amelie is 9!

Remember this cute little baby?

Well, we blinked and she is nine years old.

I decided to tell you about her name today, since we get asked about it often. I also know that some of you who read our blog and then meet us in real life ask, “So how do you pronounce your daughter’s name?”

David and I were not the best at choosing baby names, mostly because I never really got a say. Actually, when I met David in college — before we ever started dating — he told me if he had a son, his name would be Judah Stephen (and why, you ask, was a random college guy talking to me about his future children’s names?? Hmmm). Side note: he also proclaimed firmly that he planned to have “at least 7 kids.” He had a lot of opinions.

Well the two of us ended up together, and thankfully I liked the name “Judah,” so that was simple. We tossed around a few other ideas but it just felt right.

Then, a little over a year after our son was born, we found out we were having a girl, and I loved the name Eve. I still love it! Please, someone, choose it. Doesn’t it sound so cool and hip? But David said “We can’t have two Bible names in a row. That sounds homeschool.” He nixed Eden, my second choice, for that reason too.

(Do you see what I mean about opinions?)

Now the comment makes me laugh because 1. We decided to homeschool our kids, and 2. We adopted two boys named Gabriel and Noah. Very homeschool, if you ask me. I’m okay with that, I love our kids’ names.

Anyway, I digress.

We had seen the movie Amelie, and David fell in love with the name (pronounced Ah-meh-lee).

I thought it was very pretty as well, but was terrified to name my child something too odd. What if no one could pronounce it, much less spell it? What if she hated us forever?

But, I caved in.

We were planning to move to India, and decided on the name Amelie Carey Gentino, after the missionary to India, William Carey. But David tells the story that while I was in labor, I called out, “Her middle name is going to be Claire!” And he didn’t dare refuse.

So our one, precious little girl is Amelie Claire Gentino. Both Amelie and Claire are French names. There is no deep, sentimental meaning in them. We just like them.

After all that deliberation, when 22-month-old Judah charged into the hospital room at Lexington Medical Center with my parents that steamy hot July day in 2009, he said, “Hi, Amie!” (AH-mee). And she’s pretty much been Amie ever since. See, why do the men in the family get the last say on names?

I typically introduce her as Amelie, and she says that she likes both names. Thus far she hasn’t resented her unusual name. There’s an Amelie’s Bakery in Rock Hill and Charlotte, and when she goes she gets a free eclair. We haven’t met any other Amelie’s, but have heard about them. And we have met one other Amie! Our girl was born in the right generation for unusual names.

I’m so glad we went with it.

Amelie feels sweet and feminine to me, smack in the middle of a jumble of brothers.

It means “hard-working,” and our girl is very hard-working. We love how versatile she is. She’s tough and can run with the boys (and, if you want to know the truth, could beat all of her brothers up). For her birthday she asked for Pokemon cards and Calico Critters and a baby doll so she can play Mommy.

She loves earrings, painting her nails, and sparkly sandals. She also loves being active, animals of any kind, and will jump in and do dirty chores like cleaning out the chicken coop with her dad. She designed and made her own greeting cards, and is currently practicing sketching.

She makes our life bright and colorful, and we think she’s as unique and pretty as her name.

We love our Amelie Claire!