Pistachio?

"Is that really her name?"

"What an awful nickname."

"Please tell me that you'll stop calling her that when she's born!"

"Where did that come from?"

Actually, it goes all the way back to when we found out we were expecting Daniel. We were at our dear friends' house (in Russia!) when we got confirmation (after several days of denial and four pregnancy tests) that I was indeed pregnant!

After the shock wore off slightly and the giddiness of what this all meant set in, Nadya grabbed a baby development book to work out my due date and see how big this little creature in my belly already was. We figured out that I was 19 days pregnant.

There was a picture in the book of an 18-day-old, in-utero baby. Patrick said, "Wow, it looks like a peanut!"

And so before he became Daniel, he was known as "Peanut."

We continued to call him Peanut throughout the pregnancy because:

- It took us forever to come up with a name. Actually, it took forever for God to show us what his name was supposed to be and not-surprisingly, both Patrick and I had the name Daniel in our head without ever discussing it.

- We decided not to tell anyone his name until he was born.

So, it's become a Wilson tradition to refer to our unborn children as a nut (or a legume).

Daniel was Peanut.

Caleb was Cashew.

Eli was Walnut.

And now, Pistachio is Pistachio.

We've continued to not share the names we are considering until we introduce our child to the world. It's fun having a secret.

I think we know what Pistachio's real name is supposed to be, but as with all our children, it's not something we've stressed over. We've never opened a baby name book. The only list of baby names we've looked at is the occasional suggestions we get from Patrick's mom. :-)

God knows our unborn child better than we do. He knit them together. He knows the personality they will have. The character issues they will struggle with. The ones that we as parents will have to help mold. What will significantly define our child to the world.

I think the naming of my children is important. Important enough to leave up to Him, the One who created my children in His image. I believe the name He gives us to call them is a small reflection of Himself.

Hopefully, we will introduce Pistachio to the world by her God-given name very, very, very soon...