It's A............

It's A........

Girl! A sweet little baby sister girl!

I had many, many dreams about a baby girl, and Isaac and Hope predicted a baby sister about 95% of the time. Naturally, we are thrilled. So bring on 2 prom dress wearers, 2 dancers, 2 weddings, 2 sweet little girls in matching dresses and bows. As much as I love my brother, I always wanted a sister and it thrills me that my girls will have each other. And they already have the best big brother in the world looking out for them. 

And her name.....

We have a kind of formula that we like in baby names. 

We choose the first name based on an attribute of our faith. Isaac was named for the biblical Isaac, who was born to parents who couldn't conceive a baby, and whose faith took some hard hits. Hope was named for the Hope that we have in Christ, that even when things are scary and uncertain, that hope can carry you through, knowing that God is for you. 

Our middle names are family names: Isaac's middle name, Wade, is after Ryland and his father Freddy Wayne, who modernized the "Wayne" to "Wade" when Ryland was born. And Hope's middle name is Angeline (An-juh-leen) after my (Grand) Pa's mother, Mahalia Angeline (An-juh-line) Cobb Harmon, who was a woman of faith who touched lives even after she left this earth. 

So this sweet little girl will be: 

Eden Kenlie Russell

We chose Eden for several reasons: 1) Eden means "delight" and since our plan is for this to be our last baby we want to remember to delight in her and not rush the time. It also reminds us of how God delights in us, and to live a life worthy of that delight. 2) Eden was also named for the biblical Garden of Eden, where creation happened, and where God walked with man. People call it paradise. We want Eden to walk with her creator. And after the loss of three babies, getting to be the parents of three children is our own version of paradise. 3) I don't like names that are trendy, super popular, or spelled weird. (Note: I love lots of kids who have trendy names, have lots of kids in their class with the same name, or names that are spelled weird. And I love the parents who named those kids! Just a preference thing!) Eden is neither trendy, overused (I don't even know an Eden), or spelled weird. I didn't break any of my rules. 

The middle name, Kenlie, is in honor of two people that we love very much, Ryland's late Grandfather, Kenneth Bush, and his grandmother Rosalie. It's a mash-up of their names. Together they created an amazing legacy of serving God and others, generosity, and a love for family that we hope will be part of our little girl's legacy. 

Through the coming months we are excited to pray for our girl by name. We are so in love already and I can't wait to start decorating her peacock nursery. 

Eden, our baby, we can't wait to hold you, and welcome you into this crazy family.