A Name and a Blessing

In our Church we give our babies a name and a blessing. Two weeks ago, October 25th, on Sunday we had Ella's baby blessing. It was pretty sweet watching my husband bless our little girl. The water works started before the blessing even did! haha After we had our close friends and family over to our house for some lunch. It was such a great weekend! Both of our parents came into town, and some of our siblings were able to be here for it as well. Ella was able to wear the same blessing gown that I wore when I was blessed. It was handmade by my Nana. She also made a matching blanket that goes with it. Along with that we also used the same christening blanket that my Great Great grandmother, so Ella's Great, Great, Great Grandmother, made for my mother when she was Christened. All of my siblings have used that blanket and all of our children have used it. I love having such sentimental and traditional heirlooms in our family. 

While on the topic of family and history, Ella is a family name. If you follow me on social media you may have seen time and time again that Trevor and I had a hard time picking a name for Ella. We didn't agree on anything and we didn't settle on Ella until after she was born. You see, Ella was my first pick and favorite name. Trevor however felt is sounded "too girly" and wasn't as into it. He now thinks it fits perfectly since Ella is so dainty and feminine, even as a baby, haha. 

I have actually loved the name Ella for years, five years to be exact. Back in 2010 my family and I were up in Canada for my nephew's Temple sealing and baby blessing. We were in Cardston and we stopped by to visit my Great Aunt Orva. While sitting in her living room I saw a beautiful book that had put together on my Great, Great, Grandmother Ella Dora. I had never seen or heard of the name Ella before then. Up until then, my favorite girl name was Emma, but when I saw Ella it just hit me. It was like a more unique and prettier version of Emma to me. I learned more about my Great, Great Grandmother Ella and I loved the name even more. Her and her twin sister, both named Ella, they were named Ella Dora and Ella Nora, were both amazing women, and were lucky to even survive weighing only 15 ounces (Ella Dora) and 2.5 pounds (Ella Nora) when they were born. Yes you read that right. It is truly a miracle they lived, especially when you take into account the time they were born in. Apparently to keep warm they were placed in match boxes and put on the stove! The whole story is incredible.   

I kept the name with me over the years and when we found out we were pregnant it was still my number one pick. The day we found out we were having a girl my mother and I had gone to see Cinderella later that night and the fact that her name is Ella in the story almost felt like a sign. A few months later while doing some family research on Trevor's side of the family history, I found that his Great Great Grandmother was also named Ella. That was another sign in my book! Our Great Great Grandmothers also happened to be about the same age, apparently Ella was a more popular name back in the 1800s. I always knew I would use the name Grayce for her middle name. It is not only my middle name, but also my Grandmother's middle name, and my Great Grandmother's middle name and I loved the idea of using a family name for her first name as well. 

However, Trevor still wasn't loving it because he thought it was "too feminine" haha which I thought was ironic seeing we were in fact having a girl. I didn't want to push it on him, I wanted us both to love the name we chose for our daughter, so we kept tossing ideas back and forth over the next few months never landing on anything. It was funny though because occasionally Trevor would refer to her as Ella. Trevor never suggested a girl's name, and so it kind of just seemed like the only thing to call her sometimes since it was the only name that kept coming back up. We decided to wait until she was born and she if she looked like anything in particular or if some of the names we had mentioned fit. In the middle of the night, after a visit to the nursery in the hospital the day Ella was born, Trevor and I were about to go back to bed when he said, "We can name her Ella if you really love it that much." "Well I do love it, but I don't want to use a name you don't like.... Don't you think she looks like an Ella?" Trevor agreed that she did, and I guess the name had grown on him because right then and there Trevor decided that was that and Ella was officially Ella.

I thought it would be fun to share me as a baby in the same blessing dress! :) Do we look related? haha

Just after she was blessed :)

Ella and I wore matching jewelry for the day made by the talented Made By Mary. I love love love my necklace and Ella's bracelet was such a beautiful touch. It was adorable and is forever a keepsake!

Birth Announcement C/O Minted 

That bonnet though! I die! 

I got this adorable headband from Sticky Bliss I have been in love with this shop since before Ella was born and have a handful of bows from there. The owner saw her sporting them and is offering my readers a discount at check out when you purchase something from her shop with code: BLISS You should get on that people! 

Such a long day but Ella was a trooper. She loved all the attention! haha She has such a happy disposition and it was so fun to have everyone there supporting her. We have good people in our lives! Thanks to everyone who made an effort to be there and show our little family so much love.