Addallee Marigold

I have not yet posted how we came to choose Addallee's name.  With our other three children, we did not know if we were having a boy or a girl, so the naming process was a little different in that we really could not choose a name before the baby arrived.  This time, we knew we were having a baby girl, so we really could have chosen a name before she arrived... but we didn't.  We always have some ideas for names... a short list of names, but we have to meet our baby before we decide, for sure, what his or her name will be.

In the case of Addallee, it took us the longest to agree for sure on her name.  She was born at 11:26am, and we probably agreed on her name about 1:00pm.

We named her Addallee because we liked the significance that every letter occurs twice.  We like that through the double letters of her name, she is an extra blessing and given another chance.  We had some medical situations arise during my pregnancy with her, and so we  were really drawn to the extra blessing and second chance idea of the letters of her name.  We also liked that a nickname would be Lee Lee -- which also holds up to the same double symbolism.

All of our children are named after someone we know, and Addallee is no exception... although the person she is named after, we do not know personally.  She is named after someone we know of.  Her namesake also had a medical scare early in life and was named Addallee (double of each letter) because God gave her a second chance at life.

Her middle name is Marigold based on a story that Hubby read while I was pregnant about the marigold flower.  Here is a portion of the passage:

"Many experienced gardeners follow a concept called companion planting: placing certain vegetables and plants near each other to improve growth for one or both plants. For example, rose growers plant garlic near their roses because it repels bugs and prevents fungal diseases. Among companion plants, the marigold is one of the best: It protects a wide variety of plants from pests and harmful weeds. If you plant a marigold beside most any garden vegetable, that vegetable will grow big and strong and healthy, protected and encouraged by its marigold."

By naming our daughter Addallee Marigold, we were celebrating the double blessing and second chance of our sweet baby girl, and believing and claiming the great joy she will bring not only to our family, and to her siblings but to the entire world around her, and everyone with whom she has contact.

Discovering we were expecting Addallee Marigold was a big surprise to us, and then the journey of her pregnancy was more trying than our other pregnancies have been.  That being said, we know she was such a gift from God, because we did not plan on another baby in the timing of her arrival -- but God perfectly planned our fourth baby, and the timing of her arrival.  Just as He perfectly planned her arrival, He has perfectly planned every day she will walk the Earth, and we are believing she will be a beautiful, encouraging, and joyful influence on everyone around her.