A is for...

is for Anneliese! 



Okay, obviously, as most people reading this blog have already heard, Justin and I are having a baby girl! Ahhh! It's just the most exciting news I think I've ever EVER received! 

The name picking was kind of a silly story. Justin was so sure we were having a boy, that he just called my stomach "Liam" any time we talked about it, or the baby. It never failed, I always said to him, "You better watch out, because I think it's a girl!" And I'd always think about how sad it was that we couldn't come up with a girl's name because we just loved the name Liam so much, that we hadn't found one for a girl that compared to how much we liked our chosen boy's name. So, we decided to tackle it whenever we had time to sit down and really look through some names! 

Well, I went up to Indiana to see Justin just before he deployed, and he insisted we find a Barnes and Noble to get a good "Dad-To-Be" book for him to start reading while traveling. We went over to the Family section of the store and found more than enough books. Of course, Justin chose a small book that was more on the humors of becoming a dad, and claimed that it would be a "fun read" for his traveling, and that I can send a more detailed book about Fatherhood whenever he was finished with this one. (That's my hubs)

We came across a really great baby names book that I sat down with, and Justin looked at what I had in my hands and said, "I guess we need to pick out a girl's name, just in case." So... we sifted through, made a few jokes about some of the names- they get so crazy.  I'd say names loudly as I read ones that I liked, and he'd mostly say, "Nope!" to them. He suggested the name Ali, after a while of debating. I love that name, but I kept thinking, "What if she can't stand this name because people will say, 'Oh! What a cute name! What's it short for?' " So, I presented the argument to Justin and he said to just keep the name as one of our options. 

Then... we came to the name, Anneliese. I don't know why, but it jumped at me. I kept saying it over and over, and I loved it every time. It's great for nicknames when she's young, and she can choose to use her whole name when she gets older, to feel more mature if she'd like. It wasn't on the lists of any of the popular names of the past few years, which was something I had been trying to avoid the whole time with any name we picked. (Growing up a Brittany in the '80s and '90s was hard enough, okay?!)

Justin really liked it, but he really loved Ali. So, after some deliberation, we decided on Anneliese, but we would nickname her "Ali." 

I think some people won't get where we came up with "Ali," but that's the story behind it. Justin and I got the best of both worlds and we couldn't be happier! 

Stay tuned! I've got more posts on the way!