I loved typing up the story of how Noah got his name, so I wanted to do the same for Erika. And now it's time to post it!
"Erika" has been one of the few names that has stuck with me most of my life! I remember my friend Erica Woods in kindergarten, I thought she was SO pretty, and I even remember her bringing the picture of herself in the newspaper for show-and-tell.... she was pretty cool ;). That was when I first started liking the name. I named a lot of my dolls Erica from that. I had a friend in Middle School that I loved, Erica Greenstreet, who just made me like the name more. Then when Brent was on his mission I remember him writing home about an Erika that he had baptized.... this brought the name back to my mind again. Then when I had mentioned the name to Nate, I learned that it was a Swedish name (which is where he served his mission), and one that he liked as well. It was on our list of names when we were naming Charity even though I knew Charity was first. Then again it was on our list when we were pregnant with Kelly. In fact we called Kelly "Erica" for a short time before we realized that her name was supposed to be Kelly. We then used the name again when we found out that Luke was a girl :) So we called him "Erica" for a month before finding out that he was really a boy.... There is a nurse at my OB's office named Erica that I had almost EVERY time I went to the OB (which after having 6 kids is a LOT of times, let me tell you!) She was really sweet everytime too. So it felt like a constant reminder of how much I loved the name and how much I wanted to use it. And we KNEW that one day we would have our little Erika, it was just going to be in her (and the Lord's) time. From the day that we found out she was a girl on, that was her name. We threw others out there, just in case, but Erika was it. We knew she was finally going to be here. Even though I was nervous to (just in case it didn't have a good one) we looked up the meaning "honorable ruler"/"noble ruler" and I LOVED that. Just sounds cool. So I knew it was perfect. Then all of a sudden we realized that we were wanting different spellings. We couldn't decide if we liked it with a K or C better. I asked around to see if anyone had any insight on the matter.... even asked some Erik[c]a's what they though. Nate kept pointing out that the Swedish way to spell it is with a K. But mostly I just thought the K was prettier, so that was it! I'm sure she'll have as much trouble with her "K" as I did with my "Ch", but whatever :) Either way it's her name. and I like it. I hope she likes it too.
"Erika" has been one of the few names that has stuck with me most of my life! I remember my friend Erica Woods in kindergarten, I thought she was SO pretty, and I even remember her bringing the picture of herself in the newspaper for show-and-tell.... she was pretty cool ;). That was when I first started liking the name. I named a lot of my dolls Erica from that. I had a friend in Middle School that I loved, Erica Greenstreet, who just made me like the name more. Then when Brent was on his mission I remember him writing home about an Erika that he had baptized.... this brought the name back to my mind again. Then when I had mentioned the name to Nate, I learned that it was a Swedish name (which is where he served his mission), and one that he liked as well. It was on our list of names when we were naming Charity even though I knew Charity was first. Then again it was on our list when we were pregnant with Kelly. In fact we called Kelly "Erica" for a short time before we realized that her name was supposed to be Kelly. We then used the name again when we found out that Luke was a girl :) So we called him "Erica" for a month before finding out that he was really a boy.... There is a nurse at my OB's office named Erica that I had almost EVERY time I went to the OB (which after having 6 kids is a LOT of times, let me tell you!) She was really sweet everytime too. So it felt like a constant reminder of how much I loved the name and how much I wanted to use it. And we KNEW that one day we would have our little Erika, it was just going to be in her (and the Lord's) time. From the day that we found out she was a girl on, that was her name. We threw others out there, just in case, but Erika was it. We knew she was finally going to be here. Even though I was nervous to (just in case it didn't have a good one) we looked up the meaning "honorable ruler"/"noble ruler" and I LOVED that. Just sounds cool. So I knew it was perfect. Then all of a sudden we realized that we were wanting different spellings. We couldn't decide if we liked it with a K or C better. I asked around to see if anyone had any insight on the matter.... even asked some Erik[c]a's what they though. Nate kept pointing out that the Swedish way to spell it is with a K. But mostly I just thought the K was prettier, so that was it! I'm sure she'll have as much trouble with her "K" as I did with my "Ch", but whatever :) Either way it's her name. and I like it. I hope she likes it too.
Her middle name came from her Grandma Ruthie. I'm glad that we have someone like Nate's mom to name our little girl after. She should be honored to have that name. I have always loved Nate's mom. I think I'm lucky because I'm one of the few people I know who loves, respects, and enjoys the company of their mother-in-law as much as I do. She's an amazing woman. I don't know how she was able to give birth and raise 10 amazing people, and still manage to carry on the way she does. She's a fun Grandma and a sweet Mom. Never imposes or makes me feel like I'm being judged. I just feel very blessed to have 2 moms and such wonderful grandmas for my children. It's fun for me to think that my daughter has her name and I hope that she will look up to her Grandma Ruthie and feel a special closeness with her.
So Erika Ruth it is. I hope she knows how much this name has meant to us all these years, and how much we have hoped and looked forward to our little Erika joining our family. We knew she was coming and she came :) I hope she can be a "noble ruler" in her life, somehow, and that she will be able to fufill all that her Heavenly Father has planned for her....
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