blessed.
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 09:31AM 
A quick scroll through this post would be enough to convince any glimpser that it's all about the dress. And - in a way - that glimpser would be correct. I had to have a special photo shoot to show it {and her} off. But Sunday, December 6th, was all about the blessing of this babe. The welcoming of Miss Azure Mae into the world.
Once upon the summertime Jim and I were having trouble agreeing on a name for the baby in womb. He had one {Talia}. I had another {Mae}. He wanted a middle name. I adamantly did not. And at one point we were chatting on the issue with my family when the man actually proclaimed, "Name her with whatever name you want..and I'll bless her with whatever name I want."
Not cool. My controversy-loving tease of a husband had gone too far.
But the rest of the story requires a flashback of sorts...
Seven years ago we were newly wed and newly pregnant, positively convinced that a girl was on the way. A girl whose name would be Azure Scott. We had just read a book with a heroine of that name. I even remember there being a gift under Kay's tree that Christmas marked "To Azure". Well, a month later an ultrasound clearly shouted out our mistake. Azure became Aidan and we later breathed a sigh of relief that we hadn't actually used that strange name.
So last spring when an ultrasound surprised us again, Azure was not a name that even came to our minds or lists. And our bickering on the topic was constant.
By the end of the summer we had worked our way to a joint decision of "Mae". But - strangely - I did not feel victorious. The name did not slide easily off of my lips. So I'd mostly tell those asking that we were still undecided. All the while secretly worrying that no name would ever feel right for this child. And time was running out. And it had to be *right* and not just *making do*.
The c-section was scheduled and I was driving home one day. I don't remember there being much of a thought process in how it happened, but I picked up the phone, dialed Jim and said, "Her name is Azure Mae". He said it was indeed.
And that was the name he gave her on her blessing day.
I love Jim, obviously. But there is nothing like the surge of love that comes when he uses the power of the Priesthood to bless our children. It overwhelms and encompasses all.
The one phrase I remember the most from the blessing was the one he spoke first: "I bless you with a Passion for Righteousness." It could have ended there as far as I was concerned because I can't think of anything more precisely to the point. A happy life is one lived righteously. And that is what I, too, pray for my sweet girl. Our Azure who patiently waited to join this little family for the past seven years. We felt her presence then and are blessed with it physically Now.
and now to show off that dress...
