Jake wrote:
"We've both always liked the name Maya. As we were
considering names and learning their meanings, we fell more in love with
it, and after meeting her last week it just felt right.
Maya means so many beautiful things in so many languages: illusion or magic in Sanskrit, water or spring in Hebrew, nurse or good mother in Greek, love, compassion or kindness in Hindi, courage in Maori, and generous or hospitable in
Old Persian.* We also liked that it started with an M, as did
Kristina's maternal grandfather's first name (Murray AKA Mike Sands).
Francis is
a name we've loved for some time. My mom Jill's middle name was
Francine — though she hated it, we like that Francis offers a connection
between Maya and her grandmother Jill.
Last but not least, Levine-Budelis is
a testament to our indecision; we apologize in advance to our children
for having to deal with a hyphen for their entire lives.
Julian
has been a wonderful big brother, shouting "baby sister is crying" and
running over to give her her pacifier whenever she needs it. When he
gets home from preschool each day the first thing he asks is to go see
his baby sister. We're so proud of how he is adjusting to the new member
of the family!"
