the name game

Naming this little diva was SO HARD! I felt like I talked to Sam about it every single day, called my best friends way too often to discuss it, and just altogether stressed way too much. The pressure is REAL when you are naming your baby. You want the name to be a reflection of their little personality and personally I had so many requirements. I wanted the name to be different, but not too 'weird', short and simple, classy but not too traditional, girly but not too feminine, and it goes on and on and on.

And then all those other classic road blocks come into play when you are trying to figure out a name. Like I would love a name, and Sam would hate it, and vice versa. Or I would like a name but if I knew someone with that name that I didn't want to be constantly reminded of, then it went out the window. Or if you like a name that is just too popular at the time your baby is born. Or if your family members already have the names you want hahaha but really it's tough.

So finally, by like 36 weeks pregnant we had 5 NAMES. Hahaha I know, too much. But I wanted to have lots of options so that I didn't feel like I had to choose out of 2 or something. But, then I didn't want too many options or else I knew I would just spiral and never decide. I had made these really cute name cards before hand with all of the name options on them and we decided we would name her when we saw her. It actually came in handy to actually see the names next to her face and try to picture calling her them.

I won't share all 5 names just because I learned the hard way that you really don't want to hear people's opinions on your names before hand and we might use them for the next babies.. ;)

Once she came we didn't know right away what her name would be but we both agreed to narrow down the names to 2, Wren and Rory. We had a really cute middle name picked out for the name Wren that I had wanted for a long, long time and it just doesn't work with the name Rory and so I was totally leaning more towards Wren JUST so she could have the middle name I wanted. But, it just wasn't fitting right. And then we really couldn't figure out a middle name for Rory that would work so that was sort of throwing us off that name.

It was about 26 hours after Rory was born and we still hadn't decided on the name, and the birth certificate people kept calling our room asking for the name and so I finally told them to not call us back until 3:00 pm that day and then we would for sure have the name. So it was literally 2:45 pm and we STILL hadn't decided.

Well, then Sam finally said to me that even though he liked the name Wren, we shouldn't name her something just so she could have the middle name we wanted her to have because in reality her first name is what was more important (duh) so we should focus more on the first name rather than the middle.

So, I said "Ok well what about Rory Lee?" Sam's middle name and his dad's middle name is Lee as well as my Grandpa Fardig's middle name. So I liked that it was sort of a family name from both sides and it was a really short, cute, and unisex middle name. Sam (who wasn't totally sold on the name Rory) automatically said he really liked that and so we decided to just think about it for a minute and Sam went and looked up the names online just to see if they had any meaning. Wren came up as a name of a small bird, and Rory came up to be the name of the last king of Ireland and when Sam told me that we both really liked that idea because she was born on St. Patrick's Day and we liked that little connection.

Sam took Rory and was holding her and we literally had 2 minutes left until they were going to call and so I just said to call her Wren and then to call her Rory so we could sort of imagine calling her that and to see how it sounded and felt. He looked at her and said "Hi Wren.." and I liked the way it sounded but I just didn't feel like I thought I would when we decided on a name and so then he said "Hi Rory..." and I automatically just started crying and just remember nodding my head and saying, "That's it!" and seriously 1 second later the phone rang and it was the birth certificate office asking for her name! The timing was awesome and I was SO HAPPY because I love, love, love the name and when I first told Sam about it like 3-4 months before hand he said no and I was so bummed.

Out of all of the names we had, I really really wanted her name to be Rory, but at the same time that was the name I least expected her to have! And now when we look at her I can't even imagine her name being anything else. I love it!

Side note: I've always loved the show Gilmore Girls and me and my sisters were constantly watching it growing up but I never ever thought about the name Rory until I saw it while on Pinterest as a nick name for the name "Aurora"! But, I don't mind the connection to Gilmore Girls because it's the greatest show.

RORY LEE, WE LOVE YOU!



#BLESSED

We decided to bless Rory at only 3 weeks old! We knew that it was the only time that both of our families would be together at once and so we planned an in home blessing for Rory! We were also graduating that weekend with Sam's sister Jessica, so it was a busy day! 

We had such a great weekend with our families and it was fun to have Rory meet so many of her cousins and Aunts and Uncles all at once! We also got to introduce her to our best friends!

Like I said, the day of the blessing and graduation was so busy and my 3 week post baby body FELT IT. I was in a lot of pain after all of the running around, but it was really worth it! 

Sam's awesome sister let us have the blessing in her home which was just so special. I had made a few little decorations (nothing special) to have out with the quilt my mom made her, some pictures of her, and then we decided to have some food for everyone who came out. Laura had just had a fun party a little before this and so she had some other cute decorations to add AND she ordered these ADORABLE cookies for the party that were to die for!

The actual blessing was short and sweet. My dad conducted and said some nice things, and then my mom led the music, Sam's mom said the prayer, and Sam's dad offered some advice and read a really beautiful poem. We sang "I Am a Child of God" and as soon as it started I immediately just felt the Spirit come into the room and I remember just looking down at Rory and the reality of what a MIRACLE it is to have a baby and to go through pregnancy, delivery, and motherhood is just such a blessing and the BEST thing I've ever done. 

Sam followed that up with just the sweetest blessing I've ever heard. He was so good at it, like everything he does, and he just said exactly what I was feeling and thinking. At one point, I felt like I really wanted Sam to say to Rory that we just love her so much and will always love her no matter what and in my mind I said "Come on Sam, say it!" hahaha and immediately his sentence finished and he literally said "Rory, your mother and I love you more than anything and will always be there for you throughout your entire life." I was so shocked. I felt like we had some husband/wife telepathy going on, but it really was amazing. 

I loved her blessing, and I feel like I'll probably always bless my babies at home with the most important people around us.

Rory really is just so #blessed.






























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