{Eliana Mae}

I've had several people ask why we chose the name "Eliana" so here it goes...

When we were pregnant with Trice, one of the girl names I really liked was "Ellie." Nick crossed it out on my list and wrote "NO!" next to it. Shot down.

That was okay, because Ellie Edwards doesn't really flow well.

I also had another name picked out -- Elisabeth (after my friend Lauren Elisabeth) and I wanted to call her Ellie for short. We knew for sure the middle name would be Mae after my grandma Jaris and his grandma Veta. (I found out I was expecting baby #2 a couple days after my grandma's funeral).

Fast forward to last May. My co-teacher's son had a baby and named her Eliana. When she called me with the news, I instantly fell in love with the name. Nick said he hated it. Shot down again.

When I found out I was pregnant again, we started talking baby names like day 2 because that's just what I do when I find out I'm pregnant. I can't think about anything but baby once I read the word "Pregnant." We had two we were choosing between -- one of them was Ella (I can tell you that because obviously if we had another girl we wouldn't name her Ella now.) 

We could NOT decide which of the two names we were going to choose. Neither were super unique, but I was okay with that. Ella seemed really popular, though, but again that didn't really bother me.

About a week before baby arrived, I had a near panic attack over our girl name. We know for sure what we'll name another boy - like there won't even be a discussion ever about it - but I was certain this baby was a girl, and I wanted a name ready to go. I kept telling Nick my body wouldn't go into labor until we knew. 

So one night while lying in bed, I found a list of baby names on Pinterest. I read through the list and halfway down was "Eliana." I read it in the same tone I'd read all the others, but Nick stopped me and said, "I really like that one!" I could have (okay, I did) smacked him! Seriously?! Anyway, I jumped for joy (okay, I said, "Yay!") I told him how we could call her Ellie (which I loved and sort of sounds like Ella which he loved). My grandma's name is Elaine so it seemed similar to that, too. Win win. We said "Eliana Mae" 1,000 times and then went to sleep, I think. 

When Eliana came out, I looked at her and called her both the names.. at this point Ella was out. We just knew Eliana was her name. It means "God has answered" and Eliana's pregnancy and delivery was absolutely an answered prayer. Not only that, but her birth helped me find a strength in myself that I never knew I had -- all because of Him. 

So.. Eliana Mae it is. Or Ellie. But I prefer you don't call her Ellie Mae. We aren't hillbillies here. 

**We've received many not so nice comments on both of our children's names lately.We didn't name them like "butt crack" or "fart face" (sorry, I spend all day with a 3-year-old who did in fact tell me today that Eliana's name is "Eliana FART Edwards" .. isn't he sweet?!) Anyway, one person said, "Where do you even come up with these names?" Another person said, "I feel so bad for Trice. Some day he will hate his name because he doesn't like the Cyclones." (For the record, "Jack Trice Stadium" is a place but happens to be named after a man name "Jack Trice" .. if you needed clarification  .. and Jack Trice was a pretty noble man. I hope my son grows up to be as brave as him. Plus, I picked Trice because I thought it was adorable. We get a lot of comments about how everyone thought her name was "Elaina" and how that would have been so pretty. You're right. It is. It's also not her name, and her name is pretty, too. I'm probably a little sensitive and need to just get over it, but if you don't like my child's name then guess what? You don't have to name your child that. Problem solved. We probably don't like your name either.. just kidding.**

And then there's this song.. and after hearing it, why WOULDN'T you name your daughter Eliana?!

Eliana - Watermark

Now I'm holding out hope that we get to use our other boy name!!