Baby Names

Parents put so much thought into baby names. Do we want something unique? Classic? A family name? How do we spell it? It's maddening. For Baby #2, we have a girl name picked out. And a couple variations of the boy name. This time around, we have decided to keep the name a surprise, just as with the sex of the baby. All information will be released when Jelly Bean gets here and hopefully, that's still months away.
This post is more on Rhiannon's name. It's definitely unique. People are constantly pronouncing it incorrectly or asking us how to spell it. Her full name is Rhiannon James Crain. How did we come up with it?
Well, from our first date, I knew Russ was my love. It may have taken us 4+ years to get married, but we both knew we had found The One. We were discussing baby names within the first year. Russ declared one day that he wanted to name is little girl Rhiannon that first year we were together. And I loved it. We even have a "Rhiannon" sign that Russ' parents brought home for us from a trip to England before we were even married.
Rhiannon is song from the band Fleetwood Mac. Stevie Nix, who wrote and performed the song, often says that the song is about a "Welsh Witch". The name comes from Welsh folklore about a Goddess, Rhiannon.
Rhiannon, the Celtic goddess of the moon was a Welch goddess. The goddess Rhiannon's name meant “Divine Queen” of the fairies. In her myths, Rhiannon was promised in marriage to an older man she found repugnant. Defying her family’s wishes that Rhiannon, like other Celtic goddesses, declined to marry one of her "own kind".
The entire story can be found here. http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/Celtic_goddess_Rhiannon.htm
But Rhiannon was strong and loyal and forgiving. She suffered hardships and heartbreak but was respected for her strength and forgave those who wronged her.
The story of the Celtic goddess Rhiannon reminds us of the healing power of humor, tears, and forgiveness. The goddess Rhiannon is a goddess of movement and change who remains steadfast, comforting us in times of crisis and of loss.


So our girl first name was in stone.

We through middle names around for years. It was tough to find a name that sounded right with such a long first name. But the night we found out we were pregnant, the middle name came to us.
James.
James is a family name. It was the name of mother's father. Russ' uncle is named James. And, it's the middle name of my brother, Timothy. I was 7 when Timothy was born. My parents moved me out of my room and created this beautiful pink room with my own bathroom in the basement. However, I refused to sleep there. Partly because I was scared but mostly because I enjoyed sleeping in the little twin bed in Timothy's nursery to hear him breathe at night. My step-father would sing James Taylor's song, "Sweet Baby James" to him as a lullaby. And that is what we wanted to sing to our baby girl. So, James would be her middle name.
And sing to her we did. This song (along with "You are My Sunshine") is a song we have sang to her each night since the day she was born. I printed out the lyrics to make sure I had them all correct to sing to her in the NICU. I still have that printout in my journal from that time. Of course we do change the song a tad. Instead of "Sweet Baby James", we sing "Sweet Rhiannon James".
Now that Rhiannon is older, she asks for the song. She calls it, "On the Range". And she sings it. Word for word.
Here are the lyrics to the song. And just below that, a video of her singing the first verse.

There is a young cowboy he lives on the range
His horse and his cattle are his only companions
He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons
Waiting for summer, his pastures to change


And as the moon rises he sits by his fire
Thinking about women and glasses of beer
And closing his eyes as the doggies retire
He sings out a song which is soft but its clear
As if maybe someone could hear


(chorus)


Goodnight you moonlight ladies
Rockabye sweet baby james
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose
Wont you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby james


Now the first of december was covered with snow
And so was the turnpike from stockbridge to boston
Lord, the berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go


Theres a song that they sing when they take to the highway
A song that they sing when they take to the sea
A song that they sing of their home in the sky
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep
But singing works just fine for me


- chorus -