Thursday, April 10, 2014

Little Guy . . . Big Change!

I've been meaning to write a post about our little dude since we found out on January 2 that he is, in fact, a dude!   

{My loves waiting for the big reveal during the ultrasound.  We were all hoping for a boy and there were some major screams of excitement when we were right!}


{As per our tradition, we went to Carter's to buy a new outfit for baby brother.  This picture also became our announcement on facebook that another little man was on the way!}


{As is also tradition, we went out to lunch to celebrate God blessing us with another healthy baby boy!}



Like I said, I've been meaning to post about our little guy since January.  Three months is a long time to have something on your to do list, especially for this girl who really likes to check those boxes!  

I planned to write about our little man's name, Drew Rutherford Gilbert, and how we chose it.  But now I realize that my slacking has turned into perfect timing . . . as of this week, he has a new name!

What?!  I know.  Totally unexpected.  We pick a name, start calling them by it as soon as we find out boy or girl, and never look back.  Not this time though!

Brogan Rutherford Gilbert is the new name of our little guy!

Here's the story . . .

On Saturday night, Chad had a dream.  Now Chad NEVER remembers his dreams {unlike me who can tell you several dreams every morning!}.  But this dream was very vivid and woke him up in a panic.  In the dream, Chad was talking to Grayson and then Grayson handed him a phone.  When Chad said "hello" the only word he heard was "Brogan" and then he woke up.  And he didn't just wake up, but woke up feeling like someone had just audibly spoke Brogan to him and he was a little freaked out.  He got up at 4 am and tried to figure out what the name meant.  Maybe he was supposed to be praying for someone? {even though we don't know anyone with that name}

So when he woke me up later, the first thing he asked was if the word Brogan meant anything to me.  Nope.  Not at all.  He told me about the dream, but I just said that was weird and rolled over.  {Obviously I wasn't showing too much concern for his stress!}

Chad googled the name, but he spelled it Brogen.  Even so, the first hit that came up was a baby name website.  So Chad jokingly said that maybe we were supposed to name Drew this name instead.  Nope.  He's already got a name.  {Still dismissing!}

Chad mentioned the dream a few times on Sunday, but I just waved it off.  He asked at one point how I would spell the name and I said "Brogan."

So then imagine the eye rolling that happened when I got a text from Chad on Monday morning with this screen shot from babynames.com.  He had googled it again with the different spelling.  He wouldn't let it go!


My first response was "Badger?  Really?"  
{Another website said it means "strong or sturdy" so we're going to go with that!}

But then I noticed what would cause Chad to excitedly call me a few minutes later.  See the 14 names listed that people who like Brogan also like?  That short list has all the names of our kiddos.  Even Paige, the name we had picked if this little one was a girl.  

Chad called freaking out, "What are the chances of that?!  Out of all the thousands of names, that Ava, Grayson, and Paige would be on that list!"  

At this point, Chad was definitely seeing this as more than just a crazy dream.  And I was at the point of having to actually consider and pray about changing Drew's name.  UGH!  It wasn't that I didn't like Brogan, but I've been calling this kid Drew for months!  I said that I would pray about it, but would really need God to show me in some other way that this was a change He wanted us to make.

That confirmation didn't come through a dream of my own, but by spending two days watching my husband get more and more excited and more and more sure that our little man is Brogan.  Chad is a passionate guy, but not usually about stuff like this.  With baby stuff, he usually just goes with the flow {and by flow, I mean, he goes with whatever I want!}.  But I have never seen Chad like this before!  He was going to have a hard time letting this go and I was going to have a hard time telling him no!

I read a book recently called "For Women Only" {which I highly recommend} that gives insight into how men think and how we can understand and love them better as wives.  A huge focus was on their need for honor and respect, which I thought I understood, but this book took me to a whole different level.

So on Tuesday as we were talking about what a big deal it would be to change his name, Chad sealed the deal for me.  He said two things . . . That he was so honored that God would speak to him in a dream and let him be a part of choosing this new name for our son.  And that he really appreciated the respect I was showing him by not just dismissing the whole idea.  

This had become a matter of honor and respect and I realize more than ever how profound that is for a man.

"Then name your son." I said.  :)

And Chad hasn't stopped being over the moon excited about it since!  It's going to take a little while for us, especially the kids, to stop staying Drew, but we're all excited!  {Grayson says, "What's that name for Drew?  So cute!}

We chose Rutherford as the middle name in honor of Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish pastor from the 1600s.  Right before I got pregnant, when God was speaking to our hearts about being open to His plans for our lives regarding children, Chad and I were both reading The Letters of Samuel Rutherford and they were having a profound impact on our hearts.  His letters were written to his flock while he was in exile and forbidden to preach for two years.  His words are so deep and rich and his counsel to those in his care was filled with bold Truth.  He suffered much, but still encouraged others with words like these . . . "I look not to win away to my home without wounds and blood.  Welcome, welcome cross of Christ, if Christ be with it." 

We pray that Brogan Rutherford will be a bold and faithful man of God like his namesake and we look forward to seeing how Brogan will be the perfect fit for our little man!