Tuesday, May 31, 2011

"And I thought I loved you then..."

Your wedding one day, and then you wake up and find that it's already your anniversary...that's how we felt this year.  I honestly can't believe that an entire year has passed by and in that year so much has happened.  We've settled into our little home, we've been crazy busy and have also had wonderful lazy Saturdays, both of us have celebrated our birthdays without our families, we've learned more about each other, been greatly blessed with a baby, and have realized that we agree with the phrase, "And I thought I loved you then..."  It's been a beautiful year and we look forward to many, many more.  

Oh, you came here to find out the baby's name?  Well, keep reading and you'll find her name in somewhere in this post! 
 One year ago on May 15th, we thought we were so in love...

...one year later, we realized that was only the beginning of a love that grows deeper and richer every day.

Little did we know that one year later, on May 15th 2011, we would be dressing a baby of our own in our new family heirloom for her Christening.

 My family made the long journey out from Illinois for a few things and we were so blessed to have my dad baptize his granddaughter.  Talk about a tear jerking ceremony...

 Two families joined by love...what a nice looking bunch! 

 Little Miss Blue Eyes


 Neither of my loved ones are morning people.  Baby likes to sleep in on Saturday with her daddy.

 In the car seat again for another trip in the car.  She really hates being put into her seat, but once we're on the road, she settles in for the drive.

 The family heirloom...I made this gown from the extra silk dupioni and antique lace that I had saved from my wedding gown.

 All of the embroidery on the bodice was done by hand and the gown laces up the back.

 A long extravagant gown for my little princess...and she looks like a miniature Marie Antoinette in it!  I'll try to get some pictures of her in it.  And here is her hat:

 
 It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you Lilyana Shapirta Hector.  An Assyrian name, and we thought the meaning was fitting..."beautiful lily".

Come back soon to hear about our new experiment...and to see more pictures of Lilyana!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Her Baptismal gown is beautiful, and I am glad that your family was able to witness baby Lilyana enter into the family of God. Welcome Lilyana Shapirta.
Blessings,
Laura

Anonymous said...

Lilyana's name is well worth the wait! A beautiful name for a beautiful baby! Congratulations, Hector family!
God bless,
Beth from WA

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Gorgeous gown, beautiful baby - those eyes! Lovely name!

Deanna

Melyssa L. NicDhòmhnaill said...

So many amazing memories!! *happy sigh* I would LOVE to relive that whole 2 weeks! Totally worth it!

I sure do miss little Lilyana, with her BIG eyes and funny little faces! Her gown was stunning, and I think she is such a blessed girl to have you two as parents....and me as an Aunt! =D

Love and miss all of y'all!! <3

Mel

Anthony said...

She becomes more and more adorable each time I see her! I loved the dress Tiff, and she looked sooo cute in the hat. Thanks for sharing a bit of you life with us. Love you both!

Anton, Esq. to be

Kathryn Grace said...

Wow, that gown is amazing! It's neat to think how many generations of babies may wear it in the future. :-)
I heard the name already via parents via Facebook, but I can tell you it is nice to have a NAME rather than "Baby Hector." :-) Out of curiosity, does Lilyana itself mean Beautiful Lily, or does Shapirta mean "beautiful"? (if not, does Shapirta mean something else?? :-).

Simply Tiffany said...

Amy,

In answer to the comment you left on a previous post:

"Amy said...

Hi Tiffany, I have followed your blog for a long time, since before your courtship and marriage! I am enjoying the photos of little "gus" but wanted to ask where does the practise of keeping the name secret till the baptism come from? I do hope this does not seem rude! I am genuinely interested.

Blessings to you little family
Amy in Australia"

Reserving a name until baptism actually dates back to the Old Testament. A male child was not only circumcised 8 days after hew as born, but he was also given a name. This tradition was carried on in the New Testament and in the early church. There are many examples of people taking on a "new name" or "a Christian name" at the time of their baptism. Even today, during a baptism ceremony, the pastor asks the parents, "What is the Christian name of this child?" The church lost this tradition at some point in it's history, but since we love history and are a bit quirky, we decided to carry on this tradition in our own family... We waited for my family to come out from Illinois before we baptized her, because we wanted my dad to baptize her. It was a special day, and we're glad we waited.

Laura,

Thank you! The gown was a fun project and she looked so sweet in it! We were very glad that both of our families could be together for her baptism...only missing my brother and sister-in-law. :(

Beth,

We thought it was a fitting name!

Deanna,

She's a sweet as she is beautiful!

Mel,

*sigh* Me too...y'alls visit out here was WAY TOO SHORT! I can't wait to see y'all in July. She certainly is blessed to have such wonderful aunts, uncles and grandparents. It will be fun to hear how she pronounces everybody's names... :)

Love ya!

Anton,

I know! She changes everyday! I love how she's trying to copy us, now. She's so funny. And her hat is too small, now!! :( I guess I'll have to make another one... ;)

Kathryn,

Thank you! I'm consdiering embroidering each of our children's initials inside the gown and the date of their baptism. It was really special to have her baptized on our anniversary.

*laughing* She went so long without a name, that sometimes I forget that she has one! We usually call her "baby", but I'm beginning to use her name more frequently.

Lilyana is the Assyrian word for "lily" and Shapirta means beautiful. So in English, her name means "lily beautiful" but in Assyrian is means "beautiful lily." I like calling her "Shapirti" which means my beautiful...and so she it. *grin*

Amanda E. in MN said...

Lovely, lovely name. It was worth the wait! Are you guys especially interested in Assyria? I am not quite understanding the focus on it...?

Shelbi said...

Beautiful name for a beautiful baby! :)

Happy anniversary, Ben and Tiffany!

Simply Tiffany said...

Amanda,

Waiting to name her was actually fun on our part! Only I think that her nickname, "Gus", is going to stick...

Ben and I have been taking Assyrian language classes, love their food and culture. They go waaaaaaaay back. :)

Shelbi,

Thank you! :)

sandi said...

i don't even recall how i stumbled upon your blog several years ago. congratulations on a beautiful addition to your family. thanks for sharing the story behind keeping the name a secret until the baptism as i was wondering the same thing. enjoy being a mommy!

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