Whats in the Middle?

                  Hallie Natalie      &  Reese Natalie

Middle names....why do we have or give middle names? Is it to distinguish when we are in trouble? You know you are in some serious trouble when your first and middle name is announced at a very high volume! (Oh my...this means that Natalie's name will only be used when Hallie and Reese are in trouble?...oh dear) Or is it because we aren't quite sure we are  100% set on the first name so we feel the need to tack on another in case we change our minds?  Or is it to give them a legacy to follow, a name to live up to and honor?  I have a middle name,  I love it, I am named after my Aunt Ruth.   I have a special connection to my Aunt Ruth that nobody else has, because I am named "after" her.  I always looked up to and thought my Aunt Ruth was amazing.   I don't even need to be in trouble....and I get called "Ruth" all the time...and I LOVE it.   Let me just say...I did a big boo-boo in not giving my girls middle names.  For some reason I thought because their last name was "Danjanovich"..... being girls I knew they would get married and get another last name,  I saw no need to tack a middle name in there.  Now I am sad I did not give them middle names.   They have heard me tell this 100 times, well, OK, (500 times), but after I had all three of my girls, I always told them; " I wish I would have known I was going to have 3 girls, I would have named you "Faith", "Hope" & "Charity".  Corny?...Perhaps, but honestly, I LOVE all three of those names!  and ironically enough, each fits each of the girls to a tee.   So now I tell them, "if I could,( and believe me, I have looked into it, and it's quite the process) I would legally add a middle name to your birth certificates....and you would be:

Natalie Faith

Stefanie Hope

Melanie Charity

Yes, these would be their "middle" names, the ones that would have been my cushion, if I decided I wanted to call them that instead....the one I would call out sternly when they were in trouble.. (what did I do when they were little?...they must not have ever been in trouble?) They would have been names for them to "live up to and honor"....and yet, they have somehow! What better middle name could I ever have given Natalie than "Faith".....because of her, my faith is strong, and I exercise it with every fiber of my being every single minute of every single day.   "Hope" is perfect for Stefanie, because she is our rock, the strong middle child, the glue that binds all of us together as a family.  Melanie is full of Charity,  she lifts us up,  is caring, nurturing, and is that source of light that brightens all of our lives.   

I've decided that a middle name is what it's all about, it's that legacy, that name you live up to, that name you honor.........  Hallie and Reese are very lucky little girls to be named after their Auntie Natalie.  

Welcome little ones..... we love your middle name!