I’ve been a big fan of today’s mama for a long time — back when I first started this blog, I posted a link to JoAnna’s blog, A Star of Hope, where she had written about how she and her husband had chosen their five born babies’ beautiful names. When JoAnna became a reader here, I was so starry eyed!! She’s been a big contributor to our community, and I’m over-the-moon delighted to share with you that she’s given birth to her sixth born baby — a little lady named … Laura Rose!

JoAnna writes,

“Laura is named in honor of her aunt and my younger sister, Laura Linnae Walsvik, who was born at 28 weeks gestation on December 3, 1981 and died December 4, 1981. I was only 13 months old when she was born and died, so I don’t remember her, but I have always thought about her (and later, after I became Catholic, I began asking her to pray for me). Before we officially decided to use Laura as our girl name, I did ask both of my parents how they felt about it first, as we were willing to choose a different name if having a granddaughter named Laura would cause too much pain or sorrow for them. But both of them said they would consider it an honor. 

When I brought up Laura as a name possibility to my husband, he liked it immediately — we were both born and raised in North Dakota, and given the famous writer Laura Ingalls Wilder (one of my favorite authors), we felt it was a name that was a subtle tribute to our “prairie” roots. 

I also liked it because it means “laurel,” which is a symbol of victory, and our Laura is a rainbow baby after two consecutive miscarriages at 12 weeks. Our other girls have flower names as well (Elanor – which is a flower in the Tolkien universe – and Violet) and we didn’t mind continuing the theme.

As icing on the cake, I realized that January 22 was the feast day of Blessed Laura Vicuña. Our baby was due January 23 and ended up coming on January 21!

Rose is a name that I have always loved, and for a long time I wanted to use it as a first name, but my husband preferred it in the middle name slot. My best friend and former college roommate is named Roselyn and goes by Rose, and I wanted to honor her as she has been a good friend to our family. I also liked the nod to St. Rose of Lima. Plus it’s another Laura Ingalls Wilder connection (her only daughter was named Rose).”

Isn’t this great?! I’m so in awe of the layers of meaning in this baby girl’s name, so wonderful!!

Little Laura joins big sibs:

Elanor Mary
Noel (m/c Dec. 2006)
William Joseph
Chris (m/c March 2009)
Violet Elizabeth
Gabriel Keith
Peter David
Francis (m/c June 2015)
Jude (m/c Oct 2015)

Such a beautifully named family!! Congratulations to JoAnna and her husband and their older kiddos, and happy birthday Baby Laura!!

Laura Rose

(See more on JoAnna’s Instagram and Facebook!)