and his name is...

Jack Matthew Gibson

You may remember that we named Sam at the hospital the morning I was induced.  We were back and forth until go time.  And while I never love loved the name Sam or Samuel before it belonged to my child, and it didn't just appear to me in the clouds (that would've been nice), after we chose it, we realized that it was the perfect name for our second born.  And now we love it.

That's why I was more comfortable this time just choosing, despite the fact that God did not send an angel to tell me this kid's name. (Gosh, Mary and Elizabeth had it so easy!)  I wanted to make up my mind and put an end to all the second guessing and analyzing because I know from experience that when the baby arrives, the name we pick will fit him perfectly.

Anyway, Matt and I had both settled on this name one night at dinner, and then I backed away from it for awhile.  So, here's what sealed the deal...

It means "Grace of God." And it's because no matter what God sends our way, good or bad, we know that it is working for our ultimate good, to make us more like his Son, and that is grace.  I actually explained this in greater detail in this post.

So the long story short is - I was driving home from the gym, taking my feelings of anxiety about the millions of things that could go wrong with the baby or my pregnancy to God in prayer, and the Lord reminded me of the sureness of His grace.  After that, I somehow remembered that a couple of our name options meant "Grace of God," and I sent Matt a text that said "John or Jack, you choose."

Jack is a nickname for John, which is also why they have the same meaning.  (And you should google how it became one - super weird.)  But I knew Matt liked both of them (and so did I), so I went "Love and Logic" style on my husband.  After a couple of days, we both settled on Jack as a first name.  Ah.  Step one complete.

After another month, we finally decided that his middle name should be Matthew.  This is mainly because we wanted it to have family significance like our other kids' middle names, but we aren't totally fond of most of the options remaining in that department, so daddy's name it is.

So there ya go.  We cannot wait to meet you, baby Jack. :)