The Meaning Of Bennett...

People often ask me if my kid's names are family names and I always say no, but they are now! Not that we don't have nice family names, I was actually considering using Anderson before we settled on Bennett (we would've called him Anders, Anderson is my mom's maiden name) or Cooper (Cooper is Mike's Grandmother's maiden name). I am very particular about my names- obviously I like different names and I tend to like "surnames". I also like my names to "go" with each other as far a a sib set goes, so Ainsley, Harper and Sara or John just wouldn't do (although Sara and John are nice names of course, just not right for the sib set, in my opinion).

So when we found out about Bennett having Down syndrome, for some reason I changed my mind about Anders and Cooper, plus Mike was not totally on board with these names, in fact he was not on board with any names that I had been nagging him about for the past 18 weeks!

The name Bennett had been on my list from the beginning but for some reason it never made it to my top list. So when I opened up my baby name book to search for a new name for our son I came across Bennett again. Bennett means "Little Blessed One". I instantly thought this is the name. Although part of me thought, (I was still in my grieving stage) he's not blessed though, he has Down syndrome. How can anyone think he will be blessed? Again, it had only been a few days and I was still so upset, I couldn't even think past the diagnosis of Down syndrome and what it might mean for our lives. I thought, sure he will be a blessing but is he "blessed" when he has Down syndrome? I know this seems harsh but when you are in this situation, at least for me, it was so hard to see past the negative aspects at first.

The more I thought about it though I felt like this baby was blessed with something different. I felt like maybe he would be blessed with the gift of bringing out the best in people possibly, and I found out he had, even before he was born! Possibly he would help people see past a diagnosis and show them that sometimes what we perceive as hardships are really blessings in disguise! Sound familiar?:)

So even though our Bennett doesn't have a "perfect" heart and it needs to be repaired and even though he has Down syndrome, which in the world's eyes may be far from "perfect", he is blessed, I believe, with something so special and now I truly believe he was meant to be here. For months I have felt guilty about pushing Mike into this pregnancy but as many have told me, this baby was in God's plan and I can finally see that. I know in God's eyes Bennett is perfect and he is my new perfect. I'm so glad I can see that now!

We have received many lovely gifts from people lately and we are so appreciative of them! I recently received a very sweet gift from an old friend of mine, Jen. Jen and I have been friends since maybe the fourth grade or so and we reconnected through face book over a year ago. She sent me this medallion and I love what it says...

On the back it says: "God bless this child, Bennett Patrick, May 22, 2009"

God has blessed this child indeed. He has blessed our lives with this "Little Blessed One". I can't wait to see how Bennett will show others how he is blessed!