Baby Girl Has A Name!

Week 23

After much thought and deliberation Danny and I have finally decided on a name for our sweet baby girl. Choosing a name for someone is a stressful and daunting task and since we usually have a hard time pulling the trigger when it comes to making big decisions (or should I say the Libra in Danny has a hard time making decisions) I honestly thought we would still be wavering back and forth on a name until she arrived. I secretly feared that her birth certificate would say "Baby Girl" because we wouldn't be able to agree on what to name her before she was born.

Over the past few months we have searched the Internet looking for unique baby names. From the beginning I have felt strongly about choosing a unique name for her. Even though I love my name and I adore the story about how my mom chose it (Hint: it was from a popular movie in the 70's and the lead actress was named Jennifer...any guesses?), I have always hated that I had to share my name with so many people.

Before I got pregnant I always thought I would name my daughter Lily because that was my grandmother's name and she had such a positive influence on my life. As a kid I spent as much time as I could at her house. Every time I got mad at my Mom and Dad I would call her and she would stop what she was doing and come right over and get me (she would also get on the phone with my Dad and give him the business for "upsetting her baby" - he he - I loved to get him in trouble with her!). She was so much fun and she was always down for an adventure. I can't tell you how many times we loaded up in her midnight blue Pontiac (AKA...The Blue Goose) and set out on a road trip with the 8 track cassette player blaring Kenny Rogers the whole way. She was full of life and I swear I inherited my "spit fire" ways from her. She also had an incredible sense of style. She never left the house without fixing her hair, putting on her makeup, or dressing up in a snazzy outfit. She could cook and sew like nobody's business and she always let me bring my kittens to her house when I came over to spend the night. Heck she even measured my cats and made dresses and bonnets for all of them so I could dress them up in their finest before I set out for a stroll with them piled up in my baby carriage. She taught me how to make homemade biscuits, pound cake, and Chef Boyardee Box Pizza (which I still make today in her honor) and she also passed on her love of clothes and shoes.

Unfortunately, we had to scratch her name as a first name option because 2 of my cousins named their daughters Lily in the past year. As much as this broke my heart, Danny and I agreed that we could still honor her by using Lily as a middle name.

The other front runner after Lily was Gracyn (I wanted to call her Gray for short & Danny threatened to call her Gracie which I hated). For a few months I really thought this would be her name because Danny and I both loved it and nothing else we found struck a chord. Nothing that is until my ever so hip and incredibly cool cousin, Tracy, sent me "the name" about a month ago. She told me that she had come across this particular name a few times in the last few months and because it was so unique she felt like it was a sign and she had to send it to me. There is something so magical and dainty about this name that as soon as I saw it I knew it was "her name". I also loved it because I had never heard this name (which was a major plus because remember we were going for the "unique" factor). Interestingly enough, within a week of learning about this name I started reading a baby blog written by a girl who named her daughter this too. It was a sign. I couldn't get away from the name and in my heart I just felt like it was meant to be her name.

Ok...Ok...I will stop rambling and give it to you...I have made you wait long enough!

Danny and I are proud to announce our baby girl's name...Miss Everly Lily.

Isn't it just perfect???