INTRODUCING....

Choosing a name can be a difficult task.  At least for me and Patrick it is.  I'm all about meaning and if the name says something to us, and whether it will mean something to our children one day.  For us, a name is important.  I mean, you have to live with it...forever, unless it's so awful you decide to change it when you're older.  I just want to save my children from having to do that; so why not start out with something that has been given some thought and truly means something. Which is where we are right now...we have made a decision on what to name our sweet baby girl!  It was so significant for us and overwhelming in a good way.  I have to admit I did shed some tears when we put it all together. That's how much this name means to me, to us.  And I hope you all grow to             love it just as much as we do. So without further a do;)... ...Kaitlyn Spring Greer will come into our lives in September and we absolutely can't wait to meet her!! 


Now to explain where it came from and the significance behind both of her names.  Starting with Spring.  It might seem kind of obvious, but there is more to it than what you probably think. After we lost Nathanial, I bought Steven Curtis Chapman's "Beauty Will Rise" album.  He sang at the Women of Faith conference I went to in September sometime.  The songs he sang really hit home to where I was in life at the time, and I wanted to hear the rest of this album.  Each song on the CD was written at different times in his own grief after losing his daughter in a tragic accident.  These songs became my life; a vessel in which the Spirit used his sadness and sorrow as a way for me to find some healing.  He offered the real and bitter, but sweet and transforming testimony of his own tragedy to others, like me, as a way to find peace in what seemed like a hopeless time.  One song in particular, which is the one in the video at the top, was a song that we played over and over again.  It was a song that moved us in ways I can't explain.  I felt like it was written just for us.  I mean, after all, I felt dead to the world; just like the leaves on trees and the grass in the fields all die in winter, I felt the same about me in a sense.  But that song reminded me that after every Winter comes a Spring.  There will always be the bitter cold, dark all the time, dead plants and hidden animals, but thankfully there will also be the new life, green grass, singing birds and budding flowers to follow, (which is funny now that I write that because Ilyssa really wanted to name her FlowerBud, and I told her that would have to be her special name for Kaitlyn just for the two of them.)  Anyhow, much like life...everyone will, at some point, experience sadness, pain and sorrow.  Jesus says in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart, I have overcome the world."  The amazing thing is though that everyone will also experience the wonderful, filled with joy, on top of the world feeling as well.  That song "Spring is Coming", was a constant reminder for us, that indeed, our Spring would soon arrive. Little did we know at the time, that it would "literally" mean that.  I wanted to name my blog that because I believed it.  I believed that I would heal and I would find peace again.  I believed in the promise of that song.  Not long after we found out I was pregnant, Ilyssa pointed out to us that we should name her Spring.  She's always been dead set on having a sister, and she knew that song all too well.  She thought that would be a perfect name and we agreed whole-heartedly.  I knew we would have a girl.  I didn't tell many people that, but I couldn't believe God would give us such a perfect story and not give us the girl to go with it.  Our "Spring" truly is coming, in every since of the word and we can't wait to receive her with open arms!  You have to listen to the song...then you will understand where I am coming from a little better! 


Next, Kaitlyn.  Kaitlyn came about a really cool way as well.  We knew Spring would be her middle name, no matter what, but we couldn't find the perfect first name.  Every week I get the updates of my pregnancy sent to me through e-mail.  So when this weeks came, I decided to use the baby name finder that is part of this site.  I was just typing different names that I have heard or thought were okay in the search box.  And this site is really cool because when you type a name in, a whole list of that name pops up with a million different ways to spell it and other names very similar.  Next to the name you have the option of clicking on similar names as the one you chose or sibling names that go with it.  I had come across Kaitlyn on one of the "similar name" ones, and told Patrick I really liked it.  I was very relieved when he said he liked it too.  You know how it is...I like one, and he doesn't, and vice versa.  So I was excited that we agreed on one.  After looking for a while, I decided to type Ilyssa's name in the search box just to see what would pop up under the sibling names.  I was surprised when Kaitlyn was there.  Then I decided to see what would come up under Nathanial's name; and I was even more surprised to see, once again, Kaitlyn listed with the other sibling names that go with Nathanial.  When I went back to Ilyssa's name to see if there were any other names that were also under Nathanial's, I couldn't find a single one.  I couldn't believe how Kaitlyn's name joined the other two together.  It was very emotional for me.  I knew that we had just found the rest of her name.  And it helped that the Hebrew meaning for Kaitlyn is "pure".  I mean, who doesn't want their daughter's name to mean pure?? ;)  We will call her Kaitlyn, and keep Spring sacred and unused to the rest of the world.  She is already so special to us.  She is that ray of sunshine that finally breaks through the cold winter clouds to warm up everything.  She is the "new life", in every aspect, that Spring brings with it every year.  We will share her and she can be your "Kaitlyn"....but she will always be our "Spring"!!!