little nickname has stuck... anyways, we can move on now.) 

Of course, I had a girl's name picked out. There wasn't much discussion on that one, I had always liked the name Cecilia - yes, like Simon & Garfunkel's song - and since we wanted a Biblical type name to be included, we chose Grace as the middle name. The boy's name on the other hand was a little difficult. We went back and forth many times on what it should be. We finally landed on two names, Miles Avery or Lucas Grant. I really liked the name "Avery" but it seemed like every time we went out I heard little girls being called to their mamas with the name Avery. So it was back to the drawing board. We tried Miles Lucas but it just didn't seem to work so finally we decided, OK, Lucas Grant it is. 

Dillon always reminded me that we still had months to decide and until his name was on the birth record it could always be changed. 

After last week, I started to think about the life my grandpa had lived. He was a hard-worker, took care of his family always, provided for them and for people in the community. He had many of the traits that I find to be a good man. And I thought about his name, James (a name he also shares with my dad, who has many of the same traits of my grandfather). It is a strong name, a manly name, a Godly name. I brought it up to Dillon that I may want to change the baby's middle name. We discussed it a few times and have decided that, yes, it would be a very special thing to name our baby Lucas James. He'll still be called Luke, but he'll carry on the memory of my grandpa and share the name with my dad. 

So in April, we'll be pleased to welcome Lucas James to our little family. A very exciting and special time indeed.

My Grandma Helen and Grandpa James with me on my 1st Birthday.