Thank you for sharing our excitement! Jonny and I have been so touched by all the sweet comments.
With each baby, it is easier and easier to let most everything go but just being with him. I’ve hardly knit a stitch. My stack of books doesn’t even really appeal to me. I’m perfectly content to just lay in bed and look at my baby. Jonny asks with concern, “Are you terribly bored?” No, I’m not. I’m counting days, relieved that I’m not required to get up yet, that I am supposed to be resting with my baby. The newborn stage is far too fleeting. I know that well.
I want to tell you about his name. We had the hardest time naming him, which is different than our past babies whose names came to us more easily. You might want to grab a cup of tea before sitting down to read his name saga:
Before he was even conceived, I had this notion that if I ever had another little boy, I would name him, Job. I know it’s not a name that is used very often, I think partially because it is spelled just like “job” and also because it means, “the afflicted one,” or “persecuted.” And yes, the Job of the Old Testament was certainly persecuted, but there is far more to his story. From the introduction to The Book of Job in my Bible: “The Book of Job, named after its protagonist, is an exquisite dramatic poem which treats the problem of suffering of the innocent, and of retribution. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it among the literary masterpieces of all time.” With the exception of Seth and Gabe, all of our children have one name that has a literary theme.
Just a few weeks into this pregnancy, I was pretty convinced that this baby was a boy because my boy pregnancies and my girl pregnancies have followed pretty consistent patterns. I quickly began to think of him as “Baby Job.” The name came up here and there, and I was often met with looks of concern when I shared it. When people think of Job, they tend to think of suffering.
Early in the pregnancy, I took a little trip with my friends Elizabeth, Elizabeth, and Ann. That first night in a hotel room in North Carolina, we sat up late talking and laughing. Somehow the topic of what Jonny and I might name this baby came up. I said, “Job.” Immediately Ann said something along the lines of, “Yes!” She totally understood and shares my love for the name. In my eyes, the book of Job is not about suffering, so much as it is about faith and trust in God. But mere minutes later, just as I was feeling really excited about finally having someone agree that Job is an excellent name, Ann pulled the plug. “Oh, Ginny…” I can’t remember her exact words, but it boiled down to this: Our last name is Foreman. “Job Foreman.” You see? That’s kind of a problem, I guess. Ann said something about him filling out a job application…I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I’ve spent the rest of the pregnancy trying to figure out how I could still name him Job. My technique was to sandwich it between two other big names. We’ll see how it works. I am picturing him writing S. Job Amadeus Foreman…or something like that. He may end up going by Sebastian. We don’t quite know yet.
As far as coming up with his other two names, that was super hard. I drove Jonny crazy. For instance, we might get woken up in the middle of the night by Silas, and then I wouldn’t be able to go right back to sleep. I’d start whispering…”Jonny, Jonny, Do you want to talk about baby names?” Snore. He said a lot of things along the lines of, “You just name him whatever you want.” To which I would respond with dismay, “But it’s your baby too! You have to have an opinion!” For some reason Jonny can come up with girl name ideas, but not boy names. When he does come up with a boy name, it’s super weird. So with the boys, I have to just keep making suggestions until we find one that he likes. One evening we were sitting up after the kids were in bed talking about my favorite topic, what we would name the baby. I started reading through my baby name book,the Dictionary of Patron Saints’ Names. I was struck by the name Amadeus, a name that I’ve always associated with Mozart, and never really thought about the meaning of, which is “The lover of God.” Jonny liked it too. And so, Job became “Job Amadeus.”
Over the next few months, we nearly settled on a couple of first names to complete the “Job sandwich,” but they just weren’t quite right. My main concern was that I really wanted Jonny to like the first name we chose, not just agree to it because I liked it. I also wanted a name that our baby could potentially go by, if Job just doesn’t work out. I want this child to have options. We finally found that name with Sebastian. The name means “venerable” and then of course there is Saint Sebastian, and it’s always been on my list of “names that I like.” The problem I had right away with it was that using Sebastian and Amadeus in the name just sounds a little over the top, especially considering that both of those names are associated with famous composers, neither of whom are the reason we chose the names. I suggested that we might ought to drop the Amadeus, but in the end we kept it. Larkspur was insistent about it, and even threatened that if we took it out of his name, when she grew up she would name every single one of her boys Amadeus. And she began to chant, “Amadeus One, Amadeus Two, Amadeus Three….”
This baby, who made quite the dramatic entrance into the world, I think he can handle his big name.
So now we will just wait and see who this dear little one becomes. Our three youngest children have called him Job from early in the pregnancy, and that is what they are calling him now. Jonny keeps calling him Silas, and actually turned to me one day last week and said, “Can we just have two Silas’?” I mostly call him “The Baby,” which is what I typically do with all of our babies for at least a little while. And as we all know, with the way little children can quickly gain all sorts of nicknames, there’s no telling what we’ll end up calling him. The important thing is that he’s here, he’s loved. I love him so much I can hardly stand it.
Little Mountain Haven says
What absolutely gorgeous pictures. Congratulations on the new addition. I chuckled at the pre-fold under the baby, a familiar sight from our bed for the baby drool and leaky boobs.
Ruwaydah says
Beautiful pictures of a beautiful family♥ I love visiting your blog.
Tracey says
No matter what his name is,he is adorable, and the photo of him looking at Larkspur is priceless.
Theresa says
What an absolutely beautiful baby. Congratulations!
Jamie M. says
Thank you for sharing your beautiful family. Sebastian is just beautiful, and I can see well loved! My best to you all.
Jenn says
Precious! I found your blog through the Blog Design Awards. Thank you for sharing such sweet moments. It was a delight catching a glimpse of such an intimate family endeavor.
Linda says
I am so happy to see pics of him! And all of you cooing over him. I have been on pins and needles waiting. So beautiful, thank you so much once again for sharing with us.
Megan says
He is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing the journey you took in finding the perfect name. We just found out we are expecting our fifth and I’ve already started racking my brain for a fitting name. Sometimes even family members can make you feel like what you know is the right name, is not. Good for you for sticking with it! It’s wonderful!
Sandra Davidson says
He is so incredibly precious, new babies are just so squeezable my favourite time so understand that you just want to lie there and moon over him. The pictures of him and the children are beautiful. Blessings to all of you.
Kristina says
What a gorgeous addition to your already gorgeous family! I believe naming babies to be the most difficult decision to make in the pregnancy/birthing of little people process. I think when a name is in your heart, and being that our children are just pieces of our heart living outside of us, it’s difficult to sway from it. Job is a wonderful name, no matter what he ends up preferring when he’s grown. The names we chose for our son came from heart felt places as well, though I honestly still have a sore spot for blabbing about his name too soon. He had about six handmade baby items with “Caleb” on them long before he was born.. and truth be told, I was considering changing his name weeks before he was born. I stuck with it, however, and I do feel it suits him. He has three names, too. Caleb Bryan Edward. All family related after a cousin, my brother, and a great grandfather. As nicknames develop, he’s been known as Beaz or Beazle since he was a babe. Now that he’s three he’s a bit more insistent about being called Caleb.
Enjoy the romance of newborn baby time! It really is a beautiful time that goes far too quickly.
Leslie says
I truly believe that picking a name for a new baby is the most difficult part of the pregnancy! They have to live with it for LIFE! His name is lovely, but not nearly as lovely as he is! What a precious, precious baby! The picture of him “talking” to Larkspur made me smile and laugh and get tears in my eyes all at the same time! Congratulations to you all and especially to your “Peedab” (that’s what I’ve called both my sons and nieces and nephews until they have “grown into” their names).
Lily says
What a lovely story and pictures. I think his name is an excellent choice especially as it has been so considered. I found naming little son really difficult and then an envelope arrived from the office of HH Dalai Lama with a blessing and a name for him and it fits Little Son so well. Our Tibetan friend had taken it upon herself to obtain a name for us in the traditional Tibetan way from the local monastery. Lily. xxx
kris says
Seeing these pictures warmed my heart. Precious and beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Lisa says
My son is home sick from school and we’re looking at these pictures and remembering how we were there a year ago! This is the most beautiful batch of pictures! Each one is so touching. I was trying to guess the name (I can’t help myself!) and I settled on “Seamus”, but I feel like I wasn’t too far off in my guess! I love his name, and his sweet little face and thumb! He is so precious!
Erin says
The photos are so lovely! Rest up!
Nicki says
Beautiful pictures! Thanks so much for sharing…..you are so blessed!
Stephinie {gypsyforest} says
Oh Larkspur! I love that she was so insistent. Thank you for sharing such a sweet story about his name. And goodness, is he ever delicious. Those cheeks! Happy babymooning to you.
xo~
s
Rachel says
He is so incredibly beautiful!! Those last 2 pictures brought me to tears, oh how I love newborns!
Kristen says
These pictures melt me! Seriously melt me. He is so perfect. So amazing! And I love the name, thanks for sharing this story.
Christy says
These pics are worth a million words — if only all babies were so very cherished! Thank you for sharing your lives with us!
Heather says
What a beautiful name. I am glad you kept your first choice, but still gave him options for life. We chose different names for our kiddos, but tried to give them more common middle names in case they didn’t like their given names. Will you share his birth story?
Ann Voskamp says
It’s perfect, Ginny…. just. perfect.
You know how I always wanted a “Job” — Shalom was going to be Job if she were a boy — The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand yeses.
I love you so and your God-given little Job.
renee~heirloomseasons says
That’s a great story. I especially like the part about Larkspur and all her Amadeus’s.
You know it took us weeks to name Elsa after she was born. Remember we were going to name her Silas? Until she was born a girl.
And I especially LOVE seeing all these sweet photographs!
Glad you are having such good resting days!!
XOXOXO
Renee
Katerina says
He is such a beautiful boy!
Janet R says
Thank you for sharing this sweet story about the baby’s name!! I love it! I’ve met the parents of another Job here in Germany (he’s 26 now) and I’ll have to ask how he’s fared with a name that provokes comments. SO glad to hear that you’re simply enjoying him! Blessings abundantly today!
Andrea says
He is just beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Sabrina Hauber says
He is so beautiful I keep coming back to the pictures throughout the day. They make me really look forward to the arrival of our seventh baby in April. I love his name story. I should have made a cup of tea to go with it, but I was too eager to read!
Will you share his birth story?
Blessings on your beautiful family.!
Verena @ Kleine Chaoskiste says
Congratulations!
I am so relieved that you explained his name. 🙂 I knew Job was a name from the bible, but I couldn’t really put my finger on the exact person. I am from Germany so there is often a spelling difference (e.g. John – Johannes, Luke – Lukas etc.) and when you talked about the book of Job my lightbulb went on.
I think it is a lovely name and I understand exactly why you named him Job. I also really like Sebastian, that has been on my “names I like”-list since elementary school 🙂
I wish you all the best. Enjoy your cuddely time with the little one.
Oh and btw: Job in German is Hiob.
A Little Blue Dragonfly says
Oh, he is just too beautiful for words! And he looks so handsome in his handknits! I love that you are enjoying every sweet newborn moment with him and resting. Sometimes I wish so much for those moments again!
Jennifer Miller says
I did get a bit of a chuckle out of “Job Foreman.” I’m impressed that he has already started sucking his thumb. When my daughter was a baby you could tell she wanted to suck her thumb but she couldn’t quite catch it as it passed in front of her mouth. Absolutely enjoy this time with him!
Linda says
He is absolutely adorable! I love his name! Interesting thing is that he was born on my cousin’s 40th birthday… the interesting part is that a few years ago my cousin went through a very trying time. My husband got him a rosary, Job’s tears rosary!
Wendy says
So, so precious–I can’t choose a favorite picture, but I really like the ones of Larkspur holding him and the one where he is sleeping with his hand over his face. I always love to hear the stories behind people’s names, and it’s lovely that you and Jonny put such thought into the names you give your little ones! Thanks for taking a break from the baby snuggling to give us an update!
Heather says
My youngest sucked his thumb. My heart melted when I saw that picture.
Erica Saint says
Beautiful name and beautiful story! He is super cute!
Sonja says
He is so precious! Babies are such little blessings. It is so heartwarming to see everyone getting their snuggles and pouring love over him. I miss babies so. I’ll live vicariously through your posts. Thank you for sharing little Job with us! 🙂
Sharron says
Those pictures of him sucking his thumb? Oh my. I nearly cried! What a precious baby!! And Amadeus one and two and three?? That is hysterical! I think this is one of my favorite posts ever. Glad to hear that all is well.
Kelly says
“The important thing is that he’s here, he’s loved. I love him so much I can hardly stand it.”
this made me cry. so sweet. I loved hearing how he was named. And a birth story eventually perhaps?
Jennifer says
Thank you for sharing the photos of your children adoring their new baby brother. So precious. I love all of the names and don’t know how you’d settle on one. It is a blessed time in your family
Karen C says
I’ve been waiting and waiting to see him again! He is just adorable and I love seeing the other children loving him. I love his name and am so happy for all of you 🙂
Christine says
Beautiful beautiful little baby boy.
Melanie says
He is gorgeous, and his name is awesome! We had Sebastian picked out for our first but ended up going with Elijah. Thanks for sharing your world–love hearing about your family. (And, on an unrelated note, just finished knitting your Sunday Sweater for my Eden’s 2nd birthday. It’s my first “real” sweater and was so enjoyable to knit!). Enjoy the precious days with your newborn and the rest of your amazing family!!
–Melanie
Barbara says
God bless your little Sebastian Job Amadeus. I think you did a great job (no pun intended). When I showed the picture of “the baby” to my daughter Faith and told him his name she immediately told me the story of St. Sebastian. I think he’s an exciting saint for a boy to be named after — such drama, such heroism!
Please rest and enjoy this precious time.
PS Our last name is Stein. I really wanted a Francis, but Frank Stein? All he needed was Nicholas for a middle name and he’d be set! Some things just aren’t meant to be. I got Faith Frances instead. 🙂
PSS Larkspur has a love! So sweet. They all love him so much. Such a lucky boy.
Sheila says
It is a beautiful name. I especially like Job as it is sucha nice old testament name and so rare. SO much thought and love and “options” all incorporated in.
I so remember the trouble with names. We had a terrible time with our third. I thought my husband might commit me I obsessed about it so. I came up with a lot that my husband declared. ” Now that sounds like a third child name” as in very very odd.
I really liked the name Asa but my husband, not so much. so many friends and random strangers pronounced it Assa. Yes, I stopped random strangers and asked them how you would say this name. LOL. I even contacted a Hebrew scholar friend of mine to see if you could spell it with an “h” at the end. My husband doesn’t like names with odd spellings. I was really looking for another original old testament name to go with my other two: Rachael and Noah.
Finally my husband came up with the name Micah. I am so glad. He is so very good at predicting the personality of our kids or they grow into their names. Micah is definitely a Micah. He is strong and outgoing and he tells everyone he meets his name is Micah. Just don’t call him Michael. Asa would have been too soft a name for him.
Nancy M says
I also agree that he is absolutely beautiful!!!! I have four children and remember the fun of naming them. When my husband and I were first married we came up with 2 girl names and 2boy names we liked. After four years of trying to conceive, we didn’t end up using a single one. The original names didn’t quite have the meaning of the four we chose.
Anyway, thank you for sharing with us about your new little precious bundle of joy!
Emily says
Your baby is precious, and his name is beautiful! Thanks for sharing the story of his name.
Cheryl A. says
He’s so beautiful! You can see the love emanating from the photos. Just a beautiful period of time. Enjoy every moment.
Cheryl
Sara McD says
Sweet!
Beautiful, gorgeous baby. Such warm, cozy pictures.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Lisa G. says
You’re right about the the book of Job – chapter 19 – I know that my redeemer liveth, and in my flesh shall I see God! Funny that Larkspur so loves Amadeus.
Melinda C says
What a wonderful saga! And this boy is certainly big enough to match those wonderful names. I love how children grow into themselves, and I honor and appreciate your thoughtfulness in giving him options. I did that with both my girls and they went thru several permutations of their names until each settled on the one that fit her best. Such a wonderful journey you are on. Blessings on you and your entire, beautiful family! And thank you for keeping the Small Things that are the most important if focus for us. You, and your blog, are a gift to me. Thank you.
Monique says
your baby looks so well loved! What a lucky boy!