What's in a name?

I guess this post should have been done a while back, but oh well, it wasn't! I had the hardest time trying to figure out a perfect name for my child. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It is just so permanent! If you know me at all, you know that I am NOT a decision maker! I can't even decide on what to eat for supper let alone come up with a name for another human being! We decided to go with family names so that we would have a limited number of names to choose from. We also thought we could make it mean something to us that way. Plus, if no one liked the name, we could just say "it's a family name" and it would seem so much better. After much (and I mean MUCH!!) debate, we settled on it ....

James "Bishop" Hays

At first, I was against going by his middle name because it can be confusing, especially in the world of heathcare and in school. I have eaten my words many times before, and I'm sure I'll do it again. James Bishop just had more of a ring to it than Bishop James...or Bishop anything for that matter.

Bishop. We came up with Bishop first. I can't exactly remember how, but I think Leon had mentioned it years ago and I did not think much about until a few months before he was born and it suddenly reappeared into the mix.  It was a family name for him. We wanted to use names from both our families. Bishop was after his BB. Betty Boyd Bishop...we sure miss her! She passed away only a few months before he was born...and he was born a day before her birthday so it was fitting for us to name him after her. Leon  has a cousin and a niece with Bishop as a middle name...but no one goes by it. It took a while for me to warm up to calling him Bishop...but that's who he is now!

James. I love the name James. I don't exactly know why, but I do (and always have). Leon was not really fan (at first) at all. It was too plain...not different enough for him. But for me, it was a strong name. I like to say it is "classic" rather than "plain". I loved names like Thomas, James, John, and Benjamin, especially to go with such a different name like Bishop. James was my grandmother's father and grandfathers name (James Authur Barnes...Daddy Barnes to most). I did agree that we would not actually call him James...even though I can call him James Bishop if I want! I also love it that I can [attempt to] sing "Sweet Baby James" to him! (And I do almost every day!)

Once we FINALLY decided on the name, we decided not to tell anyone before he was here. This was for several reasons.  Number 1-we did not care for opinions. We knew once he was here, no one would care his name and they would love him no matter what we named him. This was actually hard for me because I really did want opinions...I just didn't want only negative ones. I did need reassurance that I was doing the right thing! I like others to make my decisions for me, so this got pretty hard towards the end!  Number 2- we never were 100% sure. What if we had gotten into the delivery room and suddenly changed our mind? What if he didn't look like a James Bishop at all? Then we would have HAD to stick with it. So, he did not come into this world with monogrammed onsies, burp cloths, bibs, and blankets..but he survived! And number 3- there had to be some element of suprise! I could not go so far as to not find out or not tell the sex..but having a little secret between me and Leon was kind of fun. And besides, we had waited this long to come up with one...what is another month or so!?!

So there you have it...it could have been so many other names but I can't imagine it any different now! I love my sweet baby James Bishop to pieces!