Cambria's Name and Blessing

Cambria Alexis Kaye Mitchell was blessed on March 30, 2014 by Daddy.  He was joined in the Melchizedek Priesthood circle by Bishop Michael Williams, Brian Greer, Mike Bingham, Chris Malone, Clay Shorter, Craig Isenbarger (Boompa) and Tom Mitchell (Papa).  She was blessed in the Lynchburg First Ward, Buena Vista Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Her dress was lovingly made by Lynn Isenbarger (Grammy) and she wore a pearl bracelet that matches ones that her cousins Julie and Whitney have.

One of our friends from PT school that is in the second ward and a year ahead of Andrew came to the blessing and took notes.  She was able to write down everything verbatim except for the few spots with ellipses.

"Cambria, you are sweet spirit and blessed daughter of our Heavenly Father.  You are a blessing to your parents...throughout your life.  You will teach your parents things that they could learn no other way.  You will be an example as the eldest to your brothers and sisters … teach them and show them the way … show them the way of The Lord.  We bless you to be strong in spirit and in The Gospel.  Teach those around you …and inspire them to be better and that you will desire the same thing.  We bless that you will serve the Lord throughout your life, in your callings and as a missionary.  We bless you to find a loving husband to take you to the temple to be sealed for all eternity.  We bless you with these things and all others that our Heavenly Father wants for you."

Thanks, Christy DeSpain!  This is a treasure!

Of all of the beautiful things that Cambria was blessed with, Andrew felt strongly to be very specific about Cambria's future as a missionary.  What a blessing to have such a choice spirit come to our home.  We love you so much, Cambria!

Our dear friends from PT school: Zach & Kathleen Hetrick

All tuckered out after her big day

I also wanted to share how we came up with Cambria's name since this is a question we get daily.

I always knew that I wanted to have unusual names for my children since I grew up one of many girls named Jessica in my elementary school classroom.

For the Family Home Evening before we found out if we were having a boy or a girl, Andrew and I took ten minutes to jot down a few names that we liked.

We just couldn't agree on the perfect name.  I took a few of these names for a test drive on Baby Girl.  I would use it for a few days to see if I liked it or not.  Two or three times when I called her "Siobhan" I got a nice little kick from Baby Girl.  I thought that meant she liked the name.  Andrew didn't.  And then when we thought about what a nightmare it would be for anyone to spell it or pronounce it (it's Irish and is pronounced Shuh-VON), I finally gave it up.

I went to the bookstore and bought a book which I read cover to cover keeping notes on names I liked and combinations that I thought worked well together.  I've always been rather thorough.

 And there it was!  I really loved the nickname "Bree" or "Bria" or "Brisa" but it wasn't complete enough for me.  The name "Cambria" seemed to be the answer.  I mulled it over for a day or two before deciding that I wanted to talk to Andrew about it.  Suddenly, I realized that I had heard the name "Cambria" before.

 Did I really want to name our baby after a band?  And not just any band, but my husband's favorite rock band that happens to look like this:

Eek.

Would Andrew even go for it?

I sent him a text message knowing that he was either going to hate the name or need to take a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to think about it.

In the meantime, I started calling her "Cambria" around Thanksgiving time and the name stuck.  I managed to say it enough around Andrew that one night in December as we were laying in bed, he said, "Yeah.  I think her name is Cambria."

Winner winner chicken dinner.

I came up with the middle name "Alexis" because I liked the flow with Cambria and if she grows up and thinks her name is super-weird and uncool, she can always use her middle name.

My next hurdle was convincing Andrew that "Alexis" was a good middle name.  We came down to the wire with that one.  It wasn't until we were filling out Cambria's birth certificate that Andrew finally agreed.  Thank you, honey!  <insert kisses and kisses and kisses>

I thought we were set with "Cambria Alexis" until we got some heartbreaking news in December.  Andrew's Aunt Nancy had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and only had weeks to live.  Andrew flew out to be with Nancy and say goodbye.

Andrew and his siblings: Kelani, Rachel and Devin with Aunt Nancy

One night while Andrew and I were talking on the phone, I got the idea to find out what Nancy's middle name was and see if we could use it for Baby Girl.  I had him double check the spelling and then asked what he thought.  He loved the idea!  So that is where "Kaye" comes from.  I'm so happy that there is an "e" on the end!

 

On Andrew's last night in Washington, he spent some one on one time with Nancy and told her Cambria's name.  He asked if we could use her middle name.  It was a special moment for him.  And very fitting since the last time we had all been together (at Rachel and Jason's wedding) before Nancy's diagnosis, she had been suggesting baby names over and over and over to us trying to help us come up with the perfect name.

We love you so much, Aunt Nancy, and MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY!  We hope our little Cambria Alexis Kaye brings as much joy to others as you did.