choosing oliver's name

Choosing a name was hard this time around! And even knowing the gender didn't help! Well, I guess it did a little since we didn't have to come up with girl names -- although we still have a huge list of girl names we love.  None of the boy names we had liked for Blake were high on the list. So we thought and thought. In fact, we went on a date to Barnes & Noble a few months ago for a date night and we stayed until we had at least 20 boy names we would consider. But some quickly fell off our list and we were down to 3 by the time he was born.

We had been praying that we could choose a name that would fit our little guy, but it wasn't until a few days into his life that we knew for sure what his name should be.

And Oliver Ellis it was!

Oliver is a French name. Of course, we love Europe! But his name has more significance than that. It means "olive tree". The biblical olive tree symbolizes fruitfulness and beauty and dignity. Extending an olive branch signifies an offer of peace.

And that is what sealed the deal. Within just a few minutes of him being born, we could tell that our little Oliver brought a lot of heavenly peace with him.

Yes, he's only a few weeks old, but we can see that he has a sweet, content, calm spirit about him that has given us a tremendous amount of peace.

Having Evelyn was a rough adjustment for me. So much so in fact, that I wondered if we would ever get to 3. But having Oliver in our family has been such a sweet, peaceful experience. I feel content with who I am and have felt so much peace since he's been home with us.

Ellis. Ellis is Brandon's mom's dad's name. Brandon has always spoke so highly of his grandpa Ellis Wilson. When our little family visited them in Oregon earlier this year, I came to grow and love him and his sweet wife Millie so much. They are the kindest people. Ellis has a great sense of humor. He loves serving others. The day we left, we found him out detailing and washing our car just because. And when we called them to share our news of Oliver being born, he was out helping someone from his Catholic church congregation hang up towel bars in their house. He is a good, good man.

He has an awesome workshop/shed that is bigger than most garages. He is handy. Brandon remembers going on tractor rides as a boy and helping him in their huge garden.

Although we differ in religions, he is spiritual and devoted to his faith.

He loves to read. He has about 1,000 National Geographic Magazines in his library and loves to share cool facts and things he has read about.

He is super funny. Brandon always loves talking to him and has many fond memories of sitting at this very window seat in their house and chatting.


Ellis is a wonderful man. We can't wait for our Oliver Ellis to meet him. Hopefully soon!

So Oliver Ellis. Thanks for bringing us peace! We can't wait to see who you become! We love you so.