What's in a name?

Naming our baby was quite a job! So much of a person's identity is related to his or her name. It stays with you from birth until death. It is a big decision to make for someone else. But, like so many big decisions, the reason they feel so big is because it is such an honor to make them! I've been wanting to talk about possible baby names for years, but Keith always said it was silly to spend too much time thinking about names before we were pregnant. Nonetheless, I've had a running list of possibilities for several years and have convinced him to talk about them from time to time. When we got pregnant, Keith teased that we might as well wait until we knew the baby's gender. However, I pointed out that we should have a boy and girl name picked out, that way when we found out the gender, we could begin calling him or her by his or her real name! Most of our conversations surrounding names involved me thinking of names, and Keith telling me all the reasons each name was not a good idea. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that he was looking out for our baby and wanting to avoid names with obvious fun-making possibilities, but sometimes I did get frustrated that he would nix my ideas and not come up with any to replace them! We did not make our final decision until the car ride on the way to the doctor the morning of our gender appointment. So, without further ado, our sweet baby boy's name is......

Carson Robert Clark

Carson

My dad's mom's maiden name was Carson. She passed away before I was born. In fact, she passed away on my dad's twenty-first birthday. My dad and his mama were very close. Even though I never got to meet her, I have heard many stories from him and other family members about what a kind, gentle person she was. She was sick for much of her life, but she did not let her sickness define her. She was an incredible artist, and a loving wife, mother, sister, and friend. My dad has a lot of his mom's qualities. He is also kind, gentle, and loving. He loves his family dearly and would do anything for us. He's also got a great sense of humor! He is so excited to become Pops, and he loves Carson so much already! We loved the idea of naming our baby after someone special, and Carson has been at the top of my list for a long time. So, to honor my dad and his sweet mama, we decided to name our baby boy Carson.

Robert

Keith's middle name and his dad's first name are Robert. Since Carson's first name is in honor of his maternal grandpa, we wanted his middle name to honor his paternal grandpa and his daddy. Keith and his dad have both dedicated their lives to bringing people closer to God. They are dedicated students of theology, they love conversation, are not afraid to challenge old ways of thinking, and work to push themselves and others to reach beyond the status quo. They both love music, basketball, and their families! They are thrilled to become a grandpa and daddy!

Carson is moving while I type this post. I think that means he's excited about his name and what it means!! I hope and pray that he has some of the same qualities as name sakes!