Her Name

Lila Eve

Am I right when I say naming babies is hard?

Like most, I have some specifications. Nothing too much, like sticking to one letter, but a few small things I like to factor in like popularity and how it sounds with our last name.

In my marriage, the naming process goes like this: I talk names to death with my sisters and girlfriends. We come up with a list. I take that list home to John. He puts a line through each and every name on the list. I go back to talking names to death with my sisters and girlfriends. And so on...

Lila seemed to keep popping up on lists (sometimes even spelt Lyla) and John stopped crossing it off. WHOA! Big deal!

This name seemed to be everything I was looking for. It's unique but not uncommon. It's feminine and soft. And, I know this is weird, but it has a botanical feel about it. I've spent the last few years researching plants and flowers for landscaping my yard. I wanted something that would reflect this time in my life, but I didn't want it to be something too obvious like Daisy or Rose (although both are really pretty names.)
The final kicker for me was when I associated Lila with Lilac, not only did it concrete the spelling AND offer the allusive floral sense, but it gave me a color to work with. Being the mother of 2 girls already, I'm very drawn to pink. If I have a choice of colors to dress or accessorize my girls in, I always choose pink. This gives me a chance to break that pattern and go with "lilac."

How crazy am I sounding? Did I over think this or what?

Another thing that really attached me to this name was the way it sounded with the middle name I wanted. I love the name Eve, again because it's unique and feminine, but also because it's the name of the first mother on this earth. I've spent many quiet moments pondering on what Eve must've been like...sweet and strong, righteous and smart, loving and hard working, kind and loyal, a true partner to her husband. So many things I want to be! For no particular reason, I didn't want to use it as a first name, but definitely wanted a daughter of mine to carry the name. I dream of a quiet night when I will lay in bed with a bigger version of my little Lila and tell her what I think Eve was like and explain what is expected of her as a Latter Day Saint woman. I think she will respond well to this.

So there you have it...my little girl who will grow to be unique, feminine, strong, smart, kind and good.

And always dressed in lilac!