ANOTHER SURPRISE …

Another surprise!

I just love these kinds of surprises. You know the kind…

Where tears of joy fill your eyes and all your senses fire!

Screeching, excitement, tingles, dripping eyes from the best surprises; unexpected but beyond wonderful! You just don’t get over them. This kind of joy stays with you.

We gasped, shook with surprise, hugged, kissed with wet faces and warm hearts. Delight filled the room and our souls. What a gift!

Last weekend, we celebrated Christmas with our daughter and son-in-love. I explained HERE: they were home bound during Christmas because of Covid, delaying our celebration.

We arrived Thursday evening and celebrated Christmas Day on Friday. We planned our three meals just like it was the proper holiday. Our family does this if we aren’t celebrating on the day… we pick a day we’ll be together and plan like it’s the holiday. We don’t just attach the celebration to another day, if we can help it. We make the whole day special even if it’s not the calendar day.

Our son-in -love, Danny, took off work.

We decided we’d eat a special breakfast and then open gifts. I was in charge of the breakfast. I made a breakfast casserole the day before and we reheated “Christmas” morning. Served with fruit. It was a yummy recipe; a keeper!

We exchanged gifts which held their own surprises. Then Liv, our daughter, said “I forgot a gift”… she disappeared upstairs. I laughed cause when she was young, I was the “queen of forgetting gifts”. So much so that when we finished opening presents, my kids would say, “Mom, did you forget anything?” It seemed every year… I hid them from myself!!

Liv came down the steps with a large box and instructed my husband and me to sit close and open it together. I had no idea what it held!

This is what we saw when we opened the box….

A blanket with HER name embroidered on it!

Delaney Grace … the precious name of their sweet baby girl due the end of March!! Tears still fill my eyes!

They told us we wouldn’t know her name till she was born. They were going to have several names agreed upon and choose after they met face to face. We resigned to not know till her birth.

We have pet names for her: Her Mom and Dad call her “chicken nugget”. I called her “Lacey Pearl” for a bit cause Liv loves lace and pearls: her wedding theme. I finally settled on “Baby Girlfriend” cause I call her Mama, “Girlfriend”. I do like to talk to my grands in utero. To have a name to call them seems special and intimate.

Liv and Danny had made a definitive name decision and said it was very hard not to leek in conversation, so they gifted it to us. We were shocked, surprised, overcome.

Familiarity took many of the names Liv talked about, over the years, off the table. They didn’t want a popular name that was shared with many peers. It gets confusing, especially for children.

She always liked the name “Laney”.

My dear friend, Janice, calls me “E-Lainey” or just “Lainey”. Liv says she remembers in her younger years, Ms. Janice saying it with such love and warmth, it impressed her heart. We lived a few houses apart for several years.

There have been others who have called me “Lainey”, especially when I was young, but she didn’t hear those. “Laney” has become a popular girl’s name in recent years, so that didn’t suit them anymore.

She said she had the thought years ago to include Danny’s initial to the beginning, forming Delaney. In the end, it won out over the other names they considered.

Her nickname will be “Laney”, they told us. And if she prefers when she is older, she can shorten it to “Lane”.

(I’m not saying she’s named after me, but there is a connection between our names. 💗)

Grace is Delaney’s Mama’s middle name, which was my grandmother’s middle name as well; Delaney’s great great grandmother.

There are two other family connections they didn’t even know about/recall when naming her:

*Some of my mother’s colleagues and friends called her “Dee”. Her formal name being Doris.

*When they told Danny’s parents her name, a story surfaced they had never heard. A lovely woman with the last name, Delaney, helped them around Danny’s birth. She was a Doula/midwife of type and holds special fondness in their hearts.

We LOVE her name!! We love her already!!

I’m “Zee Zee” (nickname for Mumzee) to three beloved granddaughters: Goldie, Indie and Laney. I love the sound of that… Could be a girl-band in the making!! Musical parents abound! I can hear the squeals and feel the power of pink when the cousin crew gets together! That will be a next level of joy!

Has this new year held surprises for you already? Tell us!

Surprises aren’t always joyful. I’ve lived long enough to experience that! Share any you feel inclined to! We don’t all experience joy at the same time. Life is full of sorrows as well. I’d be privileged to pray for you or celebrate with you!!

For today, I am cherishing the joy of a name representing love, miracles, and God’s human creation of…

Delaney Grace.

Can’t wait to meet her,