What's In A Name...

Like many couples, Nate and I had talked baby names different times before we were even pregnant the first time. With the exception of  "Hannah", our choices changed with each pregnancy, but stayed along a similar theme.

"Hannah" was the first name we had considered for a girl. It means "favored or grace". I always liked the story of Hannah in the Bible. She completely trusted God  to give her the children she desired. As for Nate, he liked  how it could be spelled the same way forward and backward!

"Elijah" means "my God is Jehovah". He was a prophet in the Old Testament and again a great man of God. He performed many miracles and was taken to heaven in a chariot and never died. By choosing Elijah's name for him we set our them for our kids names. The next baby would need a Biblical name ending with "-ah". Sounds easy right?

"Keilah" was a city in Judah and means "fortress". I love how there is a sense of strength in her name. David fled to the city of Keilah when Saul was chasing him and he saved the people of Keilah  from the Philistines. Her name came to be just a week or so before she was born. Nate and I thought we had agreed on other names, but realized they weren't the same. I'm actually glad that happened because I love this name so much more than the others!

Both of my girls share the same middle name. "Lee" is my middle name as well as my two sisters, my mom, and my two aunts. It is special to me that I can share the same name with them.

Nate chose "Payton" for Elijah's middle name because he admires Walter Payton. He was a great football player, but an even greater man off the field.

So that's how our babies' names came to be!