Welcome to the 3rd Trimester!

Baby Girl and I have officially entered the 3rd trimester!  We're apparently in the homestretch now, which is awesome and completely nerve-racking at the same time.  In less than three months, she'll be here.  And her nursery currently has ladders, boxes, and miscellaneous items strewn about the floor, along with white walls and curtain-less windows.  HOWEVER, though she lacks a cozy, girly nursery at the moment, she is NOT lacking a name anymore!  We finally came to a conclusion on a name, and I am really excited about it: Susannah Jane Acker.  Doesn't it have a nice ring to it?  It has been quite the process in coming up with a name because Pete and I wanted to name her something that had meaning behind it.  We knew that if we just picked a name that we liked, half of her kindergarten class would probably share the same name.  So here's the reasoning behind the name:

Susannah is the "mother name" for Suzanne, which is my wonderful, loving mother's first name.  Susannah also happens to means "lily," which has a beautiful biblical meaning itself that I am thrilled to pin to my daughter for life.  In Hosea 14, the prophet Hosea enjoins Israel to return to God, and describes Israel as flourishing like a lily when watered by the dew of God's grace (verse 5).  What a beautiful picture for a little girl to hopefully grow to understand!  Jane comes from Mary Jane Acker, who is an ancestor of Pete's from the late 1800s.  In the Acker Family History, as recorded in The History of Virginia, Mary Jane was described as follows: "Mrs. Acker is particularly active in [her church], of which her father was a minister for many years.  For a long period, she has been president of the Woman's Missionary Union of the church, and she is untiring in her efforts in its behalf."  Gosh!  The rest of the women listed in the lineage were generally described with the list of children they had.  This woman was noteworthy!  

Pete and I are getting more and more excited to meet little Susannah (Suzie?  Jane?  We don't know what we'll actually end up calling her just yet...) and can't wait to have her here!