Ivo

Well, my little SON sufficiently flashed us this morning :). We are VERY excited to be having another boy. A girl would have been great too, but the more I think about it the more thrilled I am to have a house of sons. It's not what I EVER would have expected, but God has a tendency to do what He wills rather than what I daydreamed about as a kid!

We decided to name this one right away. I want Ezra to start getting used to the idea of his brother. He already can point to my belly when I ask where Baby Snap is. It's weirding him out to now start hearing the baby's name, so I think that's evidence in support of our decision. Better get him used to it now.

His name is Ivo Wright. That's the first and middle. We are actually in flux about how we will settle on the pronunciation... we may pronounce the first name EE-vo, although I do like saying EYE-vo. I flip on it A LOT. The middle name is our attempt at giving all our natural children a "Wr" start to their middle names. It's a shout-out to the Meador side as Ezra is named after his Poppy and Great-Grandaddy, Wray.

Here's the WHY on "Ivo:"

1. I like it
2. I read a book with a character by that name, so I got used to it
3. It sounds so cute with Ezra... "Ezzie and Ivo, time to eat!"
4. I sold Brendan on it :)
5. *The Real Reason* it's a keeper:
"Ivo" (pronounced either way) comes from Yew, a kind of tree. Apparantly arrows were made from the wood of the Yew tree, so many sources interpret "Ivo" as a trade-name (like Baker, Miller, etc.) for archers. That makes it a botanical name, which I love, and provides a lovely Biblical connection to Psalm 127:3-5

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame when they contend
with their enemies in the gate.

As I wrote to Ivo today in my book of letters to my unborn, I hope that he never has enemies to contend with except Satan, and I pray that he and his brother will not be put to shame when they are challenged by the Evil One but will, by God's grace, live in pursuit of grateful faith and righteousness.