bump #80: choosing baby's name

Truth be told, we've had these names and more picked out for a long time now. Years. So the second we found out that our baby was a boy, we started calling him by name.

Oliver Vance

"Ollie Bear"

I always liked the name Oliver and Vance is Andrew's middle name and a family name passed down for generations. Easy. Plus, it turns out I love names with v's in them so it works perfectly!

I don't really care about name meanings and such. But I remember looking up the meaning of the name Oliver at one time or another and being laughably surprised to learn that it's Germanic roots mean "Elf Army." How fitting, being that I'm of such short stature!  Perhaps it's just a clue that he will be way into Lord of the Rings and one of my favorite Will Ferrell Christmas movies. Needless to say, that certainly wasn't enough to cross it off my list. For more hilarious oliver=elf information click here. 

Oliver also means "Olive Tree" or peace and reminds me of the story of Noah in the Bible. He releases a dove hoping that it will come back with signs of life. The dove returns with an olive branch, which, to me, symbolizes hope.

To me, Oliver means hope.

Hope that we would have a family, hope that God would work a miracle, and hope for the future.

I haven't gotten a good enough look at our little Ollie to see if he has elf ears, but here's hoping...

that he doesn't!