What's In A Name?

OK, so I'm just making it very clear that this blog will not be your place to go if you need pictures in every post. For that, go to facebook. I tend to take pics on my phone, which are much easier to upload to facebook than to blogger. BUT, I am very much enjoying having an outlet for my thoughts, so the blog stays.

That said, I wanted to share with you a revelation I had today regarding baby Collin's name. First of all, as a little background, we *never* picked names this early with the girls. Never. And even if we had ideas we refused to share them. Which was fun, I won't lie. :) This time was very different. I was having a very difficult time even remotely liking boy names (that hadn't just been used by our friends in the last round of baby boys) and an even more difficult time pairing them with Smeltzer, as I tended to like names that ended in the S or X sound. I had resolved that due to this difficulty, baby #3 must certainly be a girl because that name was no trouble.

When the ultrasound revealed our little boy, I had a little tear of joy in my eye as I made sure Makenna (my sidekick that day -- Brian was working & Mattie was with some friends) heard that she was getting a baby brother. I would have been thrilled with another girl. They are familiar. But I'm certain that Makenna prayed this boy into existence so to share that moment with her was special.

Anyway, we went to tell Brian the news, then to pick up Mattie, and on the way home I saw the baby billboard (a local hospital scrolls names of the newbies) and saw the name Colin Dean. I was not a fan of that, but all of a sudden Collin Quinn came to mind, as sure as anything.

Collin has the Irish flair we tend to prefer, and meets some of our far less significant criteria (like having a double letter like the girls' names-- not important, but fun to continue). It means Victory of the People.

Quinn was Brian's grandfather's middle name and we have always liked it and had it in the hopper should we ever have a boy. However, Quinn means Fifth. And this baby will be the fifth member in our little family and also the 5th grandchild on Brian's parents' side. This is more noteworthy because little Collin is the only one carrying on that line of Smeltzers.

And so, while he may share his name with a comedian (which may not be altogether unusual if you know Brian), he is very special indeed, right down to his name.